Moving Globally, Living Locally

The expression “purchasing power” is an interesting one. Not what it means―the number of goods or services that one unit of a given currency can buy―but what it illustrates in a literal manner: having money is a form of power, and buying is empowering the organization you are buying from.

We are quick to forget that the way we consume has a huge impact on our economy at scale. I plead guilty. There is always a moment where you just buy something apparently harmless without thinking about the consequences, like buying a burger from McDonald’s out of hunger after a night at the bar.

Do I want to empower McDonald’s business? Hell no. But I want instant gratification at this moment, so I am happy to forget. I’m using a McDonald’s example because it reminds me of an event of my childhood. My mom has been an ecologist activist since as long as I can remember. She was the only family provider and didn’t earn much, but she never hesitated to pay slightly more for high-quality food, organic and fresh from the farm or the market. One summer we were visiting Barcelona and we ended up on the Barceloneta during lunch time. A McDonald’s on one side, a grilled sardine restaurant on the other. My brother and I wanted to eat at McDonald’s because there was a playground inside, which looked fun. My parents agreed to take us there, but they would be eating at the sardine restaurant next door. We got so disgusted by the food we ended up eating sardines as well. I wouldn’t eat at McDo again until much later during my college years.

Consumption is a matter of habit. Conscious living is a habit. Making conscious choices is not innate, but it’s possible to act upon them.

Similarly, traveling is political because it impacts the way we think, create, and consume.

Another lesson from this childhood memory: eating what locals eat is always better. Not only from a nutritional and gustative point of view, but also economically and environmentally. Even if you move globally as a digital nomad, it doesn’t prevent you from eating locally.

The first contact you usually have with a new culture is through taste. More generally, the way we consume is as impactful as the way we create, if not greater.

By purchasing locally you encourage sustainability. Less transportation is more time for you and less air pollution. Buying from independent businesses is empowering local and national communities. Quality is proportional to geographical closeness.

And you get to create bonds with locals. Supermarkets should be avoided as much as possible while traveling.

To author Frank Michel, a beautiful journey is spontaneous, disorganized, improvised. It consists in a restricted number of travelers to get fully immersed in the cultural and natural environment, to concede decision making powers to the locals, to walk off the beaten track while desiring to know the environment, meet, share, exchange.

Living with locals is not idealizing them, however. It’s an exchange. What is common for us might appear strange to others, and vice versa. The ordinary is beautiful. People are living embodiments of the culture, much more attractive than dead monuments. A will to travel is a desire to understand: to ask people for bits of advice and insights is to create a local social link.

Imitating locals is also reducing your expenses. You can work from libraries instead of coworking spaces. Libraries are free, often propose English books, and are frequented by locals. Coworking spaces don’t, and you can actually talk to people during your coffee break in the chat room.

You don’t need to own a car when everything is within walking distance. If you really feel like moving, you can always get a public transportation card. Long-term transportation cards usually come with free discounts and financial benefits.

I barely cooked during my last trip to Asia because street food is much more popular and cheaper to get. I love street food in Thaïland and Vietnam, which is much different from street food in Malaysia or Europe for example. Street food in Vietnam is nomad food. Food vendors carry their kitchen with them. Everything fits in their stall. They circle around their territory, gathering fresh local ingredients on their way. A street food stall is a symbol of simplicity and minimalism.

Digital nomads need to become more aware and responsible for their actions at the local level.

Sedentism is an attempt at domesticating nature. Unlike a nomad who coexists with his territory, a sedentary relentlessly uses it until exhaustion through industrial processes. A state is a hierarchical organization allowing us to accumulate wealth. Sedentism invented saving―storing cattle to eat it later―before making a business out of it. Thrifting natural resources without leaving time for nature to recover is a debt lifestyle. Society marginalizes those who produce less or those who are perceived as the weakest. Weapons were invented to obtain some plots of land: sedentism exacerbates violence.

Likewise, the neo-nomad takes natural resources without respecting the cycles of nature. The technologies freeing us ask for important quantities of materials and energy. Access to digital technology is spreading, but there its expansion appears limitless. Neo-nomadism goes against historical nomadism by exhausting the earth while institutionalizing ephemeral products and services. The infrastructures of mobility induce huge wastes: storage spaces for digital services create enormous costs, estimated to $25 per Go per month (source needed). Man is a wolf to man: Nature is an enemy to conquer and dominate.

All digital nomads can shut down this mindset to introduce more environmental-friendly measures. Historical nomads already paved the way with the concepts of slow travel and minimalism.