Digital nomading in the the classic sense of changing countries every few months is not as appealing as it seems. Living in hotel rooms, never staying long enough to learn the culture, not being able to establish social and physical health routines, limited dating options, etc are just a few reasons why this lifestyle has a dark side and unsustainable in the long term, even if your Instagram profile makes it look like you're living the dream. The real benefits come not only from getting out of your home country, but also finding a way to stay in a new country as a long term expat.
I agree. Most people who do this for years burn out on it eventually and find a way to create a home base. The hub and spoke model seems more sustainable in the long run. Out for a while and then return to a real home and community, wherever that may be.
It doesn't seem like whoever wrote the blurb on Listenly has actually visited the site, because it's very inaccurate. Listenly actually lists audiobooks from Project Gutenberg -- that really are free to listen to if you go to Project Gutenberg directly -- but instead tries to trick the user into paying to "generate audio" for each book. Try to listen to the chapters and you'll get a message telling you that you have to buy the book before you can listen to it. So no, Listenly is not a source of free audiobooks; that would be Librivox and Project Gutenberg. Listenly is just trying to charge people for what has been free at these nonprofit projects for many, many years.
Joshua, I sent out a correction in the next newsletter pointing to Gutenberg. Sorry about that. I downloaded a couple that were free, but digging in more, most are clearly not.
We use Grammarly and a human proofreader. Sometimes both will miss something. If this is the only newsletter you get where you've ever seen a typo, I apologize.
To be honest, the closest I've been to staying at one of their hotels was *passing* in front of one of their hotels in Bocas del Toro.
But as a traveler reading reviews, I've often struggled understanding the type of guests I'd find there (digital nomads working+relaxing OR young travelers partying?).
As a marketer, I'd say their brand positioning wasn't entirely clear (at least to me) -which is a real pity, since they had great potential and properties in some nice locations!
I agree, great potential not really fulfilled and all their marketing was on Instagram, which is not where serious remote workers and business owners are hanging out. They were saying they were co-working spaces, but were generally too expensive for the young "look at me" types on Instagram that are dreaming of becoming "influencers" instead of meeting a real market need. I think the fundamental problem though was more routine: they loaded up on debt to expand too fast and then got caught in a death spiral when interest rates went up.
Digital nomading in the the classic sense of changing countries every few months is not as appealing as it seems. Living in hotel rooms, never staying long enough to learn the culture, not being able to establish social and physical health routines, limited dating options, etc are just a few reasons why this lifestyle has a dark side and unsustainable in the long term, even if your Instagram profile makes it look like you're living the dream. The real benefits come not only from getting out of your home country, but also finding a way to stay in a new country as a long term expat.
I agree. Most people who do this for years burn out on it eventually and find a way to create a home base. The hub and spoke model seems more sustainable in the long run. Out for a while and then return to a real home and community, wherever that may be.
It doesn't seem like whoever wrote the blurb on Listenly has actually visited the site, because it's very inaccurate. Listenly actually lists audiobooks from Project Gutenberg -- that really are free to listen to if you go to Project Gutenberg directly -- but instead tries to trick the user into paying to "generate audio" for each book. Try to listen to the chapters and you'll get a message telling you that you have to buy the book before you can listen to it. So no, Listenly is not a source of free audiobooks; that would be Librivox and Project Gutenberg. Listenly is just trying to charge people for what has been free at these nonprofit projects for many, many years.
Joshua, I sent out a correction in the next newsletter pointing to Gutenberg. Sorry about that. I downloaded a couple that were free, but digging in more, most are clearly not.
Multiple typos in this post. Someone should proofread more carefully.
We use Grammarly and a human proofreader. Sometimes both will miss something. If this is the only newsletter you get where you've ever seen a typo, I apologize.
Thank you for sharing the link to the audio library 💜
See the note below. Project Gutenberg is a better alternative for all-free audiobooks.
So sad to hear about what happened to Selina...
To be honest, the closest I've been to staying at one of their hotels was *passing* in front of one of their hotels in Bocas del Toro.
But as a traveler reading reviews, I've often struggled understanding the type of guests I'd find there (digital nomads working+relaxing OR young travelers partying?).
As a marketer, I'd say their brand positioning wasn't entirely clear (at least to me) -which is a real pity, since they had great potential and properties in some nice locations!
I agree, great potential not really fulfilled and all their marketing was on Instagram, which is not where serious remote workers and business owners are hanging out. They were saying they were co-working spaces, but were generally too expensive for the young "look at me" types on Instagram that are dreaming of becoming "influencers" instead of meeting a real market need. I think the fundamental problem though was more routine: they loaded up on debt to expand too fast and then got caught in a death spiral when interest rates went up.