The Nearshore Nomad, Journey from Australia to Colombia

Welcome to the Nearshore Cafe podcast, home to the most interesting stories and people doing business in Latin America.

Welcome everyone to the Nearshore Cafe podcast sponsored by Plug Technologies. My name is Brian Sampson. I'm one of your co hosts here today. Eight year founder of Nearshore Latam based companies. Along with me is Kent Cameron, a digital nomad currently living in Latam. And we are super excited to be here.

Super excited, looking forward to diving in. So, yeah, let's get into it.

All right, well, Kent, you have a really interesting story and I really want our, our listeners and viewers to understand like just what does it mean to be a digital nomad in Latin America and how you got into this world and all that stuff. But I think what would be really interesting is if we can kind of plant where you are today. Like where are you living? What's daily life like? You know, it looks like you're, you're in a pretty cool moder background. Yeah, tell, tell us a little more about, you know, daily life.

So right now I'm based in a place which is in southern Colombia called Cali. Cali, okay.

C A L I, right?

C A L I. Yeah, that's it. Cool, right? Yeah. So I'm based in Cali and it's known as the salsa capital of the world. And I, I don't like to be brutally honest with you. I don't know if that's like 100 legit. It's definitely something that the, the culture here is, is, is based on and it's like a big thing. So the, the culture passes down, you know, generation to generation and all that sort of stuff. So you can't deny that it's pretty popular here. So source is a big thing in this town. It's a, it's probably the third largest city in Colombia. So I actually moved down here about eight or nine months ago. Yeah, interesting stories behind that because I've been coming here for a long time because you may or may not have been to Colombia, but in Colombia it's like, it's very culturally rich, like up to the eyeballs thing. You know, it's, there's so many things to do and this is one of the, one of the things I discovered on my journey. Funny, funny story is my, my parents actually were like professional dancers. They met each other and that's how they met. And so like, I didn't know that, like I actually got into this wasn't necessarily my thing. Right. I didn't, I didn't know I like this, but somehow it's in my blood, I think.

Yeah, that's, that's great. And so you said Kali's in the southern part of Colombia. Like what's the, what's the weather like out there?

Great question. Yeah. So it's super hot here. What I love about it is that it's really predictable. So it's hot all year round. And me being from like, you know, from Australia, you know, there's pretty good weather. There's the north, so it's sort of just been a natural transition for me.

Yeah, right on. And so you said it's the third biggest city. Tell us a little more about like kind of daily life there and like are people going to the markets all day and like the food and the, the culture, the coffee culture, you know, Nearshore Cafe. We, we love our coffee here.

Absolutely. Stay in a life here. It's kind of, kind of interesting. Can be a little chaotic. But it's also, I would say kind of like a destination. You don't really go for coffee. Like altitude isn't really primed for that, you know, so like it's dry and hot, but there's lots of, you know, like trees and it's very like sort of nature, nature based. You know, most of Columbia is pretty diverse, but. Yeah, so, so I would say like people drink a lot of coffee, but we don't produce a lot of coffee here. But there are lots of farms that they produce lots of other things. Don't quote me exactly on what they do, but, but there's, there's a ton of different things they produce in agricultures. You know, it's a big thing. So as you maybe could imagine if you, if you, you've been to Latin America, right? So you've been and you've seen like markets and, and all that sort of stuff. There's, there's definitely like a really vibrant like sort of culture where you can go and buy anything. Really cheap fruits. There's like crazy amount of fruits and different vegetables. Like as, as I mentioned, it's, it's quite diverse. So it depends on what location to. Depending on what you're going to get. Yeah, very interesting, dynamic, kind of diverse place.

What are, what are the typical for breakfast, lunch and dinner out there?

Most people have like a repos and they have like avocado and they'll have some meat or something like that. It's very, very common. Eggs as well, you know, that sort of thing. Like it's a combination fairly, fairly hearty sort of food. You know, lots of soups and, and different sort of like food like that. Sorry, I, I, I can't say all the names of it. Put me on the spot here. That's okay.

And is, is rice and beans, is that a staple or is there, that's, that's more, more commonly used than others.

Yeah, I think like chicken, chicken and raise, like kind of like steak or, or beef is like a stable. Yeah. In every meal. You get that? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure.

