User:Spacefairy5/Digital nomad
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Digital Nomad
Digital nomads are people who use telecommunications technologies to earn a living and conduct their life in a nomadic manner. Such workers often work remotely from foreign countries, coffee shops, public libraries, co-working spaces, or recreational vehicles. It is often accomplished through the use of devices that have wireless Internet capabilities such as smartphones or mobile hotspots. Some digital nomads travel for years and make their way to multiple different countries while others are only nomadic for a short period of time for reasons such as sabbatical. While some nomads travel through various countries, others choose to work and explore in only one country or location. [1] As of 2020, there was a spike in traditional workers who transitioned into digital nomads, the number grew from 3.2 million to 6.3 million.[1]
The most common types of digital nomads include retired or semi-retired persons (including snowbirds), independently wealthy or entrepreneurs, and (often younger) remote workers. More recently, there is an entire category on Instagram and Youtube of people recording and publishing their lifestyle as a digital nomad. People typically become digital nomads for many reasons, a major one being a persons love for traveling, but other reasons include the quest for financial independence and a career that allows for location independence. Although digital nomads enjoy advantages in freedom, flexibility, and traveling, the lifestyle isn't always as glorious as it seems. Some digital nomads report loneliness as their biggest struggle, followed by burnout. The lifestyle also presents other challenges such as maintaining international health insurance with coverage globally, abiding by different local laws, obtaining work visas, and paying taxes in accordance with home and local laws. There are many great aspects to the nomadic work lifestyle, but there are also challenges just like any other type of job. People who want to transition into this type of lifestyle must first figure out if their type of work allows for this position, then they must weigh out the pros and cons to figure out if the nomadic lifestyle is suitable for them.
Definition
One of the earliest known uses of the term 'digital nomad' was in the 1997 book Digital Nomad by Tsugio Makimoto and David Manners. It is unknown if the phrase was coined in this book or if they took a term that had already existed. The book highlights how modern technology and the continued advancement of it, combined with the humanly desire to travel, will allow society to exist on the move like it did once before. [2]
The foundation of the digital nomad movement is remote work, allowing people to do their work at home or otherwise through the Internet. For nomadic workers, a key aspect of being productive has do with their physical space, therefore being able to manage your space is essential. [3] Though this lifestyle has been popularized for the ability to work wherever you want, such a claim often glorifies and oversimplifies nomadic work.[3] Digital nomads may also sell a number of possessions in order to make travel easier, and may also sell or rent their house. Digital nomads can use wireless Internet, smartphones, Voice over IP, and/or cloud-based applications to work remotely where they live or travel. Digital nomads may use co-working or co-living spaces, cafes, house sitting agreements, and shared offices.
Digital nomads tend to travel while they earn money through their online business, clients or employers. This sort of lifestyle may present challenges such as maintaining international health insurance with coverage globally, abiding by different local laws and sometimes obtaining work visas, and maintaining long-distance relationships with friends and family back home. In some cases, the digital nomad lifestyle leads to misunderstanding and miscommunication between digital nomads and their clients or employers. Other challenges may also include time zone differences, the difficulty of finding a reliable connection to the internet, and the absence of delineation between work and leisure time.
Online financial services are popular among digital nomads. Teleconferencing software is a common tool for people to use to communicate through voice, text, and video chat across long distances. YouTube and Instagram have been used by digital nomads as a means by which to earn revenue through content directly or indirectly through sponsorship and merchandising without having to have a central workplace or living space. An important step in being a digital nomad is ensuring that all relevant documentation (such as visas and passports) is kept up to date. If you do not, it can lead to legal difficulties when traveling abroad. A solid grasp of any official languages of the countries you are visiting is also important, as a lack thereof can prevent a person from engaging with the locals. It also creates the risk of complication if you have to go to the hospital.
