Alan Frei lives the life of a backpacker. That is, all 62 of his belongings fit into a single backpack, which he carries with him as he travels and lives in different cities around the world—a total of 53 countries over the past three years.
The Swiss entrepreneur in October got rid of his apartment near Zurich and all his furniture. Items he kept include his watch, a toothbrush, seven pairs of underwear, and sunglasses. He currently has two pairs of sneakers—but he plans to discard them soon, having just discovered a company where he can rent shoes. He lives in luxurious hotels and eats at restaurants. He never cooks or cleans or does laundry. For work, he assembles his “set up”: a foldable Samsung smartphone, an ultra slim foldable Bluetooth keyboard and a wireless micro mouse. No computer.
“It’s super fun,” says Mr. Frei, 38, who founded and runs lingerie and love toy company Amorana, recently acquired by U.K.-based Lovehoney.
Mr. Frei is an extreme version of a digital nomad, a person with no fixed address, who lives and works while traveling the globe. Today, their ranks are small, but they could become more common in the years ahead.
