133: Tips on How to Choose Your Next Digital Nomad Event

With so many new digital nomad events and gathering popping up — finding the right digital nomad event can be hard. In this episode m, Nienke Nina talks about the different kinds of digital nomad events in 2024. She also shares how to choose the right ones to attend so you get the best return on investment. She takes you behind the scenes of a recent chat with a fellow nomad and shares the key considerations for selecting events, such as the type of event, location, and personal capacity.

You will learn to balance the excitement of nomad gatherings with maintaining personal and professional well-being. With a bit of guidance, you can make the most of these exciting events and create lasting memories on your nomadic journey through this episode.

🔥 Different types of digital nomads events
🔥 Tips to choosing the right events as a digital nomad
🔥 Importance of intentionality and alignment when attending nomad events
🔥 Personal anecdotes and experiences from Nienke Nina when attending nomad events

Transcript

Nienke Nina (00:01.07)

Hello everyone, welcome to a new episode of the Digital Nomads Daily Podcast. My name is Nina and I am here to tell you all the net sexy stuff and behind the scenes of the digital nomad lifestyle. As you know, I interviewed digital nomads, real digital nomads who have been nomading for some have just been over for a few years, others just for a few months. And one of the things that I really love is these behind the scenes conversations.

Yesterday, I happened to meet a digital nomad friend who I met at an amazing, amazing event in the desert last year. And she was visiting Vienna and she texted me and I was like, my God, what are you doing in Vienna? This is amazing because it's not really a place where a lot of nomads come. So I was so, so, so happy to see her and to like to connect with her and to talk about life. And one of the conversations was about

How do we actually define to what events we're going? And funny enough, I was also talking about this the day before with another Nomad friend and I realized recently this is a topic that is coming up more and more. So I thought why not create an episode about this? Because there's so many digital Nomad events, retreats, conferences, unconferences, festivals, whatever it is. Like there's so much popping up these days.

I'm so I today in this episode, I was like, I'm gonna talk about this and my really my goal here is really for you to think about. Okay. There are so many events. Sometimes maybe I feel a bit of overwhelm or I'm not sure where to go. What's my five and to help you to make that decision a bit more in an aligned way. All right. So digital nomad events, like let's just unpack that a little bit. So back in the days and honestly guys, this is only like five years ago or something.

There were not as many digital nomad gatherings or events as there is today. And it's really cool because this means also that the community is growing, that there are more nomads around. But also what that means is how do you know where to go, right? So there are so many different types of nomad events. So there is large conferences and one of my favorite ones, which actually not per se for digital nomads, but it's just like a lot of digital nomads happen to go there. It's about

Nienke Nina (02:27.854)

remote work, how to manage distributed teams, and that is running remote, right? So that's the conference where I would go, well, pretty much every year. And it's also a place where I meet my podcast guests, like Rowena, Chase, Jordan, Michelle, like Nini, there's so many people that go there. So that's really my hub.

but then there's also unconference type of events where it's a little bit less about like the actual talks and the speakers, but more about the in -between events. So it's a combination of talks, workshops and panels. And then there's a lot of like engaging on things happening in between for you to, you know, like connect with people. Then there is like the, the retreats, right? So these are usually more.

curated on multiple day gatherings where you will have a location where you stay and you're with a specific groups of people group of people and retreats usually tend not to be well I'm actually not sure if you have like larger retreats but the ones that I'm aware of are usually between like eight and 15 people maybe 20 max but if it's like really a larger group it's already a bit harder.

Then there's more like the, I would say like the festival kind of vibe, party kind of vibe combined with entrepreneurship. And in those events, it's a lot of connecting. It's also multiple days. There is party involved and it's just like really a lot of everything. And then there is one really, really special event. And as you guys know, like this was so life -changing.

For me, last year, if you've been listening to this podcast for a while already, and if you're new to it, well, I'm gonna share all about it now. So there is one very special festival, which is a mindfulness gathering in the middle of the desert. It's a distraction -free zone, and it's for me, the one thing that I wanna do every single year, specifically to just come back to myself, to, I don't know, to just really like slow down and think about what do I want in life and what is driving me. And...

Nienke Nina (04:42.35)

just to also discover things about myself through other types of practices that I wouldn't perhaps do really on a daily basis. Last year there was Tantra workshops, there was a lot of breath work, there was sound healing. And I mean, there were so many different things, like human design, there were workshops on money mindset, there were workshops on somatic.

healing, like it was just really like a lot of different angles on how to, yeah, how to learn about yourself and to discover and to decondition, right? All of these things. So this is with Minoma and this is the Minoma Festival and actually this year is going to happen as well. And I know that I'm going to be there. So that's super, duper amazing. And then we have like, sort of retreats. Yes.

