The workers quitting digital nomadism | Hacker News Reader

The workers quitting digital nomadism

bbc.com

17 pointskrn15 comments

The media keeps inventing new terms/problems every few months about work culture … that inevitably lead to going back to the office. The main anecdotal story is about someone who became a digital nomad who found it difficult to keep up productivity in her business … a travel blog. Travelling and writing about it is literally her business.

The BBC neglected to include this statistic from the report they referenced.

“Digital Nomads Among the Most Satisfied with their Work and Income Consistent with prior years, digital nomads are among the workers most satisfied with their work and lifestyle.”

I tried digital nomading for a bit. It turns out it's more about drinking and surfing rather than doing anything productive. It was fun for a few months but I have no idea how people can maintain that lifestyle of basically being a 24/7 tourist and trying to get a few hours of work in while hungover.

It's only really a viable option if you're young and don't really care about your work (or are rich).

Did people realize this sucks? Sucks a lot

It's one thing to be a tourist, another to not have a place where you can adult properly

Even crazier are the "van life" people. It really sucks having no place to call home.

I always saw "van life" people as trying to make the best of a challenging financial situation while still pursuing as much autonomy as they can.

Interestingly, the most visible to me in that community are the exact opposite. They’re financially stable and can afford taking a hit to their primary job come.

Isn’t the selection bias a bit strong, though? I don’t think social media is a reliable source of conclusions about the community as a whole, or even the people creating the content in the first place.

Could be but look up how much a fully equipped van costs

The whole "van life" thing is "influencer" or "content creator" BS.

But where did it come from before that?

This is just because of the what people are expecting from an "adult".

What is adulting properly? Why is crazy to have a different way of life?

Nothing about other people expectations, but not having to worry about where you're going next, or how to get mail or do things that take longer than a couple of days, etc

Yes. The point is that you worry and that you perceive that as a burden. Heck, a lot of people may see it as a burden. But there are people that find that liberating.

Being a digital nomad probably isn’t for you then. I have been doing it for 6 years as a normal W2 software engineer and I love it. I stay in a place for 3-6 months and go on adventures every weekend. Everything I own fits in 2 bags and I get my mail through a remailer but honestly it is truly rare that I need the physical mail.

It works for me but there is no “one true way” to live a life. You do you and find your happiness.

Working at a place meant for living, like the beach teaches you quickly that you should be looking at the beach and collecting dust

This is further accelerated once you know how unrealistic the keeping the sand, brightness, humidity, heat out of your equipment and chasing dodgy internet connections makes something’s much harder.

I got to travel like this a bit long before it was called digital nomading . All I remember is the naps I got to take on some of those beaches

Username checks out. I wonder what "adult properly" is, in your mind, and why alternatives are rejected.

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