The lifestyle we now call digital nomadism is not particularly new. It just gained traction as the internet got stronger, and obviously after COVID-19.

So, like every hype cycle, it produced a wave of gurus explaining it, talking a lot of nonsense and selling dreams.

A photo in Dubai with a laptop under the palm trees. "Work little, travel a lot." The laptop-on-the-beach shot.

That does not exist. Holidays exist to escape a reality that grinds us down every day.

That apparently wonderful life, as sold by the gurus, naturally attracted a lot of people. And with it came a myth about the "digital nomad".

But also, as with every hype, there are serious people who talk about the subject with depth and practical experience. For me the foremost is Eduardo Borges. He has lived this life since 2008. Focused on business and marketing, he has become what I would call a high-class nomad. He makes a great deal of money. But the value of his knowledge is in the blogs he published on the subject.

His is still the best definition I know. Being a nomad is not travelling all the time, and even less about showing off a count of countries visited. It is a lifestyle in which you prioritise geographic freedom: you are someone who can work and be anywhere in the world, in your country, in your city, because your work is not tied to a place.

Which opens up an understanding that you can be a nomad even if you move every six months, or once a year. The frequency matters much less than the value you place on being in motion.

Another good definition comes from the people who coined the term. Remember I said it was not new? Digital nomad was created in 1997 by Tsugio Makimoto and David Manners, in their book of that name, describing someone who works remotely over the internet while travelling the world. It also describes a lifestyle and a philosophy built on freedom and flexibility.

Any reasonable definition heads in the same direction. Which is why people who have never travelled or tried this life get confused:

  • They do not understand that you are not on holiday.
  • You need to stay longer in places.
  • Exactly as if you lived somewhere permanently, you do not go out drinking or sightseeing every day.
  • It is a life of detachment: material, emotional and spiritual.
  • The desire to travel and explore outweighs everything else.

That is only a few of them. More importantly, they do not understand that it is a valid choice like any other. And yes, an extremely privileged one.

Nomads are not tourists. They are people who embody what German calls Wanderlust, literally the desire to travel. It describes a strong urge to travel, to explore the world, to go anywhere, on a walk that might lead into the unknown, into something new.

Few people are like that. It is neither good nor bad. You simply have to understand that wanting to travel more, to explore on holiday and then go home, is its own thing. You can have wanderlust and always come back. But you probably will not.

A nomad only wants freedom and to see the world, and you cannot do that while financing an apartment over 300 instalments.

Only people who feel it will understand it, and as I said, it is just a choice. Different, neither better nor worse. For those living it, it is the best life possible and the fulfilment of a dream, every single day.