Okay, so these are kind of the different things that are happening in the space in person. But then you also have the whole online community. So then there are summits that you can join. Recently, I was part of the Travelpreneur Takeoff, which was hosted by Generation Nomads. They have also been on this podcast. I was a speaker there to talk about online marketing, which is super cool. And you know, like, so there you also have speakers and it's a lot focused on like learning new things.

you have like, like speakers and talks are really amazing. Last year was a speaker at the digital nomad summit was also super cool. So there's just like a lot of like different things happening in the space. And as you can tell already, as you're listening to this, and we're just a few minutes in this episode, it's like, Whoa, there is so much happening in this space. And this is something that I specifically recently talk about a bit more with my friends because I always.

had in mind like, okay, it's Nomad season. So we're starting well, basically running remote is kicking that off. And then all the way up to September, there is like different sorts of events happening in Europe and in other places and it's super cool. And I even told my partner like, okay, from January, sorry, from April onwards, I would be busy.

Nienke Nina (06:55.79)

with Nomad season. So I will be here of course in the summer, but there might be some trips and things that I'm gonna do because this is the moment for me to embed myself in person in this community. And then I realized after running remote how that is not working out for me this year. And that was a really intense realization because I was a bit disappointed. I was like, my God, like I can really feel.

that going to all these events is not in alignment. And it's not in alignment for so many reasons. And my friends, the two that I spoke with recently, they were also saying exactly the same thing. They were mentioning the same reasons why it feels a bit icky. And it was interesting because I didn't even share yet that I had that on my mind as well. I was like, whoa. Yep, that resonates a lot.

So it was kind of interesting. So how come that this then doesn't resonate, right? Like also I have this podcast. It's amazing to meet new people, but it's even more or equally, I don't know, but it's just also so cool to meet like the people that have been on this podcast. Some of them I've never seen in person. So there's a lot of opportunity for me to be there to meet people. And then the other thing is that my marketing agency, Align Expressions,

is completely focused on helping companies in the remote and digital nomad space to reach you guys and to do that in a very authentic and aligned way. And it's really funny because that's like my audience, like companies are there. So of course I need to embed myself there if I, you know, want to find new clients and make connections and collaborations and all of these things. So from a business perspective and from a people perspective,

There is so much opportunity. So you would probably think, yeah, of course, let's go. But then I realized chatting with my friends and just feeling this very, very strong, like, I don't want to go. this feels a bit like it's going to be too much. Was actually right after running remote because I loved it so much, but it took me two weeks to sort of like come back to my normal. And at first I was like,

Nienke Nina (09:17.838)

Wait, maybe I'm just, I don't know, I'm 34, maybe I'm just hormonal. Can happen. Then I was thinking about like, okay, maybe, I don't know, maybe I miss my partner so much. So maybe that was it. And then I just, there's so many things. And then I realized that going to events, going to these places where there's a lot of stimulus and a lot of different, different stimulus from all sorts of angles.

is so different from how I day to day operate that is completely sort of like, it's like a big wave that is coming at you and you're just like, you just feel like you're in a washing machine or just stuck in this massive way and you keep tumbling and tumbling and tumbling and it's just really confusing. And it's draining and that takes a lot of energy, right? And then coming back after an event, I mean,

I got a work. So if I'm not there, like I can't do the strategies. I don't really feel connected with my work. So I need a lot of time to recover. And that is why I started to rethink my, to what events I'm going strategy this summer. I had a lot of events lined up. Like I think I would be at an event almost every.

month, at least one event. Some of these, they don't take one day, they're actually taking a few days. So it was already like, Ooh, how am I going to do this? I'm so drained. I have a lot of dreams in my business. I've been recently going through this whole rebranding thing. so that's, that's why my agency now is called the Lion Expressions. And I was just like, my God, like how, how am I going to do this? And that was also the conversation I had with my friends. So.

