People think being a UX designer is all Figma frames, sticky notes, and smooth workflows. But when you’re a nomadic UX designer—someone who works from different countries, time zones, and cafés every month—your life becomes a moving prototype. Constantly tested, constantly iterated.

I didn’t plan to live this way. Three years ago, I was sitting in a polished office in San Francisco, drinking free kombucha and pretending those “brainstorm sessions” weren’t just the same ideas recycled every quarter. One day, while stuck in traffic after a sprint demo that went nowhere, I realized: the world is too big to be staring at the same conference room walls.

So I packed a single backpack, booked a one-way ticket to Bali, and told my manager I was going “remote.” (Honestly, I think he was relieved.)

My workday now? It shifts like a responsive layout.

Some mornings I’m sketching wireframes on the beach in Goa, watching fishermen pull in their nets while I figure out a checkout flow that doesn’t make users scream. Other days I’m in a noisy hostel in Lisbon, headphones on, redesigning a dashboard while travelers debate which club closes last. Internet goes out? No problem—there’s always another café, another hotspot, another workaround. UX teaches you adaptability; travel forces you to master it.

But the best part? Real users are everywhere.

I’ve tested onboarding screens with a sushi chef in Tokyo who didn’t speak English but understood icons better than my entire team. I’ve redesigned a travel app after hearing a backpacker in Vietnam complain about “too many taps.” I once completely scrapped a settings page because a grandmother in Istanbul told me, “If I can’t find it in five seconds, I don’t need it.”

This lifestyle isn’t glamorous every day. My backpack strap broke in Croatia. I pulled an all-nighter in Mexico because my client forgot time zones exist. And I’ve worked from airports more times than I’d like to admit.

But when I close my laptop after a long day, step out into a new city, and realize that my entire life fits inside a 40-liter backpack… it feels worth it.

Design teaches me to understand people.
Travel teaches me to feel them.

And being a nomadic UX designer lets me do both—one sunrise, one WiFi password, one prototype at a time.