For This Digital Nomad, Consistency Is Key to Life on the Move

Naomi* has been living the digital nomad lifestyle for nearly three years, hopping from country to country while working remotely for an international organization. Between longer stretches away from her home in the U.S. in places like Costa Rica, London and Paris, she’s figured out how to make work and life flow together. As part of our Writer in Residence program, journalist Matt Parsons caught up with her at Zoku Paris, where she stayed through our partner network with Outsite to hear how she makes travel feel less like a juggle, and more like a rhythm.

Tell us a bit about your current lifestyle.

I’ve been living and working remotely for a few years now. I was in the UK just before this, visiting friends, and I’ll head to Germany next. I’m originally from the US, but I move around a lot. This is just a one-week stay in Paris.

How do you manage working remotely in so many different places?

After this long, I’ve learned what all the variables are and how to manage them. I know my job well enough now that I can tell when I need fast Wi-Fi, when I need a quiet place or when I can afford to work in a more social setting. I do a lot of Zoom calls and share my screen regularly, so I have a mental checklist: internet speed, comfortable workspace, noise levels. Once those are covered, I’m good to go.

What made you choose Zoku Paris for this stopover?

Zoku has a partnership with Outsite, and I’ve stayed at a few Outsite properties before, including one in Costa Rica earlier this year. When I saw that Zoku was now part of their European network, it felt like a perfect fit.

It also came down to timing: I needed a place for just a week between countries, and when I’m working during the weekdays, I really prefer either a coworking hotel or something with apartment-style amenities. At places like Zoku or other Outsite properties, I know the basics will be solid: the Wi-Fi will work, the kitchen will be functional and I won’t have to waste energy troubleshooting.

It sounds like consistency is really important.

It is. When I find a brand like Zoku or Outsite that I trust to maintain a certain standard, it takes a lot of stress out of the equation. It means I can just show up and do my job without having to worry about the other variables.

Has working remotely affected your mental health or routines in any way?

Definitely. That separation between where you live and where you work matters a lot. I recently stayed somewhere in London that had a communal area, but it didn’t function as a coworking space, it was more like a lobby. There was nowhere to focus.

Here at Zoku, the coworking space certainly has a vibe that helps you to focus, which I really appreciate. Even on a Sunday, I came down here to get some work done because just being in this space helps my brain switch into “work mode”.

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*The name of the interviewee has been changed at her request to protect her privacy. Images used are for illustrative purposes only and do not depict the interviewee.