His Journey From Silicon Valley Executive to Location Independence with Global Nomad Pass Founder Safir Jamal | EP 1

Get Your Free Guide: 7 Ways to Become a Digital Nomad
https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/

Ever wonder how successful digital nomads manage their work-life balance while traveling the world?

Ryan has an insightful conversation with Safir Jamal, a former Procter & Gamble executive who traded his Silicon Valley office for the ability to work from 70 countries while building a thriving business.

He shares his journey from corporate executive to location-independent entrepreneur, revealing practical strategies that took him years to discover. You'll learn how to maintain productivity across time zones, build meaningful connections in new cities, and avoid the common pitfalls that derail many aspiring digital nomads.

Chapters:
14:19 - How the pandemic prompted relocation
21:52 - Struggles with balancing work and leisure activities
37:01 - What you must do before becoming remote
40:53 - How to always ensure Airbnb Wi-Fi is reliable first

Safir breaks down his morning routine secrets, shares clever tricks for vetting accommodation wifi before booking, and explains how he and his wife navigate their relationship while working remotely around the globe.

From critical pre-departure preparations to proven strategies for building community abroad, Safir's insights will help you avoid costly mistakes and accelerate your path to location independence.

Plus, learn about globalnomadpass.com, an innovative way he's helping digital nomads save money and discover hidden gems in cities around the world.

Listen and learn exactly what you need to do before taking the leap into the digital nomad lifestyle.

Get Your Free Guide: 7 Ways to Become a Digital Nomad
https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/freeguide

MORE FROM RYAN MELLON

Follow Ryan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedigitalnomadcoach/

Learn how to be a Digital Nomad: https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/

Please Support the Show

• Share this episode with a friend or family member
• Give a Review on Spotify
• Give a Review on Apple

DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical coworking spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Chapters

• 14:19 How the pandemic prompted relocation
• 21:52 Struggles with balancing work and leisure activities
• 37:01 What you must do before becoming remote

Transcript

[00:00:00] 

Ryan Mellon: Are you tired of staring at the same office walls, dreaming of working from exotic destinations, but scared to take the first step? Today, on the premiere episode of Digital Nomad Nation, I sat down with Safir Jamal, founder of Global Nomad Pass and a seasoned digital nomad who's worked from over 70 countries.

Ryan Mellon: As a former Procter Gamble executive who left his corporate life in Silicon Valley, Safir knows exactly what it takes to transition from the 9 to 5 grind to location freedom. Safir shares his practical approach to living the digital nomad lifestyle, including his morning routine secrets, how he maintains a healthy work schedule across time zones, and his clever trick for making sure your Airbnb actually has good Wi Fi before booking.

Ryan Mellon: Stick around until the end because Sophia reveals three crucial steps you need to take before making the leap to become a digital nomad. Including one insurance tip that could save you thousands in an emergency abroad. Ready to turn your dreams of working remotely into reality? [00:01:00] Let's dive into the very first episode of Digital Nomad Nation.

Ryan Mellon: [00:02:00] Hey guys, welcome to Digital Nomad Nation. And today I have Safir Jamal with us. Welcome Safir.

Safir Jamal: Hey, thanks Ryan.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah, it's good to have you. so where are you from and where are you at now?

Safir Jamal: Yeah, so I am Canadian originally, but I'm currently, in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Ryan Mellon: Oh wow. So what led you to Morocco and what's the, uh, big attraction there in Morocco for you?

Safir Jamal: You know, I've been here many times before, and, I just love it. the weather is beautiful, Moroccan food is probably some of the most interesting cuisine I've ever had anywhere in the world. It's really unique, a lot of mix of sweet and savoury flavours, it's really great. I speak French, so, the local language here, combination of French and Arabic, it's really easy for me to get around.

Safir Jamal: And, yeah, the country's changed a lot since the last time I was here, which was several years ago. So I like coming back to places that I know I've had a good time in. And, you know, if I come back several years later, I [00:03:00] just can kind of see what's changed, what's different. And it's a good time here.

Safir Jamal: Awesome. Yeah. Morocco is on my list. Yeah. You should definitely check it out. It's awesome.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah, absolutely. so tell me, how long have you been there? How long are you planning on staying in Morocco?

Safir Jamal: I've been here for about a week so far and I'll probably be here for another two weeks actually. So yeah, just under a month in total.

Ryan Mellon: In general, is that about how often you stay in a place? Do you move every few weeks, or like, what kind of dictates that?

Safir Jamal: Yeah, you know, it's, it's really interesting because, I think originally I was traveling, to places for longer periods of time and, there's definitely a lot of advantages that come from that and just kind of having a little bit more stability, building a bit more of a routine and a lifestyle around that.

Safir Jamal: but I actually find that it changes for me, during the year. So, when we're in the summer months, there's usually a lot of events happening. And so, as I'm going to different events, it means that I'm probably not in a particular place for, you know, the one month as I would have otherwise been. For me, a lot of it is like the [00:04:00] event schedule, and there's events within the Digital Nomad community, there's entrepreneurial events, there's a whole bunch of different reasons for me to go to physical gatherings.

Safir Jamal: And usually if I'm traveling to those gatherings, I'm not coming back to the same place that I was in right before. you know, if I'm going to go for a week event, I don't necessarily want to pay for a week's worth of Airbnb. If I'm not going to be there during that time, right? And pay for that twice somewhere.

Safir Jamal: So yeah, I just find that now with a lot of events and I'm much more active in events, that's kind of dictating my schedule. So if anything, I'm actually traveling, probably more often than I would even like.

Ryan Mellon: Okay. I gotcha. And I saw, uh, on your social media, it looks like the business that you run, has recently got an award from an event. So, do you want to talk a little bit about that?

