DN visas in Jpn & It | Issue #0009

If you’re starting to plan for next year, then we’ve a couple of excellent digital nomad visa options new this year to consider once winter has passed. Two very different cultures, but incredible destinations for Spring and Summer.

Right now, though, we’re embracing the start of the dry and sunny season here in Thailand!

This week:

 🛂 Two different nomad visas, but for two different target markets
  📋 An AI glossary for any level of user
 👩‍💼 Staying ACTUALLY covered for your digital nomad lifestyle
 📚 Reading is getting more colorful

Have a sun-filled week!

VISA NEWS
A visa that will appeal to high-income nomads?

With the DTV taking the headlines in recent months, this won’t be our first visa-related piece this week as we catch up on what’s on the table around the world.

As of early 2024, Japan introduced a digital nomad visa aimed at attracting high-earning remote workers. To qualify, applicants must show proof of an annual income of at least ¥10 million (around $67,000).

Japan’s biggest appeal is in its culture and food, and is frequently on digital nomad’s - if not EVERY traveller’s - list of must-dos.

While the visa allows a stay of up to six months, it isn’t renewable. You can, however, reapply after the end of your initial stay.

The visa is part of Japan’s broader effort to stimulate its economy post-pandemic, offering nomads a chance to experience the country beyond the typical 90-day tourist limit while adding to local economies.

The high income requirement makes it one of the more exclusive digital nomad visas in Asia - if not globally - but the relative high cost of living means Japan want to be sure you can support yourself while there.

Read more on Globetrender.com or go straight to the source to find out how to apply.

WHAT ELSE…

📘 A new era for a digital nomad staple: Amazon released the latest Kindle lineup, and there is a notable addition. A colour version of the reader is available for the first time.

📺 Are you one of the 280 million?: It’s a lifeline for many digital nomads, so you are probably already signed up but Netflix is still growing. Word is prices are going up soon so make sure you get your money’s worth by using NordVPN to expand your library.

🏡 RTO mandates on the rise?: Some of you are taking advantage of the remote working that many companies “embraced” in the pandemic years, but keep an eye on your company’s policies over the next year. Many are going to crack down and enforce return to office mandates despite resistance from most employees and workforce bodies.

☕️ Another good reason to drink local: Starbucks appeared in last week’s issues, and the news this week will have doubled down on the sentiment many nomads have toward them! They have “quietly” dropped some of the discounts regular users will be used to seeing. We prefer to go local anyway.

AI TERMS
Are you up to date with the latest AI jargon?

AI is in our lives and isn’t going anywhere. That last week’s piece on AI tools was the most engaged-with content tells us that you guys know that.

Even if you adopted GPTs early - nearly 2 years ago now - if you haven’t continued to keep up with it, then there could be a lot of new terms, uses and products out there that you’ll be behind on.

Bloomberg dropped this glossary of AI terms earlier this month to help clear up some of the newer ones, and ones you’ll have seen but not necessarily understood.

We tested ChatGPT to run through the ten most misunderstood from that list, and this is what it said:

1. AGI (Artificial General Intelligence): Often confused with current AI, but it’s still hypothetical and much more advanced.

2. Alignment: Misinterpreted as just a technical approach, but it also involves assessing moral and ethical challenges.

3. Emergent Behaviors: Often assumed to be deliberate and designed, but they are mostly completely unexpected outcomes.

4. Fine-tuning: Usually mistaken by the casual user as just making slight adjustments to prompts, but it fine-tuning prompts really means conducting extremely in-depth customization to get better results.

5. Hallucinations: These are often viewed as bugs in the AI, but these completely made-up results are down to AI’s design limitations.

6. LLMs (Large Language Models): Misunderstood by many to be fully “intelligent”, but they are largely probabilistic.

7. Neural Networks: Assumed to be directly like the human brain, but they’re not actually designed to be that complex.

8. Prompt Engineering: Overlooked in its complexity. It requires far more skill than the average user will bother to learn to get consistent and effective outputs.

9. Sentient AI: Considered by many as a near-future reality when it’s still a long way from being achievable.

10. Synthetic Data: Assumed to be flawless, though it can introduce biases.

Check out the full list of explanations of these and a couple of dozen others in the article here.

