A chat with a fisherman in Hoi An made me rethink my work setup

I was working from a plastic stool by the river in Hoi An, Vietnam, last month, and an older local fisherman sat down next to me. He pointed at my laptop and said, 'You carry your office in that bag, yes? My office is this boat.' We talked for an hour about how he reads the water instead of emails. It made me realize I'm always looking for the 'perfect' digital setup, but maybe I'm missing the point of being somewhere new. Has anyone else had a simple conversation that changed how you work on the road?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason27310h ago

Man that hits hard. I was so obsessed with finding the best travel router and noise cancelling headphones that I missed a whole street festival in Mexico City. Had my back to it the whole time, just grinding in a cafe. Now I try to pack lighter and just work from wherever, even if the wifi sucks. Sometimes a slow connection forces you to actually look up and see the place you paid to get to.

the_dylan4h ago

Wait you missed a whole festival in Mexico City because of headphones? That's actually wild. I get wanting to focus but man you gotta peek outside sometimes. Your new plan sounds way better, forcing yourself to look around is the whole point. Glad you figured it out before missing more cool stuff.

amy7543h ago

Oof, @mason273, that's the most digital nomad problem I've ever heard. At least you got a good cafe seat out of it.