One of the first things you hear when you talk to digital nomads is how their approach to travel allows them to be much more than just tourists.
Being a digital nomad lets them get to know people from other countries and participate in local cultures.
The New York Time's article The Digital Nomad Life: Combining Work and Travel covers the growing number of support services that help digital nomads do this.
Examples in the article range from Unsettled, a firm that organizes 30-day international coworking experiences for groups of digital nomads, to Nomad Cruise, which run two-week networking cruises for digital nomads twice a year.
The article's key quote comes from Copenhagen's Economic Development Director Signe Jungersted:
“Travel has changed,” Ms. Jungersted said. “Everyone wants to be a temporary local.”
But breaking into local cultures and being a temporary local is not easy. Which is why demand for services that help people better integrate into foreign countries and cultures is growing rapidly.
These services create places and experiences where digital nomads meet and interact with local residents.
Coworking facilities in Bali and Chiang Mai were some of first to recognize this need. Now these types of spaces, places and services are sprouting up around the world.
Roam, for example, is a network of co-living/coworking properties in Miami, Bali, Madrid, Tokyo and London. They plan to have eight more locations by the end of the year.
Key quote on their appeal:
Roam is geared to remote workers “who need a reliable base in different cities,” said Bruno Haid, the company’s chief executive. Each location has communal living areas, with meeting rooms, a co-working space and fast Wi-Fi, and offers social activities, often unique to the locale.
“It offers a much deeper sense of the local experience and is more affordable than most traditional hotels and apartments,”
South African digital nomad Tyrone Niland added:
“The opportunity to go live in a foreign city for a month and interact with the local people and experience their culture — that’s priceless to me."
We expect the digital nomad trend to continue to gain strength. The opportunity to combine work with experiencing local cultures is simply too appealing - especially for travel oriented millennials and baby boomers - for it not to.
Comments