296: Researching Digital Nomads and Lessons From 30 Years of Immersive World Travel with Dr. Kaisu Koskela

296: Researching Digital Nomads and Lessons From 30 Years of Immersive World Travel with Dr. Kaisu Koskela

Author: Matt Bowles: Full-Time World Traveler Since 2013 August 5, 2024 Duration: 46:17
Learn why digital nomads are not using digital nomad visas, and who the term “digital nomad” applies to anyway. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Kaisu Koskela starts off talking about her experience growing up in a remote town in northern Finland near the Arctic Circle, gives tips for visiting the region, and talks about her all-female motorcycle club. She then reflects on the years she spent working at local jobs around the world and traveling before smartphones. Kaisu tells stories from her experience teaching English in Nepal and spending time with different tribes in Tanzania. She then talks about her interest in Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, how she developed a location-independent academic career, and why she is so interested in studying digital nomads. Kaisu shares insights from her research into why digital nomads are not using the “digital nomad visas” and who is using them instead. Kaisu also discusses the evolution of the “digital nomad” label and whether it has become interwoven with racial, class or other types of privileged coding, and what implications that has.  ⁠ ⁠ → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

There’s a certain texture to life lived in motion, a collection of stories that emerge not from postcards but from the messy, beautiful reality of planting roots in foreign soil. The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders captures that essence through long-form conversations hosted by Matt Bowles, who has been navigating the world full-time since 2013. This isn't a guidebook podcast; it’s a series of intimate dialogues, often unfolding casually over a shared bottle of wine, where the destination is understanding. You’ll hear from a diverse range of voices-expats, digital nomads, women forging paths abroad, and diaspora storytellers-each sharing the raw, unfiltered nuances of what happens when you cross borders for good. The focus is on the human narrative beneath the itinerary: the cultural misunderstandings that become breakthroughs, the loneliness and liberation, and the profound ways a global life reshapes identity. Listening feels like pulling up a chair at a cafe somewhere in the world, eavesdropping on a conversation that’s equally about internal discovery as it is about geographic change. Matt’s own experience as a long-term traveler informs these discussions, steering them toward the substantive lessons learned far from home. If you’ve ever wondered about the true weight and wonder of building a life between cultures, this podcast offers a genuine, thoughtful window into that journey.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders
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370: A New Year’s Message from Matt Bowles [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:40
Learn how to schedule a free video call with Matt and lock in special discounts on 2026 trips and travel conferences. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, cu…