26. The Remote Expat Lifestyle

What is it like living in Europe as an Indian and working remotely

A few decades ago, most people worked in the same city where they lived. That changed with the internet. Then the pandemic hit, and it changed even faster. Millions of people started working remotely. And countries noticed. Now, digital nomad visas and whole cities are catering to remote workers.

But what happens when you go a step further. Not just work remotely, but live abroad while doing it?

That’s what I’ve been doing for the past 7 years. And it’s a very different experience from being a local worker or a classic expat.

My Journey

I moved to Germany from India after my first startup shut down. I’d interviewed with a company that couldn’t hire me, but the CTO did something unexpected. He tweeted about a few candidates he liked. That single tweet landed me more interviews and a handful of offers. None of it was planned. One of those offers came from Berlin, and that’s how I ended up here.

That was about 7 years ago. I was almost 26, broke, and starting over. Since then, I’ve spent most of my time in Europe including the last 3+ years in the Netherlands. Out of those 7 years, I’ve been working fully remotely for more than 5.

It didn’t feel like a big decision at the time. I just wanted a good job, and as someone who loved travelling, I’ve always wanted to experience life in Europe. But looking back, choosing remote work shaped my entire lifestyle.

Living in One Culture, Working in Another

When I moved to Berlin, I was working for a local startup. But that changed with my second job. I was working for a global company who didn’t have any people in Germany at the time. If you work locally, you live and work in the same cultural bubble. As a remote expat, you don’t. Your life splits. For the past few years, I’ve been working for global companies.

I live in the Netherlands, but I don’t work with Dutch people. My colleagues are mostly in the U.S. or other parts of Europe. Culturally, work happens on a different wavelength.

You learn to switch contexts. You buy groceries and greet neighbours in one culture, then join Zoom calls in another.

The Double Network

Most people have one network: local colleagues, local friends. But as a remote expat, you start building two.

There’s your professional network tied to your company, often in another country(ies). Then there’s your local network - friends, neighbours, sports clubs, people you meet from Twitter, etc (yes, that happens too).

The two don’t overlap much. That’s not a bad thing. It gives you more surface area to grow. Living in different cultures does one great thing: it makes you more open-minded. And that’s something the world needs more than ever.

The Async Life

When your team is in the U.S., your day becomes oddly shaped. Mornings are quiet. That’s when I get my best work done. Afternoons bring a slow trickle of Slack messages and meetings.

At first, I found it hard to unplug. I’d finish meetings at 7 PM and still be thinking about work an hour later. The boundaries blurred. But over time, I learned to set clearer edges.

Part of it is also embracing work-life harmony. I’m cool with work creeping into life. I’m privileged to have a good workplace, manager and colleagues. Flexibility goes both ways. I can switch context easily. I’ve unlearned the continuous 8-hour workday system. I get work done in chunks or sprints within a day. Morning are my maker hours and afternoons are my manager hours. It’s never an 8-hour continuous day.

I now have a dedicated office room. I use my calendar like a defence system: blocks for focused work, time marked for lunch, recurring reminders to start and end my workday.

Working While Travelling

Summer is my travel season. I’ll often pack my bags and live in a different city or country for a few weeks.

Weirdly, I’m more productive when I’m travelling. I think it’s because the setting is fresh and my brain knows there’s a deadline. Once I put on my noise-cancelling headphones, I can easily focus. I can snap into work mode.

Maybe it’s my neurodivergent brain responding to urgency. But whatever the reason, I don’t need fancy routines. I make sure my stays during travel have a good WiFi connection. I build my day around work, and sometimes I work late if that’s convenient.

I measure myself by what I get done and the impact it has . Not by how many hours I clock in. That means some days I spent more hours, and some days less. Measuring work by time feels like a leftover from the industrial age and factory floors.

Picking places to travel

I keep a running bucket list in my Notion called my “4-year travel plan.” Whenever I discover a place I want to visit, it goes straight on that list. I like to travel slowly. There’s no rush to tick off sights. The real goal is to experience each place fully and live life in different settings. I’ll dive deeper into Slow Travel in a future edition of this newsletter.

