Digitally-connected millennials looking for adventure can now use startups to facilitate their travels from Bali to Bulgaria while simultaneously working remotely.
Nomads are described by PSFK, a consulting firm, as being driven by productivity, connectivity and global utility. Put plainly, digital nomads are location-independent workers who use technology to eke out a living while simultaneously working remotely and travelling.
One of the businesses capitalizing on this trend is Pangea196. Based out of Houston, Texas, the company arranges a year-long sojourn for participants across 12 countries. Among the countries traversed are Ecuador, Uruguay, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Thailand and China. Pangea196 charges a fee for settling travel logistics and participants also have to foot the bill for living expenses.
What the start-up doesn't do: Find employment for those who want to participate in the journey. Lawrence Kalinov, the co-founder of Pangea196, says that aspiring digital nomads first have to apply and pass a screening process in order to be a part of the action to ensure that they will a good fit with the group.
"We're looking for high-achieving people in a variety of industries and (from) a variety of backgrounds," he said.
"The idea came from a friend who had lost their job in the oil and gas industry, and was looking for a way they (could) do consulting but travel the world at the same time. It could actually be cheaper while you're in other parts of the world rather than living in the United States," Kalinov explained.
"Instead of hanging out at the local Starbucks, they can actually be travelling the world during this time. And we also think it's really important that when people are working independently, that they still have some sort of structure in their day. By having the shared office spaces and the other people in the group, we're trying to provide that so that they can still be productive," Kalinov added.
Remote workers who prefer greater spontaneity can also turn to the many blogs and online resources set up by members of the digital nomad community to plan their own work and play itineraries.
One of these resources is Nomad List, a platform that provides reviews on the best cities for people to work remotely in. Factors ranging from cost of living to racial tolerance are taken into consideration when ranking the cities and while the site began as a crowd sourced spread sheet, city editors now vet information for accuracy.
Chiang Mai currently takes the crown on Nomad List as the most "nomad friendly" city, with Austin, Miami and Canggu (Bali) and Dallas rounding up the top 5 cities.
"I think with the increased ease and decreased cost of travel, people will continue to be more mobile … Working remotely is not niche anymore. It's becoming an employee benefit that companies need to offer to keep attracting high-skilled talent," Pieter Levels, the founder of Nomad List, told CNBC in an email.
Currently, 1,500 paying users access Nomad List daily. A majority of users are aged between 25 and 35, and work as software developers or designers, a Nomad List spokesperson told CNBC. In addition, most users tend to be from the U.S., the UK, India and Germany.
The increasing popularity of digital nomadism could potentially be psychologically beneficial for the workforce. In a survey conducted by TINYpulse, a human resource solutions firm, remote workers in the U.S. reflected feeling happier and more valued at work when compared to the average of workers across all work arrangements.