Long time readers know that I’ve been fascinated by the idea of digital nomads since reading Mike Elgan’s article on The New Bedouins in 2007. Back then, it was mostly journalists and a few IT people who were able to live the life of the digital nomad. Since then, the practice has become much more common and there are now many companies that operate exclusively with remote employees.
The practice has become so mainstream that even Bloomberg has taken notice. They’ve published an article that serves as an update on digital nomadism. Being a digital nomad is a little different from what’s become known as “remote work”. The digital nomads don’t want to work from home; they want to go to exotic, usually warm, places. They’re very apt to move on after a few months for somewhere new so they’re not digital expats either.
Of course, being Bloomberg, the article makes the point that the digital nomadic life may not be for everyone and can be fraught with difficulties. There are local laws and tax issues to deal with and as the article observes, the beach is just about the worst possible work environment.
If, like me, you’re fascinated with the idea of working from exotic, pleasant places, take a look at the article. They even have a list of the top five destinations (for various values of “top”).