Welcome to Palmtree

In today’s maiden issue

• The return to office lobster trap: one way in ➡ no way out 🛑

• Remote worker vs. digital nomad: let’s quickly sort this out

• Travel tip: the safest way to get cash in your pocket

• Same place, separate realities: Bali, Indonesia (see for yourself 😳)

• Headlines: remote friendly spots, top digital nomad jobs, visas you’ll want

🦞 Is “Return to Office” a lobster trap?

It was inevitable: the pandemic made working from home a thing, but now companies are changing their tune and asking making workers return to office.

For many, Return To Office (RTO) mandates feel unreasonable and restrictive, akin to a lobster trap. Employers argue it’s good for productivity. Skeptics say companies don’t want to lose big money on commercial real estate leases. Lots going on here:

• Remote worker Jay took a $35k paycut to continue working from home so he could care for his ailing father.

• Once remote-friendly companies are now amping up RTO mandates, including Amazon, Meta, Zoom, Salesforce, and Google.

• Dropbox operates on the Virtual First model, which founder Drew Houston sums up as, “Virtual First does not mean remote-only.”

Remote worker vs. digital nomad: 5 key differences

Travel tip

🤑 Get cash from ATMs instead of currency exchanges.

• You’re likely to get a better bank rate and there’s less chance of getting scammed.

• At the ATM, don’t select “convert from your home currency.” Always select “local currency.”

• Get out the maximum cash limit to avoid future ATM fees.

• Not all ATMs charge a fee, you just have to try a few out.

Reality vs. reality: Bali, Indonesia 🇮🇩

Same place, different realities. What do you think?

Latest headlines

• Some of the best places in the world for remote work involves friendlier visas and pleasant climate

• Portugal, Europe’s go-to for expats, is getting slightly less cool about digital nomads

• Tech takes up the top one third of the ”Best Digital Nomad Jobs”

• The cheapest place in Europe to be a digital nomad is…uh, Skopje

• Here’s the full list of all places offering digital nomad visas right now

Stay shaded,
—the Palmtree Editorial Team

🦞

P.S. Reply with anything you want to say.