There’s an adage that the ideal moment to plant a tree was two decades ago, with the present being the next best opportunity. When it comes to embracing the lifestyle of a digital nomad, don’t allow yourself to be swayed into believing you’ve missed out simply because someone who began earlier suggests it. We are currently experiencing a prime era for digital nomadism and remote work. This is an excellent time to be a location-independent worker.
There’s an intriguing occurrence that affects many long-term travelers, digital nomads, and expatriates. Regardless of their age, they yearn for “the good old days” and feel compelled to close the door behind them, refusing to let any newcomers “ruin” the places they believe they have found. The irony is that those who arrived a decade earlier would have eagerly excluded later arrivals if they had the chance, thus making it all a question of when you entered the timeline.
It’s a frequent lament on online forums that “Now that place is ruined” or “It used to be so much better.” I’ve heard from residents in my city of Guanajuato, Mexico, say things like, “You shouldn’t publish anything about this place. We don’t want more people moving here!” As if it should remain their exclusive enclave, frozen in time with only the few hundred foreigners who reside here throughout the year.
I understand that overtourism is a genuine concern and that gentrification can disrupt local housing markets. Both phenomena can make prices untenable for long-time locals and pose serious challenges. It’s straightforward for a reporter to uncover stories that resonate emotionally and to attribute displacement to outsiders. The xenophobia narrative isn’t limited to just irate leaders; it’s always simpler to blame “those who are different from us.”
However, these civic challenges typically necessitate more measured and long-term solutions than erecting a fence (either physical or metaphorical) or attempting to exclude travelers and immigrants. For every displaced resident, there are numerous local individuals earning their livelihood thanks to all the outsiders.
I’m raising this point due to a recent article by bloggers Brent and Michael from Going Places that has been circulated through the Yahoo Creators Program. It’s making waves among those who prefer to look back rather than ahead and among the self-satisfied veteran nomads who claim things are ruined now. It provides ample material for habitual complainers who long for everyone else to vacate their personal paradise.
With the sensational title “The golden age of digital nomading is over: it was great while it lasted,” their article falls into the trap that many trend pieces do, being rich in anecdotes yet lacking any substantial facts. There’s a deficiency of journalistic rigor that would render their claims credible, resulting instead in a poorly supported opinion piece. I found myself repeatedly thinking, “Really, are you serious?” as I read it, prompting me to take a seat and compose this counterargument.
I have no grudge against these individuals; they offer solid advice on their blog, and I wish we could have connected when they visited my town recently. I’ve even referenced their well-rounded article on gentrification in San Miguel de Allende in my Nomadico newsletter on Substack. That piece was more even-handed, featuring quotes from residents and business owners of diverse backgrounds.
However, as someone who has embraced a location-independent lifestyle for two decades, I have numerous issues with this article. So, here’s why this is the best time ever to be a digital nomad. If you’re preparing to embark on your journey, don’t let the pessimistic voices persuade you otherwise.
Being a Digital Nomad is Not New, but Now It’s Recognized
In the introduction, they claim they had never encountered the term “digital nomad” until they set off in 2017. Well, sorry guys, but it was prevalent on social media long before that and was appearing in mainstream media as well. I’ll defer to James Clark’s excellent historical account on Nomadic Notes. You could argue that the trend began in the 1990s and has certainly remained robust since 2007 when both the iPhone and The 4-Hour Workweek were released. By then, there were already numerous travel blogs incorporating “nomad” in their titles, and the specific term “digital nomad” began to surface in articles.
Coworking spaces launched in 2008, around the same time the remote work movement was highlighted in publications like The Economist and The Times of London. That year, Airbnb was established under a longer name, securing the domain we use today in 2009. That year, Dell referred to “digital nomads” in a white paper, The Washington Post featured the term in an article, a /digitalnomad Reddit thread was initiated, and the TBEX conference for travel bloggers was introduced.