Tag: Digital Nomad

What is Worldschooling?

Post author By Neville Andrew Mehra
Post date March 10, 2023

man walking on top of mountain under blue sky — Photo by Josh Willink on Pexels.com

As the world becomes more interconnected, families are seeking new ways to educate their children that go beyond the traditional classroom. One approach that has gained popularity in recent years is Worldschooling.

This unique form of education involves using the world as a classroom and exposing children to a diverse range of experiences, cultures, and languages.

Worldschooling is an alternative approach to education that involves traveling the world and using real-life experiences as a means of learning. Families who engage in Worldschooling are often referred to as digital nomads or nomad families because they are able to work remotely and travel the world while providing their children with an education.

How does Worldschooling work?

Worldschooling involves using a combination of traditional educational resources and real-life experiences to provide children with a well-rounded education. Families who engage in Worldschooling may use online educational resources, textbooks, and other materials to supplement their children’s learning. They also use their travels to expose their children to different cultures, languages, and histories. For example, a family might visit a museum in Paris to learn about art and history, take a cooking class in Thailand to learn about local cuisine, or volunteer at an animal sanctuary in Costa Rica to learn about wildlife conservation.

Why is Worldschooling becoming more popular among digital nomads and nomad families?

Digital nomads and nomad families are individuals who are able to work remotely and are not tied to a specific location. For these individuals, Worldschooling offers a unique opportunity to combine work and travel while providing their children with an education. With the rise of technology and remote work, more families are able to engage in Worldschooling and explore the world while educating their children.

Worldschooling is an alternative approach to education that involves using the world as a classroom. Families who engage in Worldschooling are able to work remotely and travel the world while providing their children with an education. With the rise of digital nomads and nomad families, Worldschooling is becoming more popular as a unique way to educate children and explore the world.

Tags Digital Nomad, Nomad Families, Worldschooling

Never Normal Newsletter

Move to Europe?

Post author By Neville Andrew Mehra
Post date July 23, 2022

high angle photography of village — Photo by Aleksejs Bergmanis on Pexels.com

Long time no see!

I skipped sending a newsletter the last few weeks to spend more time with family (finally able to visit us here in Spain after 2.5 years of planning).

I also took a super short trip to Lisbon too see some friends/colleagues.

The summer of travel continues here in Europe. It seems like half of America has descended on the content in the past month.

Speaking of going from the US → Europe, a few weeks ago Peer Richelsen asked Twitter:

ok serious question, what keeps the average American (that can afford it) from moving to Europe?

please enlighten me
— Peer Richelsen — oss/acc (@peer_rich) June 25, 2022

The tweet struck a nerve.

Over 6 million views in just 3 days. And thousands of replies filled with patriotism, peanut butter, and assertions about of the quality of life across the Atlantic.

I’m not surprised.

Many people are proud of their homeland, but Americans in particular don’t like hearing that life might be better somewhere else.

So where is the best place to live, in the US or Europe?

Six of the ten “most livable cities” in the world are in Europe. None are in the U.S.

The conventional wisdom is that America is better for making money and climbing the socioeconomic ladder, while Europe is better for enjoying a more relaxed, healthy life.

But now, in the era of remote work, your economic opportunities are far less constrained by your location. You can live it up sunny Spain while writing code for a Silicon Valley startup or save a ton of money living in Bulgaria while working for a Boston-based company.

So Peer’s tweet brought to the surface what lots of people were already doing or thinking about.

Travel bloggers Brent and Michael just wrote about their decision to leave the US (“it seemed like a country in rapid decline”) and become digital nomads traveling around Europe.

Fellow Americans Dan and Ian just recorded an entire episode of their Tropical MBA podcast on “The Europe Question”.

And now all of a sudden, I think these questions aren’t so much what does the digital nomad who’s this edge case traveller want to do, we’ve got this entire graduating class of the mainstream, who are asking themselves the digital nomad question: why don’t we live in Europe? It’s so nice. They have public transportation. Why haven’t we been there yesterday? Why don’t we move here this year?”

Hanging out in expat and nomad forums online, I often see Europeans and Americans who have the opportunity to move asking:

Is life really better across the Atlantic?

As someone who holds both passports, grew up in the US, and has lived in Europe for a few years now, this is something I think about often, and feel pretty well-qualified to weigh in on.

First, the usual caveat: It’s hard to generalize. America and Europe are both big places, each with diverse cultures and climates, and populations in the hundreds of millions.

The most general answer I can give is that, most Europeans and Americans are probably happier living in their home countries.

My American friends and family find Europe charming, but they like having more open spaces, big houses, big cars, free refills, friendly customer service, and more disposable income to spend shopping online and in big box stores.

All things that they would sacrifice to some degree by moving.

Europeans enjoy America’s national parks, higher salaries, and sunnier weather, but they prefer their own safer cities with better public transportation, labor-friendly laws, and universal healthcare.

All of this is another way to say, the best place to live depends on your priorities. If you’re really thinking about moving somewhere else, consider making a list of what you value, and then find a place lines up with your values.

Personally, I love living in safe, dense, walkable cities that also have lots of parks and public spaces for people to gather. Ideally, I like having a beach nearby.

