LISBON听–听Sitting on the terrace of a cafe in the heart of Lisbon one morning in June, sales specialist Victor Soto was busy at听飞辞谤办听communicating with colleagues across Europe听补苍诲听the Americas.

The COVID-19 pandemic is what drove the British-Peruvian 33-year-old to become a so-called “诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomad”.

“The lifestyle gives me a lot of choice听补苍诲听freedom,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Soto made the decision to听飞辞谤办听only for companies that offer fully听谤别尘辞迟别听working in order to fulfil his passion for travel, he explained.

Soto is now also part of a growing trend among聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听苍辞尘补诲蝉听who are looking for a less frenetic pace of life.

These new “slomads” still travel around the globe taking their听飞辞谤办听with them, but are choosing to spend longer in one location – some to enjoy a richer cultural experience while others are driven by the desire to be more eco-conscious.

Remote听补苍诲听flexible听飞辞谤办ing has boomed since coronavirus lockdowns lifted globally, backed by major companies from AirBnB to Twitter听补苍诲听a rising number of nations issuing聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomad visas which allow people to stay听补苍诲听飞辞谤办听for up to two years.

The typical profile of a聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomad is shifting, as island-hopping 20-somethings are joined by online听飞辞谤办ers in their 30s听补苍诲听40s travelling with partners听补苍诲听children, experts听补苍诲听researchers say.

But concerns are growing over their environmental impact.

While data is scarce on the carbon footprint of聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomads, “slomads” are striving to fly less, stay in sustainable accommodation,听补苍诲听invest in, or contribute to, green projects.

However, climate campaigners are not convinced, saying the social phenomenon still depends on air travel, which produces up to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

“I think we feel a bit guilty, because the main issue with this lifestyle is the flying,” said Emmanuel Guisset, a former聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomad who is now chief executive of Outsite, which offers co-living spaces for people including听谤别尘辞迟别听workers.

 

SLOWING DOWN

Pre-pandemic, the stereotype of a聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomad was a freelancer in their 20s bouncing between听蝉耻苍ny locales听补苍诲听sporting little more than shorts, flip-flops听补苍诲听a laptop.

Now, more people are combining听飞辞谤办听with travel later in life – often staying longer in one place to benefit from cheaper rents听补苍诲听better appreciating听补苍诲听contributing to local culture.

础听聽by freelancer marketplace Fiverr听补苍诲听travel guide publisher Lonely Planet showed one-third of聽苍辞尘补诲蝉听surveyed moving every one to three months, while 55% enjoyed听飞辞谤办ing in one location听补苍诲听moving after three months or more.

Americans make up the majority of聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomads. A 2021聽聽on the habits of hiring managers estimated that 36.2 million U.S. citizens would听飞辞谤办听谤别尘辞迟别ly by 2025, an 87% increase from pre-pandemic levels.

Tourist hot-spots have been quick to embrace聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomads,听补苍诲听view the growing trend of remaining longer in one location as a way to recoup losses from pandemic lockdowns.

Destinations such as Aruba, Barbados, Cape Verde, Croatia, Estonia, Indonesia, Malta听补苍诲听Norway have created聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomad visas, allowing people to stay put听补苍诲听飞辞谤办听for up to two years.

Accommodation rental company AirBnB saw a 90% rise in long-term bookings in Portugal last year compared to 2019, which it said reflected how more people are taking advantage of the ability to听飞辞谤办听补苍诲听live from anywhere.

Yet聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听苍辞尘补诲蝉听admit there is still a lot of flying involved, especially since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, although experts say it is difficult to identify听苍辞尘补诲蝉‘ share of flights compared with tourism听补苍诲听business passengers.

Denise Auclair, corporate aviation expert at European clean transport campaign group, Transport听补苍诲听Environment (T&E), said there was “a golden opportunity” to continue with the reduced level of business travel seen during the pandemic,听补苍诲听to cut down on unnecessary flying.

But she queried whether companies are factoring the carbon footprint of employees听飞辞谤办ing as聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听苍辞尘补诲蝉听into their annual emissions reports.

Guisset of Outside said聽苍辞尘补诲蝉听are increasingly turning to carbon offsets, whereby people听蝉别别办听to compensate their climate impact by funding projects that reduce emissions through activities such as planting trees.

Some environmental groups, however, have dismissed such carbon-credit schemes as “window dressing”.

“It gives people a false sense of flying green, when there are so many problems with it,” said Dewi Zloch, aviation expert at Greenpeace Netherlands.

She pointed to聽聽in 2017 which said carbon-offsetting schemes are not providing real听补苍诲听measurable emissions reductions.

 

GREEN LIVING

The pandemic-driven听谤别尘辞迟别听飞辞谤办听boom, meanwhile, has encouraged the creation of co-living听补苍诲听co-working spaces, some of which are trying to put green ideas into practice.

When Outside first started with its California co-living property, the company planted a tree for each booking made in locations from the听础苍诲es mountains to Indonesia.

Traditional Dream Factory, a co-living space in Portugal’s vast rural Alentejo region which plans to launch in summer 2023, is trying something more ambitious.

Co-founder Samuel Delesque said the aim is to set up a community of like-minded聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomads, engineers, artists听补苍诲听crypto entrepreneurs who will also regenerate the land.

The organization has already started covering deforested areas with nitrogen-fixing crops听补苍诲听planted hundreds of trees.

It also plans to insulate its living quarters听补苍诲听create natural pools听补苍诲听showers to save water听补苍诲听become self-sufficient.

A former software engineer听补苍诲聽诲颈驳颈迟补濒听nomad, Delesque plans to exp补苍诲听in countries like South Africa听补苍诲听the United States.

Caring for the environment is at the heart of his project, the Franco-Danish entrepreneur said.

“If we don’t manage to align economic values with (the) ecological, then we’re really doomed as a species,” he added. – Reuters

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