Meet the“digital nomads"who travel theworld insearch of fastWi-Fi
A) For those “citizens of the world", the office can be anything from a beach hut in Brisbane to a Starbucks inSeattle, thanks to the growing prevalence of remote-based work. But roaming the globe from cafe to cafe isnotwithoutitschallenges.
B) When the average traveller lands in a city like Bangkok, Berlin, or Buenos Aires, their first step might be todrop their bags at their hotel and to log on to TripAdvisor to find out the hours of a popular tourist attractionorthebestrooftopbarforhappyhour.
C) But people like Pieter Levels are not your average traveller. A Dutch website developer, Levels has beenliving and working nomadically（像游牧民那样）in places like Singapore,HongKong,Tokyo and Manila fortwo years. With just a carry-on backpack, he chooses his location at will, based on a variety of factors--Wi-Fi speed, average temperature, exotic food and cost of living—that have little bearing on the work he actuallydoes.
D) Somewhere in his nomadic journey, Levels noticed that there was a growing need to create an onlineinfrastructure for people like himself. That's when he created #nomads, a membership-based chat systemwhich runs on the team communication platform known as Slack. The channel allows users to ask people intheir current city the types of practical questions that a tourist would unlikely need to ask.
E) Members of the geographically dispersed subculture that Levels is a part of call themselves “digital nomads".They are borderless, mostly self-employed remote workers who interact with cities in a way that's entirelydifferent from a tourist, but still doesn't quite reach the status of resident.A relatively new phenomenon, thereare no hard statistics on the prevalence of digital nomads or location independent workers. But thanks to thegrowing prevalence of freelance（自由职业的）livelihoods, a global sharing economy and numerous digitaltools, the number of people who are able to live this life is growing quickly. And in a rapidly urbanisingworld, where a major city in Asia increasingly offers the same comforts as one in Europe, many people arereaching the realisation they don't need to stay in one place.
F) So how does a nomad differ from a tourist or resident? In many ways, Levels says, you can think of a digitalnomad like a“short-term independent expat (移居国外的人)". Unlike a resident expat, they don't work for a large multinational company in an air conditioned office building and they generally enter a country on atourist visa, simply renewing or moving on when it expires. But unlike a tourist, they don't arrive in a foreigncity without any responsibilities. Travel isn't necessarily required for them to do their jobs, but neither isstaying in oneplace.
G) Janet Brent is an independent ebook designer. She says many people she knows assume she travels for work,but in reality her international destinations are largely up to her, and driven by cost. “Contrary to what somepeople might think, I don't get paid to travel-I simply choose the lifestyle. Rather than rent in one givencity, I choose to travel and do short-term, temporary stays around the world, and my travel decisions areliterally based on what makes the most sense financially for me," Brent said. “It's completely different from vacationing--you really sink into the city life and get your feet wet in the communities."
H) Bryce Adams is another such nomad. He works as a developer for a South African company WooThemes,which has a workforce that's more than 80% remote-based. Though Adams frequently posts pictures onInstagram of his enviable cooking adventures from Seoul to Bangkok, he says nomad life in foreign cities hasits downsides, including finding adequate Wi-Fi for the bandwidth-hungry work his livelihood depends on. Contrary to the perception that he works under a mango tree in a tropical haven, Adams says the reality of this life means that he often ends up staying in more western style places in globalised cities--ones that are sure to have air conditioning and a decent connection—-rather than exotic beachfront cafes.
1)"A fellow nomad posted quite a funny but honest message on Twitter a few days ago that stuck with me:‘It's funny that digital nomads spend 16 hours to fly to the other side of the world to sit in Starbucks,' andit's completely true,” Adams said. "When you're a digital nomad, you don't actually have as much freedom as most people think you do. We have deadlines, we all have people relying on us and a mouth (or two) thatneeds to be fed. It's nice to be able to work anywhere in the world but it's not without its challenges."
J)But these challenges can often provide an opportunity for nomads to see a side of a city they may not haveif they were staying in a luxury hotel for a long weekend. However inconvenient, a trip to a local doctor,immigration office or laundry—or a conflict with a local Airbnb host (the accommodation style of choicefor most nomads)—can be far more culturally instructive than a trip to the national museum. And becausenomads often have to stay where the strongest internet connection is, they tend to spend more time indeveloping cities compared to the average tourist, who often flees to more touristy destinations soon afterlanding at the airport.