The longer I stay in a place, the more I care about having lots of sunshine year-round. And having easy access to travel around to other regions / countries.

So living in a city on the coast in Spain works really well for me, and I’m not alone in feeling that way. But I still get itchy feet to move on and explore somewhere new 🌞

That’s all for this week! More soon…

Not a subscriber?

I write occasional emails to share what I’m thinking, learning, and doing. It’s all related to the idea of breaking free from the “default plan” in life.

Want to learn along with me? Join my Never Normal Newsletter:

Tags Digital Nomad, Europe vs USA, Move to Europe, never normal, Remote Work

Digital Nomad Guide

How to Become a Digital Nomad

Post author By Neville Andrew Mehra
Post date May 15, 2022

I’ve lived in and worked from more than 50 countries around the world as a digital nomad since 2012.

I’ve taken the lessons that I learned on my journey and from helping other people become digital nomads and put them together into this free digital nomad guide for you.

Digital Nomad Getting Started Guide Contents:

What is a Digital Nomad?

Digital Nomad is another way of saying, “a person who works online while traveling.” It’s a lifestyle choice made possible by the existence of the internet.

The digital in digital nomad refers to the idea that many jobs, especially knowledge work like programming, graphic design, and online marketing, are performed on a computer.

Unlike in traditional jobs, the people performing these jobs often do not need to be physically present in one specific location. Instead, they are able to work from anywhere, so long as they have access to a reliable internet connection.

A nomad is someone who moves from place to place, instead of settling permanently in one location. In the case of a digital nomad, the nomad part refers to taking advantage of the freedom of being able to work from anywhere.

So, instead of only working from their office, home, or a coffee shop in their home town, a digital nomad thinks, “If I can work from here, why can’t I work from Bangkok? Barcelona? Or a beach in Brazil?”

Who Can Become a Digital Nomad?

Anyone can become a digital nomad. There is no official certification or qualification for becoming a digital nomad, but this guide will help you get started.

Tags Become a Digital Nomad, Digital Nomad

Never Normal Newsletter

Airbnb’s New Nomad Policy

Post author By Neville Andrew Mehra
Post date May 7, 2022

photo of woman showing frustrations on her face — Photo by Yan Krukov on Pexels.com

Howdy 🤠 This issue of Never Normal is all about Airbnb — the company at the center of the ongoing transformation in work, life, and (especially) travel.

Full Disclosure: I’m a (small) investor.

Airbnb’s New Nomad Policy

CEO Brian Chesky announced on Twitter that Airbnb has adopted a new remote work policy.

Today, we’re announcing that Airbnb employees can live and work anywhere.

Our design for working at Airbnb has 5 key features:
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) April 29, 2022

We’re already over two years into the mainstream adoption of remote work, but Airbnb’s new policy is notable, because the company now explicitly condones employees working from other countries and they pledge not to adjust compensation based on the employee’s location.

In other words, now you can get a job working for Airbnb, making Silicon Valley money, while hopping between Mexico, Bali, Budapest, and Lisbon (or wherever you want).

Plenty of remote workers are already traveling while working, but this is the first time I’ve seen a company the size and stature of Airbnb make such a flexible policy. I suspect that more tech companies will follow suit.

Spend It Where You Earn It

Of course, Airbnb stands to benefit the most from such policies.

After all, where are all these workers going to sleep if they move out of their homes to travel and live all over the world?

Its already happening.

Airbnb released their latest earnings statement this week. The numbers are up. Big time:

Revenue of $1.5 billion increased by 80% from Q1 2019, and by 70% from Q1 2021—demonstrating the strength of the travel rebound.

The comparison with 2019 is especially interesting, because it shows how the company has grown relative to where they were before the pandemic. The included letter to shareholders explains:

Two years since the pandemic began, a new world of travel has emerged. Millions of people are now more flexible about where they live and work. As a result, they’re spreading out to thousands of towns and cities, staying for weeks, months, or even entire seasons at a time.

Where have you heard this before? 🤔🙃

Perhaps most interesting of all, the shareholder letter also teased “the biggest change to Airbnb in a decade” to be announced on May 11.

But there’s a downside…

As I’ve written about over the past few weeks, it’s become significantly easier and much less of an extreme lifestyle choice to travel and live all over the world these days.

And as more and more well-paid workers become digital nomads, competition and prices for Airbnbs in desirable locations is heating up:

ADR [average daily rate] averaged $168 in Q1 2022, representing a 37% increase compared to the same period in 2019…

As a result, seasoned digital nomads have started talking about Airbnb prices the way Brits talk about the weather. It’s the single biggest threat to our lifestyle. Especially for the many (most) nomads who don’t have a cushy Silicon Valley salary.

The accommodation affordability crisis is most acute in Europe at the moment, thanks to a perfect storm of the summer high season, pent up demand from American travelers, and constraints on vacation rental supply (imposed by local governments whose residents complain they can’t afford to live in their own cities anymore).

All of this has prompted some nomads to abandon Airbnb in favor of alternative platforms and strategies for finding cheaper places to stay.