Jenny and Christian from the travel blog unaufschiebbar.de are passionate digital nomads and have already lived on Fuerteventura for several months. They’re in their early 30s, married, and have had a son since August 2019. When he travelled to Fuerteventura for the first time, he was just under 5 months old. The small family lives and works completely location-independently, so it doesn’t matter where they are – as long as the laptop is with them and the internet is stable. They’ve been on the road since 2017 and have visited destinations such as the Canary Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Slovenia and Croatia. About 4.5 months after starting out as digital nomads, a serious traffic accident in Thailand shaped their lives for good . After many months in hospital and rehab, they were nevertheless able to continue their way of life, and despite Christian’s permanent foot paralysis, they still travel as digital nomads.
1. What matters most to you in your work as digital nomads?
For our daily work, a fast laptop and a stable internet connection are essential. With our laptops we keep building our travel blog, edit videos for our YouTube channels and process photos from our trips. For example, for our Fuerteventura travel guide or our photo book.
We love being able to work freely and independently. That means, on the one hand, being free to manage our own time – and on the other, being our own bosses. There’s no boss telling us what to write about on our blog. We choose the topics ourselves and only publish what we personally find helpful or worth recommending.
It’s also important to us to have enough free time to explore the many places and sights on Fuerteventura, for example.
2. What would be the ideal environment for a digital nomad?
We prefer to work in our accommodation. So our working environment changes pretty much every month. There are usually two or three chairs and a table, and in most cases it’s cool and shady. But we often work from the sofa or a sun lounger too.
Unlike what many “advertising photos” suggest, working on the beach in the sun is rather counterproductive: too hot, too sandy and too sunny. On top of that, the internet usually isn’t great.
Before our son was born, we also worked in a co-working spaceevery now and then – for example at Dojo in Bali. In a co-working space, freelancers and employees work side by side in one place. The internet is usually very good and the working atmosphere is especially nice. Another advantage is that it’s easy to connect and exchange ideas with other digital nomads.
3. What makes Fuerteventura special for digital nomads?
We really appreciated the good internet connection here. Especially in towns where many locals live (for example Puerto del Rosario), the fibre-optic connection was excellent.
The weather is also sunny and mild all year round. Especially in winter, when it gets cold and gloomy almost everywhere else in Europe, Fuerteventura still offers summery weather. What we love most on Fuerteventura are the sunsets. Ending the working day in El Cotillo, Los Molinos, Ajuy or La Pared with a view of the setting sun is the highlight of our day.
Kitesurfers can also go kitesurfing at many spots on the island without any problem. Windsurfing is easy too, as the wind conditions are really good.
4. What do you think of workations – including for digital nomads on Fuerteventura?
If you like travelling with like-minded people, it’s certainly a good idea. Especially for digital nomads travelling solo, it’s a great way to make contacts and friends. We haven’t taken part in a workation ourselves yet, though.
5. What does the perfect co-working space look like for you?
First things first: a stable, fast internet connection (200 Mbit+). Then open spaces to work together – but also the option to “retreat” now and then. For us, that’s what makes a good co-working space.
It also shouldn’t be too expensive. A moderate price usually attracts more members, and they in turn grow the network. Proper desks with comfortable chairs are just as important as a sofa. Standing desks are also a great option for working productively. And if there’s a sea view on top: perfect 🙂.
6. When are you most creative?
When it’s quiet and you can really get your head into something, without distractions. But a change of scenery often inspires us too. It doesn’t always have to be a trip to another country or another island. Often a new place to stay or a different workspace (e.g. a co-working space or café) is enough to spark our creativity.
We’re also often more creative after a few days off. Distance from work and our laptops often gives us new ideas and fresh perspectives. Sometimes a short break is enough: after a walk in the woods or a few hours at the beach , creativity often flows all by itself.
7. What would be your dream destination, and what would you love to write about?
- Tibet,
- Costa Rica,
- Bora Bora and
- Hawaii are high up on our list.
8. What would you like to change – including as digital nomads on Fuerteventura?
As we’ve experienced a lot of change over the past 4 years (the accident, our son and Covid), personally we’re happy for everything to stay just as it is for now 😉
In general, when we travel we often notice that different languages can be a big barrier. English is far from widely spoken everywhere – we often notice it even on the Canary Islands. Sometimes that makes communication difficult, which is a shame. We hope and believe that this will get easier from generation to generation. So what we’d like to change is for children all over the world to be taught English from an early age.
A second thing we notice again and again is litter. In Asia, disposable plastic items are especially common, and many people aren’t very aware of the problem yet. We’ve seen locals throw their empty plastic packaging into the sea as if it were completely normal. But on the Canary Islands, too, we see a lot of room for improvement. For example, there’s no deposit system for water bottles, so on Fuerteventura we can currently only buy single-use bottles.
Covid showed us how quickly and widely politics can implement change. Our wish would be for environmental protection and plastic avoidance to be tackled just as vigorously as Covid was.
Sustainability for our planet
Find out what you can do yourself to live more sustainably!
9. What drives you and how do you stay motivated?
We’d love to keep this lifestyle. And that’s reason enough to work on it every day. For us, that’s motivation enough – because we definitely don’t want to go back to our old 9-to-5 office jobs as employees.
More specifically, we’re motivated by the fact that we don’t have to spend the winter in cold Germany . Still walking around in a T-shirt in December is pure motivation for us. But of course there are days when working is harder. Then we sometimes watch a motivational video on YouTube or listen to musicthat puts us in a good mood.
What almost always helps is thinking back to the time after the accident. Back then, we would have given anything just to get out of bed and go to the bathroom by ourselves – and for weeks, that wasn’t possible. Thinking back to that is hugely grounding. It reminds us that waking up healthy in the morning and starting the day on your own terms is motivation enough.
How will work change in the future – including for digital nomads on Fuerteventura?
We believe that Covid in particular has made home-office culture develop much more strongly. As a result, more people will get to enjoy location-independent work – and simply work from Fuerteventura for a few weeks, for example. It doesn’t have to be forever straight away. But moving the office to the beach every now and then should definitely become more and more doable!