Counterflows #62: Nomad Hubs, Pay Cuts for Remote Workers, "The Metaverse"?
A nomadic writer's guide to borderless living.
Welcome to Counterflows by Lauren Razavi. These emails are where I share the best links about borderless living, plus updates on my writing, speaking, and policy work to enhance people’s understanding of digital nomads.
Want to support what I do? Forward the newsletter to a friend or buy me a virtual coffee. You can also pre-order my first book, Global Natives: The New Frontiers of Work, Travel, and Innovation, which launches via Holloway soon.
👉 Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to get the next one:
Hi friends 👋
Another week, another city…
After last week’s trip to Berlin, I’ve arrived in Copenhagen for the rest of the month. I’m staying in a carbon copy of my micro-apartment in Amsterdam—part of hotel brand Zoku’s subscription living package for digital nomads—which feels odd and has stirred many questions:
Do I actually want the same living and working setup in every city? Or does it detract from the unique experience of different localities?
Do I like having accommodation, coworking, laundry, bar, restaurant, and meeting space on-site? Or would I prefer having the excuse to seek these out in different venues around town?
Will subscription living become the new norm for remote workers as travel reopens? And does that mean I’ll soon be comparing notes with the users of different branded buildings?
I’ve wanted to write something on all this for a while, but couldn’t figure out if it was a dystopian short story or an essay about my relationship with hotels as spaces. I’ve settled on the latter option (for now) and plan to pull something together for the Medium Writers Challenge this weekend.
I’ll share the results here soon. In the meantime, hit reply to share your weird stories and hot takes on the subject of hotels—I’d love to hear ’em.
-Lauren
💌 Help the Counterflows newsletter grow by sharing it with a friend:
🏙️💻 Startup Cities: Remote Work and the Future of Nomad Hubs (Lauren Razavi): Miami may be the next great American startup city, but nomad hubs show us a future of innovation that’s mobile, distributed, and borderless.
🍣☕ Tokyo and Singapore Trail Melbourne in ‘Digital Nomad’ Ranking (Nikkei Asia): A new index reveals the best destinations for nomads post-pandemic, measuring 16 metrics including vaccinations, safety, visas, and rent.
🧠💼 Why Are So Many Knowledge Workers Quitting? (The New Yorker): In the latest of his delicious contemplations on the future of work, Cal Newport digs into “The Great Resignation”.
💰😱 In the Short-Term, Google Is Right to Cut Remote Workers’ Pay (Borderline): Isabelle Roughol argues the alternative is inequity and an overpaid nomadic class. A thought-provoking read.
🏢🌿 The Cult of We: WeWork, Weed and Wild Ambition (Financial Times): A new book tells the wild story of WeWork and its charismatic founder Adam Neumann. Apparently it’s worth a read.
🔮👀 The Metaverse Has Always Been a Dystopian Idea (VICE): Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is pivoting from social media company to “metaverse company”. But what does that mean exactly?
Nomad Politics: My Conversation with Sophie Nappert
I interviewed badass international arbitrator Sophie Nappert as part of the Plumia Speaker Series. Essentially, Sophie works as part of a B2B legal system that operates independently of governments and nation-states. And she’s just as geek as I am on the idea of internet countries.
THE CLASSIFIEDS
---------------
➤
Tired of doomscrolling?
Try The Progress Network's free weekly newsletter instead.
We track progress globally, amplify voices pointing us in a positive direction, and share substantive solutions.
➤
Dewwy texts you the best productivity, personal growth, and continuous-learning content 3x a week.
To sign up FREE for Dewwy [
text “grow" to join
].
---------------
Want to reach 15,000+ weekly readers? The Counterflows newsletter is part of an advertising collective with other independent creators. Visit
talcartel.com
to find out more about booking a classified ad.