DERIVÉ Building a community for Digital Nomads. CSM MAID 2018 DISSERTATION Stella Taousiani
INTRODUCTION This project is designed for Digital Nomads and remote workers. The main intention is to create the sense of community between this group of people and help them interact with the spaces they visit as locals. Digital nomads’ lifestyle is becoming easier as technology is growing progressively, the world is becoming more interconnected and access to information much faster and easier. The so-called co-working spaces are’ becoming very popular and successful around the globe. What is more smartphone applications and digital travel services such as AirBnb, Couchsurfing and tripadvisor are making the rotation of the digital nomad around the globe more convenient than before and the search for accommodation and interaction with locals much easier. The topic of digital nomads is trending and attracting a lot of attention the last decades and the demographic of digital nomads is increasing rapidly. The first chapter of this visual essay, takes you through a journey of the lifestyle of digital nomads and focuses on the aspects that informed the design of the proposal such as the challenges they face, the value of uncertainty in their life, the communities that already exist and the importance of memories. The second chapter reflects how the questions that emerged throughout the research found an answer in the proposal for the creation of a service/community. Derive envisions a community of digital nomads and re-establishes a new concept of experiencing a city. It is the idea of a community where all the digital nomads are active parts of a big family/community called derive. The members of this community interact as units but their actions collectively function as a swarm and create the community of derive . This community is a hybrid between the digital and physical world. In this place, whether it is digital or physical, the members of the community own an identity that does not have any geographical or social limitations(because of their place of birth or religion), and support each other. The creation of this active community is mainly build arond the ideas of uncertainty, wandering and discovering and the meaning of exchange( skills, information,
CHAPTER A
During my summer holidays I had the opportunity to be part of the European volunteer service and volunteer in Varna Bulgaria for the creation of the funcity+ youth festival. There, I had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. Amongst them I met a lot of people who were freelancers, travelling around the world, volunteering and sharing their skills online to make a living, they introduced themselves to me as “Digital Nomads� a term that was unfamiliar to me. I found the idea of Digital Nomads a very challenging design opportunity, a type of lifestyle that that brings a lot of change to a more classic model of the contemporary way of living and perceiving the world.
NOMADS Cambridge dictionary defines nomads as members of a group of people who move from one place to another, rather than living in one place all of the time to find fresh pasture for its animals and has no permanent home. 1 Even though Nomadic communities and words such as “gypsies� are charged with a negative meaning, nomads were not necessarily an unwanted population by the local communities. On the contrary, in many cases they influenced and were influenced by the communities they inhabited both economically and socially by offering their services, skills and goods(craft or trade) which local were unable or unwilling to offer.
1 Dictionary, n. (2018). Nomad Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Dictionary.cambridge.org. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/ english/nomad [Accessed 15 May 2018].
PERIPATETIC NOMADS This type of nomads is defined as peripatetic nomads . In the book peripatetic people (where they are also referred as service nomads) they are described as people with specialized skills who exploit the “peripatetic-niche�: the need for the specialized skills or goods they would offer to communities that were unable or unwilling to support by themselves. Some of the services they would often offer were coppersmithing, woodworking or musical entertaining (Berlandm p 248, Kanjar of Pakistan). The interactive side of nomadism is also presented in the term of Pastoral nomads who , were also culturally and ideologically dependent upon societies, just as they depended upon them in economic respects. ( Khazanov, 1994) The idea of peripatetic nomads made me question whether this is happening in the case of digital nomads today, as they mainly share their skills online, digitally from distance, therefore their contribution is not location-specific.
KEYWORS: peripetetic nomads, service nomads , members of a group , specialized skills
Image:Romani mother and child National Geographic Magazine, Volume 31 (1917), page 563.