SPREAD THE WORD

Do you have friends who are digital nomads roaming the world? If you think they could use a quick weekly fix of what’s happening in their world, then share this link so they can get The Digital Nomad every week too.

Or, share it on your socials with the links at the top of this newsletter.

DIGITAL NOMAD VISA SPOTLIGHT
Europe’s best current digital nomad visa option?

The DTV has dominated digital nomad chatter in the last few months, but it’s taken a little attention away from Europe’s latest offer - and perhaps best.

Italy’s Digital Nomad Visa is designed to attract non-EU citizens who work remotely for companies outside of Italy, but also freelancers, entrepreneurs, and other remote professionals.

Here are the highlights:

• Up to one year stay, extendable

• Access to healthcare and education

• Freedom to travel in the Schengen area without other visas

• Special tax benefits

• No requirement to invest in Italy

• Bring close family members with you on the same visa

To qualify, applicants must prove they have a stable income from a foreign source, meeting a specific income threshold of €30,000 per year.

You’ll also need to provide similar documentation required by most digital nomad visas, including proof of health insurance, a clean criminal record, and valid housing in Italy.

Once granted, you can live and work in any region of Italy. Some may choose bustling cities like Rome or Milan (Venice for us!), while others might prefer quieter - and much more affordable by the way - areas in the Tuscan countryside. As with most countries, 183 days in Italy means you are considered tax resident, meaning they must comply with Italian tax laws.

However, Italy offers tax incentives and deductions to attract foreign professionals, especially in regions facing population decline.

Italy is one of Europe’s most popular countries thanks to its culture, food and climate. It also has mountains, lakes, countryside and beaches that rival most other countries, but within a relatively small land footprint.

For us, it’s about the wine though!

Find out more and apply here.

POLL RESULTS
Are you covered as well as you think?

Last week’s poll was on insurance, largely out of interest than anything else. It did raise a few questions though, including whether you are covered for activities, accidents while working, and tech cover.

It turns out there was a pretty even split between regular travel insurance and digital nomad-specific insurance, so we thought we’d dig into how well covered you’d be with each.

Digital nomad insurance and regular travel insurance serve different purposes and offer varying levels of coverage based on the needs of the traveller. Here are the main things to consider:

1. Duration of Coverage

• Digital Nomad Insurance: Typically designed for long-term travellers who may stay in different countries for extended periods (months or even years). Policies can be more flexible, offering ongoing or renewable coverage.

• Regular Travel Insurance: Primarily for short-term trips, you are often only covered up to 90 days Designed really for single trips or vacations.

2. Type of Coverage

• Digital Nomad Insurance: Includes more comprehensive health and emergency coverage since nomads may be staying abroad without access to national healthcare systems. It can often cover regular medical care, preventive health services, and sometimes mental health services. Policies may also cover lost or stolen electronics, legal assistance, and liability insurance—important for those working remotely.

• Regular Travel Insurance: Focuses more on trip-related issues such as cancellations, delays, lost luggage, and emergency medical coverage for accidents or illnesses while on a trip. It typically does not cover routine healthcare or extended stays.

3. Work Coverage

• Digital Nomad Insurance: Often covers remote work activities, including accidents or health issues that may arise while working abroad. It may also offer coverage for business equipment like laptops.

• Regular Travel Insurance: Usually does not cover work-related incidents or the loss of work equipment unless specified under business travel insurance.

4. Geographical Coverage

• Digital Nomad Insurance: Geared for travellers who may move between countries frequently, it offers global coverage with the flexibility to move across borders. Some policies also allow coverage in your home country for limited periods.

• Regular Travel Insurance: Often limited to specific regions or a single destination, and may not be valid if you travel to multiple countries without updating the policy.

5. Cost and Flexibility

• Digital Nomad Insurance: Generally more expensive due to its long-term nature and broader scope of coverage. It may offer monthly payment options and the ability to cancel or renew as needed.

• Regular Travel Insurance: Typically cheaper, as it’s meant for short-term coverage. Payment is usually required upfront for the entire trip.

In short, digital nomad insurance is designed for those who need long-term, flexible coverage for health, work, and travel while living abroad. Most regular travel insurance is more suitable for short vacations or trips, with a focus on emergencies and trip disruptions.