Basically, what we talked about was how do we define to what events were going? And there were a few elements and I'm going to talk about these elements right now because these are also the elements that can help you understand what is more important to you and what do you want to get out of the experience? And is this is the particular event you're considering going to? Is that really going to give you

Nienke Nina (11:33.71)

is that going to give you that? And if you're not sure about that, how, how can you get more clarity around that? Now, I want to say, before I give you those elements that sometimes we cannot plan things and curiosity and the unknown is one of the things I personally really like about being part of the digital nomad community. But I've also realized and seen and talking to mostly entrepreneurial friends.

so that means that you're a freelancer service provider, maybe you have a company or an agency, like anything that, that, that is entrepreneurial, that you're really doing for yourself. Passion project can be a side hustle by the way, as well. Like for, for D for, for this group of people, what I've seen is that building your freedom business, building your passion project and make that really work takes so much effort and energy. And it's such a crazy journey sometimes.

So while celebrating the unknown and being experimental and being curious and these events can be really great, always jumping towards the unknown is a lot, especially if your business is also a lot about that. We're creatures of habit. So we're not built on having constant unknowns, like constant uncertainties because that's basically danger, right? So.

We need to know something. And that's why these elements can really help you to find more alignment when you go to events. And even though if you don't know anyone who's coming there, you can already see based on the talks and all of that, like, Hey, is this, what is this crowd like? And what do I want to get out of this experience? And because you go in with more, with more alignment and with more focused, you're also probably going to get a better return on investment from going to that event.

All right. So the first thing that came up from that conversation with my friends and also for me personally is people. While there's usually great talks, amazing topics, lots of inspiration. I always see and feel and experience that the major, that the biggest portion of my inspiration and new idea and ears and catalyst type of projects and things is coming from conversations with amazing people.

Nienke Nina (13:57.07)

So what I usually do when I consider going about an event and thinking about, okay, how many people are at this event? It matters if there are 200 people, 400 people, or if it's just 20 people. I know from me, I would probably have deeper conversations if it's like a smaller group. And maybe for the purposes in that moment, that works better for me. So I was, for example, supposed to go to Bansko, which is an amazing, like large event, lots of nomads, amazing people come there.

but it's a large event. It's like, I think over 200 people and running remote was also over 200 people. And considering how I got back from that, I was like, I'm not ready for a big explosion of energy and stimulus and people on conversations. Like I'm not there right now because I'm focusing on other things which is super exciting stuff. But like, you know, so it's people as an interest.

the number of people, right? Now, when we look at intras, it's like, for me, what's lately more interesting is entrepreneurial topics, a bit more focused on tech, AI, I want to meet other agency owners, people that are running teams. That's an interesting topic for me. So that's more on the business side than on the personal development side. What I'm really focusing on right now is a lot of deconditioning.

Because I realized that I'm, I mean, we all have this, so I'm really not special or unique in this. I'm recently new layers that are blocking me are, are to the surface or they came up to the surface. I'm really focused on deconditioning. so I would be more interested in events that helped me do that. So that could be, I don't know, sound healing, breath work.

talking, I don't know, about human design, like those kind of things, because those are the topics of conversations outside the actual talk or actual workshop. So you see how I'm approaching this. It's like, I'm not approaching this. It's like, well, there are 200 nomads there, and I'm going to go there, and it's going to be amazing. No, I'm considering, like, what are we talking about? How many people are there? And then the other thing, what I find very important is,

Nienke Nina (16:17.902)

thinking about like how much time is there for conversations. So at Running Remote, when I went there, while these topics are really helpful for companies that are interested in running distributed remote or hyper teams, I don't need to learn how to create a meeting agenda. Like that's not, and of course the topics were way bigger than that, but just to give a simple example, because I've been working remotely for over five years. So I got this.

I'm, but of course there's companies that want to learn about that and people and thought leaders. So for me, I knew that the people that were coming there, I knew that already, like more or less from our community. So I decided to go to running remote because I also knew that it would make sense for me to not go to all the topics and then some topics and panels specifically panels, because I enjoy panels a bit better or a bit more.

That was super interesting. And then the ones that I joined, I was actually there to join that panel. Like I stopped conversations because I knew, in a few minutes, this panel is going to start. So there's a lot of intentionality in going to this event and joining there and participating and also take a moment to like relax. Like the first, was it the first day? Yeah, I think it was the first day. I was chatting with one of my clients who was there as well.

And I said like, Whoa, I'm just so like overwhelmed and overstimulated. I would love to continue talking with you. would it be all right if we just step outside of the venue and just to have a look at the water and just chat there. And that was completely fine. And we had like a quick bite because we were hungry and it was really nice because also because I had so much consciousness and intentionality of being at that event, it was sort of easier to be there. Okay. Another reason.

why you want to consider an event is,

Nienke Nina (18:12.398)

is the location. So that could be because it's an interesting location. Maybe I've never been there. Maybe there is cultural or adventurous stuff connected to going there. So you might want to stay longer in that location. Or maybe it's a location that is not so difficult for you to go there. So let's go back to the running remote example because that one is actually quite good.

