7 days ago
How India's Digital Nomads travel for months while working remotely
When Rachana reached Bir in Himachal Pradesh from Bengaluru, she wasn't thinking about the mountain views. She was thinking about Wi-Fi. A chalkboard outside a cafe promised "fast internet, power backup, quiet workspace upstairs", and that was enough for the Digital Nomad looking to work from another new location in Himachal the hiss of the coffee machine mixed with the low murmur of two people at work, one man on a headset pacing by the window, a young woman bent over her laptop with a coffee gone cold. Rachana, an architect, plugged in her laptop, exhaled, and prepared for her client's call, the mule cart rattling past outside the only reminder that she was far from the Rachana sat and worked from Bir, Aditya was attending a meeting from a resort in Goa, and Subhashis was fielding client calls from Darjeeling. Around them worked many consultants, content strategists, designers, and software engineers — all remotely.
Welcome to the world of Digital Nomads. A bunch of people who travel throughout India, set up base at a location for weeks, if not months, and earn their daily dal-roti from far-away locations. They return to their homes for a month or two, only to travel to and work from a new a decade ago, this would have been fast and cheap internet connections to remote work jobs across sectors to tourist spots adapting to WFH needs, all these have enabled the Digital Nomads. And now, Sikkim has presented this community, who carry their offices in backpacks, a village to call their month, Yakten in Sikkim was declared the first "digital nomad" village in India. The eight homestays in Yakten have exclusive facilities to cater to Digital Digital Nomads are very different from the usual remote-working professionals, who usually stick to their homes or travel infrequently. With their constant travels, the Digital Nomads are not just working differently but also discovering cultures, cuisines, and at times, travels are also helping these professionals bring fresh ideas and creative solutions to the professional table.
Yakten in Sikkim has emerged as India's first dedicated digital nomad village, offering homestays equipped for remote work. (Image: Prem Prakash)
COVID LESSONS CAME HANDY FOR INDIA'S DIGITAL NOMADSIt started with the Covid-19 pandemic. Except for frontline workers, most people were restricted to their homes and learnt to work remotely. What started as a necessity led to benefit in employees working remotely, many companies shifted to a hybrid work culture after the pandemic. This allowed young professionals to unmoor themselves from urban centres while being these professionals got a taste of workation, there was no going back. Why work from a single location when there's scope to travel to newer places and work? This gave birth to the breed of Digital Nomads in Nayak, who earlier went on just an annual vacation, now travels and works from Kashmir, Ladakh and Kerala, among other places in India."I enjoy living in different places like a local and meeting new people," Nayak, a marketing manager, told India Today Digital. With his new travel-and-work lifestyle, he is also trying out his luck as an the architect from Bengaluru, has now made the hills in Himachal her second home."I go to different places in Himachal and work from there. A lot of professionals I come across are those who go on local visits after their work," said the from Kolkata works while travelling with his Bengaluru-based girlfriend."We are in a long-distance relationship and we both love travelling. We even went to Vietnam together and take several trips together every year. Darjeeling is our favourite place," he says.
Women digital nomads in India like Rachana are carving out freedom and flexibility while navigating safety and societal constraints. (Image: Rachana)
advertisementDIGITAL NOMADS: A GROWING COMMUNITY IN INDIAIndia is home to around 1.7 million Digital Nomads, according to the 2025 State of Digital Nomads report by the Nomad List the website says, is 2% of the global Digital Nomad States46,994,10143%2United Kingdom7,508,0317%3Canada4,986,1555%4Russia4,870,9635%5Germany4,360,8294%6France3,690,2483%7Brazil2,748,1453%8Australia2,554,7872%9Netherlands1,995,2852%10Spain1,896,5492%11India1,736,1042%Data: Digital Nomads ReportA 2022 Deloitte India Workforce and Workplace survey found that nearly 80% of Indian professionals prefer remote or flexible work what points to the growing band of remotely working professionals, platforms like Airbnb report a steady climb in long-term stays booked from hill towns and coastal impact of this growing community is both visible on social media and how businesses are trying to benefit from in Himachal's McLeodganj now advertise not only momos and thukpa but "high-speed Wi-Fi and backup generator". Guest houses in Bir sell monthly packages with desk space and community Goa, co-living villas market themselves directly to founders and freelancers, offering both accommodation and threads on Digital Nomads in India read like support groups and troubleshooting guides. Questions and answers point to a thriving community, whose members are helping each other cafes in Rishikesh keep power in the monsoon? Which lanes in Bir are safe for women walking home? Which Airtel plan gives stable backup in the hills?WHY BECOME A DIGITAL NOMAD? DIGITAL NOMADS ANSWERAs to why go elsewhere to work, leaving behind the comfort and stability of home? The answers repeat with weary familiarity: traffic, smog, burnout, and exhaustion. However, for some, the nomadic way of life isn't an escape, but a lifestyle promise of the metropolitan city is followed by its disillusionment. The lure of glass towers, fast promotions, and nightlife soon gives way to endless commutes, choking air, and the gnawing sense that life is being lived in transit rather than in full."I lasted three months back in Bengaluru after lockdown and couldn't take it any more," a software engineer told India Today Digital. "Here in Darjeeling, I breathe easier."For architect Rachana, it is more about working from different places in Himachal rather than escaping Bengaluru's traffic chaos or about how I want my life to feel when I shut the laptop at 7 pm," she promise opportunity, but they rarely leave room for reflection.A cottage in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, or a rented flat in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, offers the chance to measure days not just in deadlines, but in walks, swims, and sunsets.
