Sure Travel Journey Vol 5.2 Autumn 2019 | Page 18

DEPARTURE LOUNGE // AUTUMN 2019
© MOOSHNY/ADOBESTOCK.COM
Retreats
Digital
THE LATEST BUSINESS TRAVEL TREND HAS LANDED IN SOUTH AFRICA.
MELANIE VAN ZYL SHARES HER EXPERIENCE OF ATTENDING A DIGITAL
NOMAD RETREAT ABROAD AND AT HOME.
It’s not often I take advice from singers,
let alone Dolly Parton, but there’s a
one-liner that has always resonated with
me: “Never get so busy making a living
that you forget to make a life.” And what
better way to make a living (in the real
sense of the word) than to work and
travel simultaneously?
When an opportunity presented itself
for me to explore Sicily on a digital
nomad retreat in 2018, I jumped at the
18 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
chance to join Find Your Pack, even
though I didn’t know what a digital
nomad was.
I now know that a digital nomad is
a new breed of business traveller:
mostly millenials and Gen Zs (the
generations born into the digital era),
whose job enables them to travel
either permanently or part time while
still working. They’re the hipster in the
coffee shops, the programmer with the
laptop on a beach in Bali or, in my case,
the photojournalist in Italy.
My retreat was organised by an
experienced team of professionals
who handled every travel detail, from
the housing, co-working offices and
airport transfers to weekly activities and
workshops, so I could be productive
from the moment I touched down.
Throughout the year, each retreat is
hosted at a different destination and is