My 5 Rules for Ethical Digital Nomading After 2 Years On The Road — From Gentrification to Environmental Protection
For two years, I traveled around the world.
I lived all the fantasies: the picture-perfect beaches, the parties in the streets, making foreign friends, and eating great food. I did it all while spending a fraction of what I would’ve in my home country.
These travels shaped my worldview in many ways. I learned to love cultures and people who live and think differently from me. It helped me pause and reflect on my (literal) place in the world and the impact that has.
Talking to locals from Spain to Colombia to El Salvador, I learned how my presence could hurt communities in many ways, from driving up rental prices to putting strain on fragile ecosystems.
It led me to ask myself: How can I be an ethical digital nomad? Is that even possible?
In this article, I want to share my reflections.
First, Cut Yourself Some Slack
I say for myself as well as you.
At times, it has felt easier to muddle in my guilt than to be oblivious to my impact. How dare I get an Airbnb that displaces a local! How could I take so many flights that I’m producing more emissions in a year than someone in the Global South produces in their whole lives!
As these feelings arise, I give myself forgiveness.
You Did Not Set Housing Policy, Immigration Laws, or Create Global Inequality
While it’s important to be mindful of our impact as digital nomads, we need to remember that individual travelers didn’t create the systemic issues that make tourism and immigration complicated.
The challenges of gentrification, over-tourism, and environmental stem from complex histories.
We didn’t cause the problems, but that’s not an excuse for ignorance or carelessness.
The Goal is Not to Stop Traveling
I believe we can have it all. However, we must look beyond what we can immediately see.
Here are my 5 rules for ethical digital nomading.
1) Be a “Bon Guiri” — The Digital Nomad Mindset
In Barcelona, where I’ve spent many months as a nomad and where I have some of my best friends, they have a word to describe tourists: “guiris.”
When I was first there, my friends introduced me as “Dave the guiri” to others. Over the years, as my Spanish and Catalan improved, as I came to understand and absorb Barcelona’s culture, my friends would still say I was a guiri, but I was a bon guiri — a good guiri. What made me different than your average tourist or expat?
I approached Barcelona looking for more than attractions. I went to understand its soul, respect its people, and learn their languages. Robert Greene in The Art of Seduction says it’s about how you “enter the spirit” of a place.
This is My Underlying Principle of Ethical Digital Nomading
If you expect the world and its locals to cater to you, you’re off to the wrong foot.
When you’re frustrated that the local shop doesn’t speak English, do you think it’s their failing or yours? Do you try your best in their language regardless?
When you discover that dinner service doesn’t start until 9 PM in Spain, do you embrace their lifestyle or leave negative reviews about “inconvenient” hours?
Cultural humility means recognizing that your way isn’t the “right” way – it’s just one way.
If something feels inefficient or strange to you, it’s probably because you don’t yet understand the context that shaped that practice.
One of the gateways to this is trying to learn a bit of the local language, even just basic phrases. When I first started learning Catalan, even my most mangled attempts earned respect from Barcelona locals. They started asking me more questions, inviting me to more parties, and I grew closer to Barcelona than I ever could have with Spanish alone.
It shows respect for the local culture and recognition that you’re the guest in their home.
Most importantly, instead of staying within the digital nomad bubble, it made it so easy to learn about local events, join community classes, and participate in neighborhood activities.
When I adopted this mindset, many other ethical concerns fell into place. I heard about their housing crisis or drought, their protests on over-tourism. (I got invited to a protest against unsustainable tourism in Barcelona, but since I was legally a tourist, I sat that one out.)
Your presence as a digital nomad will impact the local community – the question is whether that impact will be one of mutual enrichment or not.
2) Choose Your Housing With The Locals In Mind
Both at home and abroad, one of the most important and expensive decisions we all make is about where we live.
The U.S. is in a housing crisis that’s shaping the fabric of our cities and society: Fewer young people are moving out of homes, once affordable cities have astronomical rents, and the cost of home ownership has left my generation wondering if we’ll ever be able to buy.