Staying Connected

Staying connected as a remote worker takes real effort. It’s never quite the same as bumping into people in an office. And I’ve made my peace with that. Sometimes I do wonder if I’m missing out on deeper company ties that could help my career. But I’ve also come to believe you can build meaningful relationships remotely, something I didn’t think was possible before. Meeting in person now and then helps spark that connection. Some of my strongest bonds in recent years have come through remote work.

You don’t need deep ties with everyone, but when you find people who share your culture and values, it’s surprisingly easy to build real trust and friendship, even from afar.

The Not-So-Glamorous Side

People love to romanticize remote work. But it’s not all beachside laptops and endless freedom. I’ve never actually worked from a beach or a pool. Those “flex” photos look cool but they’re terrible for getting anything done. I always make sure wherever I stay has a proper table and a decent chair.

Visas

I’m not on a digital nomad visa. I moved to Germany and then to the Netherlands on proper work visas. That means I have all the normal immigration concerns: what happens if I lose my job? Visa remains a Damocles' sword until I get a permanent residence. While I moved from Germany to the Netherlands, I was eligible for one. But I never saw myself living in Germany for a long time, and decided it was not worth the effort.

If you’re planning this life, learn the visa requirements early. Some people assume ‘remote = free to move anywhere.’ That’s rarely true. I’ve always had proper work visas, which means job changes, renewals, and paperwork become life decisions.

Workspace and office

Before I had my own house, I lived in smaller apartments and remote work was much harder then. Living and working in the same small space made it tough to switch off and shift between work and life. Maybe part of it was also that I just didn’t have enough experience working remotely yet.

Remote work isn’t for everyone. You need high agency, the discipline to manage your own time, and the initiative to figure things out without waiting for instructions. It’s a skill you have to train if it doesn’t come naturally.

Honestly, some days I do miss the office. I don’t miss the commute, but I do miss the office itself. There’s a difference. The biggest thing I miss is the casual in-person interactions: those spontaneous chats, quick coffee breaks, or hallway conversations that don’t need a calendar invite. There’s something about bumping into a teammate and solving a problem in two minutes that remote work can’t fully replace.

Especially when we’re tackling really hard problems, I sometimes wish we could all just be in the same room.

Why It’s Still Worth It

Despite all that, I wouldn’t trade this lifestyle.

I get to choose where I live. I have time flexibility (at least more than I would in a 9-to-5 office job). I’ve built a life that includes work I find meaningful and time for things I care about.

I’ve also built a community. Through travel, through local friendships, through years of showing up in new places and saying yes to things.

If you're considering remote work abroad, it’s not just about freedom. It’s about building a system that lets you thrive across contexts. It takes effort. But it’s possible. And if you're wired like me, it might even feel natural.

What are your options if you want this?

Digital Nomad Visas

Plenty of countries offer Digital Nomad visas. This is the easiest path - most of them are valid for at least an year with ability to extend. If you get one from a European country, you can move around in the Schengen area.

Finding an EU job

This is a harder, more long-term path, especially if you’re looking to settle somewhere permanently. You also need to find a remote-friendly job with an EU-based company, which makes it even tougher. But remember, tens of thousands of people have done it. So you can too. Give yourself plenty of time, at least a year. Things take time. I won’t dive into job search advice here, but I can cover that in a future edition.

Job seekers visas

Many countries like Germany offer job seeker visas for skills that in shortage. If you are in tech, there is a big chance you might qualify for it.

Startup Visas or Self-Employed Routes

If you’re entrepreneurial, some countries have startup or freelancer visas. They’re not “digital nomad” visas exactly. They expect you to run a real business. But for some people, it’s a backdoor to residency while working remotely for clients abroad.

The big takeaway: The stronger your skills, the more options you have.

If your passport is weak, focus on what you can control. Get skills that cross borders, land a good remote job, and build credibility. It’s harder, but thousands have done it.

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Feel free to write me if you’re thinking about this life — I love swapping notes. If you enjoyed reading this, share it with someone who might find it useful. Thank you!