For so many people in the world, well, maybe for all, 2020 did not go exactly according to their plan. Freelance journalists and photographers, digital nomads, writers, and all those who needn’t an office to do their work were traveling around when the immediate quarantine and lookdowns started. Many countries closed their borders and getting back home was as hard as finding a cure for the new COVID-19.
Those who traveled to Tulum in Mexico have an interesting story to tell. While after some months some destinations had resumed their work, Tulum gained this reputation as a hot spot for digital nomads, promising decent Wi-Fi and phenomenal beaches. Though Pre-pandemic remote workers were familiar with a lifestyle that needs changing countries every now and then, nobody ever thought they would be stuck in one place which is the digital nomad’s nightmare. When Mexico reopened its borders some rush for Tulum but then again, there was a lockdown.
When the lockdown hit Tulum, businesses did their best to weather the storm of cancellations, and the path to a safe reopening spurred hotels and restaurants to operate within the new protocols. The good news and maybe a neat tactic that Mexico picked up that it had a national stoplight system that set the reopening limits for each state depending on the number of COVID-19 cases. Though Riviera Maya jumped ahead from yellow to orange, all the beaches will stay open.
When Tulum first emerged as a stop on the backpacker trail, there were no social media, there was only the jungle, the sea, the ruins, and the cenotes. All these things can still be easily enjoyed if you put some distance between you and your fellow travelers and respect for the local businesses and communities that make Tulum possible. So all digital nomads were safe in the end and could continue their work and come and go as they please, thanks to Mexico’s policy.