The year was 2017. After my calamity in Japan, I realized that if I wanted to keep traveling long-term, I needed to find a way to make money while I did it. I was already freelancing as a Graphic Designer, but they were in-house gigs in New York– hardly conducive to taking my act on the road.

If I wanted to keep traveling long-term, I needed to find a way to make money while I did it.

But I had a bad case of the wanderlust and was determined to find a way to work remotely. Enter Upwork.

Upwork is a freelancing platform that’s been around forever (formerly called ‘ODesk’, I believe). I went to a Panera Bread one Autumn day, made a profile, applied to some gigs… and much to my surprise, I had closed my first client that same afternoon.

It wasn’t much… maybe $20 per hour designing some icons or something. But it was fun work, and it gave me the naive confidence that maybe I could take this thing on the road.

And so with another late-night bottle of white wine (because that worked out so well for Japan), I booked a one-way ticket to Barcelona. Not sure how I landed on that one– probably it was the cheapest… but regardless, Spain was the spot.

After booking a private room in an AirBNB for the first month for about $550, I had a whopping $1,100 in my checking account. But hey, I just figured I would find more remote clients when I got there.

If I could find one client in an afternoon at a Panera, imagine what I could do with multiple months in Europe.

If I could find one client in an afternoon at a Panera, imagine what I could do with multiple months in Europe.

I left for Spain in late-January of 2017

It was just after Trump’s first inauguration. I remember because I was a ‘Bernie-or-bust’ guy that election cycle… so a one-way trip to Europe at this point in time felt quite serendipitous.

I remember feeling the same sort of excitement as when I was leaving for Japan, but this time it was backed up by the confidence of remote work. Little did I know, the digital nomad life would yield its own special blend of introductory calamity.

I was flying high on the taxi ride to my AirBNB. The European architecture, the Spanish signs, cafes and bars nestled inside seemingly ancient (by American standards) buildings… it was intoxicating.

The first hiccup… blowing my host’s electrical fuse

The AirBNB was owned by a married couple, who also lived there. In addition to them, there were two other private AirBNB rooms occupied by a couple of twenty-something year-old guys who I would later befriend.

The wife let me in when I arrived and showed me around the place. It was nice– though my bed sheets were pink with flowers on them. Small details.

I had some work to finish for my Upwork client, so I plugged my cheap EU-to-US outlet adapter into a power strip.

Bad idea.

The whole apartment went dark and both the power strip and my adapter were fried. My host popped her head in– visibly concerned and visibly annoyed (understandably). What a great introduction– I was mortified.

I apologized profusely as she sought to fix the breakers and the frazzled WiFi router. Everything was back up and running within 30 minutes or so, but I was now without the means to charge my laptop… my lifeline!

For added context here, I was paranoid about pleasing my clients at this point in my freelancing career. In my mind, one bad review would wreck future prospects on Upwork, and I’d be forced to abandon my digital nomad dreams.

Today, when setbacks occur… that’s just the way it is. Clients will understand, and if they don’t, then they’re not worth being clients. But at this time, it was imperative in my mind that I found a solution ASAP.

I finished what work I could with the laptop power I had left, and then ventured into the streets of Barcelona to find a new adapter.

A TV repair shop to the rescue

It was already dusk, and many shops were already beginning to close. What’s more is that this was a new city, in a new country, and I had no idea where to go for an adapter. It’s not like I could just run to the nearest Best Buy.

The stores all had different names, I had next to no cell data for research/navigation, and I was frantic about having a working laptop.

After a few misses at shops that seemed hopeful, I wandered into a storefront with a bunch of electronics in the window. Turns out that it was a TV repair shop.

The man behind the counter was an older gentleman, but friendly. I muscled through some broken Spanish and hand gestured to try and explain my conundrum. Finally, he held up a European plug and a pair of scissors.

His proposed solution was cut off the US plug and solder on the EU one. Not the solution I had in mind, but hey… I didn’t have any plans on returning to the US any time in the immediate future, so I figured ‘what the heck?’.

He said he needed an hour and like 25 euros.

