Very interesting piece! It seems like the beginning of a much longer, deeper dialogue and social analysis. It was interesting to hear your self-reflection too, based on your experience. Thanks for sharing!
What you shared is the quandary of the times we’re in. I have chosen to pursue dual citizenship in Portugal and live somewhere there that I can be additive. Citizenship means that I will pay taxes and learn the language and history and participate. I live in a very small town right now and every pair of hands is necessary to keep basic institutions functioning. We need to return to a more Peace Corp mentality where you contribute to local culture and communities with your presence. Being a digital nomad has a negative overtone because it implies a one-way relationship (just taking, not giving). Those places are nice because of stable government, local library boards, ngo’s, and organizations that need participants to make a community work. In general, travel is a luxury. I’m thinking a lot about the immigrants at the U.S. border some of whom walked there from South America and Central America. They “traveled” too but was that a fun trip? Probably not so much. We can’t ignore that the world needs us to participate and to give at least as much as we receive no matter where we live.
Thank you so much for raising these thoughtful questions! My family and I are preparing to relocate to Spain to raise our son in a more hospitable culture and save ourselves from working to death in the US. Spain, particularly places like Barcelona and Madrid, also have experienced what you describe in Mexico.
I am not certain that we will figure this out. When my father migrated from Mexico to the United States, he experienced much of what you describe in Mexico City. All across the world, the locals are suspicious and distrustful of the foreigners who come in and change the landscape. And, as foreigners, no matter where we are in the world, should things go awry, and we will be likely targeted as the ones who need to leave the premises immediately. As it was with the Japanese population on the west coast during World War II, refugees in Europe, and as it was for the Jewish population over and over again throughout the last several thousand years.
When I consider all of this in historical context, it seems that the best way to prevent that from happening is to make oneself an asset within the community. Befriend the local shopkeepers, help out the children, sweep your front step clean as you see the housewives do each morning. The more we show them how similar we are and the more thoroughly we integrate, the less likely they are to be a target and the more likely we will be protected by the community. This will be difficult for the laptop class, I suspect.
While US progressive culture claims to be all about diversity, this very quickly can have a flipside that immigrants have always known firsthand. Now a new generation will live it out. Collectively, as Americans, it will be good for us to have the experience that others who have come to our soil have lived through AND to shatter the naivety that American exceptionalism has spoon fed us for generations.
This was a brilliantly thought out juxtaposition. If anything, this is a dialogue that needs to be opened. Crossing borders allows us to share ideas and experiences that we just can't get at home under the veil of American exceptionalism (referencing a previous comment.)
I've seen digital nomadism done well in a place like Guanajuato, Mexico where they befriend the locals and integrate into the local customs and lifestyle. I've also seen it done poorly like in Tamarindo, Costa Rica where it becomes a walled off community with a cooler-than-thou mentality.
You're 100% right in that, despite us not having the answers, we should be questioning our actions. Great posts!
I've struggled (for years) to find a new, more accurate word for the type of travel I hope people experience.
I don't like saying "travel more" for the exact reasons you state, but I'm not sure there is word for a "deep, cultural experience that pierces through the superficial travel bubble" haha. Even "authentic travel" feels like a marketing hook these days.
Wow, there is so much interesting stuff here, I feel like could write an entire newsletter responding to it all.
I appreciate what you say about not having the answers but needing to figure it out. It's a constant ongoing process for us as we travel the world.
As for the desire for those amazing experiences fed by social media, we've really turned away from those. I suppose we occasionally find ourselves in a place like that but for the most part we try very hard to choose places that aren't incredibly famous or beautiful, or at least not the beautiful places that Instagram influencers obsess over.
We're currently in Croydon, south of London for two months, which is somewhere I doubt very many tourists come. Yet I've found it fascinating and have enjoyed experiencing a different part of London that is just as genuine as Notting Hill.
As for the geography of winners, that's 100% true. And while I think governments should do what they can to help the "losers," trying to stop change and progress is a fool's game.
