The Only Thing Keeping ENFPs from the Digital Nomad Life

ENFPs want to travel more than any other personality type, and chances are they’re already halfway to the nomad life. Our survey data shows exactly what’s standing in the way.

What’s Coming Up

• Key Takeaways
• ENFPs and the Digital Nomad Checklist
• ENFPs Want to Travel More Than Any Other Personality Type
• How Often and How Far ENFPs Travel
• ENFPs Switch Jobs More Than They Stay
• Remote Work Is a Travel Ticket for ENFPs
• What Stops ENFPs from Traveling More?
• ENFPs Are Already Halfway There
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Further Reading

ENFPs and the Digital Nomad Checklist

Strip away the beach photos, and the digital nomad life comes down to a short list of requirements:

• A steady appetite for travel that doesn’t fade after two weeks
• A willingness to trade a fixed address – and sometimes a fixed employer – for the sake of mobility
• A job that can be done from anywhere
• Enough money to keep the whole thing rolling

In our “Work, Travel, and Nomadic Tendencies” survey, we asked people of all personality types about their relationships with work, travel, and moving. And if the digital nomad lifestyle were a job listing, people with the ENFP personality type (Campaigners) – who are Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Prospecting personalities – would look like the strongest applicants in the pile. They measure up to that list better than almost anyone, right up until the last item.

Let’s go down the checklist.

ENFPs Want to Travel More Than Any Other Personality Type

Let’s start with simple desire. When we asked whether people would like to travel for pleasure more than they currently do, 98% of ENFPs said yes – the highest rate of all 16 personality types. And some 81% of ENFPs rated their desire for adventure as “strong” or “insatiable,” again the highest combined rate in the survey.

And when we removed every obstacle – if time, money, or life responsibilities were not an issue, how often would ENFPs travel? – this personality type produced the single most lopsided answer in the dataset. Just 0.24% said less than once per year. That’s roughly one respondent in 400, the lowest rate of any type on any option for this question. About a third of ENFPs went the other direction entirely and said they’d never come home.

An ENFP without wanderlust is, statistically speaking, a rounding error.

So… desire to travel? Check.

How Often and How Far ENFPs Travel

Wanting to travel is one thing. Plenty of people dream about vivid trips and stay home. So the more telling numbers are the ones about the travel ENFPs already do.

Only 16% of ENFPs travel for pleasure less than once per year, among the lowest rates in the survey, and a third of them (33%) take four or more trips annually.

When they go, they go properly. Some 74% of ENFPs prefer longer trips over shorter ones, the second-highest rate of the 16 types. Just over 90% prefer trips far from home, and 76% favor international destinations.

Their curiosity about the world runs deep too – 76% of ENFPs describe themselves as very interested in learning about world cultures, and not a single ENFP respondent said they weren’t interested at all.

For many types, travel is an event that interrupts regular life. For ENFPs, it reads more like a standing appointment.

So… preexisting travel log? Check.

ENFPs Switch Jobs More Than They Stay

The nomad life also asks for loose anchors, and here ENFPs hold a distinction no other type can claim. When we asked whether people tend to stick with one job or switch frequently, ENFPs were the only type where the switchers outnumbered the stayers, at 50%.

Yes, that is a fairly slim majority, but these numbers hint at a philosophy – not flakiness. ENFPs tend to treat a career as something you explore rather than something you settle into, and their loyalty runs to their own growth more than to any particular arrangement. They are probably more comfortable than other personality types embracing the freelance career path, trading the stability of a single employer for the unknown opportunities awaiting discovery.

Their addresses are often just as negotiable. Only 43% of ENFPs said they’d need a major benefit before moving to another country, the lowest rate of all 16 types, and 16% said any excuse to move abroad would do.

Many personality types set down deep roots over time – they get comfortable in a job, signed into a lease, and committed to the routines that make travel more difficult. ENFPs seem to keep their roots deliberately shallow.

So… flexibility and a willingness to transplant? Check.

Remote Work Is a Travel Ticket for ENFPs

Remote work is the one requirement where people with this personality type really stand out from the crowd. Nearly half of ENFPs (48%) would choose to work 100% remotely if given the option – the highest rate of any Extraverted personality type.

Extraverted personalities generally want people around, and most of the Introverted types who topped this question (Introverted personalities recharge through solitude more than social contact) seem to value remote work for the quiet it buys them. ENFPs, however, are likely more open to remote work for a different reason – it would allow them to travel more frequently. For this personality type, a laptop job isn’t necessarily a way to avoid the office – it’s a way to leave town.

They feel similarly about work travel itself, with 86% saying they’d like to travel for work more than they currently do.

So… a willingness to go remote and combine work and travel? Check.

What Stops ENFPs from Traveling More?

According to our survey data, 59% of ENFPs named money as the main obstacle that keeps them from traveling as much as they want to. True, this is the most common excuse among all survey participants, but ENFPs name it at the highest rate out of the 16 personality types.

Money leads this question for every type in the survey, so on its own, that answer isn’t remarkable. What’s remarkable is what ENFPs didn’t say. Only 2% blamed a lack of support or know-how, among the lowest rates in the survey. Few pointed to having no one to travel with. And they were among the least likely to cite time and life commitments, at 31%. The usual chorus of reasons people stay home goes quiet with ENFPs, leaving one primary excuse – the budget.

This question hints at an unfortunate irony – the same lightness that makes ENFPs such natural candidates for the digital nomad life may be part of what stops the travel fund from filling up. Job changes and spontaneous yeses have costs. A life geared around exploring open doors isn’t usually arranged around building up a savings account.

Whatever the cause, this is where ENFPs don’t get their check. Money is – more often than not – the one thing holding them back.

ENFPs Are Already Halfway There

Look back at the list, though, and it’s hard to feel sorry for ENFPs. They already travel more often than most types, stay away longer, cross more borders, and rearrange their working lives whenever a better opportunity presents itself. The digital nomad lifestyle isn’t some distant fantasy for them – it’s roughly what they’re already doing, but in installments.

ENFPs just need the work and financial aspects of digital nomadism to line up so they can comfortably finance living on the move. Whenever that happens, no personality type will pack their bags faster.

Further Reading

• How Personality Shapes Travel, Work, and Wanderlust: A Study
• What’s Your Travel Personality Type?
• International Travel: A Lesson for Every Personality Type
• Stress and the Personality Types Who Work at Home
• A New Holiday Tradition: Holiday Travel Ideas for Every Personality Type