I split my time between Tokyo and Singapore. I don’t consider myself a digital nomad, I’m a ‘shuttler.’

• Austin Zeng is a freelancer who splits his time evenly between Singapore and Tokyo.
• He calls himself a “shuttler,” and thinks it has clear benefits compared to being a digital nomad.
• Still, he says it’s not a lifestyle for everyone, especially those who struggle with FOMO.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Austin Zeng, a 32-year-old programmer and freelancer who splits his time evenly between Singapore and Tokyo. This essay has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider verified his income and expenses.

I’m not a digital nomad, I’m a shuttler.

While digital nomads jump from place to place to place, I spend my time shuttling between just two cities: Singapore and Tokyo.

And though the digital nomad lifestyle has become popular —there are 35 million worldwide, per Demand Sage — I find that what I do is cheaper, easier, and a better fit for my lifestyle.

How I shuttle between Singapore and Tokyo

Austin Zeng

I’m a Singaporean citizen and a permanent resident in Japan. I first moved to Tokyo for college 12 years ago, after receiving a MEXT scholarship from the Japanese government.

Now, I bounce between Singapore and Tokyo every four to six weeks. It’s a six-and-a-half-hour flight, and each one-way plane ticket costs me around 40,000 yen, or around $270.

In Singapore, I live with my family in an apartment and don’t pay rent. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, I rent a 280-square-foot apartment year-round in the city’s Shinjuku ward — as central as it gets — for about 85,000 yen, or $570, monthly.

My lifestyle is possible because I have a part-time job as a programmer for a Japanese tourism startup. This job takes up around 28 working hours a week and can be done remotely.

I spend the rest of my time on freelance gigs. These range from additional programming projects and translation work to selling sake in Singapore and giving lectures about career development to foreign students in Japan.

Being a shuttler has clear benefits over being a digital nomad

Austin Zeng

As a freelancer, splitting my time between two cities has had a positive impact on my work life. The shuttling provides me with a strong understanding of both cities without the heavy anchor of being stuck in either.

In-person face time can be critical in Japan and Singapore. Japan has a very strong business card culture, and connections need to be maintained with appearances at events and over coffee.

Meanwhile, Singapore has a strong grapevine culture — or what’s referred to in Singapore as a “lobang” culture — where your connections often share new opportunities in a really informal way over drinks or dinner.

Being based in both cities means I’ve built up a deep circle in both countries and have access to opportunities that range from helping to recruit Singaporeans for exhibitions in Japan to interpreting at Japanese events in Singapore. It’s a level of depth that I don’t think is as feasible when you’re a nomad constantly on the move.

My living arrangements also mean that I probably pay far less than a digital nomad traveling between multiple countries in a year, because I’m not staying in Airbnbs or short-stay apartments.

My familiarity with both cities provides a clearer safety net, if something goes wrong in either, I know where to go.

Digital nomads might experience “more of life” by moving through the most enjoyable destinations. Unlike me, a digital nomad would be unlikely to stay in Japan during the dead of winter. But while the shuttling life is not quite as Instagrammable, it’s also less tiring and more stable. And there’s a comfort to that.

Creating a life between two cities isn’t easy, especially if you struggle with FOMO

Austin Zeng

FOMO — fear of missing out — often creeps in when I’m in the other city. Maintaining friendships is challenging and it can be easy to fall out of touch when I’m not around. I’ve missed birthdays, breakups, and even weddings.

But that’s the cost of having two active circles of friends on both ends, who rarely overlap.

However, I’ve found that always knowing you’ll be leaving soon adds a certain urgency and hustle — not just toward meeting professional goals on a deadline — but also for making sure I catch up with friends.

This type of arrangement requires several things to line up in order to be feasible: remote work and a clear way that you can add value to companies in the cities you’re trying to be a part of.

Still, I consider myself lucky to have a set of culturally agnostic skills (programming) and culturally specific skills (fluency in Japanese and English) that allow me to do what I do now.