While in Bangkok, we met a man named Ranjith, from the Netherlands and quickly became friends. He’s a 38 year old digital nomad, with a wonderful perspective on life. After connecting a few times, he had the idea for the three of us to interview each other. Below is our interview of Ranjith, enjoy!
Derek: Welcome Ranjith, and thank you for having the great idea to interview each other. We’re both starting our burgeoning YouTube channels, and this is our first collab!
Ranjith: Yeah, thanks for having me over!
Kathy: So Ranjith, how long have you been living as a full-time Traveler?
Ranjith: For about 2 years now. I quit my job in 2023, and then the idea was to take a one year sabbatical and I thought ‘I’m going to really see the countries and travel where I always said I wanted to go’. So I booked a one-way ticket from Amsterdam to Tokyo and then after 6 months I discovered hey I think I can change the way I work and live and become basically a digital Nomad, but not the one who moves every month to another country because I think that’s just, for me, way too intense. So, I packed my stuff and went to Taiwan, and spent almost eight months working remotely, and now I’m here in Bangkok where I met both of you.
Derek: What countries have you been to since you embarked? I know you traveled a lot in the past, but since you embarked on your digital nomad journey, what countries have you been to?
Ranjith: Yeah, so that’s been Taiwan, France, Portugal,and now Thailand.
Kathy: Have there been any standout cities or towns that you felt the most at home?
Ranjith: Oh, that’s a good question actually. I think personally for me that’s still Taiwan, because the moment I arrived there, when I was still on my sabbatical, I realized, wow this country almost feels sort of European in a way. When you compare it to the Netherlands, we are very liberal, we were the first to legalize same-sex marriage, and Taiwan is the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. And, it’s sort of the vibe that you get there from the people. I felt, oh I can be here for quite a long time. It was pretty surprising to me. But, I also loved Cannes, I never thought that the southern part of France was something that would fit with me, but actually I really, really like it. I think when I’m a little bit older, then I’ll probably go back and maybe spend a few years there.
Ranjith: Oh, that’s a good question actually. I think personally for me that’s still Taiwan, because the moment I arrived there, when I was still on my sabbatical, I realized, wow this country almost feels sort of European in a way. When you compare it to the Netherlands, we are very liberal, we were the first to legalize same-sex marriage, and Taiwan is the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. And, it’s sort of the vibe that you get there from the people. I felt, oh I can be here for quite a long time. It was pretty surprising to me. But, I also loved Cannes, I never thought that the southern part of France was something that would fit with me, but actually I really, really like it. I think when I’m a little bit older, then I’ll probably go back and maybe spend a few years there.
Kathy: Oh, that’s very interesting. Those two, Taiwan and the south of France, are so different from each other, I imagine.
Ranjith: True, I think for me France is sort of more like having a life of comfort and then Taiwan is having a life of adventure, because also you can do so much more. You can hike a lot. It’s actually smaller than the Netherlands, which is already a very small country, especially compared to the US, and it still has more than I think 160 mountains above 3,000 meters, which is pretty crazy.
Kathy & Derek: Yeah that is!
Derek: So, shifting to how you got to this lifestyle, what were you doing for a living prior to embarking on your nomad journey from the Netherlands, and how did you make the shift to your current digital Nomad style of business?
Ranjith: Yeah, good question. So, I worked as a head of commercial for a software company in the Netherlands. I was basically responsible for marketing, sales and customer success. I actually had a great time there. They’re a great company. I liked it, but I sort of felt inside, is this really the way forward for me? I’m not going to, you know, take the age of 40 just being here, doing the same stuff over and over again. Then I decided first to take a sabbatical, because I thought, ‘if I take a year off and really spend time traveling. and I travel very slowly, then I’ll discover and feel along the way, you know, what’s the next step that I want to do. And, after spending 2 months in Japan, I went to Taiwan and this is the moment where I actually felt, ‘hey probably this is a good way for me to become a digital nomad, but I’ve never done that. So, it was new for me too. Then, I still went along to the Philippines, and after that I went back home, and that is the moment where I basically registered myself as a one-man company. You know, the famous freelancers as we all are, and started to search for my first assignment, which came actually through my own network. I met her 2 years earlier at a conference and then at a dinner, and she actually asked me how things were going, just on LinkedIn, as a casual catch up. I told her, ‘hey I registered as a freelancer, I’m going to offer my services remotely.’ And she said, ‘That’s interesting, let’s have a talk’, and this is how I got my first assignment.
