Life Through Landing: Why Software Engineer Waseem Ahmad Calls Landing ‘a Digital Nomad’s Dream Come True’

In the past 10 years, Waseem Ahmad has moved at least 20 times—a true modern-day nomad. For a large portion of his life, he’s called a number of places home and has long been an explorer of new culture, climate, food, and experiences.

When he graduated from Rice University, he started his career as a software engineer at Facebook. Working out of San Francisco, and soon thereafter New York, he was itching for adventure. That’s when he took a year-long sabbatical to travel across the country. His first step? Finding where to live first.

Since Waseem was a kid, he had dreamed of becoming a pilot. So naturally, his first stop was flight school, which he began attending at Above and Beyond Aviation in Austin, TX. Why Austin? Waseem was looking for a city that “aligned with [his] DNA.” He wanted to live somewhere that felt metropolitan, had a buzzy downtown, was walkable, and more affordable than major cities like San Francisco or New York. Each time he visited Austin prior to his move, it felt like home. Culturally, it had touches of San Francisco—a number of ethnic events, interesting conferences, unique restaurants, and a bustling tech scene—and as a software engineer, he found a sense of camaraderie alongside those in his field. 

So, in November 2019, Waseem moved into his first Landing apartment. He called it, “a digital nomad’s dream come true.” With just a couple bags with his favorite clothes and belongings, Waseem entered his fully furnished Landing and had zero regrets on skipping out on the traditional moving process—no hassles of moving furniture, setting up utilities, or security deposit. It felt like home as soon as he unpacked his clothes. 

Still, he was itching for international adventure, and so for three months, he left the country to travel around the world before returning to a new Landing in Austin in January 2020. There, he cultivated new friendships with his neighbors and took full advantage of Austin’s incredible food scene, live events, and temperate weather—still warm enough for outdoor grilling, hiking, and happy hour. 

However, after three months in Austin, he was once again ready for his next adventure.

Looking for a warmer climate during the spring, Waseem transferred to Wayman Aviation in Miami to round out his flight training. After graduation, he moved back to a Landing in Fort Lauderdale for nearly 10 months. With each move, Waseem enjoyed the ease of transitioning from one home to another without ever having to break a lease or feel like a visitor in his new home. In the past year alone, Waseem has lived in four cities across four Landings. 

We recently connected with Waseem to ask him about his favorite aspects of his Landing membership. His No. 1: flexibility. With flexible lease terms, Waseem never needs to feel tied down nor under a time crunch for his next move. From his app interface or computer browser, he can set and adjust his stay at the touch of a button. Able to set his stay for 30 days to indefinitely, he’s free to live on his own terms, wherever and for however long. 

Waseem is also a huge fan of Landing’s quality and consistency. Furniture shopping is fun. The moving? Not so much. With Landing’s in-house-designed furniture, Waseem enjoys the furnishings at each Landing he stays at, and never has to worry about U-Hauls or sofa measurements. And for anyone who has outfitted a brand-new kitchen, it’s difficult to find the perfect cutlery, plates, pans, knives, etc.—let alone find sets to match. With Landing, our team has it covered from top to bottom. Just bring your groceries and it’s time to get cookin’.

Following his stay in Fort Lauderdale, Waseem has since moved to Seattle, where he’s currently working as a remote software engineer for Facebook. Given the majority of his coworkers are on the West Coast, he prefers taking his meetings while the sun’s still up. At the same time, he loves Seattle’s cooler weather and the local tech scene. The location is also much closer to his inner circle of friends. 

Waseem’s not entirely sure where or when he’ll move next. He’s considering an eight to nine-month stay in Seattle, but is also interested in moving to New York, perhaps in 2022. For now, Seattle has been a great opportunity to settle back into work and revisit some old friendships. He claims he’s still testing it out to see if it “fits his personality,” but so far, it’s yet to disappoint. One thing’s for certain: he’ll be with Landing wherever life takes him next!