David Ukauwa, a UK-based senior product designer at occasion internet hosting firm Grip Occasions, likes to strive his hand at various things: experimenting with design types, illustration, images, videography, and high-speed vehicles.

Again in Nigeria, he was a part of an unique automotive membership in Lagos that lived for the joys of the street. They hosted a style rave referred to as Revs and Runway, which mixed the grandeur of style exhibitions with the edgy, rebellious show of stunt drivers who cherished to impress a crowd with their showmanship.

“I may have an issue with my automotive, and I’m caught on the Third Mainland bridge,” stated Ukauwa, “And I’ll make a telephone name. Earlier than it, three bikers are driving towards me, and asking, ‘What do you want?’ Nearly everyone is a mechanic, and so they’re bringing components for me to repair my automotive.”

However in London, the place he now lives, he has by no means discovered that very same drive to tackle the steering wheel.

“Taxing within the UK is actually bizarre,” he stated. “I dwell within the central a part of London. In the event you’re driving in a petroleum or diesel automotive, you pay taxes for emissions. These are a part of the zonal taxes you pay in central London and different zones 2 and three as a result of town officers wish to hold these locations uncongested.”

Between congestion prices and emissions charges that stack as much as £27.5 ($36) a day, driving in London feels much less like a comfort and extra like an costly behavior. Which may clarify why electrical automobiles (EVs) have been flying off dealership tons—381,970 models offered in 2024 alone—shrinking the marketplace for petrol and diesel vehicles. However that EV increase may hit the brakes on April 1, when the UK will begin taxing electrical and zero-emission automobiles, too.

Not that it bothers Ukauwa a lot. He’s not a fan of EVs and works from dwelling, regardless that his firm’s workplace is just some town-skips away. His odds of survival are fairly excessive. Throw in one other revelation that he’ll be leaving London for Manchester quickly, I assumed town had already accomplished a nice job of pushing him out. 

From Lagos to London

In 2022, Ukauwa left Nigeria for the UK by means of the World Expertise Visa alternative provided by Tech Nation. London wasn’t his first alternative when he wittingly selected a life outdoors Nigeria, however for now, that’s the place he’s nested.

“Part of me wished I didn’t get the visa,” stated Ukauwa. “I gave in to look strain as a result of all my buddies have been leaving Nigeria on the World Expertise Visa, and I didn’t wish to be disregarded.”

Ukauwa’s journey goes again to his campus days on the College of Lagos, Nigeria, the place he studied Laptop Science, although he’d all the time wished to be an artist. His alternative of research was a rebellious transfer in opposition to his father, who wished him to grow to be a petroleum engineer. Now, he retains his artist goals alive by making slapdash illustration items each 4 months.

Shortly after stepping into school in 2015, Ukauwa bought his first design job at Inns.ng. He describes this position as a springboard that took him the place he actually wished to go.

“Inns.ng was like an incubator expertise for me,” stated Ukauwa. “It didn’t really feel like work. I shared a fence with the workplace, however I used to be usually late. All my boss wished was to get the work accomplished, and I may do no matter I wished.”

After leaving the corporate in 2019, Ukauwa says he labored remotely with US corporations from his Lagos bed room house till the World Expertise Visa breakthrough got here.

Nomad life, nomad struggles

The nomad life is the high-flyer life, Ukauwa instructed me. He’d simply returned from his final journey to Malaysia in February, which he stated modified him; it made him extra courteous, and he began introducing ‘please’ and ‘thanks’ into his mannerisms.

But, there’s a gnawing homesickness to residing alone overseas. It’s much like the traditional analogy of the solar and its shadow—you can’t have one with out the opposite. 

When Ukauwa got here to London, he struggled to slot in as a result of it was more durable to self-identify with something. 

“You are feeling comfy while you’re dwelling,” he says.

Nonetheless, he has discovered a group of 20 buddies—most of whom he met for the primary time within the UK—and now splits his time between London and Manchester, the place he visits them.

As a small band of buddies, they do every part collectively, from journey, hangouts, and experimenting with work developments to sharing craft methods in images, in addition to different pursuits. A previous journey to and from Morocco price £50 ($65) which is round ₦100,000—cheaper than a flight from Lagos to Abuja. Nonetheless, bills rise with lodging and meals, he explains. On common, Ukauwa says he spends £1,000 ($1,300) touring inside Europe or to Africa.

