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Some of the people who tried to combine work and travel eventually found that this lifestyle didn’t exactly meet their expectations.
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- Author: Ellen Nguyen
- Rolle, BBC Worklife
3 hours ago
Digital nomads have become distinctive characters in the modern age of remote work.
The phrase often conjures up images of a writer or techie wandering the streets of a quaint foreign town with his computer, or typing on his keyboard at a beachside café. They observe the world, meet new people and work their own hours.
But digital nomads can be many different types of workers.
Some are freelance or outsourced; others are entrepreneurs building their own businesses; and still others work in fulltime remote positions for companies around the world.
Some are employed, others earn piecework. And experts say that, in general, many of these professionals come from administrative backgrounds and are well educated.
Expert data and anecdotal reports show that the number of digital nomads has been increasing in recent years, with a huge surge with the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact number of these professionals, but a 2022 report by US consulting firm MBO Partners estimates that the number of digital nomads in the United States has increased dramatically by 131% since 2019. The selfproclaimed nomads now number in the millions of professionals.
And in countries where less data is available, there are plenty of resources to help remote professionals navigate around the world.
Yet more and more professionals who have attempted to follow the nomadic lifestyle are reporting that behind the idyllic travel blogs and inspirational Instagram posts, the reality of this practice isn’t always so glamorous.
There are many benefits to professionals who have tried this lifestyle, but many also claim that the lack of attachment has an impact on mental and physical health, and even affects their job satisfaction.
As a result, some nomads have abandoned this lifestyle and their sea views.
From dreams to panic attacks
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Living and working in constant flux has had undesirable effects on Lauren Juliff’s physical and mental health.
In 2011, Lauren Juliff quit her job in a UK supermarket to see the world. She started a travel website to fund her adventures. And to her surprise, within a year she started earning enough to become a digital nomad.
“As for me, I loved to travel. My dream has always been to see as much of the world as possible, and when I made that dream a reality, I decided I would never give it up,” she says. “Exploring new countries made me feel alive and I learned a lot every day about new cultures and about myself.”
But after five years, enthusiasm for the nomadic lifestyle around the world began to wane. Juliff, 34, says her journey idyllic and dreamy at first turned into a grueling quest that she was desperate to give up.
Living and working in constant flux has had unexpected effects on her physical and mental health. “I was having panic attacks every day that didn’t stop until I imagined I had a house,” she says.
The lack of a stable community led to the loss of old friendships and led to feelings of loneliness and depression. Juliff’s health suffered from frequent infections and food poisoning.
Without access to a kitchen or a gym, her lifestyle has been unhealthy, she says. Juliff depended on restaurant meals three times a day for years. And his personal life was also affected.
“I didn’t have any hobbies because it was so hard to keep them alive with a backpack on my back,” she says.
Even on the go, maintaining productivity proved to be a challenge. Trying to get through work, exploring new places, and dealing with often unreliable internet connections was daunting.
“I struggled to run my business efficiently,” she says. “I worked in bed because I rarely had access to a desk.”
The break came as panic attacks which she attributes to her nomadic lifestyle prompted her to find a home to settle in.
After Juliff settled in Portugal and rented an apartment, his income tripled within a year. She believes the improvement comes from being consistent in one place rather than constantly on the move.
Her panic attacks went away, she went to the gym, started cooking healthy meals, and built a solid community of friends.
Leaving the nomadic lifestyle was a difficult decision for Juliff as she needed to build her identity around life as a fulltime digital nomad. Everything she did was focused on travel: she kept a travel blog, planned future trips in her spare time and all her friends were travellers.
“The decision to quit was difficult,” she says. “I had a little bit of a hard time figuring out who I am as a person without constantly traveling.”
“You need a valid passport”
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Darius Foroux worked as a digital nomad in Spain but struggled to find accommodation in that country
Sociologist Beverly Thompson from Siena College in the USA researches the activity of digital nomads. She explains that people who have chosen the digital nomadic lifestyle were not prepared for the downsides, also because their community tends to present an idealized image on blogs and digital networks and negative aspects such as loneliness, health problems, mental and to hide financial difficulties.
Some professionals still believe this to be a sustainable scenario, particularly those who monetize their lifestyle on social media, according to Thompson. However, not everyone who engages in this activity functions as a nomad.
“You’re totally limited by your passport,” says Thompson. “You need a valid passport.” She points out that more restrictive passports limit the number of countries that can be visited without a tourist visa.
Bureaucracy was a problem for Darius Foroux. His first few months after adopting the digital nomadic lifestyle were happy ones. He liked the sunny weather and the palm trees on the beach, but soon realized he needed a home base to have a secluded environment.
As Foroux began his search for permanent housing, he realized the process wasn’t as easy as he had hoped. There were complicated legal procedures and a deadline of several months that he could not handle.
He was also confronted with the bloated property market in Spain’s Malaga and Marbella regions. Increased demand drove up rental prices, and there were no regulations capping real estate agents’ fees. Foroux was baffled by the deposit requirements and high real estate agent fees.
“I didn’t expect that,” he says. “I moved to Spain because I thought the cost of living would be lower, but it turned out to be just as expensive as in the Netherlands. Basically I paid extra for the nice weather.”
After less than six months in Spain, Foroux returned to the Netherlands planning a life of stability and the time to focus he needed as a writer and microentrepreneur.
Of course, many people still embrace the digital nomad style. But as experts have shown, even the successful find it difficult to maintain productivity, health, and personal relationships in the face of constant change.
And although the number of digital nomads has increased sharply in recent years, according to available data, they still represent a small percentage of the world’s workforce and tend to be concentrated in a few countries with advantageous passports.
The trend “won’t stop,” Thompson said. “Young people might spend a few years being digital nomads. But more and more people are finally realizing the reality of this lifestyle.”
“At the same time, companies want their employees to be back in the office. So the trend will continue to increase, but perhaps at a slower pace,” concludes Thompson.