Safir Jamal: Yeah, happy to. Yeah. So, my company is called Global Nomad Pass, and it's a membership that rewards digital nomads for supporting local businesses all around the world. So we partner with cafes, restaurants, coworking spaces, co living, fitness studios, barbershops, salons, spas, and we negotiate [00:05:00] exclusive discounts with the business owners.

Safir Jamal: And so we sell a membership, which takes the form of like a wallet pass, just like a boarding pass that goes into your Google or Apple wallet on your phone. And then whenever you go to any of these establishments, you just show your phone, you show the membership pass on your phone, and right away, they take off anywhere from, you know, 10 to 50 percent right off your bill.

Safir Jamal: So great, great way for nomads to save money around the world, great way to support local businesses as well. And these are hidden gems, right? You're not finding these places on like the TripAdvisor rankings. These are where locals go. So, you know, a good place for you to, a good way for you to go and discover some really cool hidden gems.

Safir Jamal: and the businesses love it because we're bringing them customers that otherwise would have probably never known about them too. So it's a nice win win there. 

Safir Jamal: and, and yeah, the, the word you mentioned, we were named as the most innovative nomad product of 2024 by, uh, the New World Awards actually last month in Portugal.

Safir Jamal: So yeah, really great, recognition for the work that we're doing.

Ryan Mellon: Congratulations. That sounds awesome. And, I've seen the site and definitely going to have to download the app. And [00:06:00] on my next trip, I saw Bali is on there. I'll be heading to Bali for six months and, uh, about, 18 days. So I'm excited and, uh, definitely gonna have to check it out and see some of the spots on there that you guys have.

Ryan Mellon: So, you, you mentioned that it's local businesses that you guys work with and that they're hidden gems. So like, how do you find these places and get the, owners to, sign up with you guys?

Safir Jamal: yes. What we do is we hire local teams. you know, as much as like a place like Bali. I love it. I've been there many times, but I can't pretend that I know where the hi local hidden gems in Bali or of all the destinations around the world are right. It really comes down to us having local people on the ground.

Safir Jamal: So we hire local teams. They know their city best and they're the ones who we give them the criteria. We train them very, very rigorously. We take quality control very seriously because these have to be high quality establishments that we're recommending to our base of users. [00:07:00] But with all this criteria in mind, they're the ones who are actually going and identifying the businesses and curating this list of partners.

Safir Jamal: So, it's a lot of places that they themselves would go because they're locals and they know where the local hangout spots are. And, you know, they know the best restaurants and cafes, et cetera. And then they're the ones also going and discussing with the business owners, usually in local language and building that in person relationship and telling them just about all the benefits of joining Global Notepass.

Safir Jamal: it is a selective process. So not every business that wants to be part of our network can be, right. We like to think of it kind of like the Michelin star system where you have to go and be awarded the status of being a best hidden gem by Global

Safir Jamal: Nomad Pass. And then we negotiate the discount with the owner.

Safir Jamal: we've got a contractual agreement in place with the business establishment as well. you know, a lot of times what you'll see is they display on their window, a purple badge that says that they've been selected as a Global Nomad Pass subscriber.

Ryan Mellon: Okay.

Safir Jamal: Kind of like the TripAdvisor Green Certificate of Excellence, similar.

Safir Jamal: and every year they've got to re earn that status again, just like a Michelin [00:08:00] star. Right. So we take, we take quality control very seriously and make sure that anytime any of our users is going there, they're going to have a good experience.

Ryan Mellon: I love it. So you mentioned that you, work with the locals to find the best places. And, you know, in my experience as a traveler, you know, anytime you ask the locals where a great restaurant is, or like, what's, what's the most popular restaurant, oftentimes they'll tell you, well, Where they think you should go as a tourist where all the tourists go So in the past I realized that you really need to change up that question and you say hey Where is your favorite spot?

Ryan Mellon: Where is your favorite bar restaurant club beach hangout, you know And then they change their the gears change and you usually get a different recommendation. You're not end up At the place where all the tourists are. So I really like that you guys have done that. It makes, makes a lot of sense that, getting those lists from the locals is, is really the way to [00:09:00] go.

Safir Jamal: Yeah. And it's an interesting point as well, because a lot of, the questions that you're, you're mentioning, right. In terms of where the best restaurant is. you're putting the local in a position where they're playing tour guide, right? And when you're playing tour guide, you're usually giving recommendations that you think your audience is going to want.

Safir Jamal: and, and in this case, that, that is still the same motivation that they're giving recommendations that the audience is going to want, but the audience is different. That's the different piece here is that our audience is not tourists. This is, I mean, it's called Global Nomad Pass for a reason. It's specifically designed for digital nomads.

Safir Jamal: You know, the motivation for a digital nomad to travel is very different. We're not traveling and, you know, going and seeing all the. The historical landmarks. We're not going to the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and all of these places when we're traveling. We're actually living there, right? We're living there for periods of time.

Safir Jamal: So we don't want to go where the tourists go because we're not tourists, right? Uh, you know, I mentioned we have co working spaces, fitness studios. I mean, which tourists are looking at fitness studios when they're traveling abroad? Probably not too many, right? Who's looking at nail salons and barbershops in tourist [00:10:00] destinations?

Safir Jamal: Probably not too many, but if you're going to be there for a month, yeah, you probably need a haircut at some point. You probably do want to go to where the locals would suggest the best barbershop is. so there's a very different, audience profile, which is why that local insight is super helpful, but it's also super relatable to them because they're also living there.

Safir Jamal: So they're telling you, Hey, like this is my barber. This is where I go. You should totally go and like ask for this person and get an amazing haircut. And by the way, with global notepads, you get 25 percent off your haircut.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Awesome. Cool. So take me back to, years back before you were a digital nomad. were you working a nine to five? Were you, were you running a business? What were you doing?

