Just want to chime in as someone who lived as a "digital nomad" overseas for about a decade in the early 2000s before that was a fad - and never touted it: the influencers ruined it. Along with all the people trying to do the same thing. The whole point was to get away from the world of high school type popularity bullshit and go experience the world and other cultures long term, on their own terms. That's exactly the opposite of the package being sold by influencers.

But also, although I had two major years-long, difficult and ultimately failed startup ventures of my own during that time period, they were side projects and never what paid the bills.

So I'll let you in on what I see as the two big cons being sold to Gen Z:

1. Your startup will take off and be what establishes you. No. Startups are what you do in your spare time on the long chance that one of them hits and gets you to fuck you money. They only succeed if you already have connections from regular business, unless you're incredibly lucky and go viral for reasons no one can predict.

2. Degrees and certifications followed by 9-5 or 8-10 hours as an engineer will get you that freedom. They will not.

What paid for my travel and for my house was something that is not sold at all on social media, and barely mentioned on HN. It was working as an independent contractor, coding and managing systems for small to midsized businesses. Shop owners. But not ANY shop. Only the ones where I thought they had a real chance of taking off. And then, at times, accepting some early equity as pay but only if I believed in it. At other times, demanding top dollar. And always working alone. Never under a boss, and never dealing with anyone lower than a CEO.

I did not have a successful startup, and maybe I never will - although I still code for fun a lot, and who knows. But I took or turned down projects based on how I wanted to shape my career, and made myself indispensable and reliable at all hours for the clients I took, even if I was halfway around the world in a van on solar power. People like that are hard to find for a small business and eventually they rely on you.

If I were in your shoes I would just print a business card and go to where people with growing small businesses hang out... with the idea of finding the next one that you can help grow, of which you will ultimately be CTO along with investments in other things, and time to pursue your own startups should you want to shoot the moon for that once-in-a-lifetime money.

But the way it's sold these days reminds me of my little brother who graduated with a sociology degree and couldn't find a job. Working a regular job like retail was below him... but he spent years doing it having a grudge. Whereas I just didn't go to college, worked at a mall kiosk and learned to hack... and picked up my first major clients right there at the mall just by throwing ideas at them.

[edit] I'd also like to add that I've never had an account on Instagram or Facebook, and the idea of trying to monetize a lifestyle - even one I actually had, let alone one I was just faking to gain followers - has always been revolting to me. But mainly for the same reason all self-help guruism is revolting, namely, if a person knows how to be as successful as they claim, they wouldn't need to sell the secret. Anyone who sells a supposed secret is therefore just cynically taking advantage of gullible people, which besides being unethical, doesn't count as an actual accomplishment.