Digital Nomads

[Bombadil]

Last month I went to see family for the first time in some 2 or more years. My company allowed me to work on a different continent, where I worked from 6am - 2pm, which I quite enjoyed given it meant I could enjoy nice, long summer walks and hanging out with friends.

I've returned to Asia, where I stopped over in Singapore to meet colleagues I hadn't seen in more than two years either.. and then..

..due to HK's asinine return restrictions, I'm not really that bothered about going back for a while. I can pay rent and bills online and so I don't physically need to be there.

There’s never been more interest in digital nomadism – “people who choose to embrace a location-independent, technology-enabled lifestyle that allows them to travel and work remotely, anywhere in the Internet-connected world".

..“To be a digital nomad, you need to have tremendous freedom – you need to have a good passport, you can’t have a criminal record, you can’t have too much debt,” says Beverly Yuen Thompson, associate professor of sociology at Siena College, New York, who studies digital nomads.

Link

Sweet, that's me sorted then..

So I'm thinking to just bumble around Asia for a while, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bali are all relatively easy to access and more places are opening up. My company doesn't really care where I am given I get work done. Right now I'm at a resort where I can work by the pool or go for a swim in the ocean after work, weather's good and food is great, and cheap.

However I do miss friends, not super sure where I might find communities though I'm sure a little research can solve that.

So, given the circumstances were right, would you become a digital nomad, or is it just a thing for overprivileged, kombucha drinking hippies with no real sustainable outcome?

What think ye great netizens of NSG?

[Uiiop]

Last month I went to see family for the first time in some 2 or more years. My company allowed me to work on a different continent, where I worked from 6am - 2pm, which I quite enjoyed given it meant I could enjoy nice, long summer walks and hanging out with friends.

I've returned to Asia, where I stopped over in Singapore to meet colleagues I hadn't seen in more than two years either.. and then..

..due to HK's asinine return restrictions, I'm not really that bothered about going back for a while. I can pay rent and bills online and so I don't physically need to be there.

There’s never been more interest in digital nomadism – “people who choose to embrace a location-independent, technology-enabled lifestyle that allows them to travel and work remotely, anywhere in the Internet-connected world".

..“To be a digital nomad, you need to have tremendous freedom – you need to have a good passport, you can’t have a criminal record, you can’t have too much debt,” says Beverly Yuen Thompson, associate professor of sociology at Siena College, New York, who studies digital nomads.

Link

Sweet, that's me sorted then..

So I'm thinking to just bumble around Asia for a while, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bali are all relatively easy to access and more places are opening up. My company doesn't really care where I am given I get work done. Right now I'm at a resort where I can work by the pool or go for a swim in the ocean after work, weather's good and food is great, and cheap.

However I do miss friends, not super sure where I might find communities though I'm sure a little research can solve that.

So, given the circumstances were right, would you become a digital nomad, or is it just a thing for overprivileged, kombucha drinking hippies with no real sustainable outcome?

What think ye great netizens of NSG?

Honesty i think the answer to my case is both. Just need some prep for when it shuts down and do an shitload of research.

[Sordhau]

Ah, the privilege of being middle class.

Can't relate.

[Malaiya Union]

Practically my dream, especially since my hobby is to hop into a motorcycle and drive extremely far away to completely new places. Fuck Indonesia, me and my friends has been talking about moving into an EU country and therefore acquire a EU passport. COVID also meant that most of my inner circle are primarily digital anyways, and I know my local neighborhood as good as I know the other side of the moon, so finding a new community to settle in isn't a bad idea.

[Adamede]

I've never livd anywhere for more than 7 years straight so I don't have deep ties to anything, and here recently I havent lived in the same spot for more than a year. An frankly it sucks imho. I have no ties or deep relationships with anyone who sin't my immediate family. I feel that I've missed out on a lot of social stepping stones and development growing up, being stunted almost, and frankly I'm tired of moving around.

So if given the chance no I'd rather try and settle down somewhere, but I got a feeling I wont be given the choice. Frankly if I had to be moey I'm betting this type of life style will only become even more common in the future for a variety of reasons.

[New Visayan Islands]

As a father to a six-year-old son who really loves having my side of the family around him, I do not know if I could in good conscience adopt the Digital Nomad lifestyle. When I spent a year in Bohol, there were times my sleeping habits would go haywire because of nightmares involving Junior getting into horrible situations; we're talking about a distance of 600 or so kilometers. How much more if Junior stays with my side--we're the custodial side, FTR--and I work with a digital nomad setup!

