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Dwelling in Mobility: Reconstructing Everyday Life Meaning among Digital Nomads through Rural Sojourns

Fangyi He, Qingyan Huang
Vol.1, No.4, pp.37-51, 2026 DOI: 10.62051/ajmse.v1n4.05 August 3, 2026
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Abstract: The rapid expansion of digital technologies has enabled a growing number of workers to separate professional activities from fixed workplaces. Digital nomads represent a new form of mobile lifestyle, combining remote work with temporary residence across different locations. However, existing studies have mainly examined their mobility patterns, economic motivations, or destination preferences, while less attention has been paid to how rural sojourns reshape their everyday life meanings. Drawing on the case of Jianya Village in Xi’an, China, this study explores how digital nomads transform from temporary visitors into embedded participants through rural living practices. Based on Xiaohongshu user-generated content, semi-structured interviews, guided topic modeling, emotional meaning analysis, and semantic network analysis, the study investigates the relationship between mobility motivation, rural experience, and identity reconstruction. The findings reveal that digital nomads’ mobility is driven not only by the pursuit of geographical freedom but also by dissatisfaction with urban time pressure and fragmented social relations. Rural spaces provide an urban-rural compatible environment where individuals can maintain professional productivity while reorganizing their temporal rhythms, social connections, and self-perceptions. Rather than being produced by explicit “healing” narratives, the reconstruction of life meaning emerges through accumulated feelings of belonging, relaxation, and autonomy. This study contributes to understanding contemporary forms of mobility and offers implications for the development of rural communities capable of supporting longer-term living practices.
Keywords: Digital Nomads, Rural Sojourn, Everyday Life, Identity Reconstruction, Meaning Reconstruction, Urban-rural Integration
APA Citation: Fangyi He, Qingyan Huang (2026). Dwelling in Mobility: Reconstructing Everyday Life Meaning among Digital Nomads through Rural Sojourns. Academic Journal of Management Science and Engineering, 1(4), 37-51. https://doi.org/10.62051/ajmse.v1n4.05

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