Fred Skulthorp

The loneliness of the digital nomad

This isn’t the escape you think it will be

  • From Spectator Life
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Young people have always wanted to leave Britain. Once upon a time, they joined the merchant navy. In the 1970s, they headed to Australia. Leaving seems mysterious and risky. It’s boring to never want to escape. ‘I just got back home after being in England for two days,’ said the former Geordie Shore star Sam Gowland, who lives in Bali. ‘What a depressing, grey, cold, gloomy, miserable × 100 place. If it’s possible, and you’re at an age where you can, move abroad.’

I could sustain a pale imitation of the life of a 19th-century Mexican silver magnate from two hours of Zoom work

Today, influencers offer advice for those looking to become digital nomads. The website Nomad List recommends an array of destinations, including ‘Places with Attractive Women’. The promise is clear: anyone with a desk job can live life to the fullest abroad, so long as the internet connection is reliable.

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