DIGITAL NOMADS With technology empowering us to work from anywhere, more and more people today are prefer to do adapt a nomadic lifestyle and offer their services remotely. The traditional workplace isn’t a physical office anymore, with set shift and daytime patterns. Employees can be both office workers and remote contributors — so-called digital nomads. From marketers to coders, from coaches to designers, many professions redefine the physical office location, and releasing themselves into the world. The demographic of digital nomads is increasing rapidly the last years . Travelling the world as they work, usually in creative or web-based industries, digital nomads take freelancing to the next level. The topic of digital nomads is trending and attracting a lot of attention by businesses which are trying to adapt to the sensitivities of the lifestyle of these people.1 Digital nomads are an amazingly diverse group. A demographic research around digital nomads shows that most of are mostly males in their late 30’s(berween 37-45) who visit 5-10 countries per year and inhabit a location for 1-3 months. It is also expected that the population of digital nomads in going to rise in the next decades as the term is becoming more popular and a lot people choose to adapt this alternative model of lifestyle.2
KEYWORDS:
1-3 months, 5-10 countries per year, web-based industries
“ Digital nomads are a type of people who use telecommunications technologies to earn a living and, more generally, conduct their life in a nomadic manner.[ Such workers often work remotely from foreign countries, coffee shops, public libraries, co-working spaces, or recreational vehicles.”
1. MiLLENNiAL MAGAZiNE. (2018). Are Digital Nomads the Future or a Passing Trend?. [online] Available at: https://millennialmagazine.com/2017/06/23/are-digital-nomads-the-future-or-a-passing-trend/ [Accessed 12 May 2018]. 2.Welance.de. (2018). Our Trend Prediction: What The Digital Nomad Survey Told Us - Welance. [online] Available at: https://welance.de/journal/digital-nomad-survey-results-infographic/ [Accessed 18 May 2018].
Image: Digital Nomad, Dan Lawrence, https://www.flickr.com/photos/danlawrence
DIGITAL NOMADS AND UNCERTAINTY
When reason is away, smiles will play. --- Paul Eluard and Benjamin Péret The lifestyle of digital nomads is highly related to the concept of uncertainty whether this is related to their decision making for the next destination they are going to visit, the services that they use or what to expect from each different experience. Decision making is a big part of the life of a digital nomad. Decision regarding their next destination, accommodation, time of accomondation or co-working spaces. This is reflected in the online services that are frequently used by digital Nomads. Such services such as airixo, couchsurfing, blah blah car provide an uncertain outcome of the experience the user might have. 1
1. Hobo with a Laptop. (2018). 60+ Recommended Digital Nomad Tools We Use & Trust | Hobo with a Laptop. [online] Available at: https://hobowithalaptop.com/remote-work-tools-travel [Accessed 11 May 2018
“We were supposed to couchsurf in Norway. Had been waiting for our couchsurfer to appear the whole night but he never did. In the end, we had to sleep in the metro and get out everytime it reached its final destination and repeat the route till the next day. It was a unique experience. If had been wouldEluard not be talking it rightPéret now” When reason is away,things smiles willeasier play.for us---wePaul and about Benjamin Sven, 30 Germany Miranda 26, Cyprus Image:Hitchhicker to Nowhere(edited)
In the case of airixo.com (an online service was introduced to me by the members of the community as a response on how they decide what their next destination is going to be), the destination is determined by the parameter of price rather than the location itself. More specifically, the destination can be selected as “Anywhere” Accordingly a similar pattern is followed in other services that function as random destination parameters where the user can just “spin the globe” in order to choose their next destination. In many cases, digital nomads even let the decision making up to other members of the community, either by asking them their recommendations or in extreme cases by letting them vote what that will be. Similarly, in the case of choosing their accomodation digital nomads often follow uncertain paths. Using services such as Couchsurfing or AirBnB (which are the most commonly accommodation services used) which are more high-risk-taking options than following the safer path of choosing to stay in a hotel or a hostel. What I found interesting in that is that this type of uncertainty hidden behind the decision making of dn is not an obstacle for the digital nomads, contrariwise the excitement of the unknown is one of the motivations that keeps them moving. KEYWORDS: UNCERTAINTY, TRUST IN RANDOMNESS, ANYWHERE
Image: Edited screenshot from https://travelsp.in/
DIGITAL NOMADS THE SENSE OF BELONGING AND ONLINE NETWORKS Throughout my research I had the opportunity to contact a lot of digital nomads through social media and online groups that aim to create a community between the members. The most popular communities at the moment are the facebook group “Digital Nomat around the World” with currently 80.000 members and the online community/website “nomadlist” 1
community the people living in one particular area or people who are considered as a unit because of their common interests, social group, or nationality online community noun [ C ] UK US INTERNET a group of people who use a particular internet service or belong to a particular group on the internet
The facebook group, functions as an online space for discussion with hundreds of posts that are related to receiving recommendations or advices by the other members of the group. Throughout the development of my research and project this group functioned as a great source of receiving direct information and creating an empathy to the users by having a constant update on the concerns of the individual users. What is more, I was surprised by the feedback I got as a non-member of the community in some of the questions that I posted from time to time, in some cases being contacted personally by them to discuss about the concept of derive.
