Pandemics and geoarbitrage: digital nomadism before and after COVID-19

Max Holleran

City, 2022, vol. 26, issue 5-6, 831-847

Abstract: Digital Nomads (those working for higher wages in developed countries but living in less expensive locations, most often in the Global South) are known for their ability to practice geoarbitrage: they search for a lower cost of living while working remotely. Many in this group have merged economic ideas about mobility with cultural beliefs around the value of uprootedness as a means to live independently and appreciate experiences over possessions. This article, drawing from 900 social media observations and 25 long format interviews, shows how the coronavirus pandemic challenged core practices of digital nomads because of lockdowns and border closures. It also shows how the pandemic made some in this group reconsider their relationship with their home countries. For some Nomads, it fostered a greater appreciation of welfare state services: such as high-quality medical care, unemployment benefits, and vaccine access, but this was not always the case. A number of informants were relieved to return to their wealthy home countries in a moment of crisis, but others—using a more Libertarian understanding of their own position as independent purchasers of social services—resented the state ‘calling them back’ during the pandemic. Last, the paper considers whether digital nomadism will become more attractive with the growing acceptance of remote work and what ramifications this could have for destinations in the Global South that are already experiencing ‘transnational gentrification.’

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13604813.2022.2124713 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cityxx:v:26:y:2022:i:5-6:p:831-847

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CCIT20

DOI: 10.1080/13604813.2022.2124713

Access Statistics for this article

City is currently edited by Bob Catterall

More articles in City from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().