Kathy: So, what daily or weekly rituals, if any, do you try to maintain that help you keep yourself on track, either in your health or your personal maintenance, or in your work?
Ranjith: That’s actually a very good question. So, in general I try to, at least three times a week, still go to the gym. And, here in Thailand it’s easy, because every condo building has a beautiful gym and pool. So, that’s what I try to utilize. I try to meditate, at least once a day, usually when I wake up. So, I used to meditate in the evening, but now I wake up, and I don’t check my phone. So, the first thing that I try to do is to meditate. And, I do this in a different way, I think, than most people do. I try to calm down, from a hundred to zero, just by myself, not touch my phone, I try to assess and feel how I am actually feeling. Then I start my day. And, on a weekly basis, I also try to contact my friends… get back to them, or give them a call. But, it’s not ina fixed moment, because my schedule here also changes all the time. But, this is how I try to stay in a rhythm. If possible, depending on my work, I at least try to wake up before 9:00 a.m., and also get to sleep early, so that I still have my normal rhythm.
Derek: Yeah, we’re still working out our routines, so thanks for sharing.
Kathy: That’s part of the reason I asked, we’re still figuring it out.
Derek: I like to meditate in the morning as well, it really helps to start the day well, and set intentions along the way.
Ranjith: Yeah, I agree. The challenges, the temptation, right, because temptation is everywhere. And, by “temptation”, I don’t mean like, body, but seeing new things and going to the next special Temple or the next beautiful beach. And, I think the challenge is, how can you sort of protect yourself against these temptations, to still be productive in the moments that you are. And, then I think you’ll enjoy more also when you see beautiful stuff, because for me what I realize after the actual travel part, is that at a certain point you get sort of numb, numb for beautiful things. Then it’s like, yeah, I’ve seen this very beautiful rocky coast… ten times already in five countries. So,I mean, why should I still go out. So, I think if you’re also focused on your long term goals, and things that you still want to do, but can still maintain this lifestyle, then you need to at least build, sort of a discipline and, have some structure and routines in place to make sure you don’t lose track of it.
Kathy: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. It’s a lifestyle. We’re not on vacation.
Ranjith: Exactly.
Kathy: We’re living our lives, yeah.
Derek: So, please share with us some of your early life travel experiences that you feel helped to kind of mentally prepare you for getting yourself in motion for full-time travel.
Ranjith: That is an interesting question for me, because I think that when I was younger, when I went traveling, I never had the idea of becoming a digital Nomad, or like that I have to become this within the next 10 years. But, what I realized with traveling, and I think this also came from my time in Colombia, I spent six weeks in Colombia, is that the freedom that you can experience and the people that you can meet along the way who you really connect with, this is something that can be pretty long lasting. And this is also what happened to me in Thailand, because when I backpacked in Thailand the first time I actually met a guy I’m still friends with, and probably we will meet up somewhere this year. Yeah, we became friends. He visited me in Amsterdam a few years ago, and we always stayed in touch. And, he also now is adapting this sort of remote working lifestyle, to have more control over your own agenda. Yeah, and I think early days for me travel was just, you know, gaining new experience seeing new things. I love the Central America part. I’ve been to Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and also Colombia. And, I think that’s also something so amazing, because it feels a bit more laid back than traveling in Asia. That sounds weird, because people are always saying southeast Asia is the most relaxing place. But, I think that in Latin America, they have a different vibe to it.
Derek: Yeah, we spent four months backpacking around Central America. Yeah, and to your point, the vulnerability that you put yourself into, while you’re traveling, you’re inherently more open, so the relationship formation and the bonds you make in those situations enable you to build connections a lot quicker and deeper.