Digital Nomads 1 Nomad List. (2018). Nomad List. [online] Available at: https://nomadlist.com/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].
Dictionary, c. (2018). community Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Dictionary. cambridge.org. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/community [Accessed 11 May 2018].
Nomadlist functions as an information platform, a city index providing digital nomads with information such as cities suitable for a nomadic lifestyle. The websited is devided in three parts: the forum(which functions more as a chat room) the map with the most popular destinations for digital nomads and “remote jobs” where they can find online opportunites to share their skills The most interesting part of the website for me was section with the city ranking and rating, where the users can choose/customize different parameters and filters such as cost of living, weather, location etc to find their next destination. The idea of nomadlist informed the idea of derive in terms of building the online profile of the user in a customized way, using different parameters or filters
Both cases of the communities, the facebook and the website, function as platforms where an individual can give and receive information rather than a community of people who belong to the same “family” and share one nationality: the nationality of digital nomads.
KEYWORDS: SENSE OF BELONGING, SENSE OF COMMUNITY
Image: screenshots from nomadlist.com
"For everyone who has ever come back from holiday and wished they could have stayed, I am living the dream” Anna Hart. 17 May 2015
DIGITAL NOMADS AND CHALLENGES The lifestyle of digital nomads seems ideal at first glance: Living your life in an endless vacation, in exotic locations, This is the image that is usually promoted about this contemporary way of living. A quick google search for Digital Nomads presents image results of happy people working by the beach, drinking cocktails. But the lifestyle of a real digital nomad is not a bed of roses. Of course there are plenty of benefits compared to the classic model of work but they have to face a lot of challenges in their everyday life thatthey wouldn have if they were settled in one location. Amongst their biggest challenges is the instability of income. Their lifestyle is financially challenging especially in times where there is no ongoing employment contract for them. In many cases, their contracts end earlier than expected and It’s very intimidating to find alternative ways to replace this loss of income. This has as a result their decision of never turning any kind of job down, in case they run out of opportunities in the future.1
1 LeapIN Blog. (2018). 9 Challenges of Being a Digital Nomad – LeapIN Blog. [online] Available at: https://blog.leapin.eu/9-challenges-of-being-a-digital-nomad-b81acd9f5ba [Accessed 11 May 2018].
Through my discussions and interviews with members of the community about this matter I came to the realisation that some digital nomads have a backup plan for those moments. A lot of them, during their free time they work on some of their existing or develop some new skill which can be used to provide them with an extra income. This was something that I experienced personally during my volunteer work in Varna. Kamil, 27, web designer was also in the volunteering team, so he didn’t have a lot of free time to work online. At one point he was running out of money and decided to do a fireshow in one of the main squares of the city. The local audience was excited with his performance and contributed to his staying, The case of Kamil was an inspiration for the development of the project as he was an example of an active “peripatetic” digital nomad. Not only was he offering his help to the local community though his volunteering, but he also found a way to earn some income by offering an alternative type of entertainment to the locals. How can the DN feel more secure about their income in each location? How can the DN use their skills or develop new skills while they are in each location?