I've been to Lisbon many times already. I love the city. I have very good feelings and vibes with that city. If I'm in Lisbon, I know exactly where I want to work, where I want to chill. I know I can go to the beach, there's a city and there is like amazing restaurants. So I feel very comfortable in Lisbon, but there's still enough nomad locations that I haven't been to, right? So sometimes I would say maybe no to a location or to an event because the hassle of

finding a place to stay, figuring out what I can do there, how long should I stay, and all of these sort of things, it's like, whoa, it's a bit overwhelming. So what you also can consider when you're thinking about going to an event, what can happen before and after? Maybe there's a group of people that is doing a cowork experience, or perhaps you're thinking about, well, I've always wanted to go to this place, so, sorry, I'm gonna go to this event,

And then I'm going to stay for another few weeks. And then this, these are the things that I want to do. So that, that could be very interesting for you to consider. Like if the event is right and you think, okay, these topics are great. And you want to embed yourself a bit more in a nomad community and an in -person experience. Maybe you can look at locations and what's happening there. And this is also kind of cool right now is that every month up till end of year, there is stuff happening.

There are so many Nomad events happening. Like it's, it's, wow, it's, it's really cool. So there's going to be a lot for you. All right. the other thing that you want to consider is can you actually go in terms of capacity? So I already touched a little bit on this, but I'm in the middle of a rebranding.

Nienke Nina (20:29.966)

There is also some personal stuff that's going on, which is totally fine and positive, but it takes a lot of my attention right now. And then there's just like reshaping like things in my business. My energy and focus needs to be there and I want it to be there. Like I really am so excited. So at Running Remote, I took a whole week off, but then afterwards I should have taken another week off, but I actually had to work already and I needed to show up for clients.

And that was a really challenging two weeks. Now, luckily my clients were at running remote because as I said, like my clients are mostly like remote first companies or companies that are targeting digital nomads. I don't know, like real estate coaches, you name it. So I was lucky that there was some sort of understanding like, whoa, we're still like recovering from this amazing energy burst and this amazing event.

But I gotta say for me, I felt a bit like I was not enough. I was not doing enough. I was behind. And it really started to play like these, my inner chatter, my mental chatter was just becoming very clutter and very like not so positive. So I realized that I was like, whoa, okay. So that's also for me in terms of like, can you go to an event? Do you have the capacity? Or if you just come back from like super fast paced travel or you just visited another event.

Is it helpful for you to go or are you going to enter a state of overstimulation that might impact other elements of your life? And if those elements are a priority, like your business or your health or your fitness, whatever that is, like then that's maybe not a good idea. so yeah, it's really an open invitation to be a bit more conscious about like, where do you want to go? How do you want to organize that? And then there is also smaller things like.

pricing, for example, some events have very good tickets and it makes total sense, but maybe the accommodation around it is extremely expensive and that it's like, okay, doesn't make sense. Not nomadic related, but the other day I was in South Tyrol, which is like in the Nordic part of Italy and I went to a wedding. And in this area, you can basically only book in hotels. You can only book for a whole week or you have to go with Airme and Bees, but they're

Nienke Nina (22:50.606)

because it's so remote, there were not so many Airbnbs available. And this is a super stressful experience. Even going there was like stressful because it was so in the middle of nowhere. So in terms of pricing, this was a bit annoying because we I couldn't like take too much time off because I like I said, I want to focus on my business. But also going there. So that's kind of the next thing after pricing is like, is it easy to get to there? Like?

Is it easy to get another accommodation? Are there maybe co -works or like stuff like that? So more the logistic part of going to this event is also really important. So for example, with Minoma in the desert, like it's not so easy to get to the desert, but Minoma has taken care of everything. So the only thing that I need to do is I need to get my ass to Marrakech.

And then there's going to be a pickup. And from there with the whole group or parts of the group, that's how we go to the desert. And then we're going to arrive in the Selena Nomad base like that or the Nomad camp. Like, so this is completely organized and because this is organized for me, it's a hundred percent. Yes. Because I know that I'm not going to be, not be in the head space to think about all of these nitty gritty things. When I go to a festival or to a distraction free place where I just, yeah, when I've

I don't know, I just want to be taken care of well enough. So these are a lot of considerations. Now, how can you make this sort of like easier for yourself and not like a completely back and forth if you should go to an event? What I have is I have a notion list of places where I can go or things that interest me. And I already have a few times spoken about this in the episode, like opportunity versus commitment. So.

