nomad workstyle

lightweight and versatile

everything just keeps getting smaller

Accelerated by the pandemic, the move toward digital remote work brings us to a point where many things can be accomplished as well or better than during the days of fixed studios and offices. Key in this development is the "smallification" of digital tools. A laptop workstation can replicate what required large desktop computers in the mashing of the enormous amounts of data required for creative work. Entire nomad-era video and photography studios can be stocked with the contents of a few Pelican cases. Panel lights are available in LED sheets that can be rolled up for storage. Cameras have become more versatile and an entire camera kit with cameras, lenses, tripod, gimbal and microphones, even a drone, can fit in a container or two appropriate for travel. Digital storage plans available from Dropbox, Adobe and others can hold massive quantities of photographs, video, illustrations and the raw files used to create them. Sources of free sound-effects, music, photography and video as well as entire paid book and music libraries are also available in the cloud.

Everything has become easier to organize, search and find. Software learning curves are less substantial and one person can master most Adobe creative programs, and others made by other venders, over a period of time. What required several people, now can be accomplished and done well by only one. There is often a lag associated with using a program after not having done so for a while, but, for those who have worked extensively with the program, it is much easier to get back to high levels of speed and quality than it once was. Modern workflows, weaving in and out of the various software tools, are made easier because of integration, via the cloud, of many of them.

In only the last year the advent of AI in the creative process has made great strides. In my experience this is most impressive in the creation of illustrations which heretofor, when unique and well done, required large amounts of time. Some of the photographic modification and processing methods using AI are also substantial time-savers. Text generation methods are already established. Inroads in audio and video are becoming noteworthy. This is all highly controversial and in my opinion are advancements in processes that have been long in the works and not necessarily something new and earth-shattering. But so far, this appears to highly favor the lone nomad or very small company over the large studio because it allows more and more of the work to be accomplished by fewer people with fewer and more easily transportable tools.

and there is a lot of world out there

I spend a lot of time traveling for purposes of inspiration or to simply enjoy the environments and cultures of other places. This goes hand and hand with the reduced footprint of my tools. I've landed on a few places where I can inexpensively spend much of my time. These include Park City, Utah, southern Nevada, Mexico, France and Spain.

Additionally I know my way around many American cities fairly well. Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Chicago and New York more so than others. I have been sporatically studying Spanish, primarily in Mexico and Spain, for around fifteen years now and, in the words of a Bogota cab driver, my Spanish is sufficient. I am much better at reading than conversing but feel as comfortable in Spanish-speaking countries as I do in the United States. Part of my rational for spending so much time in hispanic locations is to keep my language skills alive. I started visiting Paris while attending javascript conferences and also know that city well. Although I can't speak French at all, I somehow manage to get by.

Hummingbirds have some of the longest migration routes of all animals and have been known to fly across the gulf of Mexico, a distance of over 500 miles, in one day.