Digital Nomad Subhashish has worked from Kashmir, Ladakh and Kerala among other places, and enjoys clicking photographs and sharing them online. (Image: Subhashish)
WHAT DIGITAL NOMADS GIVE BACK TO EMPLOYERS, CLIENTSStart-up founders in Bengaluru now speak of creating retreats in the hills, not only as escapes but as hubs of creativity. Communities like those in Bir or Goa stitch together strangers into networks that feel like alternatives to corporate appeal isn't only cost or comfort; it's the promise of living outside the city's describe newfound focus, the absence of commutes, giving them more hours to create."I finish more in five hours by the beach than in eight at an office desk," said a Reddit user from the Indian Digital Nomad Rachana, the architect, her travels inspire her design, which reflects in her work. When she is back at base, she feels rejuvenated and her output is better even when she's in the occasional glitches in terms of network and connectivity remain."I once had to reschedule a pitch because three cafes in McLeodganj all lost power in the same storm," shared Aditya, a 30-year-old software engineer based in Bengaluru, who regularly works from nothing can deter the Digital carry multiple dongles, extension cords, a mental map of cafes with reliable backups. For nomadism demands not just freedom but a tolerance for COMPANIES IN INDIA ARE BECOMING NOMAD-TOLERANTThough the younger professionals are itching to travel and work, much depends on the firms with remote-first cultures tolerate it, even encourage it. Some Indian startups use location flexibility to attract plenty of traditional employers still expect a physical presence in offices, and many nomads operate in a grey zone."As long as I deliver, no one asks," says Aditya, the software engineer whose employer is based in freelancers and consultants, the equation is simpler: clients only care about deadlines and what's being SAFETY FIRST FOR WOMEN DIGITAL NOMADSFor women, digital nomadism in India comes with lure of freedom and flexibility is strong, but safety shapes every decision — where to stay, when to return, which cafes to often have to negotiate parental anxiety, workplace scrutiny, and social judgment more than men have to."I picked Rishikesh because I knew I'd find other women living alone," said a female designer from person didn't share her name because she operates in the grey zone, where her employer isn't always aware that she is away from her home with communities of peers offer not just sockets and Wi-Fi, but a sense of VILLAGES FIND NEW LOCALS IN DIGITAL NOMADSWFH, which was once an experiment during the pandemic, has reshaped how Indians imagine work and there are conflicts, both external and internal, that Digital Nomads and their hosts deal with.A surge of outsiders often means rising rents and cultural friction in small welcome new business but worry about losing affordability, or seeing their communities reshaped into enclaves for Nomads, meanwhile, wrestle with questions of belonging — are they visitors or residents, and what responsibility do they bear towards the places they temporarily call home?For Rachana, Bir is not forever. She will move again when the lease ends, perhaps to Manali, perhaps back to Bengaluru for some is the paradox of this way of life: it is built on impermanence. What endures is not the town or the cafe but the conviction that work no longer has to be tied to a cubicle or a commute. The Digital Nomads are here, and quaint towns and villages in India are opening their doors to them.- Ends
