Alejandra Ramírez is part of the new wave of young people known as “digital nomads” who drive vehicles containing basic furniture to live and tour Australia.
But unlike the RVs you see on Australian roads, hers is a truck that bears a Spanish word for Mustard, or "Mostaza", Alejandra's favourite colour.
The Colombian graphic designer resides on the Gold Coast but since October 2020 she has been travelling across Australia in the van that she furnished herself as her mobile home office.
Highlights:
- Digital nomads belong to a contemporary labour movement, made up mostly of millennials, who take advantage of the Internet to work remotely from anywhere, even while travelling.
- Most work as freelancers on short and long-term projects in their areas of expertise.
- The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the adoption and expansion of this new labour paradigm.
“I bought the empty van second-hand and built it. I wanted it to be comfortable because I wanted it to be my home [with enough] space to study, work and travel around Australia,” Alejandra, 30, tells SBS Spanish.
Originally from Tolima in Colombia, Alejandra defines herself as a digital nomad who works on short-term projects from anywhere in Australia, without having to commute to the workplace.
Alejandra Ramírez, the Colombian digital nomad who mixes work with her passion for travelling in Australia. Source: Supplied (Alejandra Ramírez)
While travelling, she takes pictures of the destinations she visits with her smartphone, a professional camera, and her drone.
She also writes a blog about her travel experiences from her perspective as a freelance graphic design. She also researches the rise of the digital nomad culture and the future of this new work paradigm, supported by a grant she received from Griffith University.
She explains nomad culture is nothing new, but the novel trend now is the idea that you can easily "work remotely while living in a van".
"It generates a lot of money and this is something new, [a trend] from the last five years or so, I would say,” Alejandra explains.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost half of the Australian workforce has been forced to work from home for a period of time. A significant proportion of these people will either continue to work remotely long term or adopt a hybrid model, where workers go to the office some days a week, but continue working remotely other days.
The interior of Mostaza, the van that she travels across Australia with. Source: Supplied (Alejandra Ramírez)
A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group revealed that the majority of Australian workers prefer working from home at least two days a week.
The adoption of this new work model by businesses has also contributed to the expansion of telework, the main enabler supporting the lifestyle of digital nomads — a workforce comprised mostly of young professionals who use new technologies to market themselves and skills online and maintain an extensive network of contacts through social networks.
Alejandra explains new technologies and social media have allowed people like her to work remotely, travel and earn a good income, which is "something new".
Alejandra while travelling in Tasmania. Source: Supplied (Alejandra Ramírez)
She says that COVID-19 and border closures prompted her to develop a money-making concept to generate income online, as well as a means to satisfy her passion for travel. She came up with The Travel and Adventure Life, a travel website where she promotes her work, her lifestyle and sells courses teaching people how to follow in her footsteps and do what she does.
“I've always been an obsessive traveller, and every year I would take a few months to travel abroad because my job at Griffith University allowed me to.
"I worked for about eight months and travelled the rest of the year with savings, but the pandemic arrived and all trips were cancelled.”
She recognises that the pandemic demonstrated that it is possible to work from anywhere in the world and that it created new job opportunities for those who dare to leave their comfort zones.
"Working remotely allows us to use all platforms to get a job much easier because you don't need to have a 9 to 5 job in a fixed company ... even large companies are starting to hire freelancers to do defined jobs."
Source: Supplied (Alejandra Ramírez)
In life, we will always have two options: either we look at what others do and we are inspired, but we put it aside, or we take the risk ourselves and do it too.
Tech giants such as Twitter have already announced that spacious office spaces may be a thing of the past, noting that their employees are unlikely to have to travel to the office every day, even when the pandemic ends.
For Alejandra, the idea of quitting her teaching job at Griffith University took months of planning.
While the scholarship money she receives provides her with some financial stability, it is not enough to cover all her expenses, so she had to rent out her house and car in the Gold Coast to complement her income.
But financial pressures represent only part of the challenges Alejandra faces. She must constantly develop and reinforce her self-reliance and self-discipline to deal with the everyday realities of her nomad lifestyle.
“As I am practically alone, I try to compartmentalise my life in different 'baskets' — for example, the emotional, work, and spiritual basket. What I do is do an internal, daily or weekly check-in, which helps me understand more about the balances I need in my life.
That has been the way I've been able, as a single woman, to get ahead and face difficult situations.
Working remotely allows workers to use all platforms to get work done much easier because you do not need to have a 9 to 5 job in a fixed company.
At the time of publication of this article, Alejandra was on the east coast of Tasmania, in the pristine town of Coles Bay.
Her plan is to continue travelling in Mustard across Australia, working as a digital nomad, on projects and activities that feed her curiosity and expand her knowledge.
"In life, we will always have two options: either we look at what others do and we are inspired, but we put it aside, or we take the risk ourselves and do it too."
"If there is one person doing it, it means that it can be done.”
