There's never been a better time to become a digital nomad

Sixty-five per cent of children starting school today will work in jobs that currently don't exist, in new professions such as social media therapists, working from home facilitators and ethical app developers, according to a report on the future of jobs and skills from the World Economic Forum.

Twenty years ago, the idea that someone could put "digital nomad" on their CV was barely a thought bubble, although sci-fi author Arthur C Clarke had predicted it in a way. In 1964, in a fascinating interview with the BBC's Horizon program that you can find on YouTube, he speaks of a world where "we can contact our friends anywhere on Earth even if we don't know their actual location. It will be possible in that age, maybe 50 years from now, for a man to conduct his business from Tahiti or Bali just as well as he could from London".

He foresaw the death of the city and worried that the world might become one big suburb. We are possibly seeing the death of the city as it is right now, as remote work surges in popularity after so many workers had a taste of it during the pandemic, and companies struggle to lure staff back to CBDs.

It wasn't until 1997 that the term "digital nomad" was coined, the title of a book by authors Tsugio Makimoto and David Mann. From the beginning of the new century, there was much written about "neo-nomads', "new Bedouins", "vagabonds", "free agents" and "laptop hobos", which accelerated with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. By 2010 there were numerous blogs by people calling themselves digital nomads and "lifestyle entrepreneurs". Once the nomadic life became monetised by roaming influencers, it was a fully-fledged career choice.

The pandemic gave more people the confidence to take their careers on the road or to create new businesses that are portable. According to forbes.com, searches for the term "nomad visa" are up 2400 per cent over the past five years. Why not combine a love of travel with a way to make a living?

The dream of setting up a laptop by a pool in Bali and calling it your office has been made much more possible by a few things. There has been a mindset change from both employers and workers about what constitutes an office now that working from home is widespread. Many workers have found they can be more productive away from the office. And employers have slowly begun to trust that good work can be done out of sight.

The nomadic lifestyle doesn't suit all professions, but many people have done some soul-searching and decided to change careers to one that suits a better life balance.

Since restrictions lifted, some people have had a "now or never" attitude to living that dream, whether it's spending a few years on the road in nomadic style, relocating to a beach and relying on mobile technology, or buying that $60,000 ruin in Puglia to renovate.

Importantly, destinations that depended on tourism and have been badly hurt by shutdowns have started to see the value in encouraging hybrid business/tourist visitors by introducing generous visas to seduce them.