New Zealand pass | Vietnam Nomad Fest | Florence | Issue #0024

It’s officially the year of shedding bad energy. At least, that’s what the new Lunar year of the snake can signify, and we’re buying into it.

There is a real surge of countries recognising that the digital nomad movement isn’t a fad and that they’re missing out if they don’t welcome us. The latest isn’t going as far as a dedicated digital nomad visa but - even better - they’re just letting us in with the vacationeers.

This week:

🌊 Hit the beach at next month’s mass gathering of nomads
💰 What makes somewhere affordable, and where to find it
🇮🇹  Is this a Renaissance 😉? Or just an LLM’s postering…
👨‍💼 What do you need the most help with?

Happy year of the snake 🐍

NEWS
You can now work from Middle Earth

Apparently the BBC don’t think their readers know what a digital nomad is, but the good news is that they reported early on an easier way for you to hang out in New Zealand.

The Kiwis have loosened restrictions so you can now officially work remotely from the land of incredible lamb, rugby and LOTR landscapes. Its the same 90 day visa you get as a tourist, you’re just now allowed to flop out the laptop and make some cash too.

You won’t be able to work for a NZ company, but since last week remote working for yourself or a company outside New Zealand is allowed.

WHAT ELSE…

🇹🇭 A new phase for the hottest visa out there The DTV is now old enough that 6-month renewals are happening. Find out how they’re going here.

🤖 This is hotting up nicely After the drop of DeepSeek, OpenAI have dropped the already planned latest o3-mini model of ChatGPT.

🌏 Passport hack? Kristin is a seasoned nomad, and this is how she got dual citizenship and potentially wider visa access as a result.

☢️ Is being productive good? Digital nomads could easily fall into this trap. Toxic productivity doesn’t sound fun.

💻 Running a business from anywhere Digital nomad entrepreneurs are a hot topic for big publications nowadays. Anything you’d add?

SPREAD THE WORD

Have you been forwarded The Digital Nomad by a friend? If so, don’t miss out on future issues by getting it every Tuesday.

Or do you have digital nomad friends, or ones planning to be? They could use a quick weekly fix of what’s happening in their world, so share this link or share on your socials with the links at the top of this newsletter.

NOMADS, ASSEMBLE!
The next (and newest!) must-not-miss event

Da Nang has firmly cemented itself as THE springtime stop for nomads in the last 12 months (note, it was basically dead when we were there two years ago!). So much so, that this year the Vietnam Nomad Fest is debuting.

Markos and Dimitiris found a few moments while they were busy planning the final touches to give you the rundown of what to expect…

So Markos, you’re launching the first Nomad Fest in Vietnam…
We ran the first Nomad Fest in Greece in Athens last year, and it will be back again this September. When planning it we were at an online global digital nomad summit with many nomad conference organizers from Asia, but not Vietnam. So we said, let’s do the first one!

It is two events across two different cities - Da Nang and Hoi An?
The plan was to have two different events, but feedback we got directly from Nomads was to connect the two. Da Nang is in week 1, with week 2 in Hoi An, and you can buy tickets for them both or separately.

What is the difference between the two?
Da Nang will focus on business and networking for digital freelancers and those offering online services, or planning to. There will be 18+ speakers across a range of topics and workshops, masterminds, dinners, and fun activities in and out of the city.

Hoi An will be something different then?
Yes, the focus will be on health, wellness, and spirituality with events primarily on the beach and in the gardens of Hit Ha coworking space. Various holistic, mindful and self-exploration activities will be held through the week.

Who is Vietnam Nomad Fest for?
People who offer online services - coaching, consulting, digital marketing, AI, etc. They’ll walk away with valuable information and tips and a new network of nomads and business owners, and inspiration from the talks and meetups.

What might nomads miss when visiting Da Nang and Hoi An?
I live in Da Nang, and what many miss is the surrounding nature. Less than 20 minutes from My An you can see monkeys in the mountains and Bach Ma National Park is 90 minutes away, and great for hiking. Downtown is also really vibrant. In Hoi An, visit the rice fields and enjoy a chilled sunset in a relaxing coffee shop.

