The term ‘Digital Nomad’ is gaining traction. But what is a digital nomad? Millennials and online career sites have caught glimpses of the upwards trend, and there was even the first-ever digital nomad conference held in 2015. As more and more people began to turn toward this once illusive lifestyle, the term digital nomad is quickly finding its way into the limelight. Some even say it’s becoming mainstream. SO WHAT ARE THEY THEN?!
-Digital nomads are people who work and earn a living over the internet via telecommunication devices like computers and smart phones. They take advantage of the world wide web in order to combine travel with work, and by doing so they are able to travel much more frequently than office employees.
-Digital Nomads come in many different shades as far as employment – many are self-employed, running businesses are freelancers and communicating with clients mostly via email, while some have jobs with companies that allow their employees to work remotely. Related: 67 Companies That Let You Work From Anywhere
-Digital Nomads don’t have a dedicated office space. The digital nomad lifestyle is exceptionally geared towards those with a case of wanderlust due to the fact that they have the ability to travel while they continue to work, excluding them from the restrictions of desk jobs with PTO requirements which are exceptionally rigid in the United States.
-Digital Nomads work remotely, so they set up shop in variety of environments. Some of these places are hotels, RVs, and libraries, as well as coffee shops, coworking facilities, or even home offices. Related: The Best Cities in The World for Coworking
-Depending on the type of work, digital nomads usually rely heavily on cloud-based software like Skype and Google Drive. All while they telecommute from exotic (or not) locations. (It’s not always beaches and sunshine like most of the inspiring images on this blog, you do have to actually work just as much as office workers, but who wouldn’t love a good turquoise ocean to visit once you’ve completed your digital nomad duties for the day?)
-There’s more to being a digital nomad than selling all your earthly possessions and converting into a globetrotter. But that path puts a decent-sized dent into the demographic. For a great interview I did with someone who is using travel to change their life, check out my post I Quit My Job To Travel.
The way of life was born out of the invention of the internet in the late 20th-century, meaning it’s fairly new. Living life as a digital nomad is also known as being location independent, among other loose terms. But whichever way you put it, digital nomads are undoubtedly allowed to be labeled as online entrepreneurs, as they navigate the trailblazing idea of utilizing technology to allow people to live, travel, and work from where ever they damn please.
Do you have your own opinion on what defines a Digital Nomad that I missed in this post? Feel free to leave it in the comments below!
Ready to get serious about your work from anywhere job search? I whole-heartedly recommend Flexjobs, the site where I found my first freelance writing gig. There are zero scams on their site and they have their own 100% remote team, too!
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