Safir Jamal: Yeah. I spent, over a decade, in corporate life. So, yeah, I'm, I'm Canadian. I grew up in Toronto. I went to business school in Canada as well. and then, Pretty much built my career in the U. S. I lived in Boston for about six years, and I was working for Procter and Gamble, specifically on the Gillette brand.

Safir Jamal: So I was in consumer packaged goods. I was, in brand management and eventually moved into global strategy roles where I was [00:11:00] living in Boston, but I was leading global strategy for Gillette. So it's traveling to Brazil, China, India, Japan, Nigeria, just building this global behemoth of a brand. overseas.

Safir Jamal: And I loved it. I loved the fact that I was dealing with people from different cultures and, really building a business internationally. and it kind of proved to myself that not only do I love the international aspect of my work, my, my life, but it forced me to use different languages. It forced me to connect to people from different cultures.

Safir Jamal: And I loved that feeling. And I always told myself that I wanted to recreate that in various other chapters of my life later on. Like this was a great opportunity for me to hone my skills, but, I was like, I can do this in various capacities in the future. I just have to find the right opportunity. So I think that was like the right time to at least start planting the seed for building an international career.

Safir Jamal: and I did that for a number of years and then moved to Silicon Valley. my wife and I, we, lived there for a number of years as well, still working in corporate, for, you know, different companies over there. And then what was interesting is [00:12:00] I started getting much more exposure to the startup ecosystem.

Safir Jamal: So just by virtue of living in Silicon Valley, You know, everyone and their mother has a side hustle. You go into every coffee shop. Everyone's talking about the latest investment round. I mean, you just become so consumed by this ecosystem that, you almost don't have a choice to, to be part of it, right?

Safir Jamal: It's just pick your role, but you're going to be part of it in some way. You know, at the time I was, I was working corporate, so I didn't really have much exposure to it, but I always had an entrepreneurial desire. I had tinkered with a few different things on the side beforehand. And so, You know, slowly, slowly over the number of years that I lived in, in Silicon Valley, became connected to the right people, became familiar with angel investing, started getting a little bit more involved in startup operations, and then, you know, joined a startup and then eventually became a co founder of a startup as well.

Safir Jamal: So, that was, that was very much my journey, but, you know, during that time we were living in the Bay area, right? We had an apartment in San Francisco. We were living there. and this was all kind of just what we expected life and its trajectory to be, up until the pandemic. And then many other people, including us, [00:13:00] kind of revalued some life choices as soon as the pandemic hit.

Ryan Mellon: Okay. So at what point did you make the transition from living in the Bay Area, living a typical American or lifestyle, to, traveling?

Safir Jamal: So, what's interesting about my relationship with travel is that, I feel like I was actually born into it. So, I, like I said, I grew up in Toronto, but my mom used to work for Lufthansa, the German airline. And so, as a family, we were very fortunate to have travel benefits. so we had, you know, super cheap, airline tickets.

Safir Jamal: And so as a family, We used to travel all around the world all the time. Like, I missed school left, right, and center because we were going to Switzerland. We were going to Kenya. We were going to Brazil. so I was very fortunate to be exposed to travel from my family. And because of that growing up, particularly in a multicultural city like Toronto, I had exposure to people from different cultures and I spoke different languages.

Safir Jamal: I was always very interested in the world. So that, part of my brain was always very, very exposed to travel and this whole international life, life [00:14:00] aspect. and then of course, you know, I picked. I take a job at Procter and Gamble, specifically in global strategy, where I'm now working, and so travel becomes my work.

Safir Jamal: And, you know, everything was kind of centered around that. So then even when I was living in the Bay Area and, you know, working a job that was physically based in San Francisco, my wife and I would travel as vacations, right? So we were always very, very well traveled. I speak five languages. I've been to over 70 countries around the world.

Safir Jamal: And, All of this has just been part of my own, interest and just my own passion for the world. and then it's really when the pandemic came around that we started just reevaluating all of our choices and said, well, why are we paying San Francisco rent prices when we don't actually have to go into the office anymore?

Safir Jamal: why are we paying California taxes when again, like, do we really need to be in California? you know, San Francisco also changed a lot. there's a lot of social issues, right? Whether it's homelessness and drugs and just in general, it became a less desirable place to live. And many people, started moving away.

Safir Jamal: And it's really during the time where you start to just ask yourself, like, what's keeping me here for a long time? You had an [00:15:00] answer to that question, which is, well, my job is keeping me here. My team is keeping me here. I have a physical reason to be here. but as soon as that goes away, do we really need to be here?

Safir Jamal: Or can we continue to work our jobs? remotely. We're already working from home. Well, why does home have to be in San Francisco? Why can't home be, you know, in Thailand or in Turkey or wherever it was? And so again, like many other people, it's really the pandemic that allowed us to become truly remote and to work, from abroad.

Safir Jamal: And then because I think we were already so passionate about travel and already had so much exposure to travel. It was a no brainer decision for us. I mean, we were just itching, to kind of live this lifestyle, but it's almost like we were born for it because we were very, very exposed to travel in various capacities, our whole lives.

Safir Jamal: Both my wife and I are on the same page about that.

Ryan Mellon: Okay. Very cool. Any experiences as a child or trips that really stick out in your mind that, were a game changer for you?

Safir Jamal: So many, you know, there's, I'd say a few different ways to answer that question [00:16:00] there. I've definitely been to some exotic places, so, I've been to Kenya and Tanzania and done a lot of really cool safaris and kind of been up close with, you know, cheetahs and elephants and lions and stuff in the safaris, which is always a really cool experience.

Safir Jamal: I traveled probably to the most exotic place I've ever been to, which is Tajikistan. Uh, so that was really interesting, because. It's definitely not a tourism hotspot in any shape or form, you know, language barriers. Also, the, the weather is really, really tough during the winter, and I happen to go during February, so it was bitterly cold.