The most popular and flexible coverage is found with SafetyWing and Genki, both of which we now some of you use, and we’ve partnered with as a recommended resource.

WHAT DID YOU MISS?

If you are new to The Digital Nomad, or just want to go back and read a previous issue, then you can find them all here.

COWORKING IN CHIANG MAI

If you are in the city, or heading over soon, then check out the current packages - from day passes to monthly or annual memberships - here.

Or, just get in touch with Mickey or the team at Yellow Coworking at [email protected].

BRAIN FOOD
What we’ve been recommended this week

Book - Show Your Work! Austin Kleon. If you’re a creator - or are thinking of being - then this is the place to start. Easy to comprehend and action, it’s how to think about your craft and why you shouldn't gatekeep it!

Movies - Woman of the Hour. Netflix’s latest release from a Hollywood A-lister, Anna Kendrick - who directs too - is a 70s crime thriller well worth a couple of hours of your time.

Podcast - Ali Abdaal is a doctor turned productivity expert, and in last week’s episode of his podcast - Deep Dive - he talked to Nir Eyal about becoming indistractable. Doesn’t sound possible to us, but he’s pretty convincing!

Drop us an email at [email protected] if you have any recommendations we should share!

CONNECT TO CHIANG MAI
Fill your social calendar in Chiang Mai

Steve’s Email: A weekly resource and email for events around the city. Steve’s away for a couple of weeks, but bookmark it for next week!

Digital Nomad WhatsApp: A long-standing group that spawned a range of sub-groups for almost any niche and interest in the city.

ChiangMai Fit WhatsApp: If you want to do something active (trust us, being fit isn’t a prerequisite!) then wholesome activities throughout the week in here.

Yellow Coworking Telegram: For more about what is happening at Yellow, and to be part of their conversation, join here.

THE DIGITAL RESOURCE

We’ve shared some useful resources over the first few weeks, and while you can access back issues here, several have asked us to share them again. So, to save lots of email back-and-forths, or searching through previous newsletters, here are the most asked for resources:

• Safety Wing, who also offer digital nomad insurance, have started running community events in various locations around the world. A few participants in a Chiang Mai one even won a meal out at a top restaurant in the city!

• Genki also do worldwide digital nomad insurance.

• Healthy Junk is the go-to for healthy food near Yellow. Dine in, out or get it delivered.

• Get your meal prep from Chef Fuji. Healthy, macro-focussed food delivered in Chiang Mai.

• Contact Liselle for a LinkedIn or resume revamp.

• If decision-making is not your forte, get in touch with Hannah Wang - a decision-making coach for entrepreneurs, business owners and big corporates.

• Stay safe online - and get TV from any country! - using NordVPN. They’ve got a Black Friday sale on now too.

• Airalo - a marketplace for eSIM data packs for more than 200 countries. Get 15% off if you are new and use this link and the code NEWTOAIRALO15, or 10% off if you are an existing user using AIRALOESIM10.

QUIZ
Where has the FASTEST internet?

Internet speed is a hot topic for digital nomads, and often dictates where you go in the world. But, who has the fastest? Rank these popular spots in order of average internet speed, according to Cable.co.uk:

• USA

• Iceland

• Colombia

• Japan

• France

• Thailand

• Vietnam

• UK

Answers at the end of the newsletter, and a full run down in next week’s issue.

COMMUNITY
Get seen by digital nomads everywhere

We would love to hear from you if you have some valuable knowledge, products or services, information, or just a fun or crazy digital nomad story.

This is an opportunity to get some extra eyes on your thing, or if you just like to write or provide information to other nomads.

Drop us an email at [email protected] if you:

• have a travel blog, channel or platform that we can spotlight

• took a photo worthy of our photo of the week

• have a product or service that could help other digital nomads

• know a great event or place in Chiang Mai we might have missed

• …just have a great digital nomad story!

NEXT WEEK

In our final October issue we’ll be diving into:

🏎️ Internet speeds around the globe
 🏢. What big companies are doing about RTO policy
 🔎 Finding remote work

We will also finally (yes, we’ve been promising this for a while!) chat to an expert in tax as a digital nomad…and news and events we spot for digital nomads everywhere.

See you then.

INTERWEB SPEED ANSWERS

Iceland. France. USA. Japan. UK. Thailand. Colombia. Vietnam.