スペインの海辺にて。(Photo by Daniel van Lier)

米国・ポートランドに住んでいた翻訳者のStephen Jensenさん が、2019年秋から2020年2月まで新しい働き方、暮らし方に挑戦しました。それは欧州を旅しながら、滞在先で自分の裁量で調整をしながら仕事をする(ノマドワークをする)、という新しいライフスタイル。実現するまでの道のりや、今のライフスタイルについてQ&A形式でお聞きしました。（英語のあとに日本語の要約を入れています。）

メールインタビュー：岡山 奈央
環境分野の研究員を経てエコネットワークスで調査分析プロジェクト・マネージャーとして活動中。九州在住。

編集、要約作成：曽我 美穂
北陸在住のエコライター、エディター。

[準備について]

Q: ノマドワーク（Nomadic Workstyle）をしたい、と思ったそもそもの理由は？
Why did you want to start this Nomadic Workstyle?

A: 今の仕事なら可能＆いろんな国に行きたかった！

I always had the idea to become a digital nomad simply because my work allows me to do it. I thought it would be amazing to work while also experiencing different countries and cultures I’ve never been to before.

要約：今の仕事のスタイルであれば実現可能だし、働きながら、さまざまな国や文化に触れることができたら素晴らしいな、と思っていたので。

Q:健康保険やビザ関係のことを教えてください。
Please tell us about how you got your health insurance and visa.

A:ツーリストビザ＆旅行保険を活用

I’m staying less than three months in each country, so I don’t need a visa. Technically, I’m a tourist. In Spain, at least, I would need to get a work visa to stay longer than three months (since Spain is part of the Schengen Area). I have travel insurance called SafetyWing . It’s very basic (emergency) insurance. Other medical services I need I just pay out of pocket, which from what I’ve heard is much cheaper here in Europe than in the US. There is such thing as international medical insurance, but it’s more expensive and probably not necessary in Europe.

要約：数か月滞在する場所以外はツーリストビザを活用。旅行に関する保険はSafetyWingを使用。病院に行くことになったら、自費で支払う予定です。でもここ欧州の医療費は米国よりずっと安いと聞いています。

Q: 今のライフスタイルに移行する際、大変だったことは何でしたか？
What was the most challenging when you switched to your current lifestyle?

A: 準備は楽しかったけれど、大変でした！

I think the entire process as a whole was challenging. Selling, getting rid of, and storing my belongings was a challenge. Selling my car didn’t take much time or work but was stressful. Doing research and making sure I considered everything before leaving took time and energy. I had to get a new bank account and credit card to make sure I wasn’t getting charged extra for international transactions. I had to figure out what to do with my mail (I have a virtual mailbox, which receives my mail for me and scans it so I can read it from abroad and decide whether to shred, recycle, or forward it). I had to pay and close my utility accounts. And more, random things. I did this over the course of about three months, and yet I still felt rushed through it. It was a very exciting process, but exhausting too.

Looking back, I would definitely have done it differently. I’m reaching a point in my travels where I’m not enjoying this lifestyle, and it’s actually feeling very stressed. I miss family and friends. I think I’m realizing that I need some form of established community to feel healthy and grow, and moving every month or two to a new city doesn’t do this for me. It’s not long enough to make close friends, and yet it’s too long to experience each location from the relaxed and excited mindset of a tourist.

要約：
全体を通して、準備は大変でした。自分の荷物の整理や保管しておく場所の確保、旅の前のリサーチ、郵便物の保管の手続き、銀行口座の開設など、3か月かけて行いました。楽しかったけれど、正直大変でした。

実際に旅をしてみて、自分はこのライフスタイルを楽しめていないかもしれない、ということに気付きました。というのも、１、２か月ごとに移動を重ねるので、とても親しい友達というのはできず、地元で家族や友だちと過ごす時の安心感を得られなかったのです。それが思っていた以上に自分にはストレスになってしまいました。ということで、近々、一度地元に戻り、自分がより楽しむことができる方法を再検討したいと思っています。

Q: これからノマドワークに挑戦したい人にアドバイスをお願いします。
Please give advice to someone who wants to try Nomadic Lifestyle.

A: 少しずつノマドワークに移行するのがおすすめ

If I had a chance to do it over, I would have taken a month or two off and visited a country, while keeping everything the same back home, except subletting my room for those months I was away. I’m thinking of going home soon to recharge and reconsider what aspect of this lifestyle I want to keep. There are other ways to work remotely and experience the world than the way I chose, so we’ll see! But if anyone reading this is considering becoming a digital nomad, I would recommend trying the lifestyle for a short period first, and transitioning more slowly into it than I did.

要約：もし私のようにノマドワークを試したい人は、最初に短期間、ひとつの国を訪れ、その上で少しずつノマドワークに移行していくとよいと思います。

旅先のひとつ、イギリスのコッツウォルズ (Cotswolds)で描いた絵です。

イギリス、バースのホルバーン美術館にて

[滞在先について]

Q: どんな施設に滞在しているのですか？
Where do you stay? What is it like?

A: 主にAirbnbを利用中です

I’ve mostly been staying at Airbnb’s. Many Airbnb hosts offer a monthly or weekly discount that’s significant and reduces my “rent” to something more affordable. Sometimes I stay in a studio unit (more expensive), and sometimes I stay in a room in the same apartment as the host (least expensive).

This week I moved to a coliving/coworking space called Sun & Co. located in Javea, Spain. This is a very different style of living and working. I paid to have my own room, but you can share a bedroom with up to three other people. The “house” has the bedrooms upstairs, and coworking, living room, and kitchen spaces are on the main floor. Right now I’m sharing the house with six other people, three from Germany and three from the US. Everyone here is either a freelancer or runs their own business remotely. This coworking space in particular is focused on collaboration, so each week there is a “family meeting” where we introduce ourselves and plan events for the week. Some of the events are Skillshares (where members offer to teach or share something from their career or interests) and Masterminds (where one member presents a professional or personal problem they’re trying to solve and the people who participate offer their ideas).

要約：主にAirbnbを利用（長期滞在には割引もあります）。スペインではSun & Co. というコリビング＆コワーキングスペースに滞在しています。コラボレーションを軸にした施設なので、毎週、ミーティングやイベントがあり、お互いのことを知る機会になっています。

スペインでの一コマ。(Photo by Nikodem Bredlich)

Q: 仕事は、どんな場所でやっているのですか？カフェとか図書館？それともコワーキングスペース？
Where do you work?

A: Airbnbか図書館が多いです

When I’m staying at Airbnb’s, I work at home, a library (my favorite for working outside of the house, since it’s free and quiet), and sometimes cafes (my least favorite). Once in a while I’ll work in a park or somewhere relaxing outside, though I tend to find the sun and/or outdoor noises to be too distracting.

要約：Airbnbの滞在中はその場所や図書館で。時にはカフェで仕事をしています。公園などで仕事をしたこともあるけれど、日光やまわりの音が気になって集中できませんでした。

Q: 他にもスティーブさんと似たようなライフスタイルの人に、旅の途中で出会いましたか？
Have you met anyone like you?

A: たくさん会いました！　これからも増えそうな予感です

I’ve actually met lots of other digital nomads, usually at international Meetups such as language exchanges or social nights. There seems to be a growing community of people who are living this lifestyle, and I think I’ve only scratched the surface. For example, one person I met here at Sun & Co. has been to three other coliving/coworking places, including one in Portugal. It seems like they will get more popular as time goes on.

他のノマドワーカーに、たくさん会いました。このライフスタイルを選んでいる人はたくさんいそうです。これからもっと人気が出そうです。

スペインの街中にて。