When I tell people that I work remotely from Spain on 3D visualizations, the first reaction is usually: “Oh, that must be amazing! What’s the temperature there right now?” The answer often surprises them, because in this part of Spain the climate isn’t that warm at all. In fact, it rains quite regularly, and the weather here is more like the Netherlands than the rest of Spain.

So where do I live? In Cantabria, a region not many people know. To explain the location I usually say: “About two hours west of Bilbao.” To be more specific: “Half an hour from Santander, heading towards the Picos de Europa.” That’s where you’ll find Treceño, a small village with around 500 residents and, reportedly, 1,200 cows. It may sound like a farmers’ hamlet, but luckily the cows graze outside the village 😉. And why here, you ask? The answer is simple: nature.

So how does working remotely actually work? Honestly: it’s great. I’m won’t bore you with endless lists of pros and cons, because everyone experiences it differently, but for me and my clients it works really well.

That cliché image of the digital nomad, sitting on the beach with a laptop and always on the move, might be fun for a while, but in the long run, I don’t think it’s sustainable.

So no, I’m not a digital nomad. In our house we’ve set up a guest room as an office, just like many home workers. We work on desktop computers and are connected to the world with fiber internet. And yes, even in a village with more cows than people, there’s fiber internet!

Speaking of “we”: my wife works across from me. She’s a web and graphic designer and works in the same way. A little shameless plug: her name is @Maaike Bouwman and she runs Pura-Web: https://pura-web.com.

Curious to see my work? Feel free to check out my portfolio ➝ https://tmolandscapestudio.com/portfolio/.