I enjoyed reading the stories of those who have had a taste of the nomadic lifestyle (‘My mind was shrieking: “What am I doing?”’ – when the digital nomad dream turns sour, 1 July). However, it seems that none of the problems they mentioned are actually related to nomadism. These are universal issues. Everything they didn’t like existed long before the words “digital nomad” entered our vocabulary. Slow internet? Trouble finding an apartment to rent? Unfamiliar food? Heat? People feeling disconnected from each other? All these are symptoms of our crazy times, and our task is to come up with ways to fix this together, rather than running to the office, where supposedly some of these problems will be solved (spoiler: they won’t).
A nomad doesn’t aim to recreate an exact replica of their life and everything they’re used to in a different place. The Roman lyric poet Horace, in his Odes, told us centuries ago: “They change their sky, not their soul, who rush across the sea.” No matter where people go, they carry their problems, personal histories and unhealthy habits with them. Our real job as human beings is to find meaningful new ways to cope with all this nomadic stuff in a psychologically healthy way.
Ivan Medvedev
Trento, Italy
