Take It With A Lot Of Salt

This morning I was browsing the internet, to see what the world has been up to while I was sleeping and came across an article about my favorite topic, which is digital nomading. I used to write about this as in my opinion this type of working is the future. I mean it is the present as well, because it is possible already and favored by many, but not yet at a level that would be desirable for us as the term of crypto nomad is still not accepted by the authorities when applying for a visa. However, this is another discussion for another time.

Photo by Samantha Eaton on Unsplash

You see articles and posts about digital nomads all the time, the press loves to post about it, but you need to take everything with a pinch of salt, or with a lot of salt in my opinion, as the title of my post says. This topic sells as many want to live abroad, in a better country while earning a living online. Those that live in a country with a bad economical situation, see this as a way out. Others just want to take advantage of the opportunity and enjoy living freely in different countries.

The main idea in these articles is the lifestyle that allows you to earn like you do at home and spend the money in a country where cost of living is low. This is obviously the ideal lifestyle because you can save or spend more on things you like, depending on your goals.

I'm always reading every article about nomading that I come across and that's what I was doing this morning but my enthusiasm vanished quite fast, right at the beginning of the article, when I saw what are the methods they say for saving money. Couchsurfing? Hitchhiking? Seriously? Is this the best way to save money? Sleeping on a bench in the park is also free, right?

You do these things when you go away from home at 18 and want to explore the world, but definitely not as a digital nomad, who has work to do and depends on a good internet connection.

Speaking of which, yesterday I saw a post by Hive account@adamada, who was complaining about the internet service in the Philippines.

Asia is still an emerging market and there is an optimistic outlook for the Philippines in the next few decades in terms of economic growth (despite the inflation and politics hindering its progress). But first it needs to address one of the modern day basic human rights, and that's accessible, affordable, and quality internet services for the masses. source

Asia is one of the destinations many prefer for lots of reasons, among which is cost of living, exotic food, climate and so on.

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This is what wisevoter.com gives me when checking internet speed in the Philippines. The article doesn't say anything about the costs, but I suspect it is far worse than what I pay for my cheep and fast internet connection.

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Fastest Countries For Fixed Broadband Internet. The title says it all. You can see the top ten countries in 2021 and 2022. What is interesting here to note is the improvement from 2021 to 2022 regarding the median download speed. Each of the countries on the list kept their place, except Spain, and improved its speed as well. Spain fell out of the list unfortunately.

Romania’s tenth place finish in 2022 would have earned fourth place in 2021, showing how fast these countries are all prioritizing improved fixed broadband speeds.source

For me, this is something to be proud of as usually my country is top of the list for all the wrong reasons. It's nice to know we're evolving and are among the top countries for something that is much needed for future economic development.

Photo by OPPO Find X5 Pro on Unsplash

What the article does not take into consideration is costs. If the price of subscription would be taken into consideration, that board would look very different and my country would rank much higher. Customer service is something to take into consideration as well. Any call is answered immediately and problem is resolved in an hour, tops. Not to brag about it but we get all our equipment for free, custodial contract, you pay 1€ for the router and it is replaced for free if something happens.

Such a service is priceless in my opinion and much needed if you want your worklife to run smoothly. Otherwise you'd be pulling your hair off every single day, missing deadlines and struggling to get the work done.

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Maldives is a well liked destination by crypto whales and those who pretend to be crypto whales on different social media platforms. Imagine streaming with that internet speed. Nigeria is ranking #146 by the way, so not that far behind Maldives, however, quality of life is very different in these two countries.

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This is how the world map looks like, when it comes to average internet speed. The funny thing is China, a country that is ranking 5. Imagine having such a fast internet and being restricted, censored all the time :) However, there's a reason China has such a good internet speed, but that's a different discussion.

Photo by Edwin Yang on Unsplash

I spent more time focusing on internet quality in this post, but there is a lot to consider when deciding where do you want to live as a digital nomad. It's easy for these articles to focus only on the aspect that seems shockingly cheap. However DYOR is a must. I also know there's no perfect place in the world where you can have everything, of the best quality and at the cheapest price, so compromise must be made, but at least you know what you're getting yourself into.

If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides: