According to Wikipedia, Digital nomads are "people who use telecommunications technologies to earn a living, and, more generally, conduct their life in a nomadic manner." You probably don't even need an official definition to know what digital nomads are. In fact, you may know a few yourself.
Travelling the world and working from the comfort of your hotel room or from the nearest cafe seems to be a dream come true, at least on paper. The reality, however, is much different and digital nomads face a lot of challenges those with typical 9-5 jobs don't.
That aside, the fact that we are even talking about digital nomads is enough of a sign that our culture is transforming along with the global economy. This generation is witnessing the metamorphosis.
Freelancing in the 21st century
Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook are competing to be the first trillion dollar company. Which one of them will reach the goal first? That doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. What matters is this: the biggest and most powerful corporations in the world specialize in digital technology. This is a clear sign that our society has evolved and that technology has changed the way we conduct business, forever. Will office buildings soon be a thing of the past?
A 2013 study, conducted by the independent research firm Edelman Berland shows 34% of U.S. Workers are freelancing. 53 million Americans are freelancers and it's safe to assume that many of them work online. They jointly contribute over $700 billion to the US economy and the numbers are expected to grow in the future.
How many freelancers live a nomadic lifestyle?
Extensive research has not yet been conducted, but according to a projection presented in 2015 at the DNX (digital nomad Conference), there will be 1 billion digital nomads by the year 2035.
The future is bright
Millions of people make money online and the numbers will, inevitably, keep growing. This website is a great example.
Blasting News is a great platform for everyone with a knack for writing to make some beer money. Some writers might even be able to fully support themselves writing for Blasting News and some might even build respectable journalism careers -- and we are all able to do that from home or on the road. This was unimaginable just a decade ago, but today it is the norm.
What does the future look like? The future is bright because, thanks to the world wide web, we have more opportunities than those before us and we should not take that for granted.