Safir Jamal: there's no insulation, there's no heating in the housing. you know, I'm Canadian, so like, I know winter, and like, I was freezing. but it's super cool because it's so untouched by tourists, so you really get like an authentic view of how life is. it was, it was probably one of the most eye opening experiences in my life, just kind of going through.

Safir Jamal: we went trekking in the mountains there, and stunning scenery, really, really nice. the food is amazing, so really enjoyed that experience as well. you know, I've been to, to Fiji, which exactly what you see on the, on the Fiji water bottle, right? Like beautiful beaches and kind of [00:17:00] untouched, natural, like just tropical landscapes, which is really nice.

Safir Jamal: So, yeah, I mean, I, I, I'm very fortunate that I've had the chance to travel a lot in my life. and again, like before becoming a full-time, digital nomad. These are the experiences that kind of already taught me that I knew what I wanted in my life. I just wanted more of those, but it's hard because you've got to figure out a way to move all the pieces in your life in a way that configures correctly to this.

Safir Jamal: Like can you work from abroad? Can you earn an income from abroad? Can you actually sustain your life abroad? Not just financially, but emotionally, logistically, operationally, there's so many other things to think about. And so, I think we had a headstart. because we already knew we liked traveling and we wanted more of it.

Safir Jamal: There's some people who don't know that they like that actually, and so they're really coming into this for the first time, not having spent an extended period of time traveling. We weren't in that camp. We already knew we liked traveling, and so we were all for kind of leading into that in, in a greater capacity to figure out how we can make this work for us.

Ryan Mellon: hmm. Okay. So, did you guys start out working, like, traveling while, still working, or was it Gillette when you started [00:18:00] to travel and work remotely?

Safir Jamal: It wasn't actually. So at that time, I was a co founder of a startup. I had, my whole team for the most part was based in the Bay Area. and so we had a physical office, we were meeting in person every day. but then as soon as the pandemic hit, everyone was working remotely. So, It allowed for me to continue to work remotely, but just do so from really remotely, if you will.

Safir Jamal: and I didn't for, for, from what it's worth, like for what it's worth, I didn't know where my team was physically based, right? A lot of them were no longer in the Bay area. A lot of them, because of the pandemic, like they'd gone back to, you know, you know, their hometowns or where their families where their aging parents where I mean, the pandemic was a scary time for everyone.

Safir Jamal: And you just wanted to be close to your loved ones. So not everyone actually stayed in the area. And from a company perspective, we didn't know when we were all going to go back into the office. So it didn't make sense for us to restrict anyone's movement in that in that way. but, I think what was fascinating is we just realized that work still happened.

Safir Jamal: Work still got done. We were all still productive. In fact, more so, right. We were all working longer [00:19:00] hours, but more productive hours, like stuff was happening. We were getting things done. We were shipping product. It was actually a great. period, professionally speaking. So I had no issues whatsoever with my team, nor with myself, being able to actually travel and work remotely.

Safir Jamal: Like, so long as the work gets done, I really didn't care where anybody was based. And the same logic would apply to me that nobody really asked, I mean, they'd ask me like, Oh, like, you know, where are you? And I'm like, Oh, you know, I'm in Montenegro. Oh, that's awesome. Like, where's Montenegro?the work was getting done.

Safir Jamal: And so we very quickly evolved into this, fully remote culture and never looked back.

Ryan Mellon: Awesome. Awesome. So, so you're working and traveling. How do you manage, your work life balance, right? You're in a cool place you want to explore, but you also have meetings and,long to do list. I imagine most days. So what are some of the things that you do to help? Keep you both a productive and be not, so much inside and so involved in your work that you're not able to see the place that [00:20:00] you're, that you're in.

Ryan Mellon: Okay.

Safir Jamal: but I'm much better at it now than I was before. And I think it's a constant process. So, so long as I'm Getting better day by day. That's how I look at it, but I don't think anyone has nailed this perfectly To be honest, it's actually not that different from work life balance in a non nomad context Like very few people would say that they have true work life balance in their day to day Even if they're not traveling around, right?

Safir Jamal: Like work life balance is just an elusive concept in general Now for me, there's been a few things that have definitely worked. One is I need routine. I need to make sure that I'm waking up at the same time every day. I need to know what I'm doing in the mornings. Am I working out and then am I having breakfast?

Safir Jamal: Am I showering and then am I getting started in my work? Am I just, if every day is a toss up, it's hard to mentally prepare for that. and again, that's actually not that different from my pre nomad life. I need routine at all times. It's just a way to get the best out of me and become my most productive self.

Safir Jamal: So routine is really, really important. I think when it comes to traveling, what's [00:21:00] hard about routine. Is that there's a lot of variables, right? You don't know. Are you going to be in the same place? do you have a set workspace all the time or are you going to co working spaces and cafes every day? are you socializing with people so?

Safir Jamal: From that respect you have to intentionally set routine, right? So it's like, no, I'm going to book, let's say an Airbnb. I know that the Airbnb has a dedicated workspace. I'm going to work from that workspace from 9am to 5pm. I definitely want to socialize. I definitely want to explore, but I'm going to do that after I've logged off.

Safir Jamal: So after 5pm and on weekends, I allow myself to do that. So that's the, the discipline that it takes, to really kind of carve that out. So routine is one for The other thing for me is recognizing that I want to take advantage of where I am, right? And I want to eat the local food and I want to go and explore and, you know, go hiking or whatever the, the local activities are. I try to reserve that for weekends. So,some people are different. Somebody like, Hey, like I love the ability to, you know, surf in the mornings and then take meetings in the afternoons. I'm not one of those people, for me. When I'm in work mode, I'm in work [00:22:00] mode, and it's difficult for me to kind of oscillate between the two.

