Lona Alia and her husband are digital nomads, working remotely while traveling the world with their children. They save money this way through “geo-arbitrage,” living in lower-cost countries while earning a US salary.

Source: How a digital nomad mom of 2 used ‘geo-arbitrage’ to save thousands on food and childcare while working from multiple countries

Yep, an ordinary Mom of 2 traveling the world and working remotely … yes, even you can do this, of course.

This story left out a few things:

• She is an upper-level manager at a company that sells global health insurance for remote workers … her husband works for the same company
• She was born in Albania, moved to the US at age 15, and attended university in the U.S. (Other reports say she was modeling in Albania at age 16, which conflicts with the age 15 move to the U.S. and her own statement that she grew up for ten years in Albania – confusing)
• She has native language proficiency in Albanian, proficient in English, Italian and speaks some German, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish.
• In addition to a BS in the US, she did her MBA at the Hult International Business School
• Did an EU internship in Albania
• Did an Entrepreneur in Residence in Switzerland
• Worked in SF, then NYC, and now works remotely for a Norway based company.
• Was founder and CEO of a business.
• Has traveled to over 60 countries. (Actually 80 now.)
• She almost certainly has EU citizenship and US residency so they can bypass the 90-day visa stay limit restrictions.

She also had pretty privilege, having worked as a model from age 16 onwards.

Right. Any of us could pack up the kids and traipse around the world, working remotely.

This story is not the subject’s fault but the lack of diligence by the reporters and editor who left out so much, to spin their “Mom of 2” meme, that this constitutes fake news.

The media just manipulated you by leaving out the rest of the story.

I write about global thinking at my Travel blog.  Having global experience is 100% essential to anyone in the U.S. (and probably elsewhere) seeking to achieve professional success in the 21st century.

I come at this from the perspective of being globally naive and lacking international experience. I had not been to Europe for the first time until 2022 – and I am at the end of my career.

• 93% of those with a college degree in the U.S., have traveled internationally. 70% have been to 3 or more countries.
• Per both Forbes and Bloomberg, an estimated 40% of Americans qualify for EU citizenship due to right of descent, ancestry immigration programs.
• An estimated 1 in 3 Americans were born abroad, studied, lived or worked abroad.
• 100% of my colleagues who advanced in their careers had substantial global experience. My career flatlined (I was also suffering from the effects of multiple traumatic brain injuries, unfortunately.)
• An overwhelming majority of my professional colleagues had international experience; many were born abroad.

Having global experience is essential today; if you don’t have it, your professional career will soon flat line.

Read much more about that at my other blog.