And future plans for the Nomad Fest?
Da Nang will remain the home of Vietnam Nomad Fest, and we want it to become the biggest in the world as the city has the capacity. We also plan to have smaller events in Hanoi and HCMC across the year.

If you’re in Da Nang and spot Markos or Dimitris out and about, don’t hesitate to grab them for a chat - they are super passionate about the Nomad Fest! Find out more and get tickets - including entry to the Holi festival - AND 10% off with promo code TIM on the Vietnam Nomad Fest website.

We love to feature nomads and what you do that helps the rest of us. You can get featured for FREE too. Fill out this form.

POLL

DESTINATIONS
Has AI has unlocked a new nomad spot

You’re not going to read any AI copy in this newsletter, but we often see content land in our inbox that is definitely not human written.

You don’t have to be a writer or AI expert to spot that this is generated by one of the less powerful writing agents, but if it’s accurate why is Florence not high up on the list of digital nomad cities? Culture, Italian food and wine, expat communities, a decent digital nomad visa…we’re booking the flight now!

A little research doesn’t really shed much light on the reality - outdated blogs with suggest monthly budgets ranging from $1500 to $4500. If you’ve been to Florence as a nomad and happy to give us an informed opinion, spill the tea (or Chianti…)!

BRAIN FOOD

Books - Surely it’s not this simple. The 1-page Marketing Plan.

App - On a budget, or love pets? Or both? Trustedhousesitters saves nomads $$$.

Useful - Get through those awkward or tense meetings.

Music - 12 hours of pure focus with cool visuals passing from night to day.

 If you have any recommendations we can share here let us know.

THE LIST
The most affordable countries

Well, according to US News at least. Very Asia-heavy - perhaps predicatbly. And quite a few that regularly appear top of digital nomad go-to’s - not a coincidence, we’re sure.

MAKE DIGITAL NOMAD LIFE EASIER
Resources that are actually helpful

Check out our new resources page for the long list gathered over the last few months of The Digital Nomad. It is added to every week, but here are a few notable deals or resources for this week:

• VPN - Hold out for TOMORROW and you’ll get 73% off and 6 months free on most plans with NordVPN, using this link.

• WiFi - Simo have knocked $100 off the the Solis 5G hotspot. Grab it here.

• Save money - Get the Global Nomad Pass for worldwide savings.

• Bootcamps - Nomad Excel have three entrepreneurship bootcamps in the diary for this year.

Check out the new resources page for more useful tools and services.

BE SEEN AND HEARD

We would love to hear from you if you have some valuable knowledge, products or services, information, or just a fun or crazy digital nomad story. Get more eyes on your thing, or maybe you just like sharing with fellow nomads!

Fill in this form if you want to feature for free in The Digital Nomad.

TRIVIA
What do you know about the most important document you own?

1. Which passport is commonly considered the “most powerful”, with visa-free access to 195 countries.

2. The average passport holds how many pages?

3. The three official colors passports can be are blue, black, red, grey. True or false.

4. With 26, which country’s passport currently has the least number of available visa-free destinations?

5. What % of Americans hold a passport? 42%, 47%, 51% or 62%?

6. Who are the only 3 people in the world who don’t need to carry a passport when they travel abroad? Ok, name just one at least!

Answers below.

COFFEE BREAK

🔎 Fun - How well do you know Google? Test your predictive skills.

📜 History - On this day, in 2004, social media changed as Facebook dropped on Harvard students. Read the story here, or just watch The Social Network.

📺 Watch - Who doesn’t like pandas? Watch them live.

WHAT DID YOU MISS?

If you are new to The Digital Nomad - or just want to go back and read a previous issue - then you can find them all here.

ANSWERS

1. Singapore. 2. 34. 3. False. Blue, green, red, black. 4. Afghanistan. 5. Just 51% - up from 46% in 2023. (For comparison, 85% of Brits hold one). 6. King Charles III, Emperor Naruhito & Empress Masako.