Safir Jamal: because I feel like when I'm not in work mode, let's say if, you know, I'm at the beach or, you know, I'm not a surfer, but if I was, if I'm surfing, I don't know if I could actually enjoy it because mentally I'm like, oh, I've been thinking about all the emails I have and all the meetings I have this afternoon and everything else I have to do.

Safir Jamal: Like, am I actually enjoying that? Or. Would I enjoy this way more if it was on a Saturday when I'm actually not working and I'm fully present and actually, you know, able to enjoy the activity? So for me, I've been, struggling with that for a long time, but what's worked for me in the end is just carving out time on the weekends to do weekend type activities.

Safir Jamal: but I'm not good at being able to do both during the week. Some people are better at it than others. So you got to find out what works for you. so that, that's definitely something on, on, on the, the exploration front. And then the other thing I would say is that. Try to be good on yourself. Like, recognize that you're not gonna get this right.

Safir Jamal: You're gonna be distracted at some times. And that's okay. Like, that's part of this. You gotta figure out what works for you and, be kind to yourself and be a little bit forgiving. for example, I remember I always used to say, Oh, well, you know, I'm gonna take a [00:23:00] flight in the morning so that I arrive in my new destination in the afternoon and then I can work that afternoon and I can take meetings.

Safir Jamal: Well, guess what? My flight gets delayed, and then I'm not able to get to my new accommodation in time, I don't have Wi Fi, I'm stuck in a taxi, there's more traffic than I expected, whatever it is. And I was just stressing myself out for no reason. So now, for me, just mentally, I say, travel days are not work days.

Safir Jamal: just just don't even plan, right? Get work done. It's a bonus because you know, hopefully, I am able to still get some work done, but don't plan meetings. Don't plan any major deliverables or anything. Those days travel days are truly not work days. If you get anything done, treat it as a bonus, but don't expect that for yourself.

Safir Jamal: And ever since I've done that, you know, I've just been happier, much happier because I don't, get disappointed because travel logistics are out of my control and inevitably we all know this, things go wrong. Right. And then there's nothing you can do about it.

Ryan Mellon: absolutely. And taking a meeting in a crowded airport and you're also pressed to get on a plane and all that and wifi it's, it's stressful. And so it's, it's not good for [00:24:00] you. It's not good for the people you're meeting as well. So, I think that's a good idea to. To give yourself some time. I even sometimes when I get to a new location, I'll give myself if possible a couple days, you know, like a travel day plus two or three days.

Ryan Mellon: That way, when I get to the new place, I can just run around and kind of get some of the new place, but, vibes out of my system, and put. Things on the list that were cool that I want to explore later on the weekends. And then it's a little bit easier to kind of like get back into work mode after you caught a little bit out of that, a little bit out of your system and 

Ryan Mellon: then go from there.

Ryan Mellon: So, you totally mentioned, you mentioned, having a routine. So like mainly is like your morning routine. how do you deal with that? Yeah. If you're changing time zones and do you change time zones like in a large way, like, or did you stay in a certain region? 

Ryan Mellon: I, I don't region block. I know some people do because they don't want too much of a [00:25:00] time zone difference. For me, it, it never really works out well when I do that because, you know, inevitably there's a reason for me to go somewhere and might be a few time zones away, but I mean, I still want to go for whether it's business or personal reasons, it makes sense to go.

Safir Jamal: So, I am sometimes switching time zones. Yes. I always try to adjust to the new time zone, as quickly as possible. And for me, that means like, as soon as I arrived in that time zone, get on that time zone right away. Like even if I arrive and it's 10 PM, go to bed by 12, right? Like, you're not exploring anything at 10 PM.

Safir Jamal: Let's be real, right? So like, just get settled in and go to bed, and just get on the new time zone. So for me, that first night, of sleep when you arrive in the time zone sets the tone for like the next three days. and so I do whatever I possibly can to whether it's if I arrive there and it's morning and I maybe I haven't slept before and like, oh, you know, I would really like a nap.

Safir Jamal: No, like push through because otherwise it's going to throw off the whole cycle, right? So I really just I'll arrive. It's morning. Okay, let's let's have breakfast. Let's, you know, get whatever I need. [00:26:00] Let's push through until that night when I can sleep and get on the time zone. that's that's my methodology.

Safir Jamal: Maybe other people have different approaches, but for me, this is what works best because I don't, I don't have jet lag issues if I'm able to do this correctly. right. So it's that first day that really sets the tone for everything there. The other thing to think about is when it comes to routine, I, regardless of where in the world I am, I like to keep the same bedtime and the same wake up time.

Safir Jamal: So, you know, if it's, 12 to 7. It's 12 to 7. Like, it doesn't matter. It's 12 to 7 anywhere. But like, get on to that time. Because, for me, that's what allows my body to just still have some muscle memory of remembering what time it is to wake up and what time it is to kind of get my day settled as well.

Ryan Mellon: Okay. I like that. Do you have a lot of in person meetings during your day or not in person, but like a remote zoom type.

Safir Jamal: I do. I do. what I've tried to do to be a bit more, I guess flexible, especially [00:27:00] when I'm meeting with people and our time zones don't always align. So we might have to take either early mornings or late night meetings. That's fine. And sometimes that's going to happen, but I'm more careful about how often I do that.

Safir Jamal: So

Ryan Mellon: Okay.

Safir Jamal: It's not normal for me to have a 10 p. m. meeting, let's say, but maybe it's necessary because that's the only time the other person can meet, given our, our opposite time zones. And so if that's the case, that's fine, but I shouldn't be taking 10 p. m. meetings every single day. So what I'll do is I'll say, okay, you know what, maybe there's this one day, let's just say it's the Thursday, I'll take like three or four odd hour meetings and I'll just block a certain period of time and I'll get them all done that one day.

