I am Calin Ciabai, a digital nomad, writer and site owner & manager. I am living a location independent lifestyle since 2008, when I quit my 9-to-5 job and hopped into making a living online (and never stopped since – hopefully I will never do!)
I have a Bahcelor’s Degree in Journalism since 2007 and I’ve been traveling and writing as a job. My articles have been featured in various publications, including AOL.com.
This blog, Nomad Not Mad, also won the “Best Travel Blogs of 2023” award by BeforeItsNews.com. Yay!
If you want to get in touch with me, you can send me an email using the contact form on this page. You can also find me on Linkedin , Twitter aka X or Facebook (yes, still using that). And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram too!
I’ve always been fascinated about the idea of traveling the world and living life as a digital nomad: I love seeing new places, exploring new cultures and meet new people all over the world.
And it’s time to share that passion for travel, as well as the knowledge I’ve accumulated over all these years to help you become a location independent world traveler and see the world on your own terms.
Because, yes, you don’t need to be in a race around the clock to see all the places in the world!
It’s also OK if you do – everybody’s free to find their own rhythm and pace, and you’ll find useful stuff here no matter what category you’re in!
Why “Nomad, Not Mad”?
I’m a sucker for wordplay (that’s what happens when you grow up listening to hip hop music and believing you’ll be the next Eminem or KRS One).
And one day, when talking to a friend and telling him about my plans to visit far away countries like Thailand or Indonesia, he asked: “Are you MAD?” I came with a witty response: “Not mad, NOmad!” and the rest is history.
Days later, this domain name was registered and I was embarking on the journey I always wished to take, but never had time or the guts to do so.
You see, I’ve been making a living exclusively from blogging since 2008 and I traveled more and more each year.
I love to travel, I love the new experiences, I love the concept of being able to work remotely, make money and travel the world. This sounds ideal to me.
But for some reason, I never got the courage to create my own blog about this. “The market is already saturated,” I kept telling myself. “I’m not a native English speaker, so I can’t produce quality content,” another voice kept repeating…
The truth is that there will always be tons of reasons NOT to do something. But if you dream about it, you can make it happen. Or at least you should give it your best shot and know that you at least did your best.
So… here I am with Nomad, Not Mad.
But more about me (and my family)
Most travel blogs out there are created by solo travelers. The concept of having a family and traveling the world seems crazy for most people who already have one. But no, that’s not mad either!
I actually started traveling extensively after I got married. I started experiencing the real digital nomad lifestyle after my son was born when we embarked on a month-long trip around Europe.
Back then, my son was almost 2 and even though we though it would be an impossible task, we made it work. 9 countries later, we were tired but happy. You can travel the world when you have a family!
By the way, you can read about our first, month-long train adventure in Europe here.
And we kept doing so, even though we have, at the moment, to mix and match our travels with our son’s school schedule, after trying homeschooling and not getting the great results others are getting.
I am a blogger by heart and I love to write. I don’t have the freedom to create content as solid as I can in my native language because of vocabulary limitations, but at least I can make myself understood, and that’s all that matters.
I am currently living in Romania full time, but we’re taking more and more time to spend months abroad. Or just weeks. Or days – it doesn’t really matter!
We generally travel around Europe and experience the amazing culture around here. And we’re not breaking the bank either, as you will see in the articles I’ll publish on the website.
I prefer slow travel (because fast travel with a kid is indeed a challenge) and that will be reflected in most of the content published on this blog and my other blogs, as I also like to write about health and gaming or anything geeky.
So this would be it. I wrote everything above in the spur of the moment, with my heart beating fast, minutes after creating and launching this blog. It’s very late now and I’ve had a full day, but I felt the need to write this.
And, God, it feels so good to finally have your own travel / digital nomad blog! And it feels even better to know that I have like-minded people reading it, so thank you so much for your visit and interest in Nomad, Not Mad!
