Lauren and I first talked when I was locked down in Taiwan in 2021. It was amazing to connect with another nomad and writer after weeks of not seeing people. I was also a bit stuck in my book writing process and she gave me a ton of helpful hints to take my book to the next level.
I was excited to interview Lauren because she just finished her own book, Global Natives about her own experience as a nomad (since 2013!) and also the past, present, and future of the movement. I think she is one of the most thoughtful perspectives on the future of work and global mobility.
Currently, Lauren is Executive Director of Plumia, the mission to build an internet country for digital nomads at SafetyWing, a Y Combinator company that raised a $35 million Series B in 2022. She is also the author of the book Global Natives and writes the Counterflows newsletter) about borderless living. She tweets @LaurenRazavi.
Video & Podcast
Podcasts Episode: Choose Your Player
Conversation Topics:
- Global Natives: Lauren discusses her book, “Global Natives,” which explores the history of nomadism and how the current digital nomad movement fits into these historical trends. She also discusses the future of this lifestyle and how we can be pragmatic about it at the policy and human levels.
- Transition to Digital Nomadism: Lauren started as a travel writer after university, funding her way through grad school. She discovered co-working retreats in 2015 and went to Bali to profile a startup called Hacker Paradise, which organized trips for digital nomads to travel in the community.
- Work and Productivity: The shift from time-based work to output-based work and how traditional companies need to adapt to stay competitive in a remote work environment.
- Nomad Visas and Borderless Living: The trend of countries offering nomad visas, allows digital nomads to live and work in their countries. Lauren also talks about the concept of “subscription living,” where instead of paying rent to one landlord, you pay a global brand for access to flexible living spaces worldwide.
- Real Estate and Nomad Living: The impact of real estate trends on nomad living, including the rise of nomad hotels and the potential for companies to invest in real estate in off-site locations.
- Future Predictions: Lauren predicts that in a decade’s time, global natives might be subscribing to Plumia to get their nomad passport.
Links Mentioned
- Path Role Model: Pia Mancini
- Minimum viable state
- Book Recommendation: Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
33k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here