Now we, we know that you're a digital nomad, which, which is something that has, like you said, has really become popular about a decade ago and especially, you know, driven by Covid. For those that don't know. I, I live in Hawaii and there's been a lot more digital nomads that, that live here too, you know, or you're. As long as you laptop, we can all make it work. How like kind of how is the infrastructure out there? Internet and phone service and technology and are there other people like you? Are there other, other nomads. Digital nomads in Cali?

So over the years, I've been sort of going in and out of Columbia for the last five years seeing like the, the infrastructure really change and become a lot more robust, you know, post Covid. It's a great reason. And also I think, I don't know if you've seen like starlink, I think is also available here as well, so.

Oh, cool.

Yeah, like Internet. Yeah, Internet's not really an issue. So really fast Internet readily available in terms of foreigners. So it's a real popular place. Lots, lots of people, you know, travel all over the world here, including, you know, a lot of, a lot of people from America. There's lots of, lots of people from America. Interestingly enough, it's a really popular, touristy kind of place to come. I think like, the salsa is a key thing that like drives people here. They come down, you know, and they want to, they want to go to all the good clubs and you know, they want to try all the different things and, and so, yeah, it's a really unique place for that reason.

Right on now. Have you partaken in, in the salsa culture?

Yeah, yeah, I look, I try. Yeah, like, you know, it's a great opportunity, you know, to get out and do that. You know, obviously you need to be kind of disciplined because like, the culture here, you know, it's very collective. People want to share their culture. It's, you know, something they're very proud about. And I think like, they have every right to be right. But, but also, you know, Sometimes when you're, when you're juggling like work and a country and, and all that sort of stuff, you need to be sort of disciplined about it. Right. Otherwise you could be dancing all night, you know. So that's just my 10 cents. Yeah, so. So the weekends, it's pretty common. Go out with friends and, and just go and casually dance at various like clubs and very, very friendly for anyone coming all over the world. You'll, you'll find that there's like a very easy transition here for sure.

Yeah, it seems like a, like a very welcoming place and you know, just kind of back to the digital nomad environment. Like are, are there startups here? Like are, are there co working spaces? Like how do you guys meet each other and find each other out there?

Yeah. So answer your question, Brian. It's a good, it's a good question. I think the most common go to point is like a wework. They're all over the world. You're familiar with this, right?

Of course, yeah.

So yeah, so there's, there's several locations here where you can, you can plug and play and it's pretty economical. And yeah, like I think the other go a fan of is just going to like various online Facebook groups and things and that seems to be the easiest thing. You know, like sometimes you might be in different places and you know, like sometimes a drama to get around at times. So yeah, busy, all those things. Yeah, so there's plenty, there's plenty of room to meet people. There's like this thing I noticed the other night I went past. I haven't been but there's like caught like a gringo's like, like, you know, language night, Spanish night or something like that and it's, you know, it's one of those classic things. So there's like, there's a lot of those sorts of, you know, initiatives. You could essentially go and learn Spanish you pretty quickly. Right on. How's your Spanish by the way? Sorry to break your flow, but yeah.

I will say interestingly enough my Spanish has been pretty stagnant since I became a nearshore entrepreneur for the very reason that everyone that I interact with, their English level is so high. Like there's, there's really, you know, I, I just kind of throw in some Spanish words I think for fun. But otherwise the population that I work with, the English is so abundant fluency, so advanced that all my conversations are, are just easily in English and it's just super unscripted and, and just casual which, which is something that really Attracted me to the region.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's one of those things that's kind of elusive, right? Like you need to. You need to use it or you. Or you lose it sort of thing. So. Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah, it's. No, it's no easy feat either the Spanish language, if you didn't learn when you. You were at school or something like that. So. Yeah, so it's, It's. It's a good one, that one.

Well, tell us a little more about, you know, as a digital nomad. That.

That's.

That's a pretty vague thing, but, like, what do you do day to day? Like, what do you do for work?

Yeah, absolutely. So I took, like, the entrepreneurship route, and also the freelancing route seemed to seem to be the. The right one for me. I probably didn't. Didn't anticipate as many, like, learning curves. You know, there's. There's a ton of stuff I didn't know before I left, and now I know that was really cool. And, like, just really, like, the main thing I do is I played with coding. I played with, like, recruiting, teaching. I've done a number of things, and that seemed to have got me across the line.

And recruiting and coding, you know, are two often in demand skill sets. And I'd imagine the cost of living in Cali is a little bit less than the cost if you were to move to the U.S. it's a great point.

