Honestly, if I am going to struggle, I'd rather do it in the sun.
There are some interesting or even witty observations in here:
- 17 million Americans call themselves Digital Nomad.
- These include not just tech-savvy folks, but even families with kids and retirees.
- Barely owning any things is seen as a big positive factor. It forces us to declutter our lives. People report being much happier. I'm not surprised.
This quote is golden:
I imagine 90% of digital nomads barely make enough to get by. But then again, neither do I, and I do have a stable job and an apartment, and all the things society tells you must have. And with those things come expenses. A f*** load of them. The last time I had money to spend on a nice vacation or anything really? I don't even remember when that was. Years and years ago.And I don't see it changing anytime soon. Maybe what has been romanticized too much for too long is the idea of settling down. Because this idea of a partner, kids, house, a kiss goodbye, and a smile before you leave for work, does not exist either. At least not for most people. Ninety percent of them also wish they had a different life. Honestly, if I am going to struggle, I'd rather do it in the sun. (Flipflop Poet, YouTube)
I realised a few things. First of all, I personally know a few Digital Nomads, some of the working and some of the retired cohorts, but none of them call themselves this. I guess they don't see themselves as hip-and-happening yuppies. They just happen to work in different lands or even on different continents every few months.
Also, only one of them complained about international banking, and only because she stopped using a EU bank account and tried to switch to a Dominican bank account. I guess nomadism works best when we still have one place we can call "home", even if it's just for banking (and tax?) purposes.
It so happend that in a recent podcast where the hosts interviewed a legal expert, that I learned that many countries have tax deals with each other and that they basically have a formula to determine in which country you're supposed to pay your taxes. The formula determines not just where you've earned most of your money, but also where your ties are. Where your family lives, how often you visit them and if you have a (second) home in that country all seem to be taken into account.
I've personally never had trouble with banking, but I guess that's mostly because I tend to move in the "western" bubble where a bank card or credit card just work. I do read a lot about places like in Africa where people depend on banking via their smart feature-phones. Systems like M-Pesa and Machankura work over Whatsapp or even via old school SMS text messages.
Most of my readers will never need such drastic apps though. I guess having a VISA credit card like the one from Revolut and a way to send money worldwide via a Strike account gives you all the digital mobility you could ever need.
