Reprinted with permission from World At Large, a news website of nature, politics, science, health, and travel.
COVID-19 chased millions of traditionally office and computer-based workers into remote working situations—a place where many, especially young people, were trying to get to all along.
The revelation of how many office functions can be done at home is opening up the option for many to travel the world in between workdays, a lifestyle known as digital nomadism.
Digital nomads are growing in number as technology advances both in terms of the software they use to work, and in terms of the countries they visit. The digital nomad brand and business is coveted, and recently the Portuguese government turned an entire community on the beautiful island of Madeira into a “digital nomad village.”
Recently, an Italian firm conducted a broad-scale analysis of 75 major cities around the world, and ranked them for a variety of factors pertaining to digital nomading—such as average Wi-Fi speed, average rent cost, security, burden of government, weather and air quality, and more.
Called the “Work From Anywhere Index,” it was put together by an international renters agency based in Italy, and for digital nomads it provides a good overview of known possibilities as well as opening up new ones.
Oyster world
“The last year has truly demonstrated to many firms that remote working is not only a possibility, but in reality something which can be advantageous for everyone involved,” stated Omer Kucukdere, CEO and founder of Nest Pick.
Scored from 1 to 100, 16 categories are added together to create the index. The #1 destination for remote workers across all the categories was Melbourne, Australia—a city which along with being clear, fun, free, and relatively less expensive than other global metropolises—has a special entry visa for digital nomads.
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Other cities that have digital nomad or remote working visas include Dubai, Medellin in Colombia, Chiang Mai in Thailand, Tallinn in Estonia, and Athens in Greece.
The Icelandic capital of Reykjavik had the highest score for internet speed and almost the highest across the board for religious or sexual freedom, but was overall ranked 23 due largely to taxes being so high there.
In contrast Dubai has 0 taxes on foreigners, and was ranked #2 overall. For cost of renting an apartment, St. Petersburg is second lowest, while also scoring second lowest for tax burden. The interesting conclusions could continue.
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When someone realizes the world is their oyster, and they don’t need a desk, office, or a suit to go to work, it can be a little overwhelming. If you could go anywhere, deciding where you’d go could be really difficult.
The Work From Anywhere Index can make all that indecision a little bit easier.
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