Future Narrative #16- Dilemmas for Digital Nomads
This is the final story from our 2021 Data and Design lab at the University of Edinburgh. It looks 30 years into the future to imagine a world re-bounded by tech companies and a travel culture driven by a Travel Credit System in what is now Scotland in 2050. Imperfections are smoothed over, places are framed as they should be. So what's missing?
Illustrated by Izzy Bunnell and written by Máire Ryan.
Dilemmas for Digital Nomads - Illustrated by Izzy Bunnell
By 2050, along with almost everything else, nationhood had evolved to align itself with the accelerated developments in tech. Social commentators would primly observe that “any idiot could see it coming”: corporations like Google’s Grid and Apple’s Axis evolved beyond mere giants of their industry, increasingly exercising power on par with the sovereign states of old. Indeed, those crumbling dynasties were the very same organisations whose wilful ignorance had led to the destruction of 80% of the earth’s surface in recent, troubled times. Unlike the rise and fall of careless monarchs, blindsided revolutionaries and greedy dictators, these entities had ultimate dominion over all societies; they were, by their very nature, deeply integrated into all aspects of everyday life. Their choice to align demonstrated the development of human cognition: they abolished an “us” and “them” dynamic which had long been the downfall of mankind. Long Live the Digital Nations. They see that we succeed.
No sphere of living was left untouched, and travel’s essence also shifted–somewhat imperceptibly at first, then unavoidably to be subsumed as part of the meritocracy that governed your average working person. The Travel Credit System (TCS) was born, tasked with reducing pollution and overpopulation the world over. Under the newly-old regime, every individual was furnished with a fixed set of travel credits, their usage diligently monitored through a blockchain system. In order to earn additional credits–your heritage-oriented American person might, for example, require a little more in order to finally show their children the ancestral homeland in Scotland–lay in environmental contributions. “Earning” the right to roam naturally rankled with the liberty-concerned masses (whose growing discomfort coincided with an increasing awareness that a second trip to the toaster would generate monetizable data). Further, a rallying against “forced philanthropy” caught on. People don’t like being spoon-fed morality, the argument went, and certainly not by the powers that be. As a counter-reaction, endorsement of the TCS largely diminished. The demand for virtual travel skyrocketed.
The issues of past regimes remained in past tense. All Data is Good Data, that was the credo of the Digital Nations. They capitalised on the uproar by rebranding TCS to include virtual travel experiences and by deploying flawless simulations, inviting the curious to traverse the globe from the comfort of their own homes. Big Business cut in, and tinkered (just a little) with the programming to develop “Cloud Careers”, whereby a new breed of travellers, the Digital Nomads, emerged.
Always on the move, the Nomads kept stocks high with their constant earning and usage of TCS credits, stimulating growth in their fields. With regions like Southern Europe becoming inhospitable during certain times due to climate shifts, the Nomadic lifestyle wasn't just attractive; it became a life-saving necessity. Advanced AIs from the Digital Nations assisted in this transition, adeptly forecasting migration patterns to guide humanity toward more hospitable regions.
Enter Jane: an early adopter and bona fide member of the Digital Nomad elite. Agile to the maximum, sleeping only when the markets closed, Jane was (behind closed doors, naturally) often touted as the poster girl for the TCS-Cloud Career initiative’s success. Her gaze (naturally intuitive, without looking too concerned) was later plastered across targeted recruitment ads, but she actually lived and breathed the Nomad lifestyle too.
It was, in fact, Jane who casually ideated the first iterations of DBL (Digi-Business Leisure). Not one to take her eye off the ball, an early career-building Jane had begun cashing in her TCS bonus credits for virtual explorations: selecting destinations not due to any particular interest, but due to the potential capital rumoured to be (as yet) undiscovered per location. Under the aegis of Apple’s Axis, she could take in the sights of Venice between virtual business lunches. Not the Venice of wavy cobbles and labyrinthine waterways, of course, since they had all been submerged decades ago. A perfected, sharpened Venice, unblemished by greed, blindsidedness, or a lack of care.
There are sometimes days where Jane is a little fatigued. She can, on occasion, become a little sharp in her tone, her intuitive nature hardening to recalcitrance. This is somewhat due to the fact that, deep down, Jane still yearns to feel the humid Venetian breeze on her face. To actually be able to stumble over a cobble, imagine! Indeed, she had hoped for a world inching toward recovery, rather than one which feels like it’s evolving out of disaster. Oh well. Long Live the Digital Nations. They overcome what we cannot adapt to.
Provocation Questions
Have you ever participated in a form of digital travel?
Exploring with Google Maps, scrolling destinations on Instagram, doing an Airbnb Online Experience?
Did you feel satisfied with the experience?