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While I was a digital nomad for many years (including a full year stint with Remote Year), I discovered I mostly couldn't stand being around other digital nomad

While I was a digital nomad for many years (including a full year stint with Remote Year), I discovered I mostly couldn't stand being around other digital nomads. This survey helps me to understand why, because while I fit the average in some ways, in most cases I break the mold. It's unfortunate my favorite city has made it into the top 5, it was basically devoid of travelers or visitors when I was there last and was better for it. I don't intend to continue with nomading post-pandemic, and had pretty much stopped before the pandemic began anyhow. It was a great run though, and I recommend it to anyone who can structure their life to support doing it, although I don't think it's doable as a permanent lifestyle unless you're very much aligned with the average nomad. While everybody I met and traveled with were decent, smart people, at some level I just approach my goals of travel differently than most other people. I think a lot of digital nomads are subtly and unintentionally disrespectful to the places that they travel to, and this is something I really couldn't abide, which is why I ended up greatly preferring solo travel and avoiding coworking spaces or other nomad hotspots.

camillomiller 5y ago
There's places like Chiang Mai where that's the case more often than not. But the nice thing is that you can break out of that pretty easily as a Digital Nomad, and plenty of places don't have that vibe yet. Even in Chiang Mai you just have to avoid some specific places full of wannabe millionaire dropshippers with an Ego the size of the Royal Palace, and you can enjoy your stay anyway.
- tristor 5y ago
  I agree that if you're solo you can definitely break away from these spaces. But I think it's hard to do that with group travel, because those spaces are attractive to a lot of people who are digital nomads for exactly the reasons I don't like those spaces. Somewhat ironically, if you spend most of your time nomading in more major cities, it makes it easier to escape the typical because the city is large enough you can just avoid it, but when what you coined as "bro-mads" invade smaller spaces it's much harder to escape, just by virtue of being a foreigner you will likely encounter them at some point. FWIW, I found that the digital nomads I got along the best with were continental European. I pretty much can't stand Americans, the British, and Australians when I'm traveling (even though I'm American myself). For some reason most Americans, British, and Australians go into every experience by comparing it to where they come from and judging it by that standard and expecting so much and in ways I find disrespectful. Also, it's shocking how loud and obnoxious and how obsessed with "partying" those demographics are. I'm not a teetotaler, but if all you do is spend every waking moment getting plastered in a night club, how does one location really differ from another? If you just want to spend your life being shithoused, you can do that at home without invading other spaces with your destructive energy. Part of my experiences might have been because digital nomads from those countries skew young (early 20s), most of the Europeans I met were older (30+). At any rate, I invested myself into the experience, and I loved solo travel but group experiences really soured me on the "digital nomad lifestyle" and the sort of people who see themselves that way. And for my own ego issue, I think partly I was annoyed by being judged on the basis of how others behave rather than how I behave. Nonetheless, I found the experience rewarding and met lots of amazing people I've kept in touch with and I hope left each place I visited enriched by my presence rather than diminished by it.

camillomiller 5y ago

There's places like Chiang Mai where that's the case more often than not. But the nice thing is that you can break out of that pretty easily as a Digital Nomad, and plenty of places don't have that vibe yet. Even in Chiang Mai you just have to avoid some specific places full of wannabe millionaire dropshippers with an Ego the size of the Royal Palace, and you can enjoy your stay anyway.

tristor 5y ago
I agree that if you're solo you can definitely break away from these spaces. But I think it's hard to do that with group travel, because those spaces are attractive to a lot of people who are digital nomads for exactly the reasons I don't like those spaces. Somewhat ironically, if you spend most of your time nomading in more major cities, it makes it easier to escape the typical because the city is large enough you can just avoid it, but when what you coined as "bro-mads" invade smaller spaces it's much harder to escape, just by virtue of being a foreigner you will likely encounter them at some point. FWIW, I found that the digital nomads I got along the best with were continental European. I pretty much can't stand Americans, the British, and Australians when I'm traveling (even though I'm American myself). For some reason most Americans, British, and Australians go into every experience by comparing it to where they come from and judging it by that standard and expecting so much and in ways I find disrespectful. Also, it's shocking how loud and obnoxious and how obsessed with "partying" those demographics are. I'm not a teetotaler, but if all you do is spend every waking moment getting plastered in a night club, how does one location really differ from another? If you just want to spend your life being shithoused, you can do that at home without invading other spaces with your destructive energy. Part of my experiences might have been because digital nomads from those countries skew young (early 20s), most of the Europeans I met were older (30+). At any rate, I invested myself into the experience, and I loved solo travel but group experiences really soured me on the "digital nomad lifestyle" and the sort of people who see themselves that way. And for my own ego issue, I think partly I was annoyed by being judged on the basis of how others behave rather than how I behave. Nonetheless, I found the experience rewarding and met lots of amazing people I've kept in touch with and I hope left each place I visited enriched by my presence rather than diminished by it.