I refuse to label myself as a ‘digital nomad’
The world today feels alien to me sometimes. One of the reason is that so many new job terms came about that I didn’t know was possible when I was young.
I was born in the late 80’s where you were educated to study hard so that you can get into a huge firm and work your way up the corporate ladder. That was the main thing was constantly preached in my family and my school. And that was the thing I was doing up until recent years.
The advancement of technology has brought forth many new job titles. For instance, social media marketer/strategist, content evangelist, influencers (not sure it is a job though) and digital nomad. There’s still weirder new job titles but I’m not going to go any further.
As you can see in my title, I’m totally against the idea of being called a digital nomad. There are a few reasons why I refuse to be called that way.
One of the main reason is that this job title is an over-glorified job title
I was once awed by the job title ‘digital nomad’. It feels like you’re doing something at a grand-scale level and the word nomad definitely romanticises the whole idea of the job.
But after working on a digital platform for years, I came to a realisation that this is an over-glorified title.
Nowadays, whenever people talk about digital nomads, the immediate impression is that we are a group of elites that have the luxury to work and travel anywhere we want. As long as we have internet and our trusty laptop everything is doable.
While that is true, that is only part of the truth. We do get the luxury of time on our side, but here’s the fact, we still need to work like everyone. In fact, most of the digital nomads have a virtual clock in- clock out software. They are either required to fulfil a certain amount of hours or KPI’s.
Don’t buy into the illusion of digital nomads is an exclusive job. It’s just that we get to choose where to work because there’s no need for us to be in the office. However, at the end of the day, we still need to work, like everyone.
Digital Nomad isn’t a job title, to begin with.
Yes while some people think that this is a job title, actually it is not. Digital Nomad is actually a term used to describe someone that works on a digital platform regardless of where they are.
That’s the real definition of a digital nomad.
It’s definitely not, “Hey I’m a digital nomad, watch me as I travel around the globe and work. This is a dream job you guys should be envy about.”
Like I’ve mentioned this is just a description of people that work remotely, I certainly don’t want people to know me only as Andrew Teoh, Digital Nomad. But instead, I want to be known for my true profession which is a marketing strategist/copywriter.
Being slap the title of Digital Nomad sounds a bit unprofessional.
If you’re a professional in your field, you would want people to know what you work as and how good you are in your field/industry. Being generally labelled as a Digital Nomad brings you nowhere.
People might know that you work remotely, but they will have the faintest idea of what you actually do. There was a period in my time where I had to keep explaining what I really do because they have the faintest idea of my profession due to the over generalising of being a digital nomad.
Of course, with all the things that I’ve ranted about, I do know quite a lot of digital nomads that are professional, dedicated and passionate at their work.
I just personally feel that being someone that works abroad all the time doesn’t justify that I have it better or I have it lesser. I’m just same like everyone a profession working to make a good career out from my job.
And there are no defined ‘dream jobs’
It’s a dream job because that’s what you wanted to do all this while. So even if the best job offer came to you, if it doesn’t suit you it’s not a dream job.
So please, please, please, I couldn’t stress more about this. Never see things just by view on a single angle. Digital Nomad lifestyle is definitely not what you might see on Instagram. At least, that’s not the ultimate truth about it.
It’s never a job that defines who you are; how you live your life does.