Kamil’s fireshow, Varna August 2018
A lot of digital nomads agree that one of their biggest challenges is feeling lonely and building a sense of belonging to a community. Even thought they meet a lot of people during their journeys, loneliness is still a problem in the nomadic way of living. People move on with their own life and it’s hard to find that community that will grow and change with them. The constant bouncing between locations makes it harder for them to create special bonds with people as they know that they will say goodbye soon. What is more, keeping a routine such as doing your laundry, going to the gym, using the means of transport or even cutting you hair is not that easy. Changing your location also means that you have to “learn” how the new environment works and make a research about how things work. When you finally learn how the new environment functions, you decide to move to a different location and have to start all over again. 1
“I’ve been travelling by myself for the past couple of years now. And yes, even though it can be fun. (and in some cases way too much fun for my own good). One of the biggest struggles that no one ever talks about because they don’t want to is the battle with loneliness that you will eventually feel as a digital nomad or solo traveller.” Mike Vesti, Digital Nomad, December 6, 2017
Image: Traveling Alone Didn’t Make Me Any Braver, ravi nadha Follow https://www.flickr.com/ 1 Remote.co. (2018). Biggest Challenges for Digital Nomads and How to Overcome Them - Remote.co. [online] Available at: https://remote.co/challenges-for-digital-nomads-overcome-them/ [Accessed 18 May 2018].
Mike Vestil. (2018). Happiness Archives | Page 2 of 3 | Mike Vestil. [online] Available at: https://www.mikevestil.com/category/happiness/page/2/ [Accessed 18 May 2018].
DIGITAL NOMADS CRITISISM Certain destinations are among the more popular locations for digital nomads, including Chiang Mai, Thailand and Bali due to a low cost of living and reasonably high quality of life. A lot of criticism has been conducted around the subject of digital Nomads with many opponents arguing that digital nomads are “rich kids” who move to locations such as Chiang Mai, enjoy the benefits the location has to offer. The status of digital nomads in that way is lost as they have become “digital expats” 1 How can digital nomads become active citizens/locals who inhabit a place for a temporary basis? How can local communities take the advantage of the high percentage of skilled professionals with different background that inhabit the same space for a limited amount of time?
“Your average “developing nation” digital loser has completely misunderstood the term “geo-arbitrage,” which is the idea that you take a Western salary and move to a nation where the costs of living are lower” Nicholas Barang, February 2017
http://www.pinsdaddy.com/burmese-karen-weaving_FCIrsNBiIgSRPR*9W9BblYKCr4*YtQgBbRMff%7Cjp8jo/ 1. Future Travel. (2018). Digital Nomad, Digital Expat or Digital Loser? The Big Debate. [online] Available at: https://futuretravel.today/digital-nomad-digital-expat-or-digital-loser-the-big-debate-ccc58d51f52b [Accessed 11 May 2018].
DIGITAL NOMADS AND SOUVENIRS KEEPING A MEMORY FROM A PLACE Tourism souvenirs hold strong symbolic value related to pleasurable travel experiences in people's lives. Souvenirs include integrated patterns of behaviour related to the users preferences (Morgan, 2005) Do digital nomads collect souvenirs? Since their nomadic lifestyle does not support the possesion of many belongings I wanted to explore the meaning of collecting memories in the nomadic lifestyle. My research was mostly based on one -to -one interviews and posts on the online networks of digital nomads. As expected, fom travelling and moving purposes they avoid buying new souvenirs from the different locations they visit. They usually choose to save small objects such as sim cards, stones spices or travel cards and tickets. A lot of digital nomads explained to me that they prefer to save small objects or items that have no significant value but have a personal value because they remind them of s specific experience they had, on a specific place .
“I like to collect travel smartcards, whether it be for buses, subway, etc. They're cheap, a uniform size and unique to every place :). I might pick up other stuff along the way if I think it's cool, but these are the only things I go out of my way to get everywhere I go.� Sam Mortimer, February 8th (interview) Personal collection of bus and metro tickets- Image provided by Sam Mortimer, as a respond to my post on the online group related to personal collections/ souvenirs
DIGITAL NOMADS AND SOUVENIRS LIVING A MARK ON A PLACE Travellers and digital Nomads, often have the need to leave tbeir ”mark” on place, as a sign of their visit to the specific location and as a memory that can be found in case they return back to the location. There are various ways in which they tend to express this need. such as in the case of love lockers, or engraving their initials on a wall. The idea of leaving a “piece of yourself” inspired the idea of derive. How can the digital Nomads leave their mark on the place as a signature of their inhabitance in that specific location? How can this be communicated with the other members of the community?
