Winter 2020-21 is coming and digital nomads and remote workers are looking for an escape strategy.
As many of the usual winter escape destinations are out of business or closing due to COVID travel restrictions, the pool of options keeps getting smaller.
Knowing all of this, we decided to ask a few hundreds of seasoned travelers what destinations attract them the most this winter and where they will be working from over the months to come.
To find out, we asked in the 2 biggest digital nomads Facebook groups – with more than 200,000 members!
Digital nomads’ winter escape plan revealed
The following data should be taken as an estimation of the best places to escape winter since lots of travelers are planning to spend it in multiple destinations or might simply change their plans depending on the ever-changing travel restrictions.
More than 500 people responded, commented, or voted and all together mentioned around 40 different destinations. Mexico outnumbered all of them. The second-place winner was the Canary Islands in Spain, and the third was Portugal.
Based on the data and our estimation, we could say every 5th digital nomad is considering working from Mexico this winter.
The most popular choice in Mexico was Playa del Carmen which has been a hotspot for a while. Around 80% of respondents choosing Mexico mentioned this digital nomad hub.
Data source: FB Groups (Global Digital Nomad Network & Digital Nomads Around the World)
The 2020 unexpected pandemic unquestionably changed the known and best digital nomad country list, and winter escape hotspot rankings changed accordingly.
In previous years, Bali (Indonesia), Thailand were always the most popular places to visit but their strict travel requirements discourage digital nomads at the moment.
What makes digital nomads so excited about Mexico?
Mexico’s “Traffic Light Strategy” to manage travel restrictions has attracted an unstoppable flow of visitors from the United States and Europe in the summer and autumn of 2020.
This straightforward strategy allows visitors to identify at first sight what states are open, what restrictions they have, and what they can do for fun in each of them.
Last but not least, visitors do not need any COVID test or undergo quarantine. Local rules such as mandatory masks, social distancing, and regular temperature checks haven’t discouraged tourists, backpackers, and remote workers yet.