Very interesting piece! It seems like the beginning of a much longer, deeper dialogue and social analysis. It was interesting to hear your self-reflection too, based on your experience. Thanks for sharing!
What you shared is the quandary of the times we’re in. I have chosen to pursue dual citizenship in Portugal and live somewhere there that I can be additive. Citizenship means that I will pay taxes and learn the language and history and participate. I live in a very small town right now and every pair of hands is necessary to keep basic institutions functioning. We need to return to a more Peace Corp mentality where you contribute to local culture and communities with your presence. Being a digital nomad has a negative overtone because it implies a one-way relationship (just taking, not giving). Those places are nice because of stable government, local library boards, ngo’s, and organizations that need participants to make a community work. In general, travel is a luxury. I’m thinking a lot about the immigrants at the U.S. border some of whom walked there from South America and Central America. They “traveled” too but was that a fun trip? Probably not so much. We can’t ignore that the world needs us to participate and to give at least as much as we receive no matter where we live.
Thank you so much for raising these thoughtful questions! My family and I are preparing to relocate to Spain to raise our son in a more hospitable culture and save ourselves from working to death in the US. Spain, particularly places like Barcelona and Madrid, also have experienced what you describe in Mexico.
I am not certain that we will figure this out. When my father migrated from Mexico to the United States, he experienced much of what you describe in Mexico City. All across the world, the locals are suspicious and distrustful of the foreigners who come in and change the landscape. And, as foreigners, no matter where we are in the world, should things go awry, and we will be likely targeted as the ones who need to leave the premises immediately. As it was with the Japanese population on the west coast during World War II, refugees in Europe, and as it was for the Jewish population over and over again throughout the last several thousand years.
When I consider all of this in historical context, it seems that the best way to prevent that from happening is to make oneself an asset within the community. Befriend the local shopkeepers, help out the children, sweep your front step clean as you see the housewives do each morning. The more we show them how similar we are and the more thoroughly we integrate, the less likely they are to be a target and the more likely we will be protected by the community. This will be difficult for the laptop class, I suspect.
While US progressive culture claims to be all about diversity, this very quickly can have a flipside that immigrants have always known firsthand. Now a new generation will live it out. Collectively, as Americans, it will be good for us to have the experience that others who have come to our soil have lived through AND to shatter the naivety that American exceptionalism has spoon fed us for generations.
This was a brilliantly thought out juxtaposition. If anything, this is a dialogue that needs to be opened. Crossing borders allows us to share ideas and experiences that we just can't get at home under the veil of American exceptionalism (referencing a previous comment.)
I've seen digital nomadism done well in a place like Guanajuato, Mexico where they befriend the locals and integrate into the local customs and lifestyle. I've also seen it done poorly like in Tamarindo, Costa Rica where it becomes a walled off community with a cooler-than-thou mentality.
You're 100% right in that, despite us not having the answers, we should be questioning our actions. Great posts!
I've struggled (for years) to find a new, more accurate word for the type of travel I hope people experience.
I don't like saying "travel more" for the exact reasons you state, but I'm not sure there is word for a "deep, cultural experience that pierces through the superficial travel bubble" haha. Even "authentic travel" feels like a marketing hook these days.
Anyone have any ideas?
Wow, there is so much interesting stuff here, I feel like could write an entire newsletter responding to it all.
I appreciate what you say about not having the answers but needing to figure it out. It's a constant ongoing process for us as we travel the world.
As for the desire for those amazing experiences fed by social media, we've really turned away from those. I suppose we occasionally find ourselves in a place like that but for the most part we try very hard to choose places that aren't incredibly famous or beautiful, or at least not the beautiful places that Instagram influencers obsess over.
We're currently in Croydon, south of London for two months, which is somewhere I doubt very many tourists come. Yet I've found it fascinating and have enjoyed experiencing a different part of London that is just as genuine as Notting Hill.
As for the geography of winners, that's 100% true. And while I think governments should do what they can to help the "losers," trying to stop change and progress is a fool's game.