Being digital and mobile will continue to be an option for many that are tech savvy.

Q: Do you think we can have a sort of support community of neo-nomads? I am a freelance software engineer, and there are many places I’d like to visit. So I try to travel with my laptop (normally stay in a place for a month or so) whenever possible. Only thing is, I feel a need to be around people – not only local people, but other neo-nomads whom I’d probably feel like colleagues. I also wish there were better facilities than just coffee shops or cyber cafes in a city… What is your thoughts on this??

Rumi

Technology gave me a glimpse of this life in ‘99 during my time with the BBC – having breakfast in Cannes, on the beach, using infrared and my Nokia ‘banana’ phone to connect to the BBC desktop at 9.6kbps. Superb. I requested an immediate transfer to the sun – they said no and sent me a too-large file attachment to prove their point.

8 years later and I’m running a young but happy eco-tourism-property-resort company (www.barefootinvestments.com) from several spaces around the world. Even the staff are dis-connected but productive. We use shared workspaces for project management, satellite for those hard-to-reach places (like a tropical island or jungle) and our resorts will forgo reception desks and opt for wi-fi handhelds for a true roaming service. I don’t have a desk (but bookshelves are still essential) and we are 90% paper-free as a business (would be more if the government would let us).

Now all we need is for those hefty mobile phone / BT Openzone data charges to come down a bit.

Great article.

Matt M.
(hand written on a HP tablet using a wi-fi connection)

Thanks for mentioning us – we love working virtually, and the tools and culture we’ve evolved are working well so far.

s the neo-digital-bedouin-nomad