Living The Semi-Retired Life: Are You A Terrible Person If You Move For Less Expensive Housing?

Help me write my next Medium article

As I have said before I believe there’s synergy between Substack and Medium. As an author, you’re not doing yourself any favors by pitting one platform against the other. They’re distinct from one another, yet complementary. The success I see on Substack would not be possible without Medium—and vice versa.

So, today we’re going to do something we did a few weeks back. I’m asking you to help me write a future Medium article. It’s about a controversial topic that ties into so much of what we discuss at the core of Living The Semi-Retired Life as it pertains to housing.

Particularly the quest for affordable housing today and, maybe more importantly, as you approach and enter relative old age.

I’ll include some of your responses to this newsletter post in that article to help shape the tone and provide balance to my perspective. A perspective you’ll see here first as a paid subscriber and, subsequently, help refine.

A Medium article by

Charlie Brown

got me thinking about what we’ll riff on today:

This is an important topic because, like the scapegoating of all groups, misinformation about the role of Digital Nomads perpetuates mistrust, anger, and an us vs. them mentality that literally does nothing to further our world.

Charlie, who also writes the excellent

Simple and Straightforward

newsletter on Substack goes on to effectively set the record straight on digital nomads. The problems commonly associated with them—which are overblown by the media and partially the result of scapegoating and a few bad apples—don’t match up with the data or reality, as Charlie experiences it on the ground. This includes (rising) housing prices:

Because here’s something many people don’t consider. Just because a digital nomad can pay more for their rent doesn’t mean they do. There’s an almost reverse snobbery in this department. DNs take pride in securing the lowest rent possible and sneer at those who overpay…

I’m not a digital nomad.

However, as you might know, my partner and I intend to move to Spain within the next couple years or so. And most times that I write about these plans—or just the idea of moving abroad—I get responses from people who brand us as everything from colonizers to exploiters to just all-around terrible people. We’re taking advantage of locals, countries with economies that are not as robust as America’s and inflating housing prices in the process.

I call bull shit. And here’s my multi-layered rationale.