Ranjith: It’s more authentic, Yeah, I agree, I see this too. Especially when you have people who sort of connect with you on a, almost I would say, spiritual and intellectual level, then you feel, indeed, a deeper bond with them. But, I’ve also seen the other side, that there’s a lot of travelers who you just meet, it’s like ‘hey where are you from?’, ‘what did you do?’, you know, ‘what’s your itinerary?’, and then you have one evening, you go to dinner together, and then they’re off. Which is fine, that’s also part of the experience. Yeah, what I see is that, at least for myself, I also learn a lot about myself, because when you travel, and you put yourself out there, and you become more vulnerable, you also learn more about who you are, and especially because you get feedback from different cultures. I think this is also what happened to me, especially in Taiwan, and then with my Taiwanese ex-girlfriend, I could see how incredibly Dutch I am. I don’t look Dutch, for sure not, but I mean inside it’s definitely Dutch… chuckle :)
Kathy: This next question a little bit hits on what you’ve already talked about with rituals, but I wanted to ask, what is, one aspect of this lifestyle that you find challenging or that you specifically address?
Ranjith: Yeah, I think, challenging is definitely the fact that you always have to plan, and think ahead, that’s something that I see. Going from Taiwan, to France, to Lisbon, and I’m back to Bangkok, you always have to sort of plan, book, search for new places, make sure you’re compliant right, with visas or rules that apply in the country. And, so that’s something to do. I think also, the fact that if you meet people who are really nice, at a certain point when you’re ready to go to the next country, you have to say goodbye. So, that’s sort of the challenge of losing, or at least disconnecting again, with people that would have become very good friends. And, I think the discipline part, making sure you at least keep track of your personal goals that you have, you know, the long-term ones. This is something that can be challenging, you know, to not lose them out of sight, because of the amazing lifestyle, and every day there’s something new you can do. Yeah, and for me actually it’s not so much a challenge with the home front, I mean I do miss my friends. Some of them visited me in Lisbon, which was absolutely amazing. So, I made a video about that too, which you can watch. But, yeah with my family, I only have my father, so we still call. This is actually why I made my channel, you know, it’s really a diary so that he can see what I’m doing, and who I’m connecting with, instead of just sending some pictures over. I’m not the guy who was on Instagram and Facebook, so sorry for that one.
Derek: So, how long do you plan to keep living this lifestyle before settling down somewhere?
Ranjith: Yeah, I don’t know actually. I have no clue. You know, I thought I would take a sabbatical, and travel for the whole year, and I had sort of globally an idea of what I wanted to do. I tried to go to the Galapagos Islands two times, and it didn’t work out. Also, COVID was a big part of that. So, I don’t know. I think at a certain point when I feel I either want to settle down at a certain place, or want to go back to the Netherlands, l probably will. But, I have no idea when it will end. I think, also for me I love travel, but I also love purpose for work. So, when I can do work that I actually feel engaged with, that’s also something that I really value. And, sometimes that can also bring you abroad, or sort of tie you back to a specific place. So, for now I really love what I do. But, yeah, if it’s not fun anymore, then I will definitely quit, for sure.
Kathy: What is one piece of advice you would give someone who is considering this lifestyle? What would you say to do or think about beforehand, that would be important for setting them up for success?
Ranjith: I think the do part is definitely what I think everybody will have challenges with. In your mind you have all these sort of excuses on why not to do things, or I cannot do things, Just get rid of it, just do it. Even for yourself, map out or write down on paper the plusses that you want versus the minus. And, you’ll figure out how to do it. The things to plan up front? I would say if somebody wants to do it, just realize why you want to do it: Is it you want to do it because you see people on YouTube who are doing this, and you think, oh it is so amazing I want this too? Or, is this something that comes from an intrinsic motivation? Because, that’s a big difference. If you start to copy the behavior of others, then after a year you will probably feel burned out, and you go back. But, if you do it intrinsically, then your motivation will be different. Then, all the excuses that you have in your brain, you will sort of figure out a solution for those. Even with housing, with money, with working remote,with time zones. I had the same, in Taiwan, I worked two days in a week. I worked in the evening, so I started at 3:00 p.m. work till 11:00 p.m., so I could cover the Dutch time zone. And for the other days, I told them ‘hey then we plan the meetings at the end of my day, so we can still sync up, and the rest of the work is in sync. So, I’m saying there are all kinds of things you can do. But, if you never ask, or never try to manage, then you’ll never get there. So, that will be my number one, don’t be held back by your own nay sayers (said, while pointing at his head).
Kathy: That’s great advice! Thank you Ranjith for the interview :)
Head over to Ranjith’s YouTube channel, Life with Mr. Lanka, for more great content.