[Bombadil]

I've never livd anywhere for more than 7 years straight so I don't have deep ties to anything, and here recently I havent lived in the same spot for more than a year. An frankly it sucks imho. I have no ties or deep relationships with anyone who sin't my immediate family. I feel that I've missed out on a lot of social stepping stones and development growing up, being stunted almost, and frankly I'm tired of moving around.

So if given the chance no I'd rather try and settle down somewhere, but I got a feeling I wont be given the choice. Frankly if I had to be moey I'm betting this type of life style will only become even more common in the future for a variety of reasons.

That's quite fair, I had a similarly itinerant childhood, and when people say how exciting that was I do reply to say it comes at a cost to having roots, which I think are important. Where I live I've built a pretty good community of close friends across different areas and I've really appreciated the benefits of a community.

I'm balancing that thought with the idea that, when HK does actually open, it's not a great haul for me to visit and stay, so I might do protracted stints away.. thinking winter.. but keep my base - I wouldn't want to completely cut my roots out.

EDIT: don't know if you've heard of TCK but I'm certainly one.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_culture_kid

[Ethel mermania]

I have worked for a couple multinationals, and for many of the jobs pick your work location was possible and we had people who took advantage of that. If you are of that personality who likes that sort of thing, they loved it.

Now for family reasons I am tied to this area.. When I was younger I may have taken a job like this and moved around, Or just settled in the Caribbean.

I know people who do this sort of thing in retirement. As you said with online banking and direct deposit you are no longer tied down to a geographic location. One friend bought a pickup truck and camper, and he and his wife are touring the states for a couple of years. Another talked about taking a morning shift job at a local McDonald's ( mainly just to get up in the morning) living in one place for six months and then going somewhere else getting a job at another McDonald's ("I am already trained"), and doing the same thing till he picked a spot to settle down.

There is a lot of opportunity for this sort of mobility today and I would recommend it.

[Adamede]

I've never livd anywhere for more than 7 years straight so I don't have deep ties to anything, and here recently I havent lived in the same spot for more than a year. An frankly it sucks imho. I have no ties or deep relationships with anyone who sin't my immediate family. I feel that I've missed out on a lot of social stepping stones and development growing up, being stunted almost, and frankly I'm tired of moving around.

So if given the chance no I'd rather try and settle down somewhere, but I got a feeling I wont be given the choice. Frankly if I had to be moey I'm betting this type of life style will only become even more common in the future for a variety of reasons.

That's quite fair, I had a similarly itinerant childhood, and when people say how exciting that was I do reply to say it comes at a cost to having roots, which I think are important. Where I live I've built a pretty good community of close friends across different areas and I've really appreciated the benefits of a community.

I'm balancing that thought with the idea that, when HK does actually open, it's not a great haul for me to visit and stay, so I might do protracted stints away.. thinking winter.. but keep my base - I wouldn't want to completely cut my roots out.

EDIT: don't know if you've heard of TCK but I'm certainly one.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_culture_kid

"Exciting" isn't excatly how I would describe it. From the snds of it you've lived in multiple different countries with different cultures. I'm an American, so despite often living thousands of miles away from where I was born and from most of my extended family I've never left the United States, so that whole "TCK" thing doesnt really apply to me, its a pretty homogenous culture taking up a third of a North America, half if you include the Canadians who are pretty simialr to Americans.

Also I've had problems socializing and making friends for most of my life so I've rarely built up any communities for myself regardless of where I've lived so I've rarely gotten those benefits.

[Isle of Westland]

That would involve walking out of my village, and I'm afraid I'm just not prepared to do that.

[Chan Island]

I have spent significant time in 4 countries, and moved literally every single year in the 2010s after 2012.

It is cool, and a good experience, don't get me wrong, but I'm at a point where I would prefer to strike out some roots, get some deeper layers of friendships and community groups. Working from home style work isn't my preference, I quite like chatting with coworkers.

So, glad it's working for others, but not for me at the current time.

[Thethen]

Why not just be a regular nomad? As long as you don’t do something stupid (like take on the wild ala Chris McCandless) you’ll be fine.

[Page]

I did leave behind my country and everyone and everything I knew to live with my wife in Germany. And I'm pursuing my writing career full time now, so if it were possible for my wife to move around (and if she wanted to), sure, I would.

Thing is though on one hand I am an absolute junkie for novelty so I would totally be down to move to a country I never heard of and try out living there for a while, BUT I also have some mental issues and special needs that are not easily met if I up and move and it's a very real possibility that I have a total fucking mental breakdown. I'm a bundle of contradictions like that.

