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Chronicles of Digital Nomading: Gatlinburg, TN

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    • I had never heard of Gatlinburg.
    • With a recorded population of about 4,000, I thought we were going to the middle of nowhere. My expectations were low. I figured that this tradeoff would be offset by staying in a cabin with 11-13 other people, so at least we could make the most of it through hanging out together.
    • This stay surpassed all of my expectations. I also continue to learn about myself and about the challenges and joys of travelling in a community. To start explaining what made the trip so significant, I need to first talk about Gatlinburg itself.
    • Gatlinburg, Tennessee
    • Gatlinburg is near the smoky mountains and our cabin was 15 minutes from downtown in the mountainous woods. Many of my friends claim to have seen (and chased!) by bears, but I never saw one throughout our stay.
    • The smoky mountains are known for some beautiful hikes. I went on two throughout the stay, including a 10 mile round trip to the top of Mt. LeConte, the third tallest peak in the range.
    • I was blown away by Downtown Gatlinburg. The city of only 4000 people really came alive at night with people all over the streets and lights incredibly vibrant. It was filled with family related attractions that included mini golf courses, some rope courses, and even a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. The neighboring town to Gatlinburg was called Pigeon Forge, which was also filled with various arcades, amusement attractions, and activities for kids to do. The traffic driving through either made the streets of New York City feel like a highway.
    • One really cool feature of Gatlinburg is this mini village called Anakeesta. You need to take a ski lift up to the top of a mountain to get to this outdoor family theme park featuring a solo coaster, zip lining, and treehouse playground. We spent our day there mostly walking around the rope bridges and eating at a barbeque restaurant.
    • I would love to come back to Gatlinburg when I have a family of my own. The town is very geared towards families, especially when the kids are still young. I am highly recommending a weekend trip here for any young families looking for a new experience getaway.
    • Community Coliving
    • The cabin we rented from AirBnb was big, but definitely not big enough for the number of people we had staying there. The living room was cozy, some people were left without bedrooms, and my closet ended up taking the edge of one of the walls. We did however have a beautiful deck that made working during the day absolutely refreshing.
    • Early on we had a ton of trouble with the WIFI. It was impossible to have multiple concurrent videos calls and the mobile signal wasn't strong enough for consistent hotspot connection. It's becoming increasingly clear that the "Digital" in digital nomading is a first order concern, as the lack of connection definitely led to a good amount of frustration in the house. We bought a Google Nest, which miraculously resolved all our issues and was able to give us consistent connection throughout our stay. It seems worthwhile now to carry one everywhere we go to not rely on the WIFI of our hosts. Moreover, this restored my faith in the idea that no matter where we stay, we should be able to find ways to adapt to our new environment.
    • I really enjoy getting to know what everyone else is working on during each trip. It truly feels like college again. I walk around the AirBnb and most people are in their defined spot every day, hacking away at whatever's providing them a living. We also had a couple of us give presentations to the rest of the group after family dinner that spanned topics from selling underwear to strategy for poker. If my dream state is a creator house where everyone is doing and sharing what they love, then more presentations seem like an effective way to get there.
    • On a more somber note, I continue to be a non proactive member of the community. Which is becoming unsustainable. I'm realizing that either my schedule needs to start aligning with the rest of the group's or I need to break away entirely to travel on my own.
    • I contemplated doing the latter for some time before deciding I would regret not making the most of the opportunity COVID has provided by bringing us all together. So I think I'm now going to start aligning my schedule more with the rest of the group's. This means intentionally working during traditional work hours and intentionally not during nights and weekends. Instead of trying to continue coding while watching a movie and being completely ineffective at both.
    • Outlook on Nomading
    • During the first weekend of our stay, we visited our friend's parents place for his mom's birthday. Their house was beautiful and was on the water. We spent the weekend taking their boat out, jet skiing, and eating so much that I almost threw up.
    • The weekend gave me a glimpse of where I want this lifestyle to look like in a couple of years. Initially I was discouraged that I wouldn't have a place this nice if I'm travelling all the time. But I then realized a goal during nomading could be to incrementally increase the standard of living of the AirBnbs we stay at. Why go all in on one luxurious house when I could try out a different one in a different city every month?
    • Staying here for 6 weeks did solidify my personal preference towards 4 week stays. By the end of week 4, I was itching for a change of pace and ready to try something new. Not because any part of our stay felt redundant, but because I in general feel a resurgence of energy when it's time to travel to a new destination.
    • I would like to at some point try travelling on my own for a few months. I've heard of many other friends and guests on podcasts do something similar. They almost unanimously report back that it was a healthy period of time to discover for themselves what they truly want and value. I'm still incredibly young with much to learn about myself, so the opportunity to do something similar is enticing.
    • But, as I mentioned, I still want to enjoy my travels with some of my closest friends. So for now, on to Raleigh!
Chronicles of Digital Nomading: Gatlinburg, TN