Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2226-3624

Digital Nomads: Who Are They?

Amily Fikriy, Azurin Sani, Syed Ashrene Syed Omar, Ahmad Shazeer Mohamed Thaheer, Mohd Fikri Ishak, Fatin Husna Shuib

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJAREMS/v12-i2/17516

Open access

The world has experienced many changes in the era post-COVID-19. Remote work arrangements have recently emerged as a working model in which professionals work outside the traditional office environment. The number of remote workers is expected to increase in the years to come in the post-pandemic era. With the growing trend of remote work arrangements, more people experienced leisure travel without detachment from work. Hence, this paper aims to provide a holistic definition of a digital nomad. In doing so, past articles from 2009 until 2023 have been reviewed, analysed, and the definition provided from past articles have been extracted and compiled. The paper concludes with a holistic definition of digital nomads and its implications for practitioners.

Al-Hadi, N. A., & Al-Aufi, A. S. (2019). Information context and socio-technical practice of digital nomads. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, 68(4/5), 431-450.
Bartosik?Purgat, M. (2018). Digital Nomads–Entrepreneurship or New Lifestyle? Przedsi?biorczo?? i Zarz?dzanie, 19(2.1), 259-266.
Bonneau, C., Aroles, J., & Estagnasie, C. (2023). Romanticisation and monetisation of the digital nomad lifestyle: The role played by online narratives in shaping professional identity work. Organization, 30(1), 65-88.
Brusseau, J. (2022). What Does it Mean to be a Digital Nomad? Turkish Policy Quarterly, 20(4), 1-7.
Carlos (2023) Surprising Digital Nomad Statistics [updated for 2023]. A BROTHER ABROAD. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://abrotherabroad.com/digital-nomad-statistics/.
Cook, D. (2022). Breaking the contract: Digital nomads and the state. Critique of Anthropology, 42(3), 304-323.
Cook, D. (2020). The freedom trap: digital nomads and the use of disciplining practices to manage work/leisure boundaries. Information Technology & Tourism, 22(3), 355-390.
Cook, D. (2023). What is a digital nomad? Definition and taxonomy in the era of mainstream remote work. World Leisure Journal, 1-20.
Dayour, F., Kimbu, A. N., & Park, E. (2017). The flashpacker market: Evolution, challenges and opportunities. Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management, 5(2), 1-12.
De Stefano, V. (2015). The Rise of the “Just-in-Time Workforce”: On-Demand Work, Crowd Work and Labour Protection in the “Gig-Economy.” Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2682602
Dillon, C., & Ali, S. (2021). Third Culture Kids: Raising Questions About Belonging, Identity and Development. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 35(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2020.1869825
Durward, D., Blohm, I., & Leimeister, J. M. (2016). Crowd work. Business & Information Systems Engineering 58, 281-286.
Digital Nomads in Southeast Asia. (2016). The ASEAN Post. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://theaseanpost.com/article/digital-nomads-southeast-asia
Expat Insider (2021). (n.d.). Expat Insider 2021: Survey Demographics. InterNations. Retrieved October 25, 2022, from https://Expat insider 2021: Survey demographics. InterNations. (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2022, from https://www.internations.org/expat-insider/2021/survey-demographics-40114
Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/julesschroeder/2016/03/17/what-digital-nomads-knowthat-you-dont-yet/#33a0e08f34bd
Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertadams/2017/01/20/how-to-become-a-digitalnomad-and-travel-the-world/#219d8f781ae4
Frick, N. R., & Marx, J. (2021). Integrating Digital Nomads in Corporate Structures: Managerial Contemplations. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
Hannonen, O. (2020). In search of a digital nomad: defining the phenomenon. Information Technology & Tourism, 22(3), 335-353.
Jarrahi, M. H., Nelson, S. B., & Thomson, L. (2017). Personal Artifact Ecologies in the Context of Mobile Knowledge Workers. Computers in Human Behavior 75, 469–483.
Thompson, B. Y. (2018). Digital nomads: Employment in the online gig economy. Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics, and Innovation, 1, 1-26.
Jarvis, J., & Peel, V. (2010). Flashpackers in Fiji: Reframing the ‘global nomad’ in a developing destination. In Hannam, K. and Diekmann, A (eds) Beyond Backpacker Tourism: Mobilities and Experiences, Clevedon: Channel View Publications, pp. 21-39.
Kannisto, P. (2014) Global Nomads: Challenges of mobility in the sedentary world. PhD Dissertation, Tilburg University.
Lee, A., Toombs, A. L., Erickson, I., Nemer, D., Ho, Y.-s., Jo, E., & Guo, Z. (2019). The social infrastructure of co-spaces: Home, work, and sociable places for digital nomads. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction, 3(CSCW), 1-23.
