Article conflates digital nomadism with remote working in general.
Remote work allows you to work from a space you control, eliminate commute and allows you to be able to walk around to clear your head without feeling guilty for not being in your seat.
You could use it to travel, but I figure that would be a harder lifestyle and is not synonymous with “remote work”.
The author did try working from home but the damage to his mental health had been done I guess. I have the benefit of using IRC for the majority of my social interaction for the better part of my life. I guess the author is missing face-to-face contact already by that point though.
Also, I did something similar to what the author did, took a one way flight to Helsinki from my home town Coventry in the UK.
No friends, no family, no support structure. Only the promise of a job. It was some of the best time in my life. I was able to live as I wanted to live and present myself as me without any baggage holding me back. It was wonderful.
Although, I did make more of an effort to really meet people- I went to pubs in Helsinki and spoke to locals and asked about their history and language and despite what you hear about the Finns; the ones I met were truly very friendly.
All I’m saying is that: “your experience may vary”
Agreed re conflating. I predominantly work from home, out of a custom built office in the corner of my garden. I tend to get up early and spend a few hours goofing around with the family before starting work. I take short breaks throughout the day to play with my son, eat lunch with my wife or go for a stroll. I also tend to go in the company's office on average once a week to get my dose of water cooler chats and group pizzas. This setup is a near-perfect fit for me in terms of productivity, work-life balance and mental health.
When I had an office as a graduate student and then consultant, adjunct faculty, and other positions, I was almost never in my office.
I simply could not focus on work there the same way as elsewhere. I'm a highly social extrovert and in order to get things done that don't involve directly interacting with people, I "introvert myself". If someone comes to chat with me they snap me out of that mode and it's almost impossible for me to get back in.
I find libraries, coffee shops, empty offices to be the best places for me.
But remote != digital nomadism despite the 2 being able to go together.
> Article conflates digital nomadism with remote working in general.
Only a small part in the beginning of the article is concerned with digital nomadism. Most of the article is about working from home, and the general effects of isolation.
Only the first few paragraphs talk about digital nomadism, after that he says
"The obvious alternative to traveling the world while working, is working from home. But that can be equally isolating in its own way." after which most of the article is about regular remote working
It's very possible to become isolated working remotely even in a familiar city, especially for introverted people. It's far easier to say "hey let's grab drinks after work" when I'd need to commute home from the office vs. when I'm already at home, with Netflix and Seamless mere inches away... and this becomes a very slippery slope. A week can go by with limited human interaction. And that's rarely a good thing.
Remote work allows you to work from a space you control, eliminate commute and allows you to be able to walk around to clear your head without feeling guilty for not being in your seat.
You could use it to travel, but I figure that would be a harder lifestyle and is not synonymous with “remote work”.
The author did try working from home but the damage to his mental health had been done I guess. I have the benefit of using IRC for the majority of my social interaction for the better part of my life. I guess the author is missing face-to-face contact already by that point though.
Also, I did something similar to what the author did, took a one way flight to Helsinki from my home town Coventry in the UK.
No friends, no family, no support structure. Only the promise of a job. It was some of the best time in my life. I was able to live as I wanted to live and present myself as me without any baggage holding me back. It was wonderful.
Although, I did make more of an effort to really meet people- I went to pubs in Helsinki and spoke to locals and asked about their history and language and despite what you hear about the Finns; the ones I met were truly very friendly.
All I’m saying is that: “your experience may vary”