From the magazine HRVATSKI! 2/2023, 2. edition
Trust the Flow of Life
Vjeruj tijeku života
You can read this interview in English on our blog. Compare Croatian and English version of this interview by opening the magazine HRVATSKI 2/2023 on page 54.
Annika Senger is a blogger and founder of the travel website Kroatien-Liebe. Since 2020 she has been traveling from country to country as digital nomad. She likes to explore Croatia, photograph landscapes and go on long hikes. You can admire her beautiful pictures in the articles on her blog. Besides blogging, her passion is music. She always travels with a small guitar on which she composes songs and then publishes them on YouTube.
What is it like to work anywhere you want?
This possibility offers me more freedom than when I was settled in one place. Since I work as freelancer, I can schedule my own working hours and combine normal everyday life with exploring the area I’m currently in. I don’t have a vacation like before, because I’m somewhere else every month.
How did you decide to become a digital nomad?
It was a very long process for me, which started to mature in me around 2015. Anyway, I wanted to get away from my old life in Berlin. I traveled as often as my business life allowed. Something blocked me. Probably the fear of leaving safety. When things became increasingly uncomfortable in Berlin for political reasons in 2020, it was clear to me in the summer of that year: I wanted to leave Germany permanently. I had also recently lost a salaried job because my contract was no longer renewed. So, nothing kept me in Berlin anymore.
How does your business idea work? Work and travel?
I just need a computer and an internet connection to work while traveling. This means that I write content for various websites and for my own blogs. They are called Kroatien-Liebe.com, Reise-Liebe.com and Katzen-Liebe.net. From spring to autumn, I also organize trips and short sailing trips in Croatia via Kroatien-Liebe. For example, panoramic flights from Zadar are very popular. They are often reserved as birthday and wedding gifts.
How do you choose the place where you will work?
It is very important to me that there is a good internet connection in the apartment where I am staying. So I can work privately, whenever I want. In Herceg Novi, Montenegro, I tried a coworking space as an alternative. The advantage of such a space is that you are among people. However, I need silence so that I can concentrate. I feel uncomfortable in open offices and noisy cafes.
How do you choose the places you travel to?
I let my intuition guide me. If I feel particularly comfortable in a place, I’m more likely to travel there more often. That’s when I feel like I’m coming home, even though I don’t have a permanent home right now.
What is it like to live as a digital nomad?
There is no universal style for all digital nomads. I know people, who constantly travel from place to place in their camper. Or they always participate in coliving projects, in order to always be in the company of other digital nomads. I, on the other hand, stay in one place for at least a month and rent an apartment there, where I lead an almost daily life. I usually work in the morning, then I cook something to eat, and in the afternoon I explore the area and/or devote myself to creative projects such as my music. In my case, digital nomadism is a smooth transition between everyday life and vacation.
What do you love about not having a place to live? What is your favorite thing about it?
I love freedom, that I can decide again and again where I want to live next. After being in Berlin for too long and really not liking it, this freedom is a huge advantage.
What challenges do you have to face?
I have no car and heavy luggage. At the end of the month, it annoys me every time I have to pack my bags and take my things to my next place of residence. As soon as I arrive, I feel relief when I unpack my bags again. In addition, it is difficult to make long-lasting friendships when you are in one place for only a month. And, I often meet cats without owners, for example in Croatia and Montenegro. I feed them and keep them in my heart. It breaks my heart every time I have to leave them again. That is hard!
According to your experience, which places (cities, towns, villages) are the best for digital nomads?
The best places are places with good infrastructure, for example Zagreb, Zadar, Split or Dubrovnik. There are also various facebook groups for digital nomads. Smaller towns like Makarska or Korčula are also suitable. I would avoid very small villages, especially if you are spending time in Croatia in the winter months. Then nothing happens there!
What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Let everything go! Start over every month. I can take nothing and no one with me, only memories, photos, videos and blog articles, which I write for my three sites Kroatien-Liebe, Reise-Liebe and Katzen-Liebe.
What equipment do you use for your work (computer, laptop, tablet, camera…) and what equipment can you recommend to other digital nomads?
For daily work, I use a MacBook Pro, on which I also edit videos. Otherwise, I often use a GoPro Action Cam and a Sony camera, which can also record videos. I think that every digital nomad has individual requirements for his equipment.
What important lesson have you learned during your life as a digital nomad?
Trust the flow of life and let it guide you.
What are your plans for the future?
I will continue to discover new places, improve my guitar playing skills and write songs. I also want to make my three blogs more visible online and connect with like-minded people.
What else do you want to tell us at the end?
If you dream of living the life of a digital nomad, make your dream come true. There is no certainty in life, only faith that everything will be alright in the end.
