Meet the Colivers: Sebastien

The beginning of the winter season 2024. First guest: Sebastien. He’s from the third planet in the solar system. He is a full time digital nomad with no home base. His way of life is truly inspiring. That’s why we asked him to share his experiences.

 

Sebastien, you’ve been with our community for 6 weeks this time. And it was already your second stay with us. What makes you return to Sun and Co.?

I have been travelling non-stop for more than 6 years now. And as every long-term nomad realises at some point, one of the biggest challenges in this lifestyle is to build and maintain community. Now, to be fair, community was already not super easy for me when I was staying in one place. But moving all the time brings its own challenges. It creates a sense of urgency in such a way that I’m always trying to find people with whom I share a certain mindset, and to skip the small talk. The two main ways I do that are group trips like Hacker Paradise, and coliving spaces. But after having tried a few coliving experiences, I noticed that they are not all equally good at fostering community and authenticity. Sun and Co. is definitely one of them. Hence why I came back for 6 weeks.

Also, Xabia is a little gem. A lot of amazing restaurants, a very agreeable little town to live in, and Sun and Co. is right in the middle of it all. I feel comfortable there.

Sebastien is a full time nomad.

For those who don’t know you, could you give us a brief introduction?

Hi, I’m Sebastien, I’m 42, I’m a freelance software developer/public speaker/online trainer/startup coach. I am indeed from the third planet in the solar system (I don’t believe in countries and labels). I’m a huge space nerd, I love myself a good motorcycle road trip, and I enjoy travelling, stargazing, deep meaningful conversation, karaoke, and talking about psychology.

This lifestyle is about seeing all the wonders this world has to offer, rediscovering our common humanity, learning to adapt to new circumstances and spending time with people you choose, not just those who happen to be where you are. But most of all it’s about living life on your own terms.

-Sebastien-

What is your digital nomad lifestyle like at the moment?

At the moment, I am mostly alternating between coliving spaces, group trips (I travelled to Cape Town with Hacker Paradise right after staying at Sun and Co.) and Airbnbs shared with friends. I usually spend at least a month, ideally 6 to 8 weeks in each place, more if I really like it. There are a few spots I enjoy going back to, like Cape Town, New Zealand, Montreal, etc. But other than that, I have my to-go list with places I really want to live in, and I try to experience them fully. I’m really not much of a tourist, I don’t go to places to see the sites and post on my Instagram (sometimes I do too, but it’s not my priority). I just really like to immerse myself in a local environment, understand how people live, marvel at how much we human beings all have in common and learn about the history and culture of a place.

I’m a freelancer so my clients don’t really care when I work so long as I deliver what they need. I mostly build mobile and web apps for startups and small companies. And this way of working allows me to travel all over, without worrying about timezones too much. I’m also a jack-of-all-trades, so I can do pretty much everything on a project: design, development, deployment and maintenance, for every platform. This allows me to be very autonomous and minimises the need for meetings and synchronisation points.

My work was not always like that, I used to work for one client at a time, from 9 to 5, in an office. So I had to revamp my business model and select my clients differently by positioning myself as a solution vendor instead of a human resource. But I personally couldn’t do it any other way.

What are your three favourite memories from your time here?

We spent a Saturday in Formentera, a Balearic island a 2-hour ferry ride away from Denia, and I had a blast. I rented an electric scooter and I spent the day with my new friend Krisha, going to all the light houses, talking about our lives, on the rocks, by the ocean. The island itself was kind of a tourist trap, and it was quite the adventure for a lot of us. We collectively contributed substantially to the economy of the island 🙂 But the people, the conversations made it worth it.

I have this subscription to an app, Karafun, that basically replicates the experience of a real professional Asian karaoke room. Really good covers, a very exhaustive catalogue, and everybody can join the session from their phones to add their own songs and customise them. So every once in a while, I like to organise a little home karaoke night, and I did two on this trip. And it was amazing, we all had a lot of fun, sang our hearts out, danced on tables, and murdered a few classics. It was great!

And finally, one of the ways I really like to get to know people is by hosting deep meaningful conversation circles. I propose a few topics on Slack, people vote for their favourites, and then we talk about the most voted topic for an hour. I try to facilitate a safe space where people feel comfortable sharing their deepest thoughts, being vulnerable and usually realising how much we have in common, deep down, no matter where we come from. This time, we talked about “What does home mean to you?”, and it was really heartwarming to feel so seen and heard.

Sun and Co. also hosts sharing circles that have a similar concept. And I really enjoyed Anna’s circle about “Authenticity and the masks we wear”. I really live for these heart-to-heart sharing moments. 

 

Formentera vibes with Krisha

What advice would you give to people who are stuck in a 9 to 5 office job?

It doesn’t have to be this way. And even if you think that your job is not compatible with a different lifestyle, focus on the skills you bring to the table, the things you really enjoy doing, the strengths you actually get paid for, and try to see if you can repackage those into a job that you design for yourself. Granted, it’s stressful and it can be very confronting at first, but if the outcome is living a life you really want, isn’t it worth it?

Also, don’t believe the gatekeepers who would like to tell you about the one way to be a nomad, if that’s what you are after. Experiment, listen to your sensations, and figure out what your ideal lifestyle looks like to you. If you leave the rat race and distance yourself from a conventional lifestyle, it is not to limit yourself to another set of conventions because some schmuck on Facebook said that if you still have a home base, or travel with group trips, or have checked luggage, you are not really a nomad. This lifestyle is about seeing all the wonders this world has to offer, rediscovering our common humanity, learning to adapt to new circumstances and spending time with people you choose, not just those who happen to be where you are. But most of all it’s about living life on your own terms.

And don’t believe everything you see on Instagram. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows. I miss having pets or musical instruments like a piano or a drum kit. Making friends is hard, dating is even harder. And your comfort zone is called that for a reason: sometimes when you travel, it can get really uncomfortable. There are ways to adapt, I have tried pet-sitting, I try to rent a rehearsal studio every once in a while, and I’m working on putting myself out there more. But it’s not easy. I am just way happier like this than when I was living in Belgium before, so those things are a little price to pay for my freedom and my growth.

If you want to contact me, you can find me there: