I guess it’s a reaction to Capitalism, but it is also a product of it. The lifestyle of the digital nomad. For people like Ofir Drori, travelling inspired him to become a hero for wildlife.
If you are travelling the world just to rack up experiences, you are basically just participating in another form of consumption. The only way someone can check out of society and really make a difference in this world is by giving it forward.
So from your #vanlife find a way to make you look less hot, and the experiences connected to the environment and people you share more urgent. Want to help single women out of poverty? Want to make seniors feel like they are still living? Save a peat bog? Give Africa clean water?
Improving digital nomadism?
- Don’t tag where you are. Give general, not specific locations. This will help preserve nature. It’s what’s been happening in famous places like the Joshua Tree in California. But it can happen anywhere.
- Take more photos of real people you meet. Share real stories, with pain and happiness.
- Do random acts of kindness all day long.
- Catalogue nature. Save seeds. Leave no trace.
- Read books that celebrate simple nature and man in it: Hojoki. Walden. Sailing Alone Around the World. Or the children’s book the Snail and the Whale → if you no longer have an attention span.
- Try not to make people jealous; work to inspire, not deflate.