When I graduated from college and my rent went way up, I took my laptop with me to less expensive countries, with first and foremost cheaper housing.
It was one of the easiest ways I immediately upgraded my lifestyle and took stress off my finances.
But it has downstream effects. Let’s talk about a bit of a loaded term that I’ll try to break down: gentrification.
Digital Nomading Brings an Extreme Form of Gentrification
Gentrification happens when wealthier people move into a less wealthy area. As more affluent residents arrive, prices rise, especially for housing, because these residents are willing to pay more for rent.
With increased rents and changing demographics, local shops get replaced by expensive cafes. Family restaurants sell to chains. Eventually, the people who gave the neighborhood its character can no longer afford to live there.
This process isn’t unique to digital nomads, but the influx of wealthy expats rapidly accelerates it.
The wealth gap between locals and visitors is extreme in many popular nomad destinations. When I lived in Medellín, my modest U.S. income was multiple times what many local professionals earned.
What feels like a “good deal” to us might be an impossible sum for locals.
If you can easily pay $1000 for an apartment that local families struggle to rent at $350, why would landlords continue renting to locals? Multiply this effect by hundreds of digital nomads, and you can see how quickly a neighborhood can transform. The poorer the country, the more susceptible they are to this, as the wealth gap is even greater.
I know, you did not set the housing policy for the country you’re visiting. You did not set the zoning codes for cities that prevented them from building more housing (thus adding to supply) to accommodate the boom. You did not decide whether the city would protect existing tenants with moves like rent control or public housing.
But just because it’s not your fault, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t limit your contribution to the problems.
So what can you do?
Choose Your Location Thoughtfully
Some neighborhoods are already under severe housing pressure.
Hell, even some cities.
In Barcelona, for instance, I avoid staying in Gràcia despite its charm. It’s already struggling with housing availability.
This photo is from Gràcia and it says “gentrification kills neighborhoods.” This is about as blatant as sign as you’ll see suggesting you should stay somewhere else.
Instead, I choose areas that either:
- Have more housing supply
- Have infrastructure to handle temporary residents
Travel Slow: Long-Term Over Short-Term
Short-term rentals (like daily Airbnbs) are generally worse for local housing markets than longer stays. They incentivize landlords to kick out long-term tenants in favor of tourist income.
If you’re staying somewhere for more than a month, look for actual apartment rentals rather than vacation properties.
Work With Local Landlords and Hosts
Try to rent directly from local property owners rather than international management companies. This keeps more money in the local economy and often leads to better cultural experiences.
For shorter stays, I often use Airbnb, but I stay in an extra room in the home where the host lives: the original intent of Airbnb. This isn’t taking a home away from somebody, and it’s have I’ve gotten some of the best local advice.
If you can’t meet the actual host, somebody already very wealthy and not from there is likely profiting off your stay and not putting money back into the local economy.
Fair Price Negotiations
Just because you can pay more doesn’t mean you should. Paying significantly above market rate contributes to price inflation. Research what locals typically pay and try to stay within that range. If a landlord quotes you a “tourist price,” negotiate based on local rates. This is all easier if you know a place better. Travel slow.
Of course, more specific strategies vary by place.
3) Choosing The Right City
Just because you can go almost anywhere in the world at any time, doesn’t mean you should.
Go In The Offseason
At the least, go at a slower time.
I’ll turn once again to Barcelona as my example. Last summer protests in Barcelona made national news when a protestor hit a tourist with a water gun.
Locals are fed up with the number of tourists overwhelming the compact city. I’m not saying don’t go to these cities, but don’t go during peak tourist season. As it is, I prefer Barcelona in the spring or fall.
This is a simple change you can make. Go when the housing set aside for tourists isn’t as full. Go when there’s less strain on resources like water, when restaurants will welcome the additional business.
If you nomad full-time, there are plenty of places to check out with good weather. This will require doing research on the tourism patterns of the cities you’re visiting.
