The article makes some valid points. I did a year and a half working as a "digital nomad" traveling through the middle east, Europe and Africa. It was an incredible part of my life - just an incredibly dense stream of experiences; some good and some bad, some fun, some challenging, from pure joy to wrenching heartbreak and everything in between.
There was a lot of superficial joy and excitement during that period. And as the article says, there were times when the novelty of going somewhere new, seeing the sights, meeting new people wore off, and that was really depressing. I felt the lack of roots: of having people who really knew me around, and having the chance to build things which take time and stability.
At the same time, there were a lot of real experiences that time. I faced and overcame certain challenges, and I met certain people, and I had certain experiences which fundamentally changed who I am and how I and how I approach the world. And just that project of living with something approaching to absolute freedom for an extended period allowed me to choose who I want to be in a way which would not have been possible otherwise.
I'm on a different project now, and I don't think I will be disappearing for a year and a half any time soon, but I still find travel to be an incredibly valuable tool. I like to set up trips which include the right mix of planning and improvisation to put me in that mindset where I have to be open to possibility and really engage with the world around me. Almost like an experiment where certain parameters are set in order to test myself in a certain way. And I have found that during a trip, or coming back from one, is often when I can think the most clearly about my life and make important decisions.
Travel will not solve your problems on its own, but it can certainly help.
I wouldn’t discount alternative environments for stimulating latent or dorment parts of a person, but you certainly have a good point about the perennial capacity for self transformation