Hi everyone great to meet you. it's my first time posting here.
So I'm a 21 yo international college student in California. I'm a CS major (with a focus on software and a minor in Maths) and currently I'm in my junior (3rd) year.
Tbh CS is very hard for me and I'm not doing too good but I'm confident that I have the sufficient grades to be able to get the degree and to be accepted into some Master's program, which I am thinking of doing. I don't have any internship/work experience for now and probably will never be able to for undergrad. That is the main reason I am thinking of doing a Master's.
I became interested in the digital nomad lifestyle about half a year ago and I think that this IS the lifestyle for me. I am interested in travelling, exploring and getting to know new cultures and places. Also as an international student I do not want to waste a whole lot of the best years of my life in anxiety for getting a US green card like many of my fellow schoolmates do. So I am deciding to jump straight into a DN life whenever that's possible.
I also am able to speak Spanish (B1~B2) level and I am still taking regular classes online. At the current pace I might be able to reach a C1 level by the time I enter my Master's program. I am also open to learning other languages should it be necessary. I would love to be able to travel around Spain/LatAm and even settle there! I also am able to speak some French (~B1 currently) but sadly I don't think France has any DN programs. And finally of course I am able to speak Mandarin which is my maternal language (and just as you might have guessed I'm Chinese). I don't think that'll help too much either with DN'ning but it's cool to know though.
In terms of places to live I do have a criteria (most important to least important):
- Culture. I am a big history/culture fan so having a lot of history and culture around is a big turn-on for me.
- Safety/Crime. A concern for me.
- Climate. I am not super picky about climate. Just make sure it's not humid and hot all year long or for the majority of the year.
- Medical care.
- Scenic/natural beauty (Preferably).
- Not super duper crowded/dense (I mean Tokyo/Shanghai/New York level of crowdedness).
- Preferably not in E/SE/S Asia.
- Racism and ability to blend in. (This is least of my concerns but I'm just putting it here because I am aware that in some places/countries Asians are being targeted by robbers/crime perpetrators)
So what are your suggestions? Am I able to live my dream as a DN? What is the best for me to do now? After graduating? What places/countries would you suggest for me to start with, given my traits, abilities and preferences?
If CS doesn't work out for you, switch to information technology or information systems. You can definitely find remote roles. But CS is great for that as well.