In a week, we will reunite with my oldest son, Jonah, who has been living in hostels in New Zealand since last June. The four of us will be in Hawaii for a week, then Steve and Jonah will travel to New Zealand, where they will hike the mountain that was used as the set for Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings. They want to rough it and sleep in Jonah’s van.
Jonah spent the past few months living full-time in a hostel in Tauranga, a beautiful city on the beach. In the shade of an extinct volcano, Jonah palled around with young people from Germany, Italy, and France. In the morning, he worked at the hostel in exchange for his bed. In the afternoon, he freelanced as an AI trainer. Between those two jobs, he had enough money for food and beer. He paid his student loans and phone bills. He even bought a van.
This experience has been life-changing for my kid. He hustled for work, increased his communication skills, and saw incredible places. (He’s here now.) When his visa is up in June, he plans to get a desk job in New York City to save up money and gain in-person job experience. After a year or two, he’ll continue to travel and work remotely.
Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jaimie Dimon, and other technology evangelists often say that AI will end the five-day work week and the need for workers to be located in a particular location. Work is going to change, for sure — the twenty-somethings are already seeing those changes; however, this transition process is going to be very painful and will require massive government assistance programs, like universal healthcare and social support programs. This is going to be a bumpy ride.
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