Just realized nomads back in 2015 averaged way less income than the Instagram crowd today

I was digging through an old Reddit thread from 2015 the other day and found a survey someone posted. It said the average digital nomad back then made around $1,800 a month. That blew my mind because now every other post on here is someone bragging about $6k months or more. Makes me wonder how many of us are just living on ramen and coffee shop Wi-Fi while the highlight reels dominate. I started traveling in 2016 with about $2k saved and a laptop that overheated constantly. Anyone else feel like the bar for what counts as a digital nomad has shifted way higher than it used to be?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie23d ago

Back in 2016 my "office" was a hammock with a cracked phone screen and a dream, so the $1800 crowd sounds like royalty compared to my broke self. These days you need a ring light, a crypto portfolio, and three Instagram-worthy cafes booked just to call yourself a nomad. Guess I'll just keep sipping my ramen from a thermos and let the highlight reels do their thing.

charlie_ellis23d ago

Did drinking warm beer in a hostel lobby count back then?

angela_grant17d ago

Did you actually meet anyone worth knowing over that warm beer, though?