Safir Jamal: This way it might disrupt my Thursday schedule, but it's not going to disrupt my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday schedule, right? So I, I'm trying to be a bit more intentional about that kind of stuff because it does happen and you have to work around it, but, I'd rather be inconvenienced on one day versus having minor inconveniences on, you know, four or

Ryan Mellon: All the days. Yeah, that'll really wreck your week and make you not love your work and travel. [00:28:00] I've definitely been on, late night Business calls where I'm out and around the nightlife. And I have, I'm just walking as far as I possibly can to not sound like I'm in a club right 

Ryan Mellon: now. But we're, we're talking business and it's 8 AM for the guy on the other line.

Ryan Mellon: So yeah, it's, You don't want to, every once in a while that's okay, but it's definitely not something that you want to do every

Ryan Mellon: day, 

Ryan Mellon: so. 

Safir Jamal: at all.

Ryan Mellon: So, you mentioned you're traveling with your wife, so, is it just the two of you that are traveling together? 

Safir Jamal: Yeah, it's the two of us. And, we, we both have jobs that we can do remotely. I mean, I run, I run a business, so I have full flexibility, and, she can work remotely. So it gives us the flexibility to travel together. And, you know, it's been fantastic because, you know, we create new life experiences together.

Safir Jamal: It helps build and strengthen our relationship. you know, we were there for each other during the pandemic. during those moments where, you know, it can otherwise be really lonely, otherwise. So, it's great, [00:29:00] and it really has helped our relationship, and it's strengthened our marriage, no question about it.

Safir Jamal: I will say, however, that we don't always travel together. So, there are times where, if I've got to go to a particular destination for an event, or she's got a client meeting that she's got to take somewhere, and she's got to travel for that, it might not make sense for the other person to go and, just be there, right?

Safir Jamal: So, where possible, we will travel to a place together if we both have like the same desire to be in that new destination together. But, it's not like we're just because, you know, she can come on a particular business trip with me, or I can go on a particular business trip with her doesn't mean that I would want to, right.

Safir Jamal: So it's also important to figure out, you What works for each of you and like maybe that's going to alter my productivity and we're already traveling a lot. Does it really make sense for one of us to travel an extra step just because we want to be with the other person? Maybe if it's only for a short period of time, we're okay being apart for that.

Safir Jamal: So it's very situational specific. And we, and we talk about this almost every day, just to kind of look at the upcoming schedule, what makes sense, and if we want to synchronize or if we want to do our own [00:30:00] thing. And that's healthy too, I think, right? It's, it's really good for us to be able to have some time to just go to the places that we want to go to and not feel like, you know, we're both just.

Safir Jamal: Going to the same places just because we can just because you can doesn't mean you always have to.

Ryan Mellon: Sure. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. And that makes sense. And I like that you guys are like communicating and flexible about it. I think it's important for like the people listening, thinking like, you know, we have two different careers and how does that work and traveling together and, and just being able to take those breaks and take that business trip and kind of do it solo, is, is a good idea.

Ryan Mellon: How about, When you guys are in a place for an extended period of time, do you guys, find it easy to, to, to tap into the local community to, to find friends? Do, does it get lonely sometimes? How, what's, what's it like, when you're somewhere extended period?

Safir Jamal: I think In general, if you are living this digital nomad life, it can be lonely, which is why community is such an [00:31:00] integral part of this entire experience. I haven't met any nomad who is fully content doing everything by themselves the entire time. I think just human nature, we, we need connection.

Safir Jamal: We need social interaction. and because of that, We talk about the Digital Nomad community because it truly is a community and in various destinations the community is more established than others but what does that look like? It looks like, co working spaces as opposed to working by yourself. And for some people working by yourself works.

Safir Jamal: For some people, it doesn't. Some people, they don't necessarily want the work environment of a coworking space, but they like the community aspect. They like that the coworking space organizes events and meetups. So that's really great. And it doesn't have to be organized through a coworking space.

Safir Jamal: There's a bunch of different apps that will allow you to have meetups and events and networking mixers and stuff as well to go in there. But it can also be something less formal. It can be playing sports or, you know, going to a particular workout class and meeting people that way. It can be interest based discussions, but.

Safir Jamal: There's so many different ways to meet people that it allows for this lifestyle to not just be less lonely, but it actually becomes [00:32:00] fun because you meet people that you get along with, and then you can do things with them, right? Whether it's meeting up for meals, or whether it's, you know, particular certain activities that that destination happens to be known for.

Safir Jamal: So I really, really think that that's critical. And in the case of my wife and I, it's been a bit interesting because, you know, You know, since we have the two of us, we have one another. We actually don't feel the loneliness affect the way that maybe some people who are traveling solo might feel. and because of that, we do a lot of things together.

Safir Jamal: otherwise we're working during the day. So even though we might be in the physical space together, we're not necessarily spending quality time together because I'm on calls, he's on calls, we're working. So when we have free time, we actually do like to do things together. But sometimes that also means going to events together and meeting people together and, you know, whether meeting couples, if it works out that way, or maybe I might go to this event with her, but I might meet someone there that I have a really good connection with, and she might feel the same way, and that allows us to set up future coffee dates or certain activities together.

Safir Jamal: So, making friends is a [00:33:00] very, and again, I wouldn't say friends, I'd say like making connections and meeting people and having social, interactions. Is a very, important part of just being happy on this entire trip because otherwise you could be in a situation and I've seen it with my own eyes many times before where people's unhappiness level is largely correlated to the level of social interaction that they have.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah, and I think it's a big hold up for a lot of people, especially solo travelers to, to, to get out the door and just make the, first leap into this. world. So I always suggest, you know, Hey, do a test run. If you can work remotely, let me go on vacation for one week, but you know, book two weeks and then work the second week and kind of see how it goes.

Ryan Mellon: You know, you kind of get to test the waters a little bit. Are there any specific apps that you've used to, like, find community or meet up with folks?

