Digital Nomads history

An important technical step that allowed remote work took place in March 1983, when a recently formed technology company called Compaq Computer Corporation created the world’s first portable computer, the Compaq Portable.

Another important period of this story was 1985, when a satellite system called Motosat was established, allowing remote access to the Internet, giving digital nomads the ability to live and access communications from anywhere in the world.

Whether Roberts' odyssey was the genesis of the 'Digital Nomad' movement is arguable, it certainly serves as a legitimate starting point for this brief exploration into this 'technomadic lifestyle' – a term used by Roberts, and picked up by the NY Times in 1999, that for some reason never caught on.

James: I’ve been a Digital Nomad since 2003.

When Tim Ferriss launched his hugely successful NY Times bestseller "The 4-Hour-Workweek" (2007), the idea of digital nomadism (or location independence) reached a far wider audience.

He’s the creator of the Nomadic Notes blog, which he started in 2009.

In 2010 you write that, ‘The digital nomad era had begun in earnest digging through the historical archives.

Our first event was in 2011.

Our first sort of public event was 2012.

Moreover, in 2013, a documentary film about the digital nomad lifestyle was made by Christine and Drew Gilbert, titled The Wireless Generation.

Digital nomadism has rapidly grown in popularity since 2014, when websites ranking cities by cost of living, weather, and internet speed started helping nomads choose where to live, and international conferences for digital nomads (such as DNX) sprang up.

Many combined this travel with freelance work and, in 2019, 27% of all digital nomads were Boomers.

According to Buffer’s 2020 State of Remote Work report, collaboration, communication and loneliness are the biggest challenges remote workers face.