“It’s not as costly as individuals assume when you’re out of Nigeria,” he stated. “My greatest blocker to get entry to this journey life was residing in Nigeria,” he added. “It was laborious to get visas and low-cost flights. However that isn’t the case anymore. It’s quite a bit simpler now.”

Though Ukauwa travels 5 occasions a yr, his journeys are principally spontaneous, with a bit planning in between when he travels with buddies. Probably the most tough factor about travelling whereas working, in line with him—and albeit an trustworthy submission—is discovering the zeal to work whereas away “chilling.”

“I could possibly be at a seaside in Barcelona, and I nonetheless must work. That’s the actual wrestle. Timezones are by no means an issue for me as a result of, fortunately, I work asynchronously and I’m versatile in the way in which I work,” he stated.

To deal with his wrestle, he now travels mild. When choosing an Airbnb in a brand new metropolis, he ensures it has a devoted workspace with a desk and chair that enables him to comfortably sit at his pc. Planning additionally helps. He units apart devoted time for each work and play, ensuring to not combine the 2.

There are jobs in inventory for designers overseas

In the middle of his six-year expertise working professionally as a product designer, Ukauwa’s earnings has grown along with his ability stage. At Grip Occasions—the place he at present works remotely within the UK—he earns a six-figure earnings.

This development has allowed him to afford a way of life that features travelling 5 occasions a yr. The following vacation spot on his bucket record is both Montenegro or Croatia, which he’s visiting with just a few buddies within the coming weeks.

Past the high-flyer life-style, Ukauwa says he travels for design inspiration. He backs this up with an anecdote that he calls his perception system: creatives are nearly as good because the environments they’re uncovered to. 

“I’ve gotten loads of inspiration from experiencing completely different cultures,” he stated. “There’s all the time this one-week or two-week excessive that you simply get while you come again from someplace. It could possibly be derived from the stuff you noticed. It may even be structure, the way in which individuals work together, or how different high designers in these new locations assume and deal with design there.”

Grip Occasions, the place he works, has additionally performed an enormous position in his connoisseur-like style for experiencing journey life. World mobility is essential to the way it helps its employees. As a B2B occasions platform, the corporate sends its employees to completely different components of the world—notably within the Americas and Asia—for high occasions the place it showcases its product.

Though his position is extra product-focused, he has joined the workforce on just a few journeys. Nonetheless, he laughs and says he’s nowhere close to being the general public face of the corporate, so he doesn’t have to journey on its behalf fairly often. 

World mobility is without doubt one of the key perks that Ukauwa appears to be like out for when he applies to work at any firm. Location independence and in-house help for asynchronous communication are different perks that Ukauwa appears to be like for. He says he has solely been to the workplace 4 occasions since he joined Grip Occasions 20 months in the past, regardless of the corporate’s headquarters being situated in the identical metropolis he’s primarily based in. The cynical aspect of me chalked up his non-indulgence to the truth that he holds a senior place on the firm.

However Ukauwa disproves this.

“That’s simply how we work. They know I don’t like conferences. As a lot as potential, I attempt to keep away from it. My colleagues depart me messages and so they’re positive I’ll get it accomplished. Whilst a workforce lead, I like to speak asynchronously,” he stated.

He has all the time most popular the noncommittal method to conferences since he began working remotely. But, he has been extremely fortunate along with his alternative of employers. His former employer, PingPong had a strict no-meeting coverage earlier than it bought acquired by Grain in 2022.

He additionally provides that there are such a lot of companies within the UK providing mobility perks like Grip Occasions. The nice half, he says, is that there are jobs in inventory for expert product designers who wish to strive their palms within the international job market.

“Clearly, it’s quite a bit simpler to get these jobs while you’re outdoors Nigeria. However the factor is, these people wish to make use of extra Nigerians as a result of we do wonderful work,” Ukauwa stated. 

Ukauwa says that whereas coming to the UK gained’t robotically put jobs on a designer’s plate—as a result of they nonetheless have to use for aggressive roles in design—leaving the nation peels off one layer of complexity for Nigerians trying to enhance their employment choices.