Hey Insiders! We have an exciting email for you today, it marks the first email that features a new section - Insider Original where instead of just summarizing the news we’re writing about important stuff no one is covering!

Today’s email is a 4min 45sec read:

• 👾 the rise of the hacker tourist

• 🏡 new Airbnb alternative for digital nomads

• 🤖 AI-overlords

• ➕ PLUS crypto is going to war with DC

But first, do you struggle with procrastination? Well, a new TikTok trend may have a solution for that…

💡 TIPS & TRICKS

Boost your productivity with an AM “scary hour”

Hacking your productivity by introducing a “scary hour” to your morning is gaining traction on TikTok

The idea is simple - if there is something that you’re worried about, work on it first thing in the morning for an hour, no matter how much you want to procrastinate on it.

When we are confronted by tasks or projects that challenge us, make us uncomfortable, or aren’t clear, a common response can be to try and avoid it and leave it for another day. But this procrastination can actually increase the severity of the problem.

The psychology of the Scary Hour is actually simple, it shifts success from completing the task, to simply working on it for an hour in this way making it seem more approachable.

📝 INSIDER ORIGINAL

The Hacker Tourist Rises

In December 1996, Wired magazine published a now legendary article titled “Mother Board Mother Earth”

It was written by none other than cyberpunk author Neal Stephenson who a few years earlier had published his best-selling novel Snow Crash.

In case you’re not familiar with Snow Crash, it’s thanks to it that words like “avatar” and “metaverse” are mainstream today.

In the 56-page article, Neal travels for 2 months across 3 different continents to cover the laying of FLAG: the Fiberoptic Link Around the Globe - at the time, the longest wire in the world measuring 28,000 kilometers and a key event in building the internet we know and love today.

However, amidst the dozens of pages of adventure, Stephenson introduces us to another concept… hacker tourism.

In 1996, this concept seemed foreign, but I believe that in today’s world powered by remote work and digital nomadism, hacker tourism is flourishing… even if we don’t call it that.

Two months ago I flew halfway around the world, from Mexico City to Ponta do Sol, Portugal to attend a conference on the effects of digital nomads on Macaronesia (something I have an upcoming article on) but also to check out what my friend Goncalo Hall has built there over the last 2 years.

During the week-long event, I toured coworking spaces, spoke with government officials on topics like cross-border mobility, and explored the projects being incubated in the local startup ecosystem.

What better way to describe that than “sights and sensations that only would be of interest to a geek”?

And I don’t think I’m alone in this…

When you can intimately familiarize yourself with all the World Wonders through a simple search on Instagram & Google Maps, travel necessitates the exploration of more niche parts of the world.

• 🎟️ Traveling to Estonia to learn more about eResidency

• 🌍 Flying to Nairobi, Kenya to check out the startup scene there, which one friend described as “the real world Wakanda”

• 🏡 Heading to the hill country of Texas to explore the decentralized city concept Cabin City

A 2022 study by MBO Partners found that 72m Americans plan on becoming digital nomads.

This number will be eclipsed by the vast number of knowledge workers who have found a new level of location freedom.

Many don’t want to be digital nomads, but wouldn’t say no to spending 2 summer months in Europe…

Or skipping dreary January in the US for palm trees in Thailand. For these people, the allure of the regular tourism industry quickly wears off.

Statues & museums are great on your biennial visit to Italy, but the more time you spend traveling, the hungrier you get for nerdier sights and sensations, whatever that may mean for you.

For all the talk of “bleisure” and “workations”, could the true future of travel lie in hacker tourism?

Help us select future Remote Insider content

🚨 WORD ON THE WEB

🇺🇦 Refuge for Russians & Ukranians no more, Bali is considering reversing its open-door policy due to an increased amount of issues caused by the migrants from the two countries.

🚀 Worldhaus launches Airbnb alternative for digital nomads based on a fractional home-ownership model that allows you to own property in some of the most popular locations for as little as $10,000 without worrying about management.

💰 Crypto is going to war with Washington after US officials introduced anti-crypto bills following the collapse of several banks that services crypto businesses. Pro-crypto US officials worry the move could force crypto businesses to move to the EU

🧐 The Great Reevaluation: How remote work and digital nomads are reshaping the future of work

💬 TWEETS

AI-overlord Projections

Andreas Klinger, a remote work OG and legendary creator of the term “head of remote”, proposes the idea that our AI fears are really projections of our own selves, and not how an AI would actually think.

Essentially, AI is not human, and thus will not have the same desires as humans.

📆 UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 25-26: Running Remote [📍 Lisbon, Portugal] - Largest remote work conference in the world for enterprises and SMEs

May 24-28: Vivel [📍 Multiple Locations, Turkey] - networking meets music at this one-of-a-kind conference for location-independent professionals

June 16-19: Camp Indie [📍 Kent, Connecticut] - adult summer camp & conference for digital nomads & those living an unconventional life

June 25-July 2: Bansko Nomad Fest [📍 Bansko, Bulgaria] - for digital nomads, freelancers, and founders in the mountains of Bulgaria

⭐️ This Week’s WFA Jobs:

I've teamed up with THE remote job coach Jordan Carroll to provide you with handpicked work-from-anywhere jobs right here in this newsletter:

⭐️ Sales Representative @ Cultivated Culture

⭐️ HR Business Partner @ Superside

⭐️ Senior Software Engineer @ Wikimedia Foundation

Want help finding the right remote job for you? Join the Remote Collective and get introductions to dozens of remote companies looking to hire people like you!

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That's it from us today, hope you have an amazing day!