The things that spark my first interest, they go in the opportunity buckets or in the opportunity list. And then I'm going to look at, okay, wait, what is this event about? What are the topics? Who are the speakers? Do I know other people that go? And I just take notes in each of these events. And then I look at the pricing. I check tickets. I also look at the dates. Like if a client has like a massive lunch, like I might decide not to go to this event because I mean, I need to help my clients, right? So.

Nienke Nina (25:10.958)

So these are like a lot of considerations. And then at one point I'm like, okay, I'm going to this, this and this. And what I've done for this year, I don't want to go to an event every single month. So I just picked a few. And I think this year in total, it would be maybe one, maybe four events. And I'm super fine with that. I got actually quite a few invitations, which is really cool. You know, like collaborations to maybe record a podcast episode at the event.

So now there's a lot of new events coming on in my inbox, but I'm not getting super overwhelmed with it because this approach that I am using right now is really helping me to, to decide with confidence and in full alignment if I'm going or not. And if I'm not going, I don't have FOMO because I know this, this is a decision that I make for me.

So, I hope that this helps because for me, like I, I, guys, like, I love going to events. I love meeting people in person. Like I really, really do. And I think this is one of the coolest things about the Nomad space. Like, like I said, like a friend of mine is in Vienna and it was totally unexpected. I'm like, my God, you're here. So I love it. But I think that the most important thing is, is that you got to do what you, what you have capacity for and what really works for you. And if you just.

go without any purpose, without any sort of like intention to all of these events. Like you get a bit lost because also like you don't really know why you're going and it's hard to maybe connect this to your freedom business. So it's always good to go into towards things or to go into like new projects and things with a bit more intentionality. So you just naturally already feel more confident about it.

All right. So intentionality is super important in the digital nomad lifestyle and like where you find community, how you meet people, all of these things are decisions that you're going to make. Right. So I actually wrote a book. I have it here. It's called Digital Nomads with Confidence and I wrote it last two years ago already. And this is just based on conversations that I have with with guests on the podcast. And it talks like it answers one hundred and one questions.

Nienke Nina (27:34.222)

And it talks about all sorts of things that are everyday recurring topics of a digital nomad. So we're talking about the common fears. Like, what if I run out of money and what I have so many fears beforehand? What if I lose my stuff? Like all kinds of stuff. And then we also talk about remote work versus online entrepreneurship. Like what are the different ways of making money online? What is...

so to say better. There's nothing is better. Like it's more focused on what can work better for you, right? Alignment. I love that word. There's, we talk about community. We talk about how to create routines, which I really love the chapter because it's like we ask people like, okay, so what are you doing? Wake up and are you working right away? Are you going to the beach and like stuff like that? It's like all this like nitty gritty behind the scenes that we talk about. It's about packing. It's about dating.

Money mindset is so many things. So we will put the link in the show notes so you can grab that. And other than that, I hope I'm going to see you at one of the events. Just if you want to sort of like know where I go, I will probably update that more on my LinkedIn. But what I can already tell you is that I'm going to the Minoma Festival in November in the desert in Morocco.

It's a really cool event. There's limited tickets for this event, by the way. It's three days in the desert, distraction free. And yeah, it's just so mad. It's, it's magical. It's life changing. And I don't know, but I will take a few days off afterwards just to sort of like think about everything that I felt learned thought, like all of these things. Plus I'm going to the Nomad world in Abu Fera with Gonzalo. some of my friends like.

Hen is coming there, Dean is coming there. So those are also all nomads, nomads that have been on this podcast. So that's super amazing. And other than that, I think I'm going to take it a bit slow. So maybe I add one more event to it, but that's going to be it. All right, guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you have very specific questions about the digital nomad lifestyle, if there is a topic that you want us to bring back, if there is a nomad that hasn't been on this podcast yet, but you think that that nomad...

Nienke Nina (29:55.406)

should definitely part of this podcast. Please let us know. The best way to do that is to follow us on Instagram. It's at Digital Nomads Daily. And you can find also more tips there about how to build your digital nomad lifestyle in a way that feels in full alignment to your needs and your wishes and your dreams and your desires. All right, that's it for now. Happy nomading and cheers from Vienna.