Digital Nomads: Travelling and Remote Working is the Mantra

About 10,000 years ago something momentous happened in the annals of human history. The knowledge and the ability to manipulate a few plants and animals had propelled humans on the path of settled existence. For about 2. 5 million years preceding this event, humans led the life of a forager, by gathering plants and hunting animals. Their social, religious and political dynamics were determined by the interaction with their immediate surroundings, with negligible human interference.

The Agricultural Revolution altered this status quo. From dusk till dawn, humans devoted their time tending and caring for a few plant species and domesticating animals. The settlements that grew around those farms and pasture lands were the basic units on which today's civilizational discourse have been built. Villages, towns, cities, nation-states became possible, because humans settled down. The entire gamut of psychological, cultural, political and economic superstructures build by humans was directed towards strengthening and propagating the settled way of life.

But the traces of the million years spent as hunter- gatherer still remained in the collective human psyche. Psychologists have confirmed that some of our present day attitudes and behavior have roots in hunter gathering days. The tendency to overstuff ourselves with food is a reflection of the insecurity faced by the early man. Out body still thinks we live in the primitive age.

Perhaps as an evolutionary hangover, or forced by the dictates of our DNA (imprinted by the experiences of million years), the free life of a nomad, unrestricted and undefined by borders, has always appealed to the human mind. The Bedouins of the desert, the Sami people of Scandinavia, the Maasai of Africa, Gaddi shepherds of Himachal India, although surviving on the fringe of the civilization, represent the strongest connection to human's wandering past.

With the advent of digital technology, increased mobility, and reduction in physical distances (owing to the use of the internet for communicating and exchanging ideas) the dilemma that has remained dormant since the agricultural revolution, has resurrected again. Humans began asking themselves "Am I a nomad or a settler?"

In every stage of history, there have been people who were averse to the idea of being attached to a particular geographical location, either to their place of birth or the workplace.They seek an alternate experience, culminating in the urge to continuously travel and call the whole world their home. Digital nomadism uses IT, to return people to a state where the place to live and place of work are not spatially restricted. Digital nomads move freely around the globe without home and work addresses creating a form of neo nomadism.

Working from public libraries, coworking spaces and coffee shops, connecting their laptops, smartphones, or tablets to Wi-Fi hubs, digital nomadism has ushered in a new era of autonomy and flexibility. It has change the way how and where we do our jobs. Working while travelling and travelling while working is the mantra of the digital Nomads.

By 2025, some studies estimate that 35.7 million Americans or 22 percent of the work force will be remote workers. With the proliferation of internet, this number is set to reach whooping proportions. Qualtrics, the online survey platform, reports that for 80 percent present day jobseekers, location flexibility has become an important criteria. As a result, many companies like Lift, Airbnb, and 3m have already switched to a permanent flexible work model. Spotify the audio streaming company touts the tagline "Work isn't somewhere you go, it's something you do"

This reflects a major attitudinal shift among the millennials. They have moved from valuing possessions to focusing on experiences. Rather than spending money on expensive watches or cars, younger generation today prefer to invest in experiences like going to a concert or an offbeat destination, or taking a culinary class etc.

Being a digital Noam has its own short and longterm benefits. One of the major advantages is flexibility in work schedule. One can decide when, how and where to work. They travel and experience different countries, moving away from the typical nine to five existence. The co- living and co- working spaces provides for the assemblage of different viewpoints and blending of ideas. Nomads also have the option to cut down the cost of living, by moving into a low cost destination.

The Covid- 19 pandemic remains the single important factor giving fillip to the digital nomad lifestyle. The work from home culture has encouraged many to seek a more mobile lifestyle. While digital nomads were traditionally freelancers, more than half of anywhere worker (Name given to post pandemic Digital Nomads) are full time workers. The sectors of their employment include IT, engineering, consulting, business intelligence,architecture, interior decoration and digital marketing.

In the past, the digital nomads have been criticized for their frequent travel, leading to an oversized carbon footprint and the failure to engage with the local community. The anywhere workers are however doing things differently. The stay put in new destination longer and experience local culture.

The most popular destination of digital nomad includes Thailand, the US, Spain, Japan and Portugal. Countries like Barbados, Aruba, Estonia, Norway and Croatia has also entered into the foray by issuing long term visa for remote workers. Italy had recently hinted it may open up its borders for non EU citizens, including American and British digital Nomads.In many countries deliberation areon to putin a systemthat would allow nomads to bypass tricky immigration barriers and taxdeterrent without switching jobs.

It is too early to predict what shape this new found life style would take in the future. But nevertheless a shift towards nomadic working would drastically reduce the need to build office infrastructure. This would translate into lower energy consumption and protection of green cover.With climate change threatening to alter the ecological balance of the globe. A move towards the greener and sustainable way of life is always welcomed.

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