Discover Germany | Culture Feature | Digital Nomads
Photo: © Tina Dahmen
Enjoying the best of the digital world So-called digital nomads are on the rise. More and more young people choose to leave their nine-to-five jobs behind to set up online businesses that make them location independent and, at the same time, allow them to travel. Discover Germany spoke to two young entrepreneurs who went out to pursue their digital nomad lifestyle dreams. TEXT: NANE STEINHOFF
Imagine working in a café for a couple of hours before heading to the local beach for a quick swim. This is the reality for many digital nomads all over the world. Technology has given them many freedoms and enables them to work remotely from basically anywhere in the world. Shared workspaces, so-called co-working spaces for freelancers, pop up all over the globe and make the digital lifestyle more social. According to the BBC, more than four million Britons already work from home or abroad 72 | Issue 45 | December 2016
– while travelling, working as freelancers, full-time employees or entrepreneurs. In Germany and the entire DACH region, more and more people also see the benefits of this lifestyle. Statistics revealed that 37.2 per cent of the global workforce, or 1.3 billion mobile workers, existed by 2015 – and these numbers are rapidly growing. German-born Tina Dahmen, now living in London, is one of these digital nomads. She brought her own travel company, Take
a Trip with Tina, to life and is now mostly seen working on her laptop, while not being confined to one place. “I have always loved to discover new cultures and countries and to develop a connection with the people that live there. Travelling through a country is a totally different story than living there. You are able to get to know the country from a different perspective when you fully integrate and experience the dayto-day life there. Then, the true culture comes to life,” Tina smiles. From this love for foreign cultures derived her company idea.“When I did my Work & Travel year in Australia, I worked as a travel agent in a hostel. I didn’t want to give up on this job and have always dreamt of having my own online travel agency. I started to learn the basics with the help of