‘Awesome’, I thought to myself as I breathed a sigh of relief. He got to work and I went to grab a beer.

Things started looking up from this point

I had a working laptop charger, and a working laptop– I was cooking with gas. I did some grocery shopping, met my roommates, and started to settle into Barcelona.

I even found a co-working space to work from. I had gone by a few trendy ones in the trendy Born district… but they were expensive– populated by developers and established designers who were surely charging more than $20 per hour.

So, I ended up at a place I found in the newer, more industrial part of Barcelona. It was in a repurposed warehouse that was filled with scrappy startups, art studios, and otherwise Bohemian people.

I had to take a sketchy freight elevator up to my floor… room enough for a person or two and the doors (gate) had to be manually closed. It rattled and creaked all the way up.

It ended up being a cool spot though. It was a loft-style space. The woman who ran it was working remotely for Apple, and there were a couple of other freelancers/entrepreneurs in the space.

My first week was starting to shape up quite nicely. I was in a real groove– I was socializing with my roommates, I had leads on a couple of new clients, and I was taking some awesome photos around Barcelona with my awesome, new Sony A-Series camera.

Walking to-and-from my co-working space each day, past breath-takingly beautiful buildings and Gaudi landmarks felt like a dream. Such an upgrade from Winter in New Jersey.

The second, much larger, hiccup. Not even hiccup; it was an exorcism

I was walking back from my co-working space one evening. It was like my fourth or fifth day in Barcelona. I was around La Rambla and decided to stop in somewhere for a beer or two.

I landed on a place called ‘The Traveller’s Bar’… probably not a great decision in retrospect.

Things were going great at first. The bartender was from the US, and there was a family sitting next to me that were from the UK. We were all having some great conversation. I had put my backpack down by my feet, as I’d done at countless bars in New York.

Then a couple came in. The woman asked the bartender, “Do you have dark beer?”. The bartender paused, perplexed by the question, and then affirmed that they did.

The couple then left with some haste without buying anything. The bartender and I looked quizzically at each other before her eyes suddenly widened.

“You had a backpack, didn’t you?”, she asked.

My stomach jumped into my chest. I looked down, and sure enough, it was gone!

I rushed out the bar and into the crowded labyrinth outside. I ran, frantically, around the block a couple of times with my eyes peeled for a tan backpack. It couldn’t have been more than a minute between the time they left, and the time I noticed.

But they were gone. Along with my Macbook Pro, my Sony camera, and the backpack itself… a very nice purchase from J.Crew.

Defeated, I returned to the bar.

“Yeah, that’s the one thing that sucks about Barcelona… the petty theft”, the bartender exclaimed.

I think she just felt bad and uncomfortable, but I hardly classified losing $2500 worth of stuff as ‘petty’.

A familiar depression

Similarly to the aftermath of my hijinks in Japan, I spent the following day ensconced in my room. I felt defeated. The week was shaping up so well, and now I was back on my butt.

But this time, I pulled myself together a bit more hastily. A day later, I found the Apple store in Barcelona and charged a new Macbook to my credit card. For the few years to follow, it was a whole lot easier to type the Euro symbol (silver linings, am I right?).

The camera was a loss though. And I’ve been shooting either 35mm or cell phone photos ever since. I’m not sure why I never replaced the camera.

I’d like to say that this was the last time that I was robbed in Barcelona (you’d think I’d have learned my lesson), but as it turns out I’m a slow and stubborn learner.

As it turns out I’m a slow and stubborn learner.

However, to this day, I wrap my backpack strap around my leg whenever I go anywhere with it.

That was my final introductory hiccup to the digital nomad life

I’d go on to have more setbacks and snafus, but Barcelona got a whole lot better from that point on. The client work was going okay, I was having a great time with newfound friends, and I really came to love the city.

I guess this first week was just my digital nomad proving ground.

This first week was just my digital nomad proving ground.

But do heed the warnings about pick-pocketing and theft in Barcelona– it’s really on another level. Keep your wallet in your front pocket and wrap your bags around your legs.

And don’t be an oblivious goofball like me.