It's the era of Gen-Z, the digital nomad

I have to acknowledge that it feels a little unusual to spend a week in close proximity to my parents without feeling the urge to pull my hair out.

To be clear, I think they’re fine people, and the standard now seems to be being treated as a “person 30 years younger” rather than a “child” by one’s parents. Perhaps it’s the democratisation of work through technology and the Internet, or maybe it’s certain Gen Xers and baby boomers better understanding the challenges young people face in today’s world.

Whatever the case may be, during this annual holiday time, I found myself noticing not only how I revert and shift from being a “fully formed man” to the “son of two parents”, but also how a deeper awareness of my parents as individuals has finally settled in.

It’s a little political—realising now how my parents thought at my age and how some of my ancestors likely felt in similar circumstances throughout history, whether in Canada or the Middle East. Families can be insular, and I had conditioned myself to believe that I understood my family best.

I was right, and I was wrong. In some ways, I’m more knowledgeable than them, in some ways they are, and our conversations are a little more candid, with greater emotional highs and lows.

This wasn’t something revealed during just one vacation, but there’s a certain reset I experience whenever my immediate family gathers together. I attribute it to being a third-culture kid. Growing up in the UAE, while we had friends and people to celebrate Christmas, the holidays, and Eid when the time came, with “family” came to represent a very defensible home base—a core unit without the associations of distant cousins or grandparents.

This broadly ties into my column for the year ahead: Gen-Z as the digital nomad. I believe we are entering an era defined by this identity. Through my research into AI, labour, journalism, and media, and by learning more about how young people are working and succeeding in Dubai and around the world, I’ve discovered that place and belonging are central to Gen-Z’s identity—but not necessarily tied to a specific location.

I think this is an age where we can begin to acknowledge certain realities; the threat of climate change, the increasing disparity between the wealthy and the poor, and how some people are struggling to survive.