Digital Nomad Travel News You Need to Know for 2025 Planning
Closures and convergence in the nomad group travel space, plus new digital nomad visa options to extend your stays.
I’m deep into travel planning for next year, but a few news headlines have come across my desk this past week that are changing things up a bit.
If you want to join some nomad community trips or visit coliving spaces this year, here are a few developments to have on your radar — plus, we’ll take a look at new nomad visas that are making things interesting for slow-mads and longer-term travelers.
Remote Year is OVER
This is a truly sad development, as one of the original — if not THE OG — remote travel groups has closed its virtual doors for good. RY let digital nomads hop into planned itineraries for one, four, or twelve-month stints worldwide.
Every page on the RY website now redirects to this announcement:
It’s a great loss for the nomad community, particularly for their loyal travelers. I got into HP first and hadn’t travelled with RY, but they were on my radar to try out now that I’m looking at travelling more (and longer) in 2025/26.
Remote Year isn’t the only nomad travel company undergoing massive changes.
Hacker Paradise and Noma Collective Have Merged
I received an email on December 22 from Hacker Paradise with some huge news: they’ve been acquired by Noma Collective. Already, HP’s trips are displaying on Noma’s website:
Like HP, Noma Collective specializes in taking care of the logistics and curating trips that allow digital nomads/remote workers of all kinds to experience cool places as part of a small community.
I’m never traveled with Noma but on the surface, this one makes sense. The two options didn’t seem dramatically different, and if sharing resources and staff makes this new brand more sustainable, I’m all for it. I already have an HP trip bought and paid for in 2025, though I haven’t decided which destination yet.
New Nomad Visa Options to Check Out
The trips I’m planning for 2025 will be 4-6 weeks in length tops, as we have a lot going on right now. But we’re getting to that place where my youngest is graduating high school, my husband is inching closer to retirement, and I’ve been transitioning out of timezone-sensitive work.
There are so many places I want to see, but we’re keeping our eyes on longer term options for the 3-5 year horizon, too. Here are a few new longer-term nomad visa options to have on your radar.
Kazakhstan launched a 1-year B12-1 digital nomad visa
Kazakhstan’s Neo Nomad Visa launched November 18, 2024, and allows you to stay for up to one year, with an optional one-year renewal.
Why Kazakhstan? NomadList puts the cost of living for nomads around $1350 to $1700 USD per month and it gets high ratings for safety and likability from previous visitors. It’s an ethnically rich and diverse country with mountainous scenery in the south, and stunning architecture with modern amenities in major cities. I don’t know if it’s the place for me, but you never know!
Taiwan’s Six-Month Nomad Visa Launches in January 2025
Now, this one is high on my list. Asia will be my seventh continent, and Taipei is right up there with the Philippines, Japan, and Vietnam on places I want to spend some real time once I get there.
Taiwan just announced a new six-month digital nomad visa option on December 20, and it’s available beginning in January. The country’s National Development Council said they’re particularly interested in nomads from Japan and South Korea, but I hope they’re open to middle-aged Canadian writers, too. 😉
Kenya’s Nomad Visa Open to Nomads with $55,000+ Income
Kenya wants more visitors to come and stay longer, but you’ll have to prove you have a substantial income from outside the country. A new nomad visa launched in October allows visitors to get an extension on the standard three-month stay for a total of six months.
You’ll need a valid passport, proof of remote work outside Kenya, proof of accommodation within Kenya, and a clean criminal record to qualify. But can you imagine taking a weekend trip to Maasai Mara National Reserve, or maybe heading off to Amboseli National Park for a few days? We’re talking wildebeest migrations, pristine beaches, fragrant street foods… for MONTHS!
Other Nomad Visas to Check Out
A few other nomad visa options intriguing me at the moment include:
Japan’s 6-month nomad visa for a remote worker and their spouse or child
South Korea’s 1-year nomad visa, though it’s not open to freelancers
Italy’s visas for digital nomads or remote workers, which have different definitions that impact the entry requirements
Turkey’s nomad visa for those between the ages of 21 and 55, especially intriguing as I’ve been eyeing a hospital in Turkey for healthcare services
Uruguay’s digital nomad permit, which allows you to live in South America’s safest country for six to twelve months
Hektor Container Hotel in Tallinn is Closing
This one hits me in the feels. As an e-resident of Estonia who’s traveled to Tallinn several times on business, I’m devastated to see Hektor’s shipping container hotel/coliving and coworking space close down.
I damaged my e-residency card recently and was checking out Hektor’s rates in case I needed to make a quick trip back to Tallinn (ended up making the drive to Ottawa instead). I wasn’t able to search rates for 2025 and thought there must have been a glitch with the website.
Guess not 😢
A lot of time, energy, and passion went into remodeling this old Soviet-era factory as a container hotel, and it’s one of the coolest places I’ve ever stayed. Since I began visiting Hektor in 2021, I’ve referred to it often as a great example of repurposing industrial space into effective co-housing, too. I really, really wish this one had worked out. And listen, maybe in another time and location, it could have. Hektor’s founders opened the Tallinn location in February 2020, just about the worst time in modern history to open a hotel.
They have a second location in Tartu, but right now I don’t see any availability in their booking engine after March 30, 2025.
Hopefully this doesn’t spell the end of the whole brand, because they created truly genius coliving + coworking spaces. Or maybe there’s a buyer waiting in the wings who will keep this innovative place intact…? We can only hope.
That’s it for now. What else is on your mind as you’re planning your next steps? Full subscribers can always join the conversation in the comments!
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