Lauren and I first talked when I was locked down in Taiwan in 2021. It was amazing to connect with another nomad and writer after weeks of not seeing people. I was also a bit stuck in my book writing process and she gave me a ton of helpful hints to take my book to the next level.

I was excited to interview Lauren because she just finished her own book, Global Natives about her own experience as a nomad (since 2013!) and also the past, present, and future of the movement. I think she is one of the most thoughtful perspectives on the future of work and global mobility.

Currently, Lauren is Executive Director of Plumia, the mission to build an internet country for digital nomads at SafetyWing, a Y Combinator company that raised a $35 million Series B in 2022. She is also author of the book Global Natives and writes the Counterflows newsletter) about borderless living. She tweets @LaurenRazavi.

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Links Mentioned

Path Role Model: Pia Mancini
Minimum viable state
Book Recommendation: Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Timestamps

2:01 Introduction
3:22 Lauren's Influences Growing Up
6:30 Lauren's Idea of Home
9:00 Paul on International Couples
10:24 Lauren on how she sees "place" & digital citizenship
12:44 Becoming a Digital Nomad
17:26 Paul's experience in Bali
19:34 Digital Nomads being self-reflective
23:51 The fear of asking questions about life
30:10 How everything changed in 2020
31:52 Why the remote work is here to stay
34:21 Asking better questions - Nomads and Settlers
43:52 Lauren's approach to writing - working with an editor
51:21 The most interesting experiments with countries/policies
58:23 The problem with the real estate
1:02:28 Rapid fire questions with Lauren

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Laurel Farrer: The Global WFH Experiment & Long-Term Promise Of Remote Work

The Pathless Path with Paul MillerdBy Paul MillerdMar 18, 2020