Home work S

ITTING IN A SHADY garden in Loulé, I have my iPad on my lap doing some paid work for my boss in London. This is my usual lifestyle but does the fact that I’m working while abroad make me a digital nomad or a remote worker? According to a recent study carried out by Dave Cook and a team of anthropologists at University College London I am in the second category.

In order to qualify as a true Digital Nomad:

1 You must have a continuous flow of digital tasks to complete on your laptop. You will be working freelance, salaried or for your own business. Almost certainly you will write a regular blog but that is not compulsory.

2 You must have the desire and ability to work and travel simultaneously.

3 You must make your own free choices about destinations without any external work pressures guiding your selections.

4 You must travel to at least three destinations per year. (Generally, staying with friends and relatives doesn’t count.)

Right here

One of the most popular destinations in Europe is Lisbon: a Digital Nomad Visa has been established in Portugal since October 2022 and the country is ranked fifth best in the world for digital nomads.

Lisbon has a lower cost of living than most other large European cities, enabling people to avoid the worst of inflation at home.

Worth knowing is that there are suitable places for digital nomads to stay in temporary Co-living / Co-working accommodation. Many apartment blocks in Lisbon are becoming de facto hotels, which unfortunately is driving up the cost of rental accommodation for the locals; there are well-known areas for digital nomads to congregate where social life revolves around advice and recommendations about other suitable destinations.

Cook’s observations (& anomalies)

In 2023, monthly arrivals of digital nomads in Lisbon, population of half a million, amounted to 11,000. In the same year, monthly arrivals in Mexico City, population of nine million, amounted to 8,000. Popular destinations in South East Asia where the cost of living is low are Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand and Canggu in Indonesia.

Following the pandemic, the arrival of digital nomads has boosted economies without creating the backlash that has happened in Lisbon.

Report compiled by European workers

This report questioned digital nomads on subjects such as happiness, cost of visas, cost of living and healthcare. Internet speeds were also taken into consideration.

The top three countries were Norway, Germany and Hungary. The score out of ten for Norway was 7.79 with an internet speed of 114 Mbps. Portugal scored 6.70 despite having a faster internet score of 132Mbps. Russia, Ukraine and Brexit Britain were excluded from the survey due to lack of data.

The European Workers survey summed up Portugal like this: “Portugal scores consistently well across all categories. It’s one of the safest countries on the list, with good internet and a cheap cost of living. Portugal is known for its fantastic weather with over 300 hours of sunshine each year. It’s also well known for the warm welcome given to Expats living in Portugal.”

Numbers Increasing

The 9 to 5 workstyle of yesteryear has gone forever, mostly shaped by the pandemic, which encouraged people to work more flexibly from home, a trend that for many has continued. Currently in smaller numbers, a niche group of digital nomads do their work while travelling abroad. Who are they? It is estimated that by 2035 there could be as many as a billion people working in this way.

Top bloggers

Successful blogs are likely to be monetised, bringing in a monthly income. They are creative, resourceful and inspiring. Other digital skills that are helpful include website creation, video editing, photography, graphic design and social media

The

Broke Backpacker

Will Hatton helps the uninitiated to get started. His goal is to offer practical advice to travel enthusiasts. He explains how to ‘ditch their desks’ and start an itinerant business of their own. He works completely online and is no longer a broke backpacker, earning five figures a month. He is one of the top travel bloggers in the world! thebrokebackpacker.com/author/wthatton/

Legal Nomads

Jodi Ettenberg is a former lawyer from Canada. She took a year off to go traveling but never returned to her job. Her blog focuses on health issues and delicious gluten free food. Her writing and photography are so exceptional they have been published in magazines and have won numerous awards. legalnomads.com

Lifestyle Hunter

Pilar Noriega Garcia is Mexican currently on her travels through South Africa. Originally she created a blog followed by a website. Her followers are introduced to volunteering, studying and obtaining scholarships that enable them to travel abroad. facebook.com/pilarnoriegaa/

Top bloggers’ warnings

It’s not enough to be a great freelance writer bubbling with ideas. Look firstly at the section entitled ‘About Me’ featured in any digital nomad blog. They confirm that it’s a hard life to get started and not much easier when you’ve reached the top.

But oh the joys of being part of the big wide world.

Portugal is the 11th largest home textile exporter in the world. Towels, tablecloths and sheets are produced here. And blankets! A whole world of Portuguese blankets.

The most famous is the Burel blanket. Burel is a resistant and durable fabric made from 100% sheeps wool and was traditionally used to make warm blankets and shepherds capes.

A road trip through Portugal brought us to the heart of the country and the Serra da Estrela Mountain Range - the birthplace of the Burel. Here the grass is greener and the air is crisper and vast numbers of sheep are grazing.

At the beginning of this century the knowledge and culture of making the Burel blanket was almost forgotten, the weaving factories abandoned and most of the old machines were standing still as the world had been spinning too fast for handcrafted textiles.

Then in 2006, a Portuguese couple from Lisbon fell in love with the breath-taking scenery of the Serra. They bought and revived one of the old weaving factories, keeping the old machines from the nineteenth century, and installed a new generation of weavers who had been taught by the elder loom masters. Together with a generation of young designers, a whole world of blankets with fresh colours and new designs was born.

My selection of Burels include colourful variations of old patterns called vintage 1956 or vintage 1968 alongside those in plain subtle colours.

But if it’s still too warm to consider a woollen blanket, my summer version is a lightweight cotton which comes in two patterns, two sizes and about twenty different colours. The choice is yours.

HOMES: Rua das Lojas, Rua 5 de Outubro nº 68 .

FASHION AND ACCESSORIES: Rua José Fernandes Guerreiro, nº39

OPEN: Monday - Friday 10.00-13.00; 15.00-18.00; Saturday: 10.00-14.00

T: +351 964 222 612 INSTA: martina.loule / martina-loule.com

Back To The Fold

Taken: May 2011, Peneda-Geres

National Park

Camera: Panasonic FZ8

“Nowadays, there are few wolves left in this area to worry the livestock but these Castro Laboreiro, known for their ferocity, are still used as guard dogs.”

Keyword: Rustic

Fred Bos was born in Holland and after many years in IT, he and his partner took to sailing the European waters. After several years he exchanged the boat for a campervan and travelled across Europe to Portugal where he has photographed the interesting places he has visited. “After every bend in the road, new interesting views appear,” he says.