Unpopular opinion: for digital nomads, it's often better to hold BTC with an exchange

I've been travelling for the past 2 years whilst working remotely. Don't have a home. Move from country to country every 2-3 months. Don't trust my family to keep my hard wallet for me.

For many nomadic people like us, the risks of keeping BTC in an exchange can be lower than the risk of moving around constantly with a hard wallet and seed phrase. I've been travelling mostly in South America, not exactly the safest region. I haven't suffered any thefts yet but I've met many people who have. Don't fancy my chances travelling with a seed phrase written down somewhere and hidden in my luggage. Could get lost, could get stolen. The more you move around, the greater the chances of loss/theft.

I've had people tell me 'well then you shouldn't have BTC at all'.

Disagree. I'd rather keep my BTC in an exchange, take that risk (which is lower than the risk of me losing my seed phrase during all my travels), and then once I settle down somewhere, then transfer it into a hard wallet.

Why?

Let's say the chances of my exchange (eToro, I'm a UK citizen) going bust in the next few years and me losing my BTC before I have a chance to transfer it to a hard wallet is 20%.

It means the chances I don't lose my BTC in the next few years and can eventually transfer it to hard wallet when I stop travelling is 80%.

80% chance of massively growing my money, vs 20% chance of losing my initial investment in BTC. I'll take these probabilities any day instead of just withdrawing my initial investments, thank you very much. The opportunity cost of not investing in BTC at all is much, much higher than the cost of me losing my initial investment.

I know this goes against your bible, but just saying, there are circumstances where exchanges can be lower risk.