Yeah. I've had this question so many times. So the motivator, motivation for me to originally go was that I was trying to fix that cost problem. You know, so it's like sort of you want to minimize your overheads, you know, maximize your, you know, your income. I was thinking in the same vein. Yeah, it was like I. I was thinking in terms of options, like, you know, before I left, it was like, do I live with my parents? Do I, you know, I stay in the job and do like a, like a side hustle thing? Do I raise money or what do I do next? And so it kind of came to a point where I was like, I need a fourth option. You know what I mean? Like, was sort of like, I need another option, because neither of those appeal to me at all. And I was like, what is that option? And I came up with, like, South America starting in Mexico, because I guess, like, just to share with you. I think if you. You look at the problem statement, it's like trying to minimize your overheads. Mexico automatically is, you know, very different in terms of, like, sort of purchasing power when it comes to, like, Australia versus Mexico or Sydney versus, like, say, the beaches in Mexico, you know, it's very different thing. So achieved that goal. And then the other one I liked was it was on the same time zone as the US So I could, like, effectively access, like this massive market. Right. I looked at it and I thought, well, this is like classic arbitrage. Like, it's almost like I checked up, I checked up the actual, like, terms called currency arbitrage or forex. Yeah. And so that was the initial incentive. Five years later, I'm here. So I guess it worked.

Yeah. I also think it can make someone like you incredibly attractive for. For companies, you know, looking for that talent arbitrage, you know, because here you've got a digital nomad with skills that easily adapt to the Western world because that's where you're. You're from. Because your overhead is just a fraction of what your competition in the U.S. your overhead is a fraction of that cost. So it allows you to still make a massive margin, but also price your own services more competitively. I think that you've. You've really cracked the code. You really cracked the system on that.

I think, like, I got some things in retrospect straight away, you know, like you obviously get by default a cheaper environment in that sense, or less cost. And then, you know, the other things, like there was. It was fraught with plenty of challenges I could share with you and takeaways, but it's like it's sort of a journey and, you know, you get certain things up front and other things later on. Yeah, that was generally the cadence of it all.

You know, forgive me, we haven't really spent much time on your. Just your overall backstory, Ken. Obviously you're an Aussie. Kind of tell us a little more about, like, growing up and how you, you know, I know you talked about the fourth option, but just kind of tell us a little more about, you know, Ken growing up Kenton High School and like, your. Your journey to this, this exciting continent.

Awesome question. Yeah, thanks. Thanks for asking. Born and raised in a place called Brisbane, out in the country in between, place called Fernie Hills. Classically educated through all that, very entrepreneurial family. Sitting there watching, you know, dad, like, in the pool room downstairs, you know, build up point of sales, service business. And that led on to a number of international companies, which was interesting. And so I spent a lot of my time just like, sort of arguing with my parents about business decisions at a dinner table and, you know, like, you know, building Prototypes of things. So that was kind of my background. Fairly creative, practical. First overseas trip out of Australia. I was always seeking diversity. You know, I think it came from one of the schools I went to. Super diverse. And I was like, wow, like, let's get out and see what's going on. My first. My first, like, trip was to London, so I went to Europe and did the Europe side of things. And, yeah, like, my career sort of, like, bloomed, getting into sort of, like, it recruitment, property development, accounting. I did a whole different heap of different disciplines and then landed on technology. And sort of, you know, 20 years later, here I am. That's the story.

Well, talk a little about, you know, like, what you expected when you came to Latin America, if anything, right? Like, it's, you know, kind of hard to anticipate. And then, you know, what. What surprised you in a good way? What surprised you in a not so good way? You know, Tell us a little more about that.

Yeah, absolutely. I guess there was. There's a couple of things that really stand out. So I probably start by talking about Spanish. Maybe. That's a good one.

We.

