How to Become a Digital Nomad—Step by Step

Serial entrepreneur and traveler, founder of adventoor and goodlifebydoris.com

Working from anywhere in the world has become more available than ever. The exciting lifestyle of a digital nomad is not a distant dream anymore. Nevertheless, it’s good to be prepared. Here are all the resources and ideas that will help you start this journey.

Let’s start with a question: Who are digital nomads?

To put it simply, digital nomads are people who run a nomadic, non-traditional lifestyle, without settling in one place. Work is for them merely a means to support such a lifestyle. That’s it.

Being a digital nomad isn’t the same as having remote work or freelancing. The clue to understanding digital nomads is their preference to be always on the move, without having a home anywhere.

Disclaimer: I’ve never considered myself a digital nomad. I like traveling—and traveling a lot—but I need to have my one place on earth to come back to in order to feel happy. I appreciate the stability and warmth of a home. I realized that what I really need is to have the choice. It isn’t so much about traveling as it is about being able to spend time and money my own way.

If you search for different ways of combining career and traveling, read this article.

But if you want to have all the freedom and diversity the digital nomadism offers, then you’re at the right place.

In this post, you’ll find everything you need to start this exciting, new lifestyle.

Basic Rules & Making Money

Digital nomads usually aren’t interested in a regular, remote job as they want to escape 9 to 5. Thus, their primary sources of income are freelancing or online business. Of course, there are some differences between these two ways of earning money. Still, in essence, the skills and mindset you need to become successful at any of them are quite similar.

Tips on becoming an effective, well-paid freelancer or successful online business owner (you’ll find detailed info/advice in the links):

1) Use the career capital exercise to establish your unique set of skills;

2) Consider starting a side hustle and earn some money before you take a plunge;

3) Create your first product and start to sell it;

4) Find first clients and ask them for feedback and recommendations;

5) Create a financial cushion of at least six months of estimated living expenses to avoid becoming desperate;

6) Accept the responsibility and “being your boss” mindset, focus on productivity;

7) Embrace the minimalist lifestyle, learn to pack light.

How to earn money:

– blogging, YouTubing, being a social media influencer;

– content creation, copywriting;

– video editing;

– website creation, IT support;

– creating online courses;

– translations, teaching languages, etc.

– marketing services, social media

– content creation;

– writing books/ebooks;

– accounting services;

– consulting;

– becoming a virtual assistant.

… and many, many more!

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Books

If you need some inspiration, motivation and specific advice on becoming a digital nomad, these books may come in handy:

Tim Ferris “4-hour Workweek”—an absolute classic, this book never gets old; it changed many lives, including mine;

Chris Guillebeau “The $100 Startup”—sometimes creating a business is not about having a lot of money to start, but rather having grit and creativity; this book includes lots of interesting case studies;

Robert Kiyosaki “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”—this book is very famous for a reason; it’s considered life-changing by many of my friends;

Cal Newport “So Good They Can’t Ignore You”—a great read about using your unique skills to leverage your career and find happiness;

Charles Duhigg “The Power of Habit”—classic read about the importance of small steps; for some people, the book is too simple; some find it very motivating;

James Clear “Atomic Habits”—practical guide on how to create good habits and break bad ones;

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson “Remote: Office Not Required”—written by Basecamp founders, this book covers the topic of remote work from both the employer’s and employee’s perspectives;

James Altucher “Choose Yourself”—alternative rules of life from a person who took the plunge; some people love this book; some people find it too simple.

Gary Vaynerchuk “Crush It!”—the author has a big personality and multiple businesses, and this book is a summary of his ideas, very motivating;

Chris Ducker “Virtual Freedom”—a book focusing on the practical side of working with virtual assistants;

Rolf Potts “Vagabonding”—this book focuses on the practical and emotional side of long-term travel, including embracing minimalism and simplicity.

Websites

There are numerous blogs and websites with useful resources for digital nomads (and digital nomads-to-be). These are among the most popular and interesting:

Nomad List—a list of best places to live and work as a digital nomad;

Workfrom—a community of digital nomads and a list of great spots to work from;

Nomads Nation—website that gathers useful info for digital nomads;

Nomadic Matt—focused more on traveling than earning money, but still full of great travel resources and advice;

Wandering Earl—lots of great advice and resources from an experienced digital nomad

Get In the Hot Spot—great, especially if you want to start your journey later in life

Julia Dimon—well-known family travel expert, a long-term digital nomad and skilled businesswoman;

Earth Trekkers—this family convinces you that anything is possible, even going to the Everest Base Camp with kids.

Nomad Capitalist—“Go where you’re treated best” is a motto of this website, filled with excellent, thorough research and advice.

Living & Paperwork

Sometimes we’re so excited by the notion of following our dream that we forget about the boring but important stuff. Don’t make this mistake!

Accommodation

There are numerous ways of finding accommodation as a digital nomad. It all depends on the style of travel. Some nomads like to stay in one place for a few months before moving to another location, so they search for places that would feel like home for a more extended period. Others want to stay almost always on the road and change their accommodation every few days or weeks.

Choosing a specific place to stay should depend on your individual preferences. Don’t limit yourself to booking.com, Airbnb or hostels. In many places in the world, local websites are the best sources of lovely places to stay.

Visas

No explanation is needed with this one. Our passports can have different strengths, and different visa requirements apply. You need to check visa requirements before entering each country, especially if you plan to stay there and work there for an extended period.

Insurance

This is an essential but often overlooked issue. Make sure you’ll have at least a decent medical insurance in places you’d like to live.

Taxes

The general rule for tax residency is that if you spend 183 days or more in a country, you are a tax resident (but often there are some additional rules). It may seem tempting to not spend anywhere such an amount of time and avoid being personally fiscally resident in any country. Still, it’s harder in practice than it sounds as governments can claim your tax residency based on other criteria. It’s a complicated issue, though, so you always need to find out about your own country’s taxation rules.

Meeting people

Finding friends while traveling can be challenging, but it’s an adventure of its own. The possibility to meet incredible people worldwide is one of the greatest perks of being a digital nomad.

How to get to know people in different places in the world:

– Meetups (based on location, the language you speak, professional interests or hobbies)

– Coworking spaces

– Staying in hostels

– Facebook groups (Digital Nomads Around The World, Digital Nomads—The Solo Female Traveling Network, GOOD LIFE Community—Career and Traveling)

Pros and cons

A lifestyle of a digital nomad should be a conscious choice. To many people, the advantages of this lifestyle are worth the risk. Nevertheless, some people need routine and stability, and these people would probably be better with a different way of life.

Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of being a digital nomad.

Pros:

– flexible schedule

– location independence, exciting new destinations;

– possibility to spend more time in affordable places;

– meeting incredible people;

– inspiring others and being inspired;

– being your own boss;

– escaping office politics;

– possibility to have a healthy, active lifestyle;

– personal growth.

Cons:

– big responsibility;

– loneliness, difficulty to nourish long-term relationships;

– no sense of home or belonging;

– feeling misunderstood by others;

– time management issues, many distractions;

– usually: financial uncertainty

– lack of a stable career;

– FOMO;

– paperwork challenges (taxes, visas, insurance, banking, etc.).

So, are you ready to become a digital nomad?

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