Digital Nomads: Always on the Road | Golden Motor Fund Announcement No.51

In August this year, Dali, China held the Web3 Conference "Summer of Tile Cats" (for details of the event, please refer to "What Happened to Web3 in Dali These Days" ), and Web3 practitioners from all over the country gathered together to organize the event in a decentralized form , a lively discussion. Everyone's eyes once again focused on this Yunnan city nicknamed "Dalifornia". In the past few years, many Internet practitioners from companies in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and even overseas have chosen to work remotely to live in Dali. As a famous tourist city in China, Dali is gradually becoming an Internet treasure land full of technology atmosphere.

These people who work online through the Internet and live and live around the world are called "Digital Nomads". In their view, this way of life gets rid of the dependence on the place of work, people no longer need to be bound by the 9-to-5 life, but can freely enjoy the rich and diverse world. In the journey, people's creativity and vitality will be further stimulated. The carefree "digital nomad" may be able to save the heavy body trapped in the boring modern life.

"Digital nomad" is not a new concept. As early as 1997, Tsugio Makimoto, the former CEO of Hitachi Semiconductor and the former CTO of Sony, had imagined it in the book Digital Nomad : "In the future of human society, high-speed wireless networks and powerful mobile devices will break the The boundaries between occupation and geographic area, and thousands of people will sell their homes to embrace a new way of life that travels the world while relying on the Internet to generate income.” Today, the practical technology of remote work has been solved, and the arrival of the epidemic has made remote work a more acceptable way of life for the public.

On the other hand, the way of life of digital nomads also faces questions and challenges. How long can life without stability last? How to solve the problem of insurance and visa? Do you need enough financial strength to afford such a life? Without an office location, it is a great test of people's self-discipline. This issue of Golden Motor features articles related to digital nomads in Matt City, hoping to learn about this increasingly popular lifestyle with you.

I'm a digital nomad, AMA - @Andy

I switched to Shanghai to write code (not remotely). After a year, I felt that I didn’t fit in with Shanghai, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to live. I turned around and found that the air ticket was still a bit expensive, so I started to work while I was traveling, writing web pages for people, and eating and living where I had friends. Later, Jie Ping said, we need a programmer to make big news, and we want to explore the sustainable development of good content. I said okay, okay, count me in. Matters is an all-remote company, so I continue to work remotely. (I was living in Kunming at the time, and the roasted pig trotters downstairs were delicious.) I had never figured out where to live, and I had been working all the time. It seemed that I had become a "digital nomad" for no reason. In fact, the idea of "I want to become a digital nomad!" has never occurred to me.

Andy, a former Matters employee who has become a digital nomad since 2016, shared his reasons and feelings for choosing to "work while walking". The lifestyle of digital nomads allows us to choose a suitable place of residence based on practical considerations; by separating income sources and places of residence, we can carry out cross-regional arbitrage; entering sojourn life in advance is precisely to insert the time of retirement enjoyment into work In life; and early arrangement of flexible and diverse income sources can also "defend against geopolitical risks". But as Andy said, all of the above is an afterthought after departure. Free movement, no reason at all. Uncertainty is the true meaning of life.

Walking on the road of semi-digital nomads, I am healing myself in cleaning up the chaos - by @DigitalWalkDigitalWalk

During the epidemic, because of working from home, the boundaries between life and work gradually blurred, which allowed me to try. Especially these few days on the Big Island of Hawaii: we live in an Aboriginal heritage village on the east side of the island near the Pacific Ocean. Every household has a large courtyard. Seeing banana leaves always reminds me of farms on Qiong Island. There are all kinds of brightly colored flowers and plants here, and when the evening cools down, birds often sing melodiously until the night. During the day at work, I often take a short walk before and after meetings; when the day's work is over, I immediately drive to the nearby Volcano Park for a hike.

From Miao Village in Qiandongnan, Guizhou, to Mexico City, and then to the Big Island of Hawaii, the author shares his experiences and feelings as a "semi-digital nomad" and "nomadic life" in 2021. When the boundaries between life and work are blurred, people no longer need to dedicate the most essential nine hours of the day to work. The author is pleasantly surprised to gain healing and peace, and regain the joy of controlling the body and life.

Free Talk｜E02 I quit my job and went abroad, why do I want to be a digital nomad? — by @Travlog_Jenny

As for how digital nomads make money and work, there is a classic theory called "geo-arbitrage", which means that if you have a salary of six or seven thousand in Beijing and Shanghai, you may be very embarrassed. But if you live in Chiang Mai, Thailand, it will be very enjoyable. Some people are working part-time jobs in the United States, but going to live in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia can guarantee the quality of life on the one hand, and get a stable salary on the other hand.

