The Globalization of Living is Upon Us

Recently my friend posted on her Instagram story that she’s looking for someone to rent her apartment for 3 months. This reminded me of my homie who’s aiming to spend several months living and working from Mexico City this year. Which triggered me to think about one of my best friends who.. I’m not sure if he lives in Las Vegas, New York, or Atlanta. I then looked at myself and realized that in the past two years I’ve spent up to 30% of my time away from my home base in NYC, either within the states or abroad. It dawned on me that I’m a part of the generation that has ushered in a globally distributed lifestyle, and we’re not going back.

The Foundation is Already?Laid

In decades past it may have been difficult and inconvenient to live a comfortable life away from your home base. But technology has afforded us seamless access to ease for our essentials. Transportation is covered with services like Uber, Lyft, and Turo. Housing is accessible via Airbnb, Vrbo, and staying with friends/family. Food can be delivered by DoorDash, Seamless, and Grubhub. Even when traveling abroad, oftentimes alternative versions of these services exist. It’s never been easier to pack a bag and be away from home because the barrier to comfort is the lowest it’s ever been.

How the Pandemic Birthed?Bleisure

2020 changed the trajectory of most things, but arguably nothing more than employee’s perspectives on remote work. What started as a perceived wrench in people’s daily work environment transformed into the baseline expectation of a new norm. It turns out most people really love not going to the office every day!

We’ve seen the numerous reports of CEO’s and executives imploring their staff to return to the office or else! But I gotta tell ya?—?I don’t think it’s gonna work in the long run. Here’ some data:

• 98% percent of workers have a strong preference to work remotely (Remote Pad)
• 74% say that hybrid working has improved family relationships. (Cisco)
• 55% of employees report that hybrid working has decreased their stress levels. (Cisco)
• 84% of employees shared that working remotely after the pandemic would make them happier, with some even willing to take a pay cut. (Owl Labs)

The last point stands out most to me, because the most impactful thing an employer can offer an employee is more money, and they don’t even want that! The pandemic unexpectedly created a mobile work economy that afforded people newfound freedom and flexibility. To most, those luxuries are priceless.

Folks are even extending their business trips to explore new destinations in a growing trend called bleisure (a blend of business and leisure). Don’t get mad at me, I got it from the internet. Instead of rushing back to the office, people are choosing to make incremental quality-of-life improvements with workcations. Some companies are adapting to these changes by incorporating remote and distributed work into their talent strategies. Employers will continue to conform because they have to. If you wanna sell to the market then you gotta adjust to the market.

It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. I’m Out of?Office

Regardless of our Slack’s status, Millennials are making travel (including international) mundane. According to Lindsey Roeschke, travel and hospitality analyst at Morning Consult, “18% of millennials have taken three or more domestic flights in the past year, compared to 10% of Gen Xers and 6% of baby boomers.”

The stats are nice to see, but my firsthand experience is all I need. Between my Instagram timeline, Delta rewards points, and the American Express lounge, I can assure you that they are outside and not in. In my friend circle alone, there are at least 4 people who organize international group trips to West Africa, The Caribbean, South America, and Europe that have transported thousands of professionals. In this vein my millennial generation has normalized frequent travel. And with us earning, connecting, and learning more, there are no signs of it slowing down.

Craving Alternative Lifestyle

The travel surge has caused a mentality shift by increasing people’s desire to truly live a bicoastal or international life. For example, many of my friends are Black American, African, and Caribbean. As they become established in their corporate careers and find stability in their entrepreneurial endeavors there’s an increasing desire to purchase land and build an alternative home base in the places where their lineage originates. Trips like the aforementioned make it more tangible as they increasingly have extended living experiences outside of the US. Remote work allows them ample time to evaluate new landscapes and paces of life. For some Detty December in Nigeria turned into I’m Just Gonna Stay January. Some friends cite the high costs of hotels as the only reason they didn’t stay longer. It’s only a matter of time before we build around that roadblock.

Gaps in Globalized Living and Venture?Capital

I think living away can get even easier. While there are many services that cover core needs while on the road, there are still areas of opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship, and I think Venture Capital will flow towards companies streamlining these experiences. Here are some top-of-mind problems that come to mind:

Intraday Housing

Many of us have dealt with that awkward 8–16 hour window when we’re in a city and we want to put our bags down and go out but we can’t necessarily justify paying for a hotel or Airbnb but we also kinda want to take a 2 hour nap before heading back to the airport. There’s an opportunity for a new housing model to accommodate this peculiar travel situation.

Healthy Food

Maintaining a healthy diet can be a real struggle when traveling through airports and in new countries. How many times have you wanted an acai bowl but was forced to go with the double Chicken Deluxe with aioli and ginger ale? It’s not our fault. It’s hard out there. There’s an opportunity for someone to step up and accommodate our health-conscious generation.

Money

As I write this, there’s about $30.14 of unexchanged foreign currency sitting on my desk. We often don’t have the time and energy to constantly exchange at airports. A study by AskTraders found that British residents are hoarding over ￡3.8 billion in unused foreign currency. No one wins in this situation, and it must be solutioned.

Friends & Social?Life

I know some of you claim to be making friends on the dating apps (right..), but what if you were able to tap into a friend group at your destination for a local experience? Imagine the UK mandem is coming to New York and is able to see my friend group, we vet each other, and he hangs out with us to get an authentic city experience. There’s bare possibilities there innit.

Clothing and Equipment

We shouldn’t have to drag around heavy luggage because we need a couple of articles of clothing for our destination. If going from Hawaii to Iceland, I should be able to pick up and drop coats at the airport. Can I get a snow suit to ski in Aspen or cleats and a shin guards to play football in Argentina? Perhaps there will be an affordable service like this one day.

WiFi

Many of us know how spotty the wifi can be in some of our favorite destinations. Heck I’d probably be writing this from Jamaica right now, but even the tastierst escovitch fish and beef patties aren’t enough to risk my assured connection to this necessity. Although it’s likely more of an infrastructure issue, it’s the single biggest contributor to distributed living. If improved in markets globally, we’ll see an explosion in globalized living that we can’t even predict.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of these gaps, and there are probably companies out there already working to address them. However, there are not clear globally-recognized solutions. Who’s equipped to Airbnb it? That’s where venture capital dollars will flow.

In Conclusion

We are not going back inside. We are not going back to the office. We might not even be going back home. Where is that anyway..?

Travel has opened my generation’s eyes to a new way of living?—?Globalized Living. And it’s here to stay.

Originally published on Medium: https://medium.com/@carlitosweigH/weighted-thoughts-3-the-globalization-of-living-is-upon-us-a3d0a5af4fc1