If I ever did it I'd probably confine myself to America. That way I have 50 states through which to wander and I know how to guarantee the comforts I need to not lose my mind.

[Adamede]

I did leave behind my country and everyone and everything I knew to live with my wife in Germany. And I'm pursuing my writing career full time now, so if it were possible for my wife to move around (and if she wanted to), sure, I would.

Thing is though on one hand I am an absolute junkie for novelty so I would totally be down to move to a country I never heard of and try out living there for a while, BUT I also have some mental issues and special needs that are not easily met if I up and move and it's a very real possibility that I have a total fucking mental breakdown. I'm a bundle of contradictions like that.

If I ever did it I'd probably confine myself to America. That way I have 50 states through which to wander and I know how to guarantee the comforts I need to not lose my mind.

I'm sorry to hear that.

[Hamidiye]

Could someone here tell the oldbag eurodoomer what the *** a digital nomad is?

[Dayganistan]

If I could find work that allows me to live a location independent lifestyle (my work history is pretty crap for a guy in his late 20s which makes finding anything I could do remotely tough) I would be all over it. I have very little tying me down to my current location. No romantic partner, no children, no close friends, small family without particularly strong connections. It would be a no brainer for me if I could be paid the going wage for an industry in my country (Canada) but be able to do the work remotely in a country with a lower cost of living especially with the way inflation and the cost of living are skyrocketing in the first world.

[Esternial]

Part of my job requires me to work from a high security zone within the company headquarters, so I couldn't go full nomad. I have considered the option of sprinkling in some working days in a holiday period to extend my stay abroad, especially if it's not cheap to fly there.

It's unlikely, though.

[Bombadil]

Could someone here tell the oldbag eurodoomer what the *** a digital nomad is?

Back when I was a young champ gallivanting around the world there were certain constraints to my free and easy life, some of which I miss and some of which I don't..

1. Email - there was none, the way we stayed in contact with fellow travellers was a rather romantic old system called Post Restante - I assume it still runs but no one uses it. Basically, on departing from friends, you'd give them a place and estimated time you'd be there. They could then send a letter or postcard to the Post Office there that you could collect with your passport showing your name. It was quite patchy, you might not actually end up there, they might not send an update of where they where. Many people were lost through this system
Even as email was more widely used, you had to find an Internet cafe and hope the connection was working, good luck sending an image..
2. Banking - you had to go into a bank, which had to have an international service, fill out a load of paperwork, hand over a card and then it would pass through an extremely unreliable kind of telegraph machine to check if approved - if the system was down you just had no money unless you still had traveler's cheques.
3. Booking accommodation - lol, no, you just turned up and found a room
4. Paying bills (like the phone), ha ha, no..

The idea of actually working remotely in a 9-5 job, wasn't going to happen.

However, with all the digital tools now available, I can be sat anywhere, access to wifi, most ATMs are international, I can WhatsApp anyone I want to meet, book accommodation far in advance while paying any bills at home through online banking.

So I can still nomad, but more digitally.

God, forgot about getting visas for the next country.. can do that online now as well.

[Adamede]

Could someone here tell the oldbag eurodoomer what the *** a digital nomad is?

Its literally in the OP.

[Dagnia]

If you have the necessary skills, want to, and your company won't allow it, quit. I refuse to work for any company that won't allow 100% remote work and have been pretty much a digital nomad since 2016.

[Aymes]

I’d love to travel, but I’d need to be based somewhere.

Preferably somewhere in the Florida panhandle.

[Thethen]

I’d love to travel, but I’d need to be based somewhere.

Preferably somewhere in the Florida panhandle.

Why Florida? If I was going to be a digital nomad, I’d probably choose someplace cooler, like Britain.

[Aymes]

I’d love to travel, but I’d need to be based somewhere.

Preferably somewhere in the Florida panhandle.

Why Florida? If I was going to be a digital nomad, I’d probably choose someplace cooler, like Britain.

I spent some time in Britain in the past. It’s not my thing.

Florida would be a nice change from New England.

[Ethel mermania]

I’d love to travel, but I’d need to be based somewhere.

Preferably somewhere in the Florida panhandle.

Why Florida? If I was going to be a digital nomad, I’d probably choose someplace cooler, like Britain.

Ick,

Caribbean beaches ftw

[Adamede]

I’d love to travel, but I’d need to be based somewhere.

Preferably somewhere in the Florida panhandle.

Why Florida? If I was going to be a digital nomad, I’d probably choose someplace cooler, like Britain.

Lotta people dont like snow.