Popularity
The term location independence was coined by Lea Woodward in 2006 as a word used to describe the digital nomad lifestyle.[non-primary source needed] There were "location-independent" workers before the "digital nomadism" label become popular. Historically, one of the first digital nomads was Steve Roberts, who in 1983 rode on a computerized recumbent bicycle and was featured in the Popular Computing magazine. In 1985, a satellite system called Motosat was established, allowing greater access to the Internet. Digital nomads over time gained more ability to live that lifestyle. Such advancements include Wi-Fi Internet and Internet-enabled laptops. The digital nomad lifestyle is rapidly growing in popularity since 2014, when websites ranking cities by cost of living, weather and internet speed to help nomads choose where to live and international conferences for digital nomads like DNX sprung up. Since then the movement has coincided with the rise of remote work becoming a viable way to work, especially in technology companies in Silicon Valley. Digital nomad began to become popular with brand names in 2009. National Geographic started the "Digital Nomad blog," and Dell Computers launched a short-lived website called Digital Nomads. A documentary film about the digital nomad lifestyle by Christine and Drew Gilbert, titled The Wireless Generation, earned $37,000 in funding through Kickstarter. A cruise called "The Nomad Cruise" was founded in order to offer a means by which digital nomads could meet and interact.
Virtually anyone can attempt to live the digital nomad life, although certain groups are more representative in the community. These groups include younger people, entrepreneurs, refugees, nomads, people from well to do nations, and more. Digital nomads have been said to be inspired by Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek, David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology, and the work of Mark Manson.
Popular Destinations
Certain destinations are among the more popular locations for digital nomads, including Chiang Mai, Thailand, Lisbon, Portugal, Medellín, Colombia, and Mexico City, Mexico.
Bali, Indonesia, is a perfect example of a popular destination due to its low cost of living and reasonably high quality of life. For example, the town of Ubud in Bali became popular among digital nomads after the installation of fiber-optic communication for Internet access. There is also a petition for a digital nomad visa to be presented to the Indonesian government, signed by more than 2000 people and led by social media adviser Olumide Gbenro.
Another popular choice among digital nomads is Cyprus: a European state with low tax, a quick company set up process and beautiful scenery, the island of Cyprus has a growing nomad community.
Other cities include Tallinn, Tarifa, Bansko and Tbilisi due to critical mass and greater acceptance of the digital nomad lifestyle as well a relatively lower cost of living. Cities that have a higher cost of living exist for digital nomads, include Singapore and Oslo. Other notable movements loosely related to digital nomads rising in popularity include Vandwelling. Due to the popularity, opportunities for people to live as a digital nomad in the area exist to facilitate this. In the United Kingdom, certain cities such as Bristol, Birmingham, and Brighton are popular. This is due to the lower cost of living compared to London. Organizations such as Innovation Birmingham exist to accommodate 90 technology companies.
Cause for popularity
The digital nomad lifestyle has become significantly more popular in recent years due to a number of factors. Internet connectivity becoming more widespread, even to rural areas, has helped people travel to more areas (digital nomad or otherwise). Jobs becoming less location-dependent (such as graphic designers and writers) in tandem with increasing housing costs have also contributed to the popularity of the digital nomad lifestyle. There are some negative factors that cause people to become digital nomads. These include political unrest in their home countries, a high cost of living where they live, and more.
Legal developments
Many digital nomads tend to come from more developed nations with passports allowing a greater degree of freedom of travel. As a result, many tend to travel on a tourist visa. While it is technically illegal for a digital nomad to work in a country on a tourist visa, many digital nomads tend to reside in locations with a lower cost of living while working remotely on projects outside their country of residence. In most countries, as long as the nomad is discreet and is not taking a job away from a local person, the authorities will turn a blind eye to nomad work. Visa runs are also often common in the digital nomad community. Some nomads have also attempted to legalize their stay by taking up part-time jobs in teaching English as well as taking university courses in their host country. In addition, digital nomads often use their status as perpetual travelers to escape the tax liability in their home countries without immigrating to the tax system of another country. Nevertheless, this practice is considered controversial amongst digital nomads.
