Rant: I just read that only 18% of digital nomads actually stay in a place longer than 3 months

Honestly, I found that stat in a report from a visa service company and it makes me think most people are just glorified tourists, so what's the real cutoff for calling yourself a nomad versus just traveling?

3 comments

3 Comments

hugo_ellis10d ago

Tbh, that stat tracks with what I've seen. I met a guy in Bali who called himself a nomad but was just on a two-week vacation with his laptop. Feels like the label got watered down.

richardfox10d ago

That Bali guy, @hugo_ellis, is it really a big deal?

loganhart7d ago

When I first went to Lisbon, I stayed for five months to really learn the neighborhood rhythms. That felt like the minimum to stop feeling like a tourist, which is what @richardfox is hinting at. If you're just hopping cities every few weeks, you're on a working holiday. The real cutoff for me is when you start dealing with local life stuff, like a dentist appointment or a broken phone screen. That's when the travel fantasy ends and the actual nomadic life begins.