In this episode of Podcast, the anchor shared what he saw and experienced on the road after resigning and wandering abroad, discussed concepts such as "digital nomads, working vacations, working and lodging, geographic arbitrage, and passive income", and also shared how to find odd jobs overseas A practical approach to part-time jobs. On the way, she met all kinds of people and saw many lives that jumped out of the grid.

At the end of the digital society, there are digital nomads - @Overload twitter

The appeal of "digital nomads" largely comes from the challenge of the "bohemian" tradition to mainstream society. This is the development of the current era when the soul of the information society is higher than the secular. When homeless people look up at the stars on the beaches around the world and type a line of code, those suffocating "involution", "996", high inflation, energy crisis, plague and war all become with the joy of the soul negligible.

Behind the departure, what kind of mood does the "digital nomad" reflect? As "the beneficiaries of economic globalization and high-speed communication technology", is the lifestyle of digital nomads limited to the "new rich" who have money and leisure time? The article points out that you don't need to be financially strong to enjoy the digital nomad lifestyle, and digital nomads are also trying to challenge the traditional definition of a successful career.

The past and present of "12 new innovations in 12 months": Pieter Levels, a young Dutchman, uses entrepreneurship to directly attack his inner fears - by @qiaoqiao

As Pieter Levels mentioned in his interview with "VICE News" later, in the contemporary era when "automation" penetrates various industries and details of life, people's lives have become more convenient and simple, but there are not too many things to do. Do it yourself. This “vacuum” created by automation gives millennials more freedom than ever to choose what they want to do, and the “digital nomad” is a symptom of this phenomenon.

With 50,000 subscribers, the website NomadList recommends the best "digital nomad" countries for you and is a must-see for digital nomads. Does the website solve the "irrelevant" problem of niche groups, or does it reflect "contemporary global phenomena and issues"? The article explores this question by introducing the entrepreneurial experience of website founder Pieter Levels, a "contemporary "digital nomad" model.

Welcome to the era of great distance: this is my three-year long-distance work experience - by @徐明恩

People's energy is always limited, sprinting for half a year to a year, it is easy to feel the feeling of being hollowed out. At this time, the sense of rhythm in life is another force used to irrigate the empty soul. The specific method is to let yourself know that you don’t have to run at full speed all the time through a stable daily schedule, a clear distinction between work days and holidays, and even the distinction between work locations and vacation locations. So now I work less from home because it makes my body wonder if I'm at work or on vacation. I have a list of work places in my head that I think of as offices, such as the university library, some coffee shops, or a meeting area at a friend's company.

The epidemic has made remote work a familiar work mode. For digital nomads, there is no need to commute, no fixed office location and time, and it is the norm of life. When the boundaries between life and work become blurred, how to maintain the ritual and efficiency of work? How to prevent the pressure of work from being squeezed into daily life? The author of the article shares his experience.

Do you dare to accept the challenge of being a "digital ranger" in Croatia for one year? — by @Neverlandseeker

According to the Croatian government website , travelers from non-EU countries can apply for a one-year Croatian Digital Nomad Residence Permit, provided you are employed by a non-Croatian registered Employers and provide certain financial proof.

When a global digital nomad, in addition to certain financial resources and the ability to be independent from a distance, a visa is of course essential. The article details the digital nomad visa permit in Croatia. As more and more countries embrace digital nomad visa permits, this lifestyle is gradually gaining public policy recognition and support.

Dali, from Dailifornia back to Dali in my heart —— by @jianshuo

The Dali I have seen is still mainly based on the homestay industry, using relatively cheap hardware to optimize for the goal of taking large pictures. And the real quality hotels, the event venues are submerged in the countryside, and there is no good way to find them. I saw the Dali of the physical, but I did not see the Dali of the spiritual realm. For example, I was in two hotels for three days, and I didn't see any event posters, brochures, or promotional cards. Dali still has only bones, and muscles are not yet full. In Dali, I was a little out of place. Not yet integrated into Dali's life. When there was no activity on the second day of the official party, I suddenly found that I could not connect with the digital nomads in this city.

Dali in China is nicknamed "Dalifornia" because of the gathering of a group of digital nomads and its geographical proximity to the Bay Area. In August, Dali held the first Web3 conference "Summer of Tile Cats", and the author went to Dali to attend the conference. As a popular destination for digital nomads in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, can Dali become a veritable Dalifornia? How far is Dali from true openness, freedom and technology? The author puts forward his views and suggestions.

As the protagonist in Zhao Ting's "Nomadland" (Taiwan translation "Nomad Life", Hong Kong translation "Wandering in the World") said, "I don't have no home, I just don't have a house" (I'm not homeless. I'm just houseless). Instead of choosing to be burdened by housing loans, the digital nomadic life on the move may provide another possibility of life. Would you consider such a lifestyle? You are welcome to share your thoughts and feelings in Matters, or Tag articles or writers related to this topic in the comment area.