This has resulted in the creation of several programs targeted at digital nomads such as the e-Residency in Estonia and a SMART visa program in Thailand. Estonia has also announced plans of a digital nomad visa, following its growing e-Residency applications. Other countries such as Bermuda, Barbados, Georgia, and Croatia have began to offer similar digital nomad visa programs. Some digital nomads have used Germany's residence permit for the purpose of freelance or self-employment to legalize their stay, but successful applicants must have a tangible connection and reason to stay in Germany.
Partnering
Feelings of loneliness are often present in the practice of nomadic lifestyle, since nomadism often requires freedom from personal attachments such as marriage. The importance of developing face-to-face quality relationships has been stressed to maintain mental health in remote workers. The need for intimacy and family life may be a motive to undertake digital nomadism as an intermittent or temporary activity as in the case of entrepreneur and business developer Sol Orwell. Traveling as a digital nomad couple is a relatively infrequent option whose advantages and disadvantages are a discussed subject.
The individual and/or entrepreneurial fulfillment of both members of a digital nomad couple seems a complex goal but may offer synergistic expectations. As a result, there had been an increase in the number of couples living the nomadic lifestyle while building their businesses.
History
Though the information on the internet about digital nomadism is scarce, its history derives from a time long before the word digital was even a thought. It is said that nomads were traditionally led to a vagabond lifestyle due to the need to gather food, locate land for livestock, or earn money to live. Various reasons for frequent travel ended up leading to the distinction of different categories of nomadism. Traditional nomads can be distinguished into three categories: hunter-gatherers (travel in pursuit of food), pastoral nomads (travel due to livestock), and peripatetic nomads (travel to sell their work in exchange for money).[4]
The reemergence in popularity of nomadism is all thanks to technology. Digital nomadism allows people to go back to times where work and living location did not hinder each other. Since digital technologies have allowed people to live lifestyles where they don't have to settle down in one specific area to do their work, a new form of nomadism has formed. With technology, modern nomadism can now be referred to as neo-nomadism, which doesn't make it a category of nomadism but instead an entirely new idea of what nomadism is.[4] Technology is now the driving force in the reemergence of this lifestyle in the modern-day.
Things to Consider
The nomadic lifestyle is often oversimplified. The idea of "work from anywhere" lacks consideration for the limitations digital nomads can be presented with. While technological advancements have increased the ability to work from more "off the grid" locations, people still have to rely on specific work areas that accommodate their technology and their type of work.[3] Managing workspaces is a critical aspect of being a digital nomad.
Maintaining a mobile lifestyle is a given when taking the leap into digital nomadism, but many people do not consider maintaining mobile social interactions. Struggling to find new locations that fit your work and personal lifestyle is not uncommon in the community of digital nomadism. Fortunately, with technology, nomads can communicate through forums by sharing help, tips, or information about specific areas; therefore, maintaining mobile social interaction is a must.[3]
Digital nomads rely on their technology to share their work, find work, network, maintain relationships, and most importantly, get paid. For all of those reasons and more, strong Wi-Fi connections and access to outlets for chargers are absolutely necessary when living a digital nomadic lifestyle.[3] This may seem like an obvious aspect, but many locations, especially the locations many digital nomads aspire to go, do not include those necessities.
- ^ a b MBO Partners (2020). "COVID-19 and the Rise of the Digital Nomad" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Makimoto, T., Manners, D. (1997). Digital Nomad. Wiley. ISBN 0471974994.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e Nash,, E.C.; Jarrahi,, M.H.; Sutherland,, W. (2020). "Nomadic Work and Location Independence: The Role of Space in Shaping the Work of Digital Nomads". Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies. 3 (2): 271–282. doi:10.1002/hbe2.234. ISSN 2578-1863.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ a b Schlagwein, D (2018). "The History of Digital Nomadism". The University of Sydney.