The Rise of the Digital Nomad

krou writes "The Washington Post has a look at the rise of the digital nomad, workers who have shunned the idea of working in an office, or working from home. Instead, they've taken the next logical step in the evolution of teleworking, and work wherever there is a Wi-Fi or 3G connection, using tools such as Facebook, Skype, and Twitter, to gain both primitive ('If I'm working at home by myself, I am really hating life. I need people.') and practical ('There is no hope for the road system around here.') benefits from this nomadic lifestyle. The need for contact with other people has driven some nomads to start working with others in public places and at strangers' homes. Other benefits from nomadic working include changing the scenery, and starting the work day 'long after many of their colleagues out at the cubicle farm have spent hours preparing for and getting to their workstations.' Coffee shop owners love the trend, and so do some employers, one of whom (an AOL manager), says: 'It's a win-win' because the employee in question 'is happy doing what he loves and from a business perspective, we gain valuable industry knowledge, contacts, and insights.'"

And this works with ..

[OzPeter]

The three computers I have on my desk, the pile of reference books and the large pile of printouts that I have been marking up. Plus the ability to walk away and get a rest break with having to ensure that my stash is safely locked away.

And yes I need this mess. One of the computers isn't mine and the other two are totally different architectures. And the printouts are schematics of a ship that I am doing work on

Digital nomads

[digitalhermit]

Working from the road is fun, but it really depends on what you're doing. When I'm doing any sort of code I need to be at my house with my 24" monitors and reference library (not all my books are electronic). Other times though it makes the time pass faster to work from a coffee shop (in particular, the one across from the college at around noon ).

Anyhoo, some of the things I found I needed to work completely remotely include:
1) 300W inverter
2) USB hub
3) 3G card
4) Skype (actually now a Google voice node :D )

For the really remote days I picked up a Duracell power supply. It's large (has a fullsize car battery inside) and *heavy*, but lets me work for 8 hours completely away from mains power. I can get by with the laptop and the 3G card, but the power runs out after a couple hours. It seems like a lot of stuff, but it lets me work from the beach or a park.

BTW, I was near the beach once and in the middle of typing when a bunch of really rough looking teenagers started milling around. That was a tense moment until a guard came along to check around. Won't go there again, but it's something to keep in mind if you want to get far away.

Re:flexible ad-hoc projects is the wave of the fut

[Anonymous Coward]

9-5? Where the hell are you working? It sounds like heaven. I'm expected to work whatever it takes to get the job done, which usually translates into a 8-6 or 7-6 job.

Re:Ive seen these people

[sbeckstead]

Are you paying for that air you're breathing? Are you paying for that rain that waters your lawn and garden? It doesn't cost the coffee shop owner a dime for you to "leech" his wifi.

Man I want to find out where these coffee shop owners are getting the free internet connections. Last time I checked it cost the coffee shop the same it would at home maybe more because they have to get a commercial connection. I also know that each connection takes a bit of the total bandwidth so others can't use it and if there are enough non paying customers the coffee shop is getting ripped off big time.

Re:Ive seen these people

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think he failed to read your post. I think he just neglected to comment on your anecdote about McDonalds. Instead he chose to focus on your claim that the leeches aren't costing anyone anything by refuting with two examples of resources they are consuming at the expense of others.

Re:Part-time nomad, here

[yurtinus]

Clearly, you work too much!