CHAPTER B
This project, envisions a community of people and re-establishes a new concept of inhabitation as represented in ceremonia of superstudio. The habitus in the case of the derive community is not a physical space. It is a combination of the online community, the interactions among the members of the community in both the physical and digital space, the story of the community. It is there that the members of the community can perform new rituals and ceremonies, aiming to a more authentic kind of life that can be adapted only by its members The members of this community interact as units but their actions collectively function as a swarm and create the community of derive . This community is a hybrid between the digital and physical world. In this place, whether it is digital or physical, the members of the community own an identity that does not have any geographical or social limitations(because of their place of birth or religion)
The Architecture Player. (2018). You Are a Ceremony.. [online] Available at: http://www.architectureplayer.com/clips/cerimonia [Accessed 11 May 2018].
“Inhabiting is meant in its etymological sense: it is not just a way of dwelling in space, but a “habitus”, a way of being in the world, an attitude,”
The interactions The relationship between the user and community is mutual:one cannot exist without the other. The users of the derive community interact in various ways, have different purpose and responsibilities and most importantly they are not only digital nomads. The local factor of each destination they inhabit plays an important role in the creation of the community. This community consists of : the digital nomads, local businesses, local individuals and ngo’s/ local organisations. Each member of the community has an identical pattern which functions as their personal derive ID and can be recognized by the other members of the community.fig The local businesses can add their services on the map of derive. Those can be services that respond to the everyday needs of digital nomads(co-working spaces, dry-cleaner, gym etc) or can be related to recreational activities. Those businesses can offer working positions to digital nomads depending on their skills and availability. This relationship is beneficial for both the businesses and the digital nomads as the first introduces their services to the community and the latter has the opportunity to have access to customized information much faster, receive prizes and find temporary work position in the local community.
The digital nomads create a full profile where they enter their personal preferences (such as presented in the example of nomadlist) One of the main roles of the digital nomads is to give and receive information, recommendations to and from other digital nomads. Each digital nomad has the opportunity to exchange skills with other members of the community during his/her stay whether they are locals or digital nomads. The skill-exchanging process, helps the members of the community create stronger bonds between them but also improve some skills that can be useful in their personal career or explore new experiences through trying new activities. The local-individuals can be part of the nomadic family too, even if they do not follow a nomadic lifestyle. They can create their online profile where they can share skills with other members of the community that visit their country, give recommendations from a local perspective about each location, gain prizes from the local businesses after their contribution and take part in the annual meetups.
The derive community organizes an annual festival which is exclusively for the members of the community. It functions as a meeting point for the people who met and had to say goodbye after they changed their location. The derive festival is a place where the members of the community meet in physical space and share an experience, skills and creativity as part of the bigger family. 1 The derive festival aims to follow some of principles similar to those of the burning man, an event which is described as an experiment in community and art, community cooperation civic responsibility, participation responsibility and radical inclusion
Burning man is such a huge part of my life and my identity. The things i believe make me a good person are the things I learned at Burning Man, Chelsea Teller
1 En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Burning Man. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Man [Accessed 11 May 2018].
The derive community embraces the value of uncertantly, playfulness and wandering inspired by the idea of situationists’ derive, which embraces activities unfamiliar with the user in playful constructive behaviour and awareness of phychogeographival effects and are thus quiete different from the classic notions of journey or stroll (Debord,1958) The experience of the digital nomad or “Deriver” is a result of collective voting by other members of the community. Having registered and created his/her online profile, the deriver can choose a different membership depending on the level of risk from minimum to maximum and define the level of uncertainty he/she wants to experience. In the case of the highest risk, the user receives the derive pack which contains a sequence of objects that are related to some of the experiences(or skill exchanges) he/she is going to have which are a result of the decisions made by the other members of the community. What is more, the derive pack included the “survival pack” which functions as an introduction to the new community and contains objects such as sim cards, travel tickets, gym memberships, basica language phrases etc) The objects contained inside the pack, do not have a high value as individual objects. The experience embodied within the object has a more significant importance In one of the examples that I proposed the user receives surfing wax, levander seeds, suncream, and T-shirt. Every object individually is related to an activity that the user is going to do in the next destination. The pack also includes a number of “empty capsules” which can be used by the deriver to save some memories and take a part o the place with him/her.
basic situationist practices, a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances. Derives involve playful constructive behaviour and awareness of phychogeographival effects and are thus quiete different from the classic notions of journey or stroll.
