What makes Madeira so special?

[Roy Hersh]

A fine read on Forbes:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tmullen/20 ... rld-apart/

[Eric Ifune]

I know Madeira has been pushing the digital nomad concept the past year and a half. They even opened up a center in Funchal to cater to them. It's for, generally younger, individuals who work on line and who can live and work anywhere they like.
Direct flights from NY to Funchal? I'll have to look into that!

[Glenn E.]

I think the "digital nomad" lifestyle has changed dramatically in the last 2 years because of COVID. My wife's company is now permanently work-from-home, and mine seems to be leaning that way though has not yet made it official.

It isn't as simple as going wherever you want and working from there, though. There are tax considerations both for the nomad and for the company that they work for, which is why some companies that are now allowing work-from-home on a more permanent basis still require that employees live in specific states. It's even more complicated when you're working from a different country.

Time zones also play into it. I can do my job from anywhere because the tools that I use are all cloud based, but I need to be online when everyone else is also online in order to communicate with them directly. So working from Madeira would make my work schedule weird. I normally start work around 8:00 am, but that's 3:00 pm in Madeira. By the time I stop work at 5:00 pm Pacific time, it's midnight in Madeira. (And it would be even worse if I tried to match the work hours of our creatives... their shifts are typically 2-3 hours after mine. I'd have to work until 2:00 or 3:00 am in Madeira to be online at the same time that they're online!)

[Michael R]

Nice article, but calling prince Henry the Navigator a sea captian?

[Eric Menchen]

Time zones also play into it. I can do my job from anywhere because the tools that I use are all cloud based, but I need to be online when everyone else is also online in order to communicate with them directly. So working from Madeira would make my work schedule weird. ...

I do some of my best work 10 pm - 2 am, So Madeira might work out just fine for me. On the other hand, I think part of why I can get a lot done during those hours is because I'm not in meetings or being disturbed by others.

More generally, my company has offices in Europe and Asia as well, and occasionally I have meetings and interactions with them, so there is no perfect time zone to be in.