“Travelling and working without having a permanent home – and with a child over twelve years old? We have been living the concept for months and have now also been travelling in South Africa between safari, family and work.” Nina Winkler, journalist and fitness trainer
After Thailand and a two-week stopover at “Hotel Mama“ near Munich, we went on to South Africa in December: four months of beaches, remote work, surfing in Cape Town and on the East Coast. This time we had raised the hurdle a bit higher and our dog came along, even though the paperwork was huge. We‘ve been to Cape Town many times before, we have relatives here, which ultimately keeps expenses in check, of course.
But we were also, like many here, without electricity for up to twelve hours a day: Loadshedding is the name given to the targeted blackouts that are supposed to keep the power grid from completely collapsing. If you don‘t have accommodation with solar panels or a generator, the only way out is to regularly charge all your batteries. We had our mobile router with us, which can be powered by a power bank when the batteries are empty. Headlamp and portable lamps also became constant companions. To master online school and work, we followed the most important lessons: Always set your watch and have a rough plan of action in mind: When do I want to wash, cook, text? And what can I fit into the electricity-free time? In any case, Bruno went jogging with me a lot during this time.
But back to the beautiful sides of Nomadic lifestyle …
We celebrated Christmas with relatives in the tranquil fishing village of Hout Bay near Cape Town. The view of the bay is breathtaking and many picturesque car commercials have been filmed at Chapman‘s Peak, the road connecting the Cape. For me, The Pelican café became my second living room here, where I could continue working thanks to power sockets and a generator. James, meanwhile, learned the fine art of surfboard making from his father Justin Healy, who makes them here for surfers from all over the world.
After the holidays, we took the Garden Route 2,000 kilometres to the town of Port Elizabeth, now called Gqueberha. As outdated and morbid as PE, as the locals call it, looks, the beaches and stretches of coastline around it are beautiful, and we sped down the sand dunes of SardiniaBeach on a homemade sandboard. We also took an off-road vehicle to the Addo Elephant Park, where we saw gaily patterned bonteboks and shaggy warthogs. We rumbled along deeply rutted sandy roads and discovered a waterhole with at least 25 elephants – we were blown away! We saw zebras, buffalos and different bucks and finally even lionesses.
Digital Nomad Lifestyle, here we are!
Nina Winkler …
… has travelled the world with her son for some time before, taking on jobs as a fitness coach and writing texts. This year, they both made stops in Portugal and Austria, among other places. We will report on their new stops as “Nina in Nomad Land“ in our winter issue.
Photos: © Nina Winkler