How Digital Nomads are Glorified Backpackers

I recently wrote about how the new expat scene in Latin America is different. Most of that is driven by remote work. Young professionals are engaging in cost-of-living arbitrage, as they should.

I thought about how I’d be different if I took the plunge today. It reminds me of an article I imagined for years, but never wrote, titled “Expats vs. Backpackers.” It would have compared and contrasted two archetypes that are generally allies in that we both escaped convention back home and we both love Latin America. But we’re definitely different.

We expat residents usually have some kind of skin in the game. We bought the farm while digital nomads are, like backpackers, essentially tourists. Expats and residents are more likely to have married a native or started a local business. They care about local and national politics. They have a deeper understanding of the history and cultural quirks.

Backpackers and digital nomads have usually been to more places and seen more of Latin America, but their knowledge is superficial. It takes time to gain expertise. Expertise takes time and also a depth of experience. Even when digital nomads spend a lot of time in one place, the kind of time they spend is shallow. An old friend who spent a decade in Buenos Aires left Argentina for good, and his connection simply evaporated. That didn’t happen with me and Peru because I married a Peruvian and my business depends on Peruvian suppliers. I still deal with Peru every day, often multiple times per day.

Here are some questions to gauge the depth of your experience in Latin America. Have you been through the healthcare system? Have you been through the legal system? Have you worked in the corporate business environment? Where is your company based? Where do you pay taxes? Where is your church? What language(s) do your children speak?

Physical presence is the most important factor in international experience, but it’s not all. If you’re working for dollars with other gringos in English, and you don’t have all the drama that comes with Latin in-laws, you’re not eating the whole pie. I’d say you max out at two thirds of the whole, and you could be getting less if you stick to the embassy scene and/or tourist circuit. Family and career in your country bring cultural experience you’ll never get by merely being there.

In that way, digital nomads are glorified backpackers.