Have you always wanted to travel the world, experience different cultures, and explore the unknown? As a digital nomad, as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection, you can work from anywhere in the world. The nomadic lifestyle can be a fulfilling one. Fortunately, there’ve been more digital nomad jobs popping up allowing more people to work abroad and discover what life is really all about.
If you’re the type of person who wants to live a life of freedom and adventure, this article will help you travel the world as a digital nomad while making sure you have no regrets.
So let’s start the adventure!
What is a Digital Nomad?
A digital nomad is a person who works online while travelling the world. Most people picture a digital nomad as someone who works on their laptop on a beach but that’s not completely accurate. For starters, the sun would probably make it hard for you to see your screen.
Becoming a digital nomad is about creating the perfect work-life balance. The life part is about adding more adventure, fun, excitement and fulfillment to your days. Digital nomads can do this by exploring new countries, experiencing new cultures, and meeting unique people around the world. And the work part involves working online to make passive income to continue experiencing the excitement of exploration and adventure.
How to Become a Digital Nomad
Many people are looking around, searching for the perfect answer to the question of how to become a digital nomad. On just the surface, it may sound like an exciting but frightening experience, but if you have the right tools and the right frame of mind, you can make it work. Here are a number of steps that you can take into consideration before starting your journey as a digital nomad and hopping from one place to another.
Step 1: Be Desperate to Get Away
Many people hate their jobs. But often times, when we hear the stories of digital nomads, we realize that they don’t hate their jobs. They really, really, really hate their jobs. Suffocated. Trapped. Depressed. These are just some of the ways digital nomads feel right before they take the leap. The extreme need to make a drastic change in their lives ultimately leads them towards the nomadic lifestyle. They’re desperate for freedom. This helps motivate them to do whatever it takes to succeed. It’s the desperation that pushes them to go all in. Without this desperation, you might not properly set yourself up for success in your online business. The urgent need to leave your old life behind will also help motivate you during the challenges you’ll face as a digital nomad.
Step 2: Prepare for the Nomadic Lifestyle
Before quitting your 9 to 5 job and packing your bags, you need to make sure that you can do this. In your daydreams, the nomadic lifestyle is perfect for you. It’s all sunshine and rainbows. But all digital nomads eventually face burnout and loneliness from the nomadic lifestyle. It’s a different way of life. But it’s not the cure to all your problems. You’ll have some amazing moments but you’ll also have some unpleasant ones too. It’s all part of the digital nomad package.
The first step in preparing for the nomadic lifestyle is to start creating a side income. Most digital nomads prefer passive income like dropshipping or selling information products. However, there are also digital nomads who work as remote freelancers. You can even find digital nomad jobs by finding positions that allow you to telecommute or work remote. You’ll want to have at least the cost of basic expenses saved up in case of emergencies. That cost will vary depending on which country you’ll be staying in.
The next step is to do a trial run. Take a one or two week vacation from your 9 to 5. During this vacation, you should be travelling to a new place. However, unlike a standard vacation where you relax, this vacation will require you to do some work.
Were you able to be productive while abroad? Did you make enough money from your online projects to pay your bills? Did you run into any issues? For example, some digital nomads experience issues when they’re processing credit card payments in a country outside of where the credit card is registered. That means, if you have an American credit card but are processing cards from Indonesia, you might get flagged for fraud. As a result, you might not be able to process payments.
Step 3: Evaluate – Is being a digital nomad right for you?
The goal of the trial run is to help you learn whether the nomadic lifestyle is right for you. It’ll also help clarify whether you want to be a digital nomad or if it’s just time to find a new job.
After working as a digital nomad for a couple weeks, how did you feel? Did you want to do it again? Were there any things you wanted to better prepare for first? Or did you feel like it wasn’t for you?
Keep in mind trial runs don’t always give an accurate representation of what it’ll be like. There will be some amazing epiphanies you just can’t get in a two week period. However, there will also be some unsettling obstacles that happen over long-term periods as well.