The pandemic has taken working from home to a new level. Remote working has become a way of life and for many people there is no going back to the traditional 9-to-5 in the office. Some people have taken the opportunity to work from anywhere, leave the United States, settle in a new country, or become digital nomads traveling from one fascinating place to another.
Since moving to Ghana in February 2020, the New Yorker Rashad McCrorey, author of “The 10 Expat Commandments”, has gained a lot of insights into repatriation and becoming a digital nomad. What’s one of his biggest pieces of advice? “See for yourself. Try your best to see and experience where you will live before hitting a lease. Most people tend to pre-determine their circumstances and get disappointed. The location may be in the middle of nowhere.” be or be a death sentence for a digital nomad, inconsistent WiFi. “
Here are the stories of trendsetters turning to the unconventional.
Corritta Lewis
Corritta Lewis and Ms. Shimea Hooks and their son left Ohio in August 2020. “With the overwhelming trauma that blacks faced last summer (and still do), we could no longer live in a place where we could each other felt hated. Being in the US was difficult. Even when we were walking down the street, we were very scared. We are law-abiding citizens, but our previous experience with the police made us feel like targets. We didn’t want our son in this area, so we moved to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, ”says Lewis
After more than a year there, they do not see themselves living in the USA again
“We love our neighborhood and the locals in our area. Our son was hugged by the local community in a way that brought tears to our eyes. “
They love to be digital nomads. “It’s a freedom we’ve never felt before. Being two black women in the workplace is difficult, especially in my job. I have been the only black person in my field for almost my entire career, spanning 10 years and multiple companies. It’s difficult to walk into an office every day and not see anyone who looks like you, ”said Lewis, an HR systems analyst who also runs the It’s a Family Thing blog with Hooks.
Hooks was a preschool teacher. She is currently working on starting her own business creating lesson plans for children between the ages of 2 and 5.
Speaking of her new lifestyle, Lewis says, “To be honest, it was a gamble that worked for us. Mexico was the only country then that allowed Americans, so we risked it. We have been to Mexico, but never on the Caribbean side, but we thought it was warm and we could afford it. “
So far everything has been positive. “My family can experience life without being constantly afraid. Being a digital nomad as a black person means freedom for me. Freedom from fear, fear and hope for my son. I hope he doesn’t live in a society and experience the collective trauma that blacks have struggled with for hundreds of years. “
Lisa Marie Jackson
“I have evolved to be a digital nomad for a variety of reasons since the pandemic. Like many, I stayed grounded during the first six months of the pandemic until I took to the streets to protest the waves of injustice that peaked during the summer. After going with Equality Should Be Normal to take a cohort of Chicago teenagers to the Washington march, I decided to keep working remotely as far as WiFi could get me, ”says Jackson.
She has worked remotely from Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Colombia, Mexico and Costa Rica. “I also started a travel lifestyle business for BIPOC and LGBTQIA + remote workers while continuing to work full time to pay for parts of the trip. The advantages are abundant, but the disadvantages include technical problems at work and courses abroad and the lack of physical proximity to loved ones. “
Carlos Grider
Globetrotting is nothing new to griders. He left Dallas in 2017 to travel the world for a year and has not stopped. You can follow his adventures on ABrotherAbroad.com. When the pandemic started last year, he was in Bali preparing to leave for South America when the countries were locked down.
“My travel insurance gave me the choice of taking an evacuation flight back to Texas or having to take my own risk during the impending pandemic. I loved life here in Bali, sunshine, great people, surfing every day, and I found it better to be locked up here than locked in the concrete jungle of downtown Dallas, so I stocked up on essentials (only for the case)) and decided to stay here in Bali. It was the best choice I’ve made in a long time. “
For the first six months, the Indonesian government automatically extended humanitarian visas so that he would not have to travel. After six months, Grider moved to another part of Bali, Canggu, where the digital nomads are clustering. “When tourism died out and the expats left, all DNs and expats naturally gathered there and life completely returned to normal. We were allowed to go out and eat, go to the bars and surf as usual. A friend even came up with the idea of starting an open mic comedy night to make up for lost entertainment. That was a year ago and it has exploded since then. We all just figured out how to do stand-up comedy after work and ended up performing in front of 250+ people for months. “
Grider praises the digital nomadic life. “It was amazing, except that I don’t see family regularly, but I’ve made so much family here (and around the world) that I can’t complain! I see DN’s journey as such an opportunity to own our own future and shape the job and lifestyle we want in a way that no company will ever give us. I hope that more of the black community will see this as an option and jump on the path to avoid obstacles. “
Gabby Beckford
In January of that year, Gabby Beckford, 25, left her mother’s home in Fairfax, Virginia and began touring the world. She has visited 12 countries from the United Arab Emirates to Mexico and Poland. She is currently in Germany.
“I started traveling because for the past few years my plan has been to become a digital nomad and try to do my digital storytelling full-time,” says Beckford, content creator and travel influencer at Packslight.com.
There are a few perks to traveling now: “At this crazy time in history, there are generally a lot fewer tourists so things are less crowded. I also feel like I see many destinations as they were before overtourism, which is an incredibly unique experience. As an African American and currently traveling, I have also noticed a significant decrease in microaggression and overt racism. Tourism and foreign dollars are extremely valuable at the moment and it was interesting to see how dramatically this has affected the quality of my experience. “
However, every day on the street is not a panacea. “Travel logistics are difficult and constantly changing, even though a vaccination card is currently extremely valuable. Another negative thing about being a digital nomad is having to keep explaining what a digital nomad is when people ask me why I sit in a café all day on my vacation! It’s still a pretty undiscovered lifestyle in many parts of the world. Overall, I love being a digital nomad and never see myself going back to a normal 9-to-5 office job. The opportunities for remote work and lifestyle freedom are too plentiful. “
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