The global pandemic has drastically changed the way most people around the world work, and the main one has been the expansion of home office adoption. However, for certain business niches, the professional does not necessarily need to have a permanent residence, just an internet connection is enough to offer you the geographical freedom to perform your work from anywhere on the planet: dear reader, welcome to digital nomadism!
As I wrote in the previous article, I took a break from my career for a period of self-care, one of the rituals of which was journaling, where I related the experiences and feelings I had throughout each day. Therefore, the interest in being a content writer was born, while allowing me to contribute collectively, also in my professional knowledge area, to inspire other people.
So I learned that this type of professional is the one that has been adopting digital nomadism the most, due to the acceleration of the digitalization of work catalyzed by the pandemic and the possibility of working remotely while traveling.
In this sense, the Portuguese island of Madeira, whose nickname is “pearl of the Atlantic” and elected by the World Travel Awards as the preferred destination for islands in Europe, is one step ahead and has been attracting working-traveler from all over the world. Besides being considered the safest destination in Europe since the beginning of the pandemic by the “European Best Destinations”, the island had very low cases of Covid-19 due to the strict measures to access it, such as mandatory testing at the entrance and monitored quarantine until the result is released and, also, a repetition of the test after 5 days of stay.
Then, on Madeira Island, I took the chance to also explore my social skills, keeping in mind that this competence is also one of the pillars of emotional intelligence, of course, taking the necessary safety and hygiene precautions required in Covid-19 times. So I was part of a Facebook group of digital nomads from the island and from there I jumped into a Whatsapp group, where there were 250 other people registered, including nomads and local service providers. I was impressed with the way they were organized. There is even a community on Slack, in which nomads can connect according to their professional field, and thus generate other businesses and partnerships.
As I wanted to explore the nature of the island, I asked the group who was interested in hiking the mountains and, therefore, I organized a tour with a small group to watch the sunrise at the top of one of the many impressive mountains on the island. We were not successful because it was cloudy, but it was worth the adventure and meeting the people who were part of it.
Photo: Bica da Cana Mountain, Madeira Island, Portugal. Dec 29, 2020.
That’s how I met Echo Tam, a friendly 34-year-old Chinese woman who until September 2020 was an account manager at a multinational in the luxury products and jewelry business. She took advantage of the moment of career reflection caused by the pandemic and decided to resign to fulfill her long-awaited dream of pursuing an international master’s degree. The chosen place? Portugal!
Echo did not receive encouragement from the family as she hoped when she left a promising job to pursue a dream in the middle of a pandemic and, in Portugal, despite having to deal with the stigma of coming from China, Echo has never shown to be intimidated. She, on the contrary, conquered everyone around her with her pleasant smile and easy laughter.
Ms. Tam is still unsure of the path to take when she returns to Guangzhou when she finishes her master’s degree in March 2021, but she is sure of what she definitely does not want and what does not work for her after the liberating experience she is still living.
Another person I was pleased to get to know a little better was Patrick Reagan, a 32-year-old Canadian who moved with part of his family to the UK 21 years ago, however despite having both citizenships, today he recognizes himself as more British than Canadian.
Patrick is a consultant and has provided remote research services in human rights, health and philanthropy to non-governmental institutions around the world since April 2019. However, during a vacation trip to Madeira Island in October 2020, and motivated due to the breaking of geographical work limitations promoted by the pandemic, he decided to apply for a residence visa. In December of the same year, he moved to the charming island, with his office under his arm: a laptop, where he plans to spend the next 12 months. Patrick takes advantage of his flexibility at work to go to the beach, go hiking and discover the local culture and gastronomy during his free time.
Certainly, freedom and flexibility were the biggest lessons I could learn from digital nomadism. This adventure, obviously combined with planning, anticipates what a traditional worker may only enjoy in retirement.
This experience also allowed me to increase my awareness of the external factors that influenced me, besides to better understanding how I also affect the environment around me. An important factor to take into consideration, when talking about digital nomadism, is the creation and solidity of a community, to be better discussed in the next article on Growing People Great 😉
About me: I’m a High-Performance Coach who uses a Neuroscience-based method to support you in Achieve More with Mental Well-Being.
