Proud Digital Nomad by Chance: Barbara's Story

Friday, April 13, 2018

Welcome to this Travel Lifestyle Interview Series where we’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Barbara from Barbalicious. Barbara has been through an interesting transformation that changed her lifestyle completely. Check out our Q&A with her as she gives some insight into the digital nomad lifestyle, advice for just living and enjoying life, and how she’s ended up as a digital nomad.

1. Could you tell us a bit about yourself? What’s your name and where are you originally from?

My name is Barbara and I’m half German, half Italian. I grew up in Germanyinfo-icon although I spent a lot of time in Italyinfo-icon, too, and ended up studying Italian Philology to get to know my second home country better.

2. Where do you currently reside and is there any place in the world you can say for yourself that you’re local there?

At the moment, I’m in Germany to participate at the world’s largest fair for tourism industry – ITB – in Berlin. I feel like a local everywhere – and probably nowhere. I try to stay for one month in every place. The places that I know best and spent most time (apart from my homes Frankfurt and Palermo) are Singaporeinfo-icon, Chiang Mai and Bali.

3. We saw you had quite amazing adventures during your journey, so could you share the trick with us? How do you fund your trips and for how long you’re on the road? Do you have a home base or you’re constantly on the road?

Enjoying every bit of your travels is a must!

I started my life of travels in November 2014. I actually wanted to do a trip around the world and then come back home and work as a freelance translator. But a few months before I hit the road, I heard of digital nomads and realized that I can be a freelance translator AND travel the world! So I decided to “use” my trip around the world as a test to see if this lifestyle is for me or not. Turned out that I loved it. So I simply went on traveling. And no, I currently don’t have a home base. I just keep on traveling and writing about my adventures – on my blog, in books, for others. That works quite well and, at the moment, I earn money through freelancing, my blog, and digital products like my books and online courses.

4. What’s the criteria for choosing your next location?

For me, stable and fast Wi-Fi is important as well as a strong community. I realized that I need like-minded people around. Additionally, I’m a Kizomba dancer and I always check in advance if there are places to dance. If not, I either skip that place or don’t plan to stay long.

5. What was the breaking point of starting a digital nomad career?

Experimenting has led Barbara to become a proud digital nomad.

I don’t think there was one. I just read about digital nomads and thought that I want to try it out...

6. What kind of job you’re currently working on? How did you find this one?

At the moment, I’m not really working on any freelancing projects. I’m writing blog posts and prepare social media posts.

7. What aspect of your job you like the most?

Being a digital nomad means that you can work anywhere you imagine (with an Internet connection, of course).

The location independence. I love to be able to work from wherever I want.

8. What aspect of your job you dislike the most?

That it never ends. My brain never stops working because there is always something you can improve or add or change.

9. How does your regular working day look like?

There is always time to relax and refill your batteries while on the road.

There is no “regular” in my life. Every day is different and every day is special. In general, I would say that there are three different kinds of days:

  • Travel days (when I spend most of the day on buses, planes, trains,etc.)
  • Office days (when I spend most of the day at the computer)
  • “Research days” (when I spend most of the day taking photos, going on tours, exploring places for new blog posts / ebooks / etc.)

10. Do you pay close attention to work-life balance? Could you tell us a bit more about that?

I try to eat healthy, I go dancing Kizomba (my biggest passion!) as often as possible, and try to work-out every day. But I don’t really do anything else.

11. What’s your advice for someone who’d like to start with digital nomading, but constantly getting discouraged by the society?

Only you can see what lies next for you. Don't get discouraged by others and follow your passion!

Know your “why”! Why do you want to become a digital nomad? If your why is strong enough, it doesn’t matter what others say. There will always be naysayers. Learn to ignore them or learn to convince them (which is much more difficult) but don’t stop following your dreams because of them!


Barbara has been a digital nomad for three years. She loves writing about her travel and work experiences on her travel blog, Barbaralicious, where she highlights the ease of working on the road and tries to inspire people to begin their own journey of freedom with this beautiful lifestyle. In addition to her blog, she publishes one city guide for digital nomads a month where she wants to make starting the nomad life in a new place easier.

If you want to dive in her inspiring life stories, you should definitely check out her website. Check out her journey on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more travel inspiration.

Antonio Gabric a freelance content writer for aSabbatical.com
Traveling is the best way to learn about the world and cultures. It changes your mindset and you see possibilities everywhere.