Earlier this year I shared some thoughts on the State of the Digital Nomad Life. I talked about the fact that there are still plenty of newbies hitting the scene, but that there had been a strong shift to the home base strategy during the pandemic. I also mentioned that Asia was no longer on the top of everyone's lists, mostly due to many Asian countries' border policies.
I've been traveling a fair bit in 2022 (including getting stranded on a desert island, holla!) so I wanted to share some thoughts on what's hot, what's not, and some hidden gems you should know about.
Nomad 3.0
So the first thing that should be acknowledged is that we are now dealing with a significant new variable in the digital nomad life: an enormous new cohort of remote workers. We're talking WAY more remote workers than we could have ever imagined before March 2020. So we have to be prepared for the fact that there are way more people in the location independent way of life now and that's going to have some effect on what hotspots win (and which don't).
What's Hot
Mexico continues to be very popular, particularly D.F. (aka Mexico City), of which I am a fan, and Playa, of which I am not.
Everyone and their mom's dog seems to be out in Portugal these days, and it doesn't show signs of slowing down anytime soon.
I've also heard about Bansko in Southern Bulgaria, which is hosting Nomad Fest in just over a week (still time to nab tickets if you want in)
What's Not
Sorry to say, but Bali and Chiang Mai are definitely cooling off, in large part due to the border restrictions they put in place, and while it's always been a great and cheap place to go, with people able to see other inexpensive options in the meantime, the attention has shifted off Asia. You snooze, you lose.
This is in addition to our Nomad 3.0 cohort which will generally need to be time-zone-compatible with American or European companies, and that Digital Nomad Graveyard Shift never sounds fun or attractive.
Special Spots
If you read my article on coliving you know I've got a lot of love for Sun and Co in Alicante, Spain. That's an obvious underrated spot for me. But today I'm going to add a city, not just a specific coliving spot, to the list of places you need to check out: Antigua, Guatemala.
Now I get it, some people are concerned about safety and I agree, in some Central American capital cities, safety is a concern. But Antigua is not the capital. Fly into the capital, Guatemala City, then take a 45-minute bus out to Antigua. You're going to get:
- great food
- walkable neighborhoods
- cobblestone, colonial architecture
- giant volcano and lake
- solid internet
One more place I've lived that is less and less underrated (because more and more people are finding out how great it is) is Budapest.
A few other hotspots I've heard good things about but have not yet experienced myself are Madeira, Medellin, Tbilisi, and Varna, Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast.
That last suggestion came from Mitko Karvoshki, host of That Remote Life, who joined me for a long and leisurely discussion on all these issues, so if you want to hear more about these topics (including why we both hate Tulum and our theories as to why Brazil and Buenos Aires have never taken off as nomad hubs), listen to my podcast this week which went into all this stuff in depth.
Hope to see you out on there!
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
This article was written by Neel from MaidThis Franchise, a remote-local franchise opportunity for people looking to escape the rate race and reach financial freedom. Learn more here.
