数字游民：工作也能“很生活”

digital nomad，即數字游民，指的是网络时代那些工作生活无定所，却乐得逍遥自在的人。他们大多是自由职业者，只要有电脑、有网络，他们就能停留；“全部身家就是个行李箱”的生活也使他们习惯并享受着随走随停的乐趣。然而，这种工作生活方式也有一定弊端，比如孤独感和不良的生活习惯。幸运的是，有一种办法能帮你解决问题，那就是coworking（联合办公）。

Nomads have been roaming the earth for centuries， living off the land but never having a permanent home.1 One can easily envision the Mongolian tribes surviving the cold winters in their yurts， or the Bedouins herding sheep or goats across the Arabian Peninsula.2

The word nomad is derived from the Greek word “nomas”， meaning one who wanders in search of pasture3. There are three types of nomad that are well-documented in history. First are the hunter-gatherers， who moved from place to place as different seasons yielded different animals， vegetables and fruit to subsist on. Second are the pastoralists4， who travel around seeking pastures for their livestock. Finally， there are the peripatetic5 nomads who use their specialized skills to travel and work wherever they go. All three still exist today， but since the onset6 of industrialization， the latter is the most common.

However， there is a fourth type of nomad that has emerged in the last decade： the digital nomad. This is a person who is free to travel and live wherever he desires， given there are two things available： a computer and a decent7 Internet connection.

Digital nomads are people who don’t want the typical 9-to-5 work life. Through the use of technology， they instead opt for a lifestyle that allows for a flexible schedule and the freedom to choose their own workload and working hours. And while they are accountable to whoever hires them， they can avoid the daily doldrums8 of the office.

The number of digital nomads in the world is hard to count， but this trend is on the rise. If you were to travel to Southeast Asia， for example， to a country like Thailand， chances are you will see a digital nomad. It could be someone working on their computer in a local coffee shop or restaurant. Or laying on the beach under an umbrella with a laptop and a cool drink.

“Workers are becoming more confident in their employment options，”says Sara Sutton Fell， the founder and CEO of FlexJobs， a website that posts job listings to those seeking flexible， often remote， work arrangements. She adds： “[People are] ready to take advantage of a stronger job market to find a flexible job that better suits their lives.”

As more people are looking beyond the conventional office job in favor of something more adventurous， there has been an explosion in websites and articles that offer advice for the would-be wanderer. From travel and living tips to practical financial and logistical9 advice， one need not go far to find inspiration and ideas.

Here are some examples of advice that is offered：

1. Do your research on the place you plan to go to. What is the cost of living？ How much does a meal cost at a mid-scale restaurant？ Are there organizations that introduce people to each other？

2. Learn how to live with one suitcase （maybe two）. This will make it much easier to move around and reduce the costs and muscle strain10 of moving bags around from one place to the next.

3. Be open-minded and treat your destination as your new home. Meet people， explore the city， and have fun！

4. Get travel health insurance. You never know when something can happen， so better to be safe than stuck with a massive medical bill.

A good go-to resource for digital nomads is Nomadlist.com. It boasts a large， crowd-sourced database of cities， arranged in thumbnail snapshots on its homepage.11 These thumbnails offer details of the average Internet speed， cost of living per month， and temperature for any given place. For example， in Chiang Mai， Thailand， the average cost of living is 907 U.S. dollars per month， the Internet speed is 20 megabits per second and the temperature is a nice 24 degrees in winter.12 Jeju Island13 in the Republic of Korea costs 1，560 U.S. dollars per month， the Internet is a speedy 99 megabits per second， and the temperature is a cooler 10 degrees.

While this may sound like a dream life， the reality can be much different. Working remotely can be isolating and lonely. A person can become easily distracted and adopt poor habits. Luckily， there has been another trend on the rise that can directly tackle this problem. It’s called coworking.

Coworking spaces are offices in which people who work independently come together and share a place to work. Usually the space has all the accoutrements14 of a typical office： desks， chairs， tables， printers， a good Internet connection， coffee and snacks. Workers can pay a monthly fee to have unlimited access to the space， and spaces can range from the very basic office setup to a lavish15， modern facility with comfortable soft chairs， sofas and cool tables.

The Harvard Business Review16 published an article at the end of 2017 about how beneficial coworking spaces can be. It found that the majority of people surveyed who work in these spaces say they are less lonely （83%） and happier since they joined （89%）. But the concept of a coworking space is not simply for the advantage of work efficiency. The social aspect of coworking spaces is vital to many people who use them. Members can motivate each other and inspire new ideas， share business contacts and network. The concept has proven to be very successful. It is estimated that by 2020， the number of coworking space members worldwide will more than double.

The nomadic life isn’t for everyone. It does involve some risk-taking and flexibility， and not everyone can handle the feeling of being in a place temporarily or living out of a suitcase. However， it does offer something different from the daily grind17 of life back home and has given countless people a freedom they would not have had before the age of technology.

1. nomad： 游牧民，流浪者；live off the land： 靠山吃山，靠水吃水。

2. envision： 想象，預想；yurt：（游牧地区用兽皮或毛毯所盖的）圆顶帐篷，蒙古包；Bedouins： 贝都因人，是以氏族部落为基本单位在沙漠旷野过游牧生活的阿拉伯人；herd： 放牧；peninsula： 半岛。

3. pasture： 牧场。

4. pastoralist： 牧民，放牧者。

5. peripatetic： // 云游的，（尤指为工作）游历的。

6. onset： 开端，发生。

7. decent： 相当好的。

8. doldrums： 郁闷，无精打采。

9. logistical： 组织和安排上的。

10. muscle strain： 肌肉劳损。

11. 它拥有一个庞大的包括众多城市信息的数据库，以缩略图快照形式排列在其主页上。boast：拥有（值得自豪的东西）；thumbnail： 缩略图；snapshot：快照。

12. Chiang Mai： 清迈；megabit：兆位。

13. Jeju Island： 济州岛。

14. accoutrements：[复数] 配备，装备。

15. lavish： 豪华的，昂贵的。

16. The Harvard Business Review：《哈佛商业评论》，简称HBR，创建于1922年，是哈佛商学院的标志性杂志，致力于提供管理见解，改进管理实践。

17. grind： 枯燥乏味的苦差事。