After 191 countries checked in my map, it is only fair to introduce myself as a Senior (and Serial) Digital Nomad. From all the locations I have visited, Athens still is my favorite city. It is an everchanging city with many faces and countless stories for all tastes.

Especially during the winter months, Athens seems to win the attention of more experienced Digital Nomads and well-traveled visitors in general. Even under the pressure of COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, everything feels much better in Greece. Note that the weather permits to get easily comfortable in the city.

Must admit that February is one of my favorite months of the year. Although it’s in the heart of winter it has some glow of Spring, at least here in Athens, Greece. Temperatures average about 50 to 55°F (11 to 14°C) with lows reaching 45°F (7°C) at night. Athens is famous for its mild winter. For those seeking more wonderland pleasures and winter outdoor activities then North Greece will satisfy them more.

The science facts are that February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, with 28 days in common years and 29 days in leap years, with the quadrennial 29th day being called the leap day.

Additionally, it is the third and last month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, February is the third and last month of summer (the seasonal equivalent of August in the Northern Hemisphere, in meteorological reckoning).

Enjoy Athens like Locals

Are you a first time visitor in Athens? No worries! This group will help you discover the hidden beauty of Athens like a local.

What do Athenians do in their spare time? How do they balance their careers and personal lives? When and where do they go out? A community of savvy Athenians will answer all your questions and help you navigate the city. People of diverse backgrounds offer their personal perspectives on what makes Athens so irresistible and unique.

Thousands visit Athens every day, but few get the chance to experience Athens like a local. Meet this community of locals and follow in their footsteps, discovering hidden treasures and places of interest.

Choose a themed walk with a local and learn more about each other, as well as getting to know Athens as an insider. Experience the real Athenian lifestyle and explore the places you won’t find in any tourist guides.

What Digital Nomads Say About Athens

The short answer is that even lockdown is better in Athens!

As Alex King writes in his extended article Meet the Corona Nomads of Athens on This is Athens Blog: “Athens has been rising as a destination for digital nomads for several years now; with people from all types of professions, from artists to web developers and online marketers, deciding that the Greek capital offers a winning combination of climate, quality of life and cost of living. When the coronavirus epidemic struck Europe, Greece soon emerged as one of the countries judged to have handled the outbreak best: an early and tough lockdown kept cases low—and as of now, Greece still has far fewer fatalities compared to other EU countries of comparable size.”

Alex shares a bunch of fascinating true stories from real Digital Nomads that have chosen Athens as their new homeland. I was moved by the words of the “professional nomad” Nikhil Kale because Athens is far from his first rodeo. The Indian-born Australian has spent the past five years bouncing around the world between Thailand, Bali, Turkey and Italy; working remotely as a ‘mystic entrepreneur and business coach’ for stints of up to three months. Visit the article to read the rest of his story: Meet the Corona Nomads of Athens.

The Big Next Digital Nomad Destination is Athens. Yes, Athens!

You better start planning your summer trip to Greece, now!

Athens is rising as a lovable destination for digital nomads for quite some time now. In the last 7 years more people prefer to spend at least 1-4 months in Greece, starting their journey from Athens.

The latest boom in start-ups, incubators and shared workspaces has attracted top-tier professionals and all kinds of experts. There are plenty of trendy co-working spaces gathering the best international generation of businesses, from tech start-ups to social entrepreneurship. This ongoing trend has formed a digital nomad community, where it shares a common culture of innovation and pioneering ideas. In Athens, you can find several high tech co-working spaces for your remote working business. This list of great co-working spaces is quite handy.

The short list is available here:

• Impact Hub—Psirri
• Selina Theatrou—Omonia
• The Cube—Historic Centre
• Spaces—Monastiraki
• Stone Soup—Omonia
• Romantso—Omonia
• Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre

But let’s be honest. The ultimate communication tool between Digital Nomads is Facebook. Especially Facebook groups focusing on digital nomad spirit and lifestyle. In Athens, one of the most active Facebook groups is Digital Nomad Athens. The founder Evi Missa of this super active Facebook group has done everything in her power to create an essential source of information for everything from finding a place to live, to entrepreneurship grants and your nearest pub quiz.

The Second Wave of Digital Nomads Have Something Important to Say About Living in Athens

We have already reached the first anniversary of living with Covid-19. Despite the fact the traveling wasn’t an easy task during these last months, there are some brave Digital Nomads that have relocated to Athens in the heart of the pandemic. As Amanda Dardanis says, “the word is out that Athens – with its winter sun and sea, warm nature, affordability and strategic location – makes an unbeatable base to weather the pandemic.”

We all have engaged in discussions about how much working culture has changed. Now, the new reality has established that remote-working is the new king. Most professionals are totally dependent on the internet for their living, also support that this newborn freedom of working out of the office makes Athens one of the top remote-working destinations in Europe.

“Athens is a great city for being able to mix business and pleasure.” – Burak Cakmak

The Digital Nomad Pie Has Many Pieces

On 2 December 2020, Greece’s parliament passed a new law allowing digital nomads to half their income tax. This makes Greece one of the strongest players in the Digital Nomad Attention Economy in Europe.

