The digital nomad movement

[affordableadvice]

A great interview on Mixergy about digital nomad Colin Wright certainly got me thinking. How many of us could do our jobs from another country? What sort of a life would that lead to? An interesting one I suspect.

In the interview they discuss "Global Arbitrage". This is where you earn your income in one country, eg. the US, UK, or Australia, but then live in a country with a lower cost of living, in Colin's case, Argentina. He gets paid at US rates, but his expenses are at Argentina rates.

Do you think this will catch on?

www.affordableadvice.com.au

[Brendan]

I think it already has and there are lots doing it.

Just have a look at all the outsourcers on places like oDesk, eLance etc.. they are all based in places like India, China, Eastern Europe etc.. and I would say that 100% of their income comes from abroad.

When I was freelancing, I used places like 99designs and I would say 95% of my clients were international.

I know quite a few people who run online businesses and they are currently travelling the world while running the business!

Thats the great thing about the internet.. doesn't matter where you are you can make a living.

[The Start Up Sage]

We have to agree with Brendan on this one.

In fact, where traditionally Australia has relied on what's underground (mining) and grown in the ground (agriculture) as a firm base of the economy, we see massive opportunity in online worlds bridging the geographic gap between Australia and the rest of the world. This represents strong potential to build a third major industrial leg for our nation.

Sure other places can do it cheaper, faster. That will always be the case. However cheaper,faster are not always the only determinants of success.

In recent times, we have started many businesses in Australia which have a global focus (= foreign $$$).

So if we are looking at arbitrage, there is no need to even give up the quality of life enjoyed in Australia!

PS: We would also argue that 'Global Arbitrage' should not be limited just to exchange rates. Population is an equally important factor and is not as fluid as exchange rates (just look at the US$ in recent times).