Location Independent Lifestyle – Just WTH is it?

There has been a LOT of talk about Location Independent Lifestyle lately, and the general view is that you must create a stream of passive income using the internet and travel around the world to enjoy the location independent lifestyle.

It is a concept that was first romanticized by Tim Ferris in 4 Hour Work Week, then popularized by the blogs like LocationIndependent.com and DigitalNomads.com, and I must agree that I joined the bandwagon with my Present Day Nomads.

But, more than a year and half later, I am sitting here wondering just what the hell is Location Independent Lifestyle?

By definition, it is a lifestyle that enables a person to live and work from anywhere. A hobo is just as location independent as a digital or tech nomad, so is a traveling salesman, an author, a motivational speaker and a musician. I would even argue that Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Sir Richard Branson are all location independent.

Location Independence is nothing new. People have been running away to join the circus for generations. Yes, there is something alluring about being able to travel and meet people of all kinds and see the world, and people have been doing it for thousands of years.

It seems to me that the New Location Independence movement professes that Location Independence is the antidote to corporate dominance in our lives. Location Independent People (LIP) claim to be non-conformists who like to tread their own trails.

But if you read the many popular blogs in the location independent niche, you’ll find that they all conform to a similar theme, namely, break away from the 9-5 cubical drudgery, become an affiliate marketer, create a passive income, create your own how to product and get other LIP to affiliate market it for you and live happily ever after. It is like going goth, teenagers who dress and act differently from popular culture to rebel against authority.

One of the dominant trend seems to be a fight for freedom. Freedom from corporate slavery, freedom from materialistic possessions, freedom through entrepreneurship, etc. But freedom is not something you can demand, buy or fight for, it is your birthright and all you have to do is claim it as yours. You claim your freedom by being yourself, by being a critical thinker and by questioning the conventional wisdom, whether it’s ancient convention or new convention. Jonathon Mead wrote an excellent blog post on the subject of freedom yesterday that was a delight to read.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments below.