We kind of touched on that. So my. My interpretation was that, you know, you go online and you can learn Spanish in a month, you know, like, no problem. Done. Like, thanks for coming. Right, so. So that was the biggest misconception. I never knew any Spanish. Like, growing up, I learned some German and English obviously, was the dominant language. So, like, I really didn't know any Spanish at all. And that the learning curve and this and the type of learning curves in Latin America for me were getting my head across. Across that language to the level that I needed because, like, I love getting on the road, I love getting out and about, and I needed a lot more. A lot of people here speak English, so it's super, like, widely acceptable to, you know, speaking English to some extent in major cities. But when you go off the beaten track, it's a. It's a different story. When you work, it's a different story. So that was the first one. When you're traveling and you're, you know, nomadic, essentially, it's like a. If there's a major change in the world, you know, that. That can be challenging on a local basis, like, you know, when you're at home, but when you're away. I found, like, that was kind of interesting. So that. That was something I didn't expect was just, you know, any world change, major world changes or world events, and I'd say also, like, migration to some extent. So systems Are, you know, a little slower. You know, you need, you need a little bit of help. You know, those things are really important. So that was a little challenging. I was expecting, you know, it's going to be different, but I could just slot in. But it was much longer, kind of like timeline. What else? Just also learning new skills. So you think sometimes that, say, a skill, you know, translates like in your local market to, say, another market. And I had to learn like the whole US Market and understand exactly, you know, what was needed. You have to figure out your, like, kind of framework for that, which is an art form for sure, to jump.

On that for a second. So obviously you've worked with some US companies. How did they pay you?

That's a good question. So one of the things, because I'm an Australian resident, the interesting thing was, is I found like there was companies that were open to paying me as, like, essentially as an AKA contractor to some extent, but not a locally based contractor. Like, like a contractor who would help them out, you know, and consult on whatever it was. And then, you know, it'd be a month by month basis. And there's a ton of companies that will do that. There's a number of like, options out there. So there's like, like payment platforms which are really useful, really easy to use. You can, you can sort of like just set up an account and they'll utilize your bank account back in whatever location you are based originally based in.

Could you share, you know, for, for those that are interested, could you share a couple of those companies?

Yeah, so. So the first two that I've used, had experience was with Payoneer and so go to payoneer.com I believe, and also deal, if you feel familiar.

Two E's. Yeah, two e-deal.com.

They'Re two that I've used, by the way. There's, there's many others, but they're the two that I actually have experience with and found them to be quite good and effective in terms of getting paid from a international company to a local bank account. Okay, cool, Cool. Right?

And then I want to go personal for a sec because you, I know you as a cyclist, talk about, you know, cycling around Colombia and elsewhere that you've been in Latin America.

Yeah, happy, happy to talk about that. Yeah. I think, like, this is one of my favorite topics. Yeah, Like, I've always been a cyclist and it's one of the reasons why Columbia worked as a location for me. If you haven't noticed, there's like some pretty, pretty big hills yeah, you know, it's. It's pretty diverse. So they produce, like, a number of really, really competitive cyclists in, like, the Tour in France. You'll see, you know, taking out a couple of, like, places that. Yeah, a couple of. A couple of competitions. So. So basically, it's like a religion here. And I've. I've. I've had a number of experiences, but probably the two that sort of stick out to me is. So I was living in, near Medellin. It's like the second largest city, the city of the spring, they call it. And I was living in a place called Rio Negro. It was near the airport. I don't know if you. Have you been to Medellin or.

I have not, but that is high up on my list. And I was just writing about that the other day. The city of Eternal Spring, like, the climate just sounds perfect.

Yeah, absolutely. So just imagine, like, every single day you get up and it's spring, every single day. There's technically, there's two seasons in Colombia. One is rain, one is summer. So that's it. So in this place called Rio Negro, which is near the airport, when you enter Medellin, there's basically, like, a ton of opportunities to join groups and. And ride and very, like, sort of affluent area. And there's. There's all these, like, little, small nooks and crannies, like little, little pueblos and towns, and there's all these amazing hills and there's all these places to go. So, like, you never short of a challenge, and long rides. Like, you could ride, like, you know, 120Ks with a group. And that's the thing, like, they. They suckle pretty hard here, but there's many other places to go.

Yeah, years ago, I think I was pretty into. Into cycling. Nowhere near the level you were, but I did most of my cycling in Southern California with a big reason of predictable weather. Right. Like, I. For, you know, for about eight months a year, I didn't have to worry about getting downpoured on or anything. And it sounds like that's a benefit of cycling in Columbia, is you're. You're probably not going to get downpoured on in rainy season.

Yeah, yeah. Depending on the location. But, yeah, you're absolutely right. You know, it's a little bit more predictable. People know and respect cyclists. You know, they're fully aware of them and, you know, so you can. You can definitely. You can. You can ride quite safely and it's a great activity.

Yeah. So. So, Kent, tell us a little more about Daily life in Colombia and Cali, you know. What's, what's that look like for you, generally?

