"Armchair digital nomads" is the term we use to describe the millions of Americans who aren’t currently digital nomads but tell us in surveys they plan on becoming one.
We call them armchair digital nomads because in the past the vast majority who say this have not followed through.
Instead, they've mostly treated digital nomadism as a spectator sport, following the exploits of real digital nomads via Facebook, Instagram, blogs, and other forms of social media.
For example, in 2019, 57.1 million Americans said they would (16.1 million) or might (41 million) become a digital nomad over the next 2-3 years. These numbers dwarf the 7.3 Americans who said they were currently digital nomads.
And based on data from prior years, we estimate pre-COVID only about 1.5 million of the 57.1 million armchair nomads became a digital nomad.
But COVID-19 is changing this.
The pandemic induced shift to remote work is untethering millions from their offices and even the need to be close to their offices.
This is leading workers to leave their armchairs and become digital nomads.
It's also changing digital nomadism in three key ways:
1. More traditional employees are becoming digital nomads: In 2019, most digital nomads (almost 60%) were independent workers (freelancers, gig workers, self-employed, etc.). This is because corporations have been hesitant to allow their employees to become nomadic. This has obviously changed with a growing number of companies announcing they plan on allowing a much greater degree of remote work long term. This gives millions of people the ability to become more nomadic - and many are doing so.
2. Closer to home travel: Instead of flying from country to country, digital nomads are staying closer to home due to travel restrictions and a desire to be closer to family and healthcare. This, too, will likely continue post-pandemic because nomadic traditional workers will likely be expected to show up at the office on at least an occasional basis. Nomads will also choose closer locations due to a need to be in sync time-zone wise. This means more #Vanlifers and RV based nomads.
3. Longer stays, less travel: At least as long as the pandemic lasts, digital nomads will likely choose to stay put more and travel less. We expect this trend to continue even after the pandemic ends. This is due to nomads learning the advantages of exploring a place and culture in-depth, countries increasingly courting digital nomads. and firms providing "living as a service" offerings that make multiple month stays easier.
We're currently doing a deep dive on how the pandemic is impacting digital nomads. We will report our findings in the fall.