The unpacking ritual -derive s The unpacking of the derive pack also follows the idea of the derive and exploration. The pack functions in the same way as the community in a smaller scale: a hybrid between digital and physical. The user discovers the objects contained inside the box in a slow process then cans the qr code from each object related to an experience to and then the destination and it’s only after having scanned all the objects, that the destination and further information about it are revealed. Lastly, the top part of the packaging has to be place on the map to reveal the destination.
Derive - Taking a memory from a place The derive pack, contains the “memory capsules� which fanction as customized souvenirs for the users. The memory capsules are the smallest scale of the hybrid between digital and physical in the derive project. The memory capsules are small objects that can be used to save a significant memory from a specific experience of the user. The user can store objects, odours and objects from the physical environment in a small container and then save the memory in a digital form with a short description of its importance to them. The memory capsules follow the idea of the souvenirs that the digital nomads already collect that have no significant price value but store a specific story which charges them with emotional and personal value.
Derive - Leaving your mark in a place In a similar way like the example of the love lockers mentioned in the first chapter, the derive wall which is place in various locations around the world functions as a physical place where the digital nomads can leave their derive pack at the end of their journey, including objects that they do not want to take to their next destination as a gift to the community. A part of the box can be kept by them and used as a stencil, to leave their mark on walls provided by members of the derive business network.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Nomad Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Dictionary.cambridge.org. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/nomad [Accessed 11 May 2018]. MiLLENNiAL MAGAZiNE. (2018). Are Digital Nomads the Future or a Passing Trend?. [online] Available at: https://millennialmagazine.com/2017/06/23/are-digital-nomads-the-future-ora-passing-trend/ [Accessed 11May 2018]. Welance.de. (2018). Our Trend Prediction: What The Digital Nomad Survey Told Us - Welance. [online] Available at: https://welance.de/journal/digital-nomad-survey-results-infographic/ [Accessed 11 May 2018]. Hobo with a Laptop. (2018). 60+ Recommended Digital Nomad Tools We Use & Trust | Hobo with a Laptop. [online] Available at: https://hobowithalaptop.com/remote-work-tools-travel [Accessed 11 May 2018]. 60+ RECOMMENDED DIGITAL NOMAD TOOLS WE USE & TRUST | HOBO WITH A LAPTOP In-text: (Hobo with a Laptop, 2018) Nomad List. (2018). Nomad List. [online] Available at: https://nomadlist.com/ [Accessed 11 May 2018]. Dictionary, c. (2018). community Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Dictionary.cambridge.org. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ community [Accessed 11 May 2018]. LeapIN Blog. (2018). 9 Challenges of Being a Digital Nomad – LeapIN Blog. [online] Available at: https://blog.leapin.eu/9-challenges-of-being-a-digital-nomad-b81acd9f5ba [Accessed 11 May 2018].
Biggest Challenges for Digital Nomads and How to Overcome Them - Remote.co. [online] Available at: https://remote.co/challenges-for-digital-nomads-overcome-them/ [Accessed 11 May 2018]. Mike Vestil. (2018). Happiness Archives | Page 2 of 3 | Mike Vestil. [online] Available at: https:// www.mikevestil.com/category/happiness/page/2/ [Accessed 11 May 2018]. Please enable flash to have the best experience Check for grammar Future Travel. (2018). Digital Nomad, Digital Expat or Digital Loser? The Big Debate. [online] Available at: https://futuretravel.today/digital-nomad-digital-expat-or-digital-loser-the-big-debate-ccc58d51f52b [Accessed 18 May 2018]. The Architecture Player. (2018). You Are a Ceremony.. [online] Available at: http://www. architectureplayer.com/clips/cerimonia [Accessed 11 May 2018]. En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Burning Man. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Burning_Man [Accessed 1 May 2018].