Generally, I try to keep things simple. Okay. That's like a rule, I think over time, I try to keep things simple is like, okay, you work as a digital nomad. You're like, I, I, you know, I work with like the New York time zone, you know. So, like, you've got your daily, daily work. Right. So I'll be, you know, definitely respectful of that and, and protect that because, you know, you've got lots of distractions, you know, so there's lots of great things to do. I, I try and get up, up, like really early. I'd probably be like about 4am I get up and I'm one of those.

Early riser.

Yeah, yeah. It's just the way I work and I shoot off, you know, with the, with the team, and then, you know, come back, we'll have coffee, breakfast, socialize, same sort of thing. It kind of reminds me of Brisbane when I used to cycle with my buddies there. Basically, like, it's the same sort of thing. It's just, it's a different world, though, in the same vein. So, you know, get a, get a good ride in, usually about an hour to an hour and a half, depending on that, get back, probably rehydrate more coffee, obviously, big fan of the coffee. And then, then I'll probably just get straight into work and, and, you know, like, I've got, I've got meetings and I've got to like, basically get there. Fairly straightforward and somewhat boring, actually. Like, you know. You know, like, you've got to be somewhat boring to get things done, but then you also got to have your fun time, like, so, you know, when night, Nighttime comes, you've got opportunities to, to go out, do things. Usually the week, I'm fairly reserved on the weekend. It's pretty, it's pretty common for me to jet somewhere or just like just get in a bus and, and go and see somewhere local. So that's like, sort of generally the, the things I do. One of the things that's different in terms of my lifestyle compared to living in Medellin versus living in Cali, for example, is that down here it's like, obviously different style of music. So in Medellin you have like, reggaeton. It's a, it's a, it's a like, capital for that. And down here it's like basically like a capital for salsa and it's a capital for nightlife and all that sort of stuff. So It's a little different, but you know, just different culture, different, different things to do.

So I want to close out our podcast today with, with three hard hitting.

Questions, I guess you could say.

So the first one is what is your favorite Spanish word word?

Strong. I like it.

I like it. Good. So Kent, being that you've been a digital nomad, remind me for how many years now you've been in Latam?

I think it's approaching five. I think it's five years.

Five years. So you are, you are the veteran of digital nomad and being a digital nomad in Latam. So for those that are considering like, hey, that sounds really cool what Kent's doing. I might want to do that. What is your number one piece of advice for those say in Australia or America or Europe that are considering following in your path, in your footsteps and moving to Latin America?

I think like the best piece of advice is I think be, be self aware to deal with, you know, distractions and, and I think if discipline's your thing, you'll find that that's probably going to serve you pretty well here.

Yeah, good advice, good advice. And my last question for you, Kent, is tell us about the best purchase you've made in Colombia under $50 US.

It'S a great question. I, I think it's a hard one to answer as well. I think that everything's so cheap here. Yeah. You know, like for example, eggs and breakfast or something. Right. And, and a coffee. You know, like I would be hard pressed to spend more than like a dollar US on that, like depending on the location. So yeah, that would probably like breakfast here is, is pretty awesome.

Yeah, that sounds great. I love it. So Kent, the, the background looks quite cool by the way. Looks like a pretty modern building. Tell us about, you know, where you're living exactly, like what kind of building is and you know, so for work.

I live in these. These. Really? Yeah. As you can see, fairly modern apartment. This apartment, I think it's only like 5 years old and I'm in south, south side of the city and basically like, like this building here is like, I do a lot of my work from here just, just out of choice because it's like I get so much for my, for my dollar here. I can pretty much have anything I want. On the roof there's a pool and a deck. It's like massive pool and deck. You know, like it's, it's a really modern building. There's, I've got a gym inside my apartment and also there's a gym on the other side of the road. Then there's, like, you know, a whole heap of parks and, you know, you know, kind of wildlife and everything, but it's just super close to, like, restaurants and cafes and it's like everything that I would have at Bruce in Brisbane, but just Colombian, if that makes sense. So, like, yeah, it's. This whole place is all great Internet, great air conditioning, great everything. So, yeah, I'm pretty fortunate.

Very cool.

Awesome.

Ken. This has been a blast. Super fun. I learned a lot. I learned a lot about you. I learned a lot about Cali, Columbia, so just. Just a whole lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to doing more of these and thankful for our sponsor, Plug Technologies, for producing this for us. And I'll see you again soon.

See you again soon, Brian. Thanks for having me.

All right, thanks.

Thanks for joining us at the Near Shore Cafe podcast. Tune in next week for a new episode featuring another special guest with exciting stories.