Traveling the World While Working #1 Kazakhstan

Since our founding in 1999, we have been committed to enabling each and every one of our employees to reach their full potential without being restricted by location, time, or living environment.

Together with our employees, we have realized a variety of work styles, including full-flexibility, full-remote work, support for balancing work with childcare and nursing care, and, in recent years, nomadic work both in Japan and overseas. By enabling employees to fulfill both their work and personal lives, we are able to influence each other positively and contribute to improving the productivity and quality of work of the entire organization.

In this series of articles, we will share on how our employees are exploring and implementing their own unique ways of working.

Introduction

Hello, I am Sakamoto, a global consultant with the eLife Singapore office.
I am usually based in Singapore but I love to travel and starting from last year, I took the plunge and started nomadic work, which has always been my dream.

Currently, I visit two to three countries a month and work while experiencing life there.
In this blog, I will be writing a series of articles about how I balance my work and personal life, the cultures of the countries I visited, and my interactions with the local people through my nomadic work experience abroad.
In this first installment, I will share with you how I started nomadic work and my nomadic work experience in Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan, where I stayed until last week.

How to start nomadic work

I have made it my life's work to gain rich experiences through interaction with different cultures, different lifestyles, and local people. In the past, I have traveled around the world on vacation, and upon returning to Japan, I have visited unexplored regions deep in the mountains with my family and friends. However, based on my belief that life is a journey, I am always seeking opportunities to visit more countries and experience the local culture and lifestyle.
eLife is a company with a corporate mission of "proposing new ways of working" and a deep understanding of diverse work styles. Therefore, I was able to propose nomadic work, which involves moving from one country to another around the world, while working with confidence to the company; the CEO and CMO also often handle business matters from overseas, so I quickly gained their understanding. It was approved smoothly, and I began my nomadic work life without much elaborate preparations.
A year has passed since I started nomadic work, and I am now able to adapt to a flexible work style. Although my life pattern has changed, I have adjusted to nomadic work more smoothly than I had expected and am now enjoying this style of work.

Nomads are communities who move from place to place as a way of obtaining food, finding pasture for livestock, or otherwise making a living
Nomad workers work like nomads, moving from place to place as needed.

About the Republic of Kazakhstan

Until last week, I was visiting the Republic of Kazakhstan, which in the past was a nomadic society and in modern history was part of the former Soviet Union.
Its land area is about seven times larger than that of Japan, but it is mostly steppe and has a population of 19.6 million.

I went to the city of Almaty, located in the southeast of Kazakhstan, which is the most populous city and means "father of the apple". Apples, along with tulips, are said to originate from Kazakhstan.
I was there for about 10 days, and the climate was quite pleasant for me personally, with temperatures ranging from 5 to 8°C at night and 13 to 18°C during the day.

The average monthly salary in Kazakhstan is said to be 700USD. However, I heard that rent in Almaty has skyrocketed recently and urban rent is now around 700USD, so more and more people are commuting to urban areas from rural areas for work where rent is relatively low. I also heard that most people are working two jobs. The reason for the sharp rise in rents is due to immigrants from Russia entering Kazakhstan (there is an agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan that does not require a work visa, etc.).

Cultural Revival in Kazakhstan

As a nomadic worker traveling and working around the world, I enjoy getting away from urban areas to visit indigenous villages and experience their traditional culture. Kazakhstan originally had a unique culture, but much of it was lost during the former Soviet Union period. I have heard from locals that nationalism has increased in Kazakhstan in the wake of the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine and that more and more people are learning and practicing the old culture. On this trip, I also had the opportunity to experience traditional culture.

In the photo, people dressed in traditional Kazakhstan clothing are playing the Dombra, a traditional stringed instrument, and spinning wool on spindles. Equestrian arts and riding are also an important part of nomadic culture, and the art of balancing on the back of a horse symbolizes the deep relationship between nomadic culture and horses in Kazakhstan. The landscape of traditional nomadic dwellings called yurts was also very inspiring, something that cannot be seen in Japan or Singapore.

And strolling around the city is one of the pleasures of the trip. The photo below shows the Ascension Cathedral Russian Orthodox Church.

Located in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, this Ascension Cathedral Russian Orthodox Church is a 56 meters high Orthodox cathedral. It is amazing that not a single nail was used in this entire building.

Attraction of Nomadic Work

The flexibility of remote work allows for a natural blend of work and local life, which is the appeal of nomadic work. One of the best parts is being able to enjoy local food in between work.
This time, I made friends with a lady near the market and learned about many delicious local dishes. The most delicious dishes were a minestrone-like noodle dish (Laghman) and a fermented horse milk drink (Kumis). The markets and the interaction with the local people make the trip even richer.

I also look forward every time to hiring a tour guide and getting to know the locals and learning about their culture.
I also see the difficulty of communication as one of the best parts of the trip. In Kazakhstan, few people speak English, but I do not feel inconvenienced because I can communicate well enough with cell phone apps and gestures. There are occasional miscommunications in situations such as ordering food in restaurants, but rather than being an issue, miscommunications in different cultures can be viewed as a good memory of the trip.
Recently, I often use chatbots and other tools in my work, and I feel the importance of effective communication. In nomadic work, the need to think about how to convey our intentions accurately and concisely also applies to our daily work.

Accommodations and local infrastructure in Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, I stayed in a guesthouse instead of a hotel. I chose guesthouses because they offer better quality Wi-Fi coverage and secure Internet access, which is essential for my work, as compared to hotels in the same price range. Having a secure Wi-Fi environment is one of my top priorities. In addition, as a year-round traveler, I often choose guesthouses for a home away from home atmosphere which you do not get from hotels.
Additionally, I have a number of international travel adapters for use around the world, so I don't have to worry about voltage differences and charging.

AS there is a four-hour time difference between Japan and Kazakhstan, I will start work at around 4:30 a.m. every day for meetings with my colleagues in Japan. I am used to the time difference, so I did not find it particularly difficult, but it is very important to manage your own schedule well.
Also, the weather was nice, so I sometimes worked in a nearby park. It was very pleasant to be able to experience working in the nature of a foreign country.

Kazakhstan Business Insights

In Kazakhstan business, "high price point does not = no sale". This is because Kazakhstanis are not averse to taking out loans. For example, the Toyota Camry is a coveted car for Kazakhstanis, and they have a habit of purchasing inexpensive Camry models first, even with debt, and then purchasing more expensive models as their income rises. This kind of consumption habit will provide great business opportunities for Japanese products in Kazakhstan.

How to deal with problems when traveling abroad

Encountering problems is inevitable when abroad. On the last day of my stay in Kazakhstan, my cab broke down on the way to the airport.  Fortunately, I had set aside twice as much time as needed for the journey, and I arrived at the airport safely and in time to board the flight despite the unexpected trouble.
It is easy to become impatient when trouble occurs at the end of a trip, but by planning ahead and setting aside buffer time, you can calmly deal with the situation. Since unexpected things are likely to happen when traveling abroad, it is important to have enough time to spare. This is the same in our daily work.

The next country Brazil!

The experience of balancing work and life while experiencing different cultures in this country where tradition and modernity merge has been invaluable to me. The charm of nomadic work lies in the fact that you can continue to search for your own unique way of working.

Next, I will head to Brazil. I will share on my nomadic work there in the next blog. I look forward to sharing with you my unique cross-cultural experience in Brazil and the charm of nomadic work. I look forward to sharing with you my experiences in this new environment and how I am integrating work and life!

eLife Global Consultant Sakamoto, Singapore Office