Lengkeek, J. (2021). Risk-taking behaviour among backpackers: A qualitative study. Journal of Youth Studies, 24(3), 369-384. doi: 10.1080/13676261.2020.1787645
Luce, E. (2017). The retreat of Western liberalism. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press.
Mancinelli, F. (2020). Digital nomads: freedom, responsibility and the neoliberal order. Information Technology & Tourism, 22(3), 417-437.
Mouratidis, G. (2018). Digital nomadism: travel, remote work, and alternative lifestyle. Sweden: Lund University.
Mouratidis, G. (2018). Digital nomads: Travel, remote work and alternative lifestyles.
Muller, A. (2016). The digital nomad: Buzzword or research category? Transnational Social Review, 6(3), 344-348.
Nagel, L. (2020). The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the digital transformation of work. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 40(9–10), 861–875.
Nash, C., Jarrahi, M. H., Sutherland, W., & Phillips, G. (2018). Digital nomads beyond the buzzword: Defining digital nomadic work and use of digital technologies. Lecture Notes in Computer Science IConference 2018, (April).
Nash, C., Jarrahi, M. H., Sutherland, W., & Phillips, G. (2018). Digital nomads beyond the buzzword: Defining digital nomadic work and use of digital technologies. International Conference on Information.
Nash, C., Jarrahi, M. H., Sutherland, W., & Phillips, G. (2018). Digital nomads beyond the buzzword: Defining digital nomadic work and use of digital technologies. Transforming Digital Worlds: 13th International Conference, iConference 2018, Sheffield, UK, March 25-28, 2018, Proceedings 13.
Nash, C., Jarrahi, M. H., & Sutherland, W. (2021). Nomadic work and location independence: The role of space in shaping the work of digital nomads. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3(2), 271-282.
Noy, C. (2004). This Trip Really Changed Me: Backpackers’ Narratives of Self-Change. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(1): 78–102.
Olga, H. (2020). In search of a digital nomad: defining the phenomenon. Information Technology and Tourism, 22(3), 335–353. https://doi. org/10.1007/s40558-020-00177-z
Orel, M. (2019). Coworking environments and digital nomadism: Balancing work and leisure whilst on the move. World Leisure Journal, 61(3), 215-227.
O'Regan, M. (2018). The flashpacker phenomenon: A new breed of independent traveller? Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 16(2), 135-147.
Prester, J., Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., & Schlagwein, D. (2019). "Becoming a Digital Nomad: Identity Emergence in the Flow of Practice," in Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Information Systems. Munich, Germany.
Prester, J., Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., & Schlagwein, D. (2019). Becoming a Digital Nomad: Identity Emergence in the Flow of Practice. ICIS.
Putra, G. B., & Agirachman, F. A. (2016). Urban coworking space: Creative tourism in digital nomads perspective. Proceedings of Arte-Polis 6 International Conference.
Reichenberger, I. (2018). Digital nomads–a quest for holistic freedom in work and leisure. Annals of Leisure Research, 21(3), 364-380.
Richter, A. P., Heinrich, A., Stocker, & Schwabe, G. (2018). “Digital Work Design”, Business & Information Systems Engineering 60(3), pp. 259–264.
Schlagwein, D. (2018). “The History of Digital Nomadism”, International Workshop on the Changing Nature of Work (CNOW), pp. 1–5.
Stickel, M. D. (2020). “Challenges and Opportunities of Digital Nomadism and its Implications for Tomorrow’s Workforce.”
Suhud, U., Maulida, E., & Kusumawardani, D. (2018). Push-pull motivations for, and intrinsic extrinsic constraints against, travelling to a textile-based tourism destination. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 7(4): 1–16.
Sutherland, W., & Jarrahi, M. H. (2017). The gig economy and information infrastructure: The case of the digital nomad community. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction, 1(CSCW), 1-24.
Sorensen, C. (2002). Digital nomads and mobile services. Receiver No. 6. http://mobility.is.lse.ac.uk/download/Sorensen2002c.pdf SPRADLEY, J. P. (1970). You owe yourself a drunk: An ethnography of urban.
Thompson, B. Y. (2018). Digital nomads: Employment in the online gig economy. Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation, 1, 1-26.
Thompson, B. Y. (2019). The digital nomad lifestyle: (remote) work/leisure balance, privilege, and constructed community. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 2(1-2), 27-42.
Vagena, A. (2021). Digital nomads and tourism industry. Academia Letters.
Verdon, J. (2021). Work-From-Anywhere Is Not Going Away: 5 Ways the Hospitality Sector is Monetizing the Trend. U.S. Chamber of Commerce. https://www.uschamber.com/co/goodcompany/launch-pad/hospitality-industry-work- from-anywhere-trend

In-Text Citation: (Fikry et al., 2023)
To Cite this Article: Fikry, A., Sani, A., Omar, S. A. S., Thaheer, A. S. M., Ishak, M. F., & Shuib, F. H. (2023). Digital Nomads: Who Are They? International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management and Sciences, 12(2), 614– 623.