Safir Jamal: Yeah, quite a few actually. So, the meetup app, I think is great. [00:34:00] pretty much in every destination that I've gone to, you can just type in your destination and. There's a whole list of different events that are very interest based. So some of them it's like, hey, like nomads in Barcelona get together.

Safir Jamal: It's a bit more general. I've been to some where it's specifically people who are entrepreneurs who want to get together and talk about entrepreneurship, which is good. you know, it depends on what you're into. there's like, Backgammon groups in, in some cases where you get together to play backgammon, if that's what you like.

Safir Jamal: So, Meetup is great. It can, it can definitely be very specific and I think, you know, everyone can find, their group of people there. At least go for some of the events. I mean, most of these events are free anyway, so go and check it out and everyone's there for the same reason. So when you get there, yeah, like it might be a little bit awkward, but like, it's awkward for everybody.

Safir Jamal: Everyone is there literally for the same reason, which is just to meet one another. So, yeah, and the facilitators do a good job of, you know, Having some icebreakers and kind of getting people a bit more comfortable with that. So meetup is definitely one. The other thing is like, Facebook. So I don't really use Facebook for anything but groups now, funny enough.

Safir Jamal: And the groups are very active. So usually [00:35:00] different, destinations have Facebook groups. And so they'll post events and you'll be able to kind of get to know one another through those events as well. What's up is critical. So a lot of what's up groups. I find that with what's up groups. It's mostly for like organizing logistics.

Safir Jamal: It's like, Hey, like, we're gonna all meet at this place. And like, here are the event details and kind of just getting into what's up groups for a particular destination is super helpful and things like transportation or planning or Hey, where's the closest doctor I have in a medical emergency. Anyone know?

Safir Jamal: Oh, here. Right. So, that tends to be really great. but funny enough, like, yeah, I guess that Facebook groups are, you know, very active for, building some community. And then you also have. I want to call them like social networking apps specifically for nomads. And so this is really interesting. I've used an app, it's called Punta.

Safir Jamal: and what Punta does is that it takes the destination that you're in, and then it shows you other people who have the app that are in that same destination as you. And then you can message them to see if you want [00:36:00] it to meet up for a coffee or something like this. So you create a profile, you can see other people's profile as well.

Safir Jamal: It'll tell you, oh, like, so and so is in this city at the same time as you are, and you guys have seven days of overlap. So you're like, oh, because I know they, I put in my travel dates, they put in their travel dates, we have seven days of overlap. Well, hey, like, I'll message you, I see something in your profile, there's probably something that is interesting to me in that profile that I can use to start a conversation with you.

Safir Jamal: And now we have seven days of overlap. Like, is there any chance in the next seven days that we can get together? You know? So, that's one, I know there's a couple of other ones that some people have used as well, but I've had some good experiences with that. I've met some interesting people, so it's good.

Safir Jamal: But for me, uh, yeah, usually like meetup and I guess a combination of Facebook and WhatsApp is

Ryan Mellon: Okay. cool. And Punta is a new one for me. I haven't heard of that one. So I'll have to check that

Safir Jamal: Yeah, definitely check it out. 

Ryan Mellon: interesting. Awesome. All right. So for anyone who might be listening, who, who's interested in getting into, you know, the digital nomad lifestyle and and they're thinking about making that [00:37:00] leap any advice for them

Safir Jamal: a couple of pieces of advice for sure. Make sure you're setting yourself up for success. so you want to come into this with already having thought about a few things. Number one is like, Are you in a position where you have some type of income? as in, do you have a job that allows you to work remotely?

Safir Jamal: Are you a business owner? Are you a contractor or freelancer? That you're already, kind of sourcing clients and so you can kind of do the work from abroad. But I think it's a recipe for disaster if people become digital nomads. Without knowing how they're going to make money during that period.

Safir Jamal: Because at that point you are not enjoying the general med lifestyle. You're actually just, you know, you're, you're stressed about finances all the time and that's never a good position. So definitely figure that out before. And I would say like, you know, if it is, let's say a consulting, or a freelancer type of, of role that you have.

Safir Jamal: Make sure you've already got clients that are paying you and you're already doing the work and then you continue doing the work in a remote capacity. don't assume, I'll [00:38:00] start traveling and while I'm traveling, I'm also going to prospect for clients. I mean, if you can do that, kudos to you, but like, just try to make this easier on yourself and already 

Safir Jamal: get the 

Safir Jamal: clients. 

Ryan Mellon: It's gonna be stressful. Yeah

Safir Jamal: that's number one. number two, buy insurance. I can't tell you the number of times I have seen this happen where people. don't have, insurance when they're traveling. And, you know, when you're traveling and something happens and you need, whether it's medical or dental or, you know, anything can happen, but if you don't have insurance policy, figuring out the medical system abroad is never something that you want to do when you're in a situation that requires you needing that, right?

Safir Jamal: You want to just have peace of mind, knowing that this is already covered. I've already got insurance for this insurance will reimburse me. so just. Have the insurance, give yourself the peace of mind. there's a number of different companies that actually offer nomad insurance, cause it's a little bit different than travel insurance, actually, right?

Safir Jamal: So travel insurance is for a particular trip for like a start date and an end date, depending on if you're taking a defined trip, or [00:39:00] maybe if you are living this indefinite travel, lifestyle, then there's different types of insurance cause you're not in your home country for quite as long. So some of the, insurance and coverage limits are a bit different.

Safir Jamal: So. Do some research on this, but get insurance. No matter what,

Safir Jamal: definitely get insurance. So 

Ryan Mellon: It's good advice.

Safir Jamal: that's number two. you know, the third one I would say is, if it's your first time becoming a digital nomad, go to a destination that is fairly well established as a digital nomad, hotspot with a large digital nomad community.