Go Off The Beaten Path
While Barcelona may prefer not to have you taking up an apartment and using its limited water resources, lots of small cities in Spain will take you in with open arms. They’ll probably be cleaner, cheaper, and have better food. (I love Barcelona, but it’s food doesn’t match up to many other places in Spain.)
You’ll have to do your research for this. I recommend the digitalnomad subreddit, in my opinion the best place on the internet for people who are actually digital nomads, not just people who say they are online.
4) Limiting Your Environmental Impact
It was a rude awakening for me when I read that “Someone flying from Lisbon to New York and back generates roughly the same level of emissions as the average person in the EU does by heating their home for a whole year” in the book Flying Green: On The Frontiers of Aviation. All of my composting and choosing public transit didn’t even stack up to how much I was flying.
This helped me begin to think about the environmental impact of my long-term travels much more, even if it looked invisable.
I already wrote the guide on this in my article on 18 sustainable travel trips, from a travel addict. I’ll sum up the environment-related key points here.
Travel Slow
You may be sensing a theme. The biggest environmental impact you have is flying.
The easy way to fly less is to stay where you are longer. Even with all my traveling, I limit myself to 6 six flights per year.
Avoid Short Flights
The most environmentally destructive part of flying is landing and takeoff. This makes short flights nearly as bad as long ones. They’re the easiest to avoid, so I do.
Research The Environmental Challenges of a Place
You don’t want to show up to a place and find out they’re in a drought. Or worse, take long showers and then on your last day find out they’re in a drought.
When I was too young and unaware of my impact, I once went to Tulum, Mexico, a place I’ll never go back to. The Airbnb looked nice but barely had running water and we couldn’t drink it.
Once there, I learned that the influx of wealthy tourists strained their water supply and led to countless amounts of trash on their beach. Due to climate destruction, their beaches were filled with brown seaweed. I didn’t know any of this until I got there.
Leave No Trace Behind — Or Better Than You Found It
The Tao Te Ching said, “Leave no trace behind.” I like the word “trace” because it encompasses a lot. If you’re in a place with a drought, limit the length of your showers. If its beaches are filled with trash, make a point to not only dispose of your trash correctly but maybe pick up some.
This is good advice whether you’re a nomad or not.
5) Contribute to Local Communities
Last, no matter what you do to limit your impact, you don’t want to be neurotic about it. I would rather not stress about every little piece of compost or gallon of water and instead make a point to support the community that has invited me in.
Shop Local
If you go to a Starbucks, McDonald’s, or Dominos in a different country, you’re messing up.
Your dollars don’t magically help local economies. It only helps if those dollars go to locals.
Eat at local restaurants, shop at local stores, and find the family-owned cafes and cultural treasures.
Keep the culture you’re lucky to experience alive by investing in it.
Participate in Local Culture
This one is less tangible. But if the Spanish take eat dinner after 9pm, you should eat dinner after 9pm.
Volunteer
There are so many ways to volunteer while abroad. There are workaway opportunities too (which is something I’ve always wanted to do.) Do some research.
Practical Tips for Implementation
Start Somewhere
Nobody is asking you to be perfect, and nobody is perfect. I’m not perfect. I still fly and make trash and eat steaks and stay in Airbnbs in gentrifying neighborhoods. To live in today’s world is to live with lots of ethical contradictions.
By even asking these questions, you’re doing a fantastic job.
Let This Enrich You, Not Restrict You
When I think about what it means to travel ethically, the exercise has only enriched my experiences. It has meant meeting more locals, learning more about their culture, seeing it through their eyes, and helping their homes thrive.
Together, We Can Change the Culture of Digital Nomading
Digital nomads and tourists have a bad rep for some good reasons. It’s not just about the stupid photos on beaches they post on Instagram. A lot of it you don’t see: the gross sexual tourism in Medellín or Thailand, the disregard for local customs and rules, the entitlement, and the strain on infrastructure that wasn’t built to support such rapid growth in population.
By being mindful of our impact and making thoughtful choices about how we travel, we can help transform the perception of digital nomads from exploitative outsiders to respectful, contributing visitors.
Let’s all be bon guiris together.
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