Digital nomads flee virus-hit Manila for shattered tourist towns

Digital nomads flee virus-hit Manila for shattered tourist towns

After months cooped up in coronavirus-hit Manila, Tanya Mariano fled the Philippine capital to work from the beach, joining a growing number of digital nomads helping a devastated tourism industry stay afloat. A ban on foreign holidaymakers entering the archipelago nation and domestic travel curbs since the pandemic began last year have forced many operators to close and wiped out millions of jobs.

Many digital workers in congested Manila, fearing COVID-19 and fed up with lockdowns and restrictions, are escaping to largely deserted nature hotspots to do their jobs - injecting much-needed money into communities dependent on outside visitors. Sitting with her laptop on the balcony of the ocean-view apartment she rents with her boyfriend in San Juan, a surf town several hours north of her home, Mariano says the move has been a "big quality of life improvement“.

"Being close to the ocean, being close to nature is very calming,“ said Mariano, 37, a freelance writer and communications specialist. "When I'm in a meeting, usually Zoom or Google Meet, I try not to use the beach as my background - I just show people the wall so they don't hate me.“ There are no official figures on the number of people