If you can work from anywhere, why not work from Greece? Now you also have a very good reason to relocate with this new law that allows newly settled foreigners to pay half their income tax over the next seven years. From January 2021, the plan will be open to both employed and self-employed entrepreneurs as long as they have not previously been tax residents of Greece or replace an existing job in the country.

Read more details about the new law in this article.

Show Me The Digital Nomads Numbers

Besides the general feeling, there is also evidence of numbers that prove how and where Digital Nomads move from country to country. At the time this article was written the final list was:

In 2020, 36 cities on the European continent had enough respondents to qualify for the Expat City Ranking:

• 1. Valencia, Spain
• 2. Alicante, Spain
• 3. Lisbon, Portugal
• 6. Málaga, Spain
• 9. Madrid, Spain
• 11. Graz, Austria
• 13. Nice, France
• 16. Vienna, Austria
• 17. Moscow, Russia
• 18. Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
• 23. Prague, Czechia
• 24. Basel, Switzerland
• 25. Barcelona, Spain
• 26. Dusseldorf, Germany
• 27. Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 28. Lausanne, Switzerland
• 29. Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• 31. The Hague, Netherlands
• 32. Brussels, Belgium
• 33. Hamburg, Germany
• 35. Tallinn, Estonia
• 36. Helsinki, Finland
• 37. Zurich, Switzerland
• 41. Munich, Germany
• 43. Budapest, Hungary
• 44. Berlin, Germany
• 45. Stockholm, Sweden
• 46. Copenhagen, Denmark
• 48. Geneva, Switzerland
• 49. Stuttgart, Germany
• 50. Athens, Greece
• 51. London, UK
• 58. Dublin, Ireland
• 61. Paris, France
• 63. Milan, Italy
• 65. Rome, Italy

>>> In case you wish to dig deeper into the numbers while planning your next trip to Greece, then you should have a look at this live ranking website Nomad List, showing the true local conditions for each city separately.

>>> Another global survey by CircleLoop revealed almost the same results. This year has been the ultimate remote working year, right? The vast majority of the people were found locked into their homes working for longer hours and doing everything through a digital screen. That forced many to reconsider the quality of their life.

In the last 4 months of 2020, there was a huge traffic search related to the digital nomad lifestyle and the best cities to work in the world. The ongoing rise in the need to work from home has transformed the way we prioritize our needs. Now people are looking for solutions that combine health safety, easy internet access, and financial motives able to encourage them to move to another country.

About Digital Nomads Life

“Digital Nomads are not tourists and countries should stop treating them like tourist products. They are an intelligent and tech-savvy workforce that moves from country to country. Tourists tend to spend a certain amount of money and avoid working when they are visiting a location. On the other hand, digital nomads usually produce money while working remotely and spend a big portion of their income in their living location.” – Areti Vassou, Founder of Ideadeco SEO Copywriting Agency.

If you have reached this point and you are trying to figure out what is a digital nomad, here is a wrap-up. Digital nomads move from country to country like birds and live an out of the office life. They are people who use telecommunications and digital technologies to earn a living and, more generally, conduct their lives in a nomadic manner.

In the last 7 years, more and more people are working remotely than ever before. Also, we see many individuals move around the world in order to work in companies for a short period of time.

With the help of technology, such as project management projects have become a new trend of professional careers. The need for experts in specific digital fields keeps growing every year. In other words, we have officially entered the era of a new bread of workforce, The Digital Nomads Tribe.

Working as a digital nomad has many benefits. Firstly you have the ability to travel more often and stay longer in faraway places. That forms the opportunity to meet new cultures and bond with locals that have a completely different background.

Digital nomad working life although it can be challenging it is also liberating. Digital Nomads are free to choose how and when they work. There is no “show your face” office time. They choose their working hours. This allows them to channel their work through their adventures and experiences. And that builds a sense of freedom.

Is it really a Dream Job?

To be honest it sounds like a dream job. But is it really? Like with everything in life, there are two sides to the coin. Being a digital nomad is a wonderful experience under certain circumstances.

If you are a parent then this kind of lifestyle could make your family & kids unhappy. Kids need their nest and their daily routine. It’s selfish to drag your kids all over the world and change residence two or three times a year. Even if you don’t have kids, it’s sure that you are missing important family events.

If you are into a serious relationship, traveling all year long could be the reason to create negative vibes with your better half… after all being in love requires being present.

Freedom in working hours means that the telephone can ring at 02:00 am for a meeting. Free and available 24/7 means just that. You may spend countless hours meeting a deadline while you on the road looking for a strong internet connection.

Digital nomads have to face the struggle of not knowing if they will find a new contract for the next months. They live under uncertainty and can not plan ahead. If they want to plan for buying a house, they will face hard obstacles on the way. Starting with their main home address or their last occupation.

Life has its ups and downs. When you on the road and a health issue appears, a digital nomad may have serious difficulties in finding proper healthcare support. Not to mention that health insurance is not always included in contracts. Also, sometimes becomes hard to keep the cash flow coming, because it is not always easy to maintain a continuous flow of work.

Therefore it is wise to connect with local digital nomads communities before you move into your next destination. See here for digital nomad communities in Greece.