HASWhen I took a gap year in Colombia in 2017, I met a bird that is no longer so rare these days: a digital nomad. At the time, Mayer was a 29-year-old American from San Francisco (California). Having been traveling for a year, he is traveling around the world and has already crossed Central America. To finance his wanderings, this self-entrepreneur teleworks as a UI/UX designer, responsible for designing the user interfaces of websites and applications. As a result, his status as a “digital nomad” worker allows him to not have a fixed employer and to be as free as the air. He organizes his time as he wishes, often by coaling in the morning and making visits in the afternoon.
In 2007, this way of life was mentioned for the first time by Timothy Ferriss in The 4 hour week. Work less, earn more and live better! (ed. Pearson), where he recommends teleworking in an affordable country to make the most of your income. Years later, the health crisis due to Covid-19 will cause the trend to explode.
A great traveler, digital nomad scours youth hostels and co-working spaces with unlimited coffee and a good Wi-Fi connection. In all capitals, this follower of minimalism is recognizable among thousands: his backpack backpacker on his back (with adapter, VPN and power strip), his laptop under his arm and noise reduction headphones screwed onto his ears.
Pioneer of “traces”
If he can annoy more than one person with his privileged airs, the reality is often more nuanced. Take the example of Julien, son of a “handy lady” and a worker, he never had the chance to go traveling. Now that he has become a self-employed graphic designer, why would he have to pay a huge rent to live in a poorly insulated pocket square, on the seventh floor without an elevator, with mold and noise pollution? Especially since as a freelancer – a status often made obligatory by the flexibilisation of work – he is faced with financial insecurity but also with the difficulty of finding accommodation, due to lack of stable employment. and regular pay slips.
A pioneer of “traces” – a contraction of “work” and “vacation” – the digital nomad knows no demarcation between private and professional life. Having an unstable job, working alone, he feels guilty whenever he spends too much time relaxing on the beach. A boost and hey presto!, he starts doing a series of missions again, even if it means bordering on burnout. And too bad if he doesn’t get any social benefit from it.
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