The last time I visited my parents in the village, I stayed a little longer than usual. There is something about that village air that makes you forget the chaos of the city. When I’m there, I go back to being their little girl. There’s no rush, no Nairobi traffic, and definitely no worrying about what’s for breakfast or dinner.
However, I quickly realized that while I was enjoying my “digital nomad” life, I was failing miserably at explaining remote work to parents who still believe work requires a physical commute.
The “Little Girl” Routine vs. The Professional Reality
Most mornings, I’d wake up slowly, check emails from my phone in bed, and handle a few Slack messages. Then, I’d hear my niece knock on my door: “Aunty, wake up. Breakfast is ready.”
I’d drag myself out, eat, pick up my laptop, and continue working from the dining table. To me, it felt normal, peaceful, and incredibly productive. I was hitting my deadlines and attending Zoom meetings, all while wearing my favorite home slippers. But to my dad, who watched me from the corner of his eye, I looked like I was just playing games on a shiny expensive toy.
“Did You Lose Your Job?”: The Generation Gap
Then came the morning that I didn’t imagine it coming. My dad sat across from me, his face etched with genuine concern.
“You’re not going back to work? Did you lose your job?” he asked gently.
I smiled, but inside, I was screaming. I had been working the whole time I was there! But to him, work looks a certain way. In his world, work is an activity where you wake up at dawn, dress in official wear, leave the house, and return in the evening exhausted. Sitting with a laptop in the house simply didn’t fit that picture.
This is the hardest part of explaining remote work to parents: convincing them that “sitting” is actually “earning.” To him, if I wasn’t sweating or commuting, I wasn’t working.
The Struggle of Explaining Remote Work to Parents
I tried my best. I explained what a “Web3 Strategist” does. I showed him my emails. I explained how my job works and that my boss was thousands of miles away. He listened politely, but I could tell it didn’t fully make sense.
Maybe I didn’t look “busy” enough. After all, I had just transitioned from being an “HTML Engineer” (as my friends still joke) to a consultant, but in the village, the only “Engineer” people recognize is the one fixing the power lines or the roads.
Why our definitions of work are outdated
The world of work has changed faster than our traditional definitions of productivity. Sometimes, you’re fully employed, contributing to global ecosystems, and yet you still have to prove you’re actually working to your own family.
Explaining remote work to parents often feels like trying to explain a smartphone to someone who has only ever used a telegram. It’s a completely different language of value.
The Great Escape: Nairobi Calls
I realized that if I stayed much longer, my “unemployment” status in my dad’s eyes would lead to a much scarier conversation.
I left for Nairobi three days later, just as the conversation was beginning to shift toward when I’m finally bringing “someone” home for introductions. That is one question I definitely don’t have an answer to—not even AI can help me draft a response for that one!
At least in Nairobi, when I sit with my laptop in a café, people know I’m working. In the village, I’m just the girl who forgot how to go to the office.
How to Successfully Handle Explaining Remote Work to Parents
If you are planning a trip home and want to avoid the “Did you get fired?” talk, here are my top tips:
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Set “Office Hours”: Tell them, “I am in the office from 9 AM to 5 PM,” even if the office is just a plastic chair under a mango tree.
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Take a “Work” Call in their presence: Let them hear you using professional jargon. Nothing says “I have a job” like saying “Let’s circle back on those deliverables” while a chicken clucks in the background.
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Show them the results: Sometimes, showing them your [YouTube Channel] or explaining how you get paid via M-Pesa makes the “magic” feel more like a real business.
Ready to ditch the village “loitering” and get a real remote job?
If you want to have these “work from the village” problems for yourself, you need to know where to start.
📖 Grab my Remote Work Guide Book here: I’ve documented the exact steps I took to move from traditional roles to working for global tech firms—so you can work from anywhere (even if your dad thinks you’re unemployed).
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