Safir Jamal: So, you know, you've got, whether it's Mexico city or Medellin or, you know, in Bali or Chiang Mai, there's a number of different destinations that have a bit more of an established community. And if you go there, the infrastructure is already there for you, right? So accommodation or coworking spaces, social events. that is going to be a much more active community that's going to take care of a lot of these things for you, or at least point you in the right direction. So just going to make your experience a little bit [00:40:00] easier versus if you go to another destination that might be a little bit more off the beaten path, which is fantastic.

Safir Jamal: And you're probably still gonna have a great time, but you're gonna have to do a lot more of that legwork yourself. And you might not necessarily have an established nomad community there that you can lean on, which again, if it's your first time, you just want to set yourself up for success to make sure you have a really good positive experience on the first time.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah, I love that. That's a good idea. because you know, it's, it's going to be a much better, better, experience for them. And you also have a lot of folks that are going to be there able to support you and a lot easier to make friends and stuff as well. So as far as internet goes, is there anything, I know it's one of our biggest, challenges as.

Ryan Mellon: As nomads, any advice on finding good internet or what do you do? Do you carry,like a global hotspot or anything like that? 

Ryan Mellon: I don't carry a hotspot or anything. You know, surprisingly, Wi Fi is pretty good. improved a lot over the years. [00:41:00] So, I don't worry about it. I tend to stay at Airbnbs that I, when I'm looking for my Airbnbs, in the reviews, I always try to like do a control find to see if anyone's commented on the wifi situation.

Safir Jamal: I will often before booking, ask the host, Hey, like, what's the wifi? Like, do you mind screenshotting a speed test so that I can see it twice fast enough. Cause you know, if I'm going to have calls. I want to make sure that it's not going to be super laggy and that I can actually like properly have quality internet that allows me to work.

Safir Jamal: and in some places in the world, like, yeah, we have internet, but it's not the same quality of internet that I would need to be productive. So before I take the risk. Going all the way there and finding that out once I'm already there and in the middle of a call, if possible, I want to get a speed test, screenshot beforehand.

Safir Jamal: and literally speedtest. com or fast. com. Like there's a number of these different sites, but I just send that link to the host. I'm like, hey, like, do you mind taking literally 15 seconds, click this. And just screenshot the results and send it back to [00:42:00] me. and yeah, usually they're willing to do it.

Safir Jamal: And I haven't had any issues with the internet when I've done that. so that's my way of just having a bit more peace of mind that the internet in my accommodation is gonna be good. I'm also somebody who likes to work from my accommodation. Some people wanna work from cafes or they wanna work from co working spaces.

Safir Jamal: And I do that, but I do that more on occasion to change it up a little bit. That's not my, my main, day to day, everyday office. so I think it depends. If you like working from co working spaces, chances are that a co working space is going to have internet at a high quality that, you know, you're probably not going to have to worry about that too much.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah, is there a certain amount of megabyte download speeds that you're looking for? What's your, what's your minimum? Just curious.

Safir Jamal: Yeah, it's a good question. I'm not super technical on this. I mean, I like seeing hundreds, 

Ryan Mellon: Okay, 

Ryan Mellon: three digits. Three digits is 

Safir Jamal: usually what I look for, but again, that's unrealistic in the world. So, I think it's My benchmark is a hundred is like the gold standard, right? I'm sure you can get even faster than a hundred too.

Safir Jamal: But, if I get a hundred, I'm like, okay, perfect. I don't have to worry about it. After that, it's a question of like, how far off from a hundred am I?

Safir Jamal: Um, and [00:43:00] so I'm dealing with like nine megabyte download speed and like six megabyte upload speed. Like, okay, maybe could work, but do I really want to put myself in that position or if I 

Safir Jamal: can just find, for me, it becomes comparative more than absolute.

Safir Jamal: It's like, well, Let me ask three different places in the city and whichever one has the highest speed might win out. And so, you know, maybe that's in the hundreds or maybe we're talking about like one's a 60 and the other ones are twenties, right? So I'll take what I can get.

Ryan Mellon: Gotcha. that's really good advice, sending the link to the, host and, and having them test. I haven't heard that before and I'm gonna start doing that. I know booking does allow previous guests to rate the Wi Fi specifically, which is really nice. and now Airbnb allows, guests to,test their Wi Fi through the Airbnb app, the host, I'm sorry, the host can test the, their Airbnb speeds through the Airbnb app, and then it's posted on their listing.

Ryan Mellon: So that's [00:44:00] another way to kind of keep track. Keep an eye on, you know, what you're looking for as well as just searching the reviews. 

Ryan Mellon: So I really like that. It's good advice. It's definitely something that is a huge challenge for all of us every day. So always like to hear people's insights on that. Well, I really appreciate it.

Ryan Mellon: And, uh, this has been an awesome conversation. So where can people find out more about you and more about your app?

Safir Jamal: Yeah, absolutely. So, you can definitely connect with me on LinkedIn. Just, it's my name. So if you're Jamal on LinkedIn, feel free to send me a connection request. and then also, yeah, definitely check out Global Nomad Pass. You can just go to our website. It's globalnomadpass. com. it's actually not an app.

Safir Jamal: So if you search for that in the app store, you won't find anything. Just come to our website, globalnomadpass. com. And then, you know, there's a free seven day trial that anyone can just click on our website and you can get that as a wallet pass. So it's a wallet pass to your Apple wallet or your Google wallet.

Safir Jamal: So you don't even need to download anything. You don't even need to download an app, but [00:45:00] global nomadpass. com is where you want to go.

Ryan Mellon: Okay. Awesome. Well, thanks so much and, appreciate you coming on today. And I hope you have a good day.

Safir Jamal: Thanks a lot, Ryan. Appreciate you having me. We'll chat soon.

[00:46:00]