K) The nomad life is, by all accounts, one built out of privilege. You not only need a relatively powerful passport that makes tourist visas easy to attain, but also a knowledge economy job and access to the technologyand devices that make remote working possible. But nomads like Adams say that while they are aware of this privilege, they believe living this way elevates what they're able to offer, by giving them a broaderperspective on what they're building, writing, or designing and expanding their world view
L) “Being able to travel and get around makes it easy to stay inspired,” he added. “I truly believe that it makes me a more sensible human being, as I tend to see and appreciate the creative solutions people come up with in other parts of the world, even though many tend to have far more constraints than we have at home."
M) So when you're constantly on the road and don't own any property or have a fixed address, which city do -you call home? It's no surprise that many nomads are dual citizens or “third culture kids,"who have grownup with a notion of identity that's not tied to nationalism or staying in one place. Levels says that the nomadlife has not only changed his notions of citizenship, but the people he chooses to spend time with as well.“Saying you're a ^citizen of the world' is a super cliche, right? But it's becoming quite true," Levels said. “"Thisglobal awareness has been the reason I started Nomad List and it's affected who my friends are. It's normal tohave dinner now and sit with a Korean girl, a British-Singaporean guy, a Mexican girl and a Nigerian guy. Asmuch as that sounds like a politically correct TV advertisement, it's great that that's the time we're in now."
36.Pieter Levels created a chat system to satisfy the need of digital nomads for information tourists normallydon'tseek.
37. It is said that digital nomads do not enjoy as much freedom as·most people suppose.
38.Differentfrom tourists.digital nomads travel toforeign placeswithworkto do.
39.Digital nomadsbelieve their lifestyle enables them tobroaden theirvision and do abetter job.
40. The first thing a typical traveller possibly does after arriving at a city is search for information online aboutitspopulartourist attractions.
41. One digital nomad thinks their life in foreign cities has its disadvantages.
42.Travelling around helps to keep digital nomads inspired.
43. The number of self-employed remote workers living a digital nomad's life is fast increasing.
44.Pieter Levels says his life as a nomad has transformed not only his idea of citizenship. but his choice ofcompanions.
45. Interactions with local people and institutions provide nomads with far more cultural information than a visittothenationalmuseum.
D36.Pieter Levels created a chat system to satisfy the need of digital nomads for information tourists normallydon'tseek.
彼得·莱维尔斯创建了一套聊天系统，以满足数字游民对游客通常不会寻求的信息的需求。
I37. It is said that digital nomads do not enjoy as much freedom as·most people suppose.
据说，数字游民并不像大多数人想象的那样享有那么多的自由。
F 38.Differentfrom tourists.digital nomads travel toforeign placeswithworkto do.
和游客不同，数字游民远赴异乡时身负工作任务。
K39.Digital nomadsbelieve their lifestyle enables them tobroaden theirvision and do abetter job.
数字游民相信他们的生活方式能够让他们拓宽视野，把工作做得更好。
B40. The first thing a typical traveller possibly does after arriving at a city is search for information online aboutitspopulartourist attractions.
普通游客抵达一个城市后做的第一件事可能是，在网上搜索该地热点旅游景点的相关信息。
H41. One digital nomad thinks their life in foreign cities has its disadvantages.
一位数字游民认为，它们在国外城市的生活有其缺点。
L 42.Travelling around helps to keep digital nomads inspired.
四处游历能让数字游民持续产生创作灵感。
E43. The number of self-employed remote workers living a digital nomad's life is fast increasing.
过着数字游民生活的自由职业远程工作者人数正在快速增加。
M44.Pieter Levels says his life as a nomad has transformed not only his idea of citizenship. but his choice ofcompanions.
彼得·莱维尔斯表示，游民生活不仅改变了他对公民身份的理解，也改变了他对同伴的选择。
J 45. Interactions with local people and institutions provide nomads with far more cultural information than a visittothenationalmuseum.
与当地居民和机构打交道，为数字游民提供的文化信息远比参观国家博物馆要多得多。
