How to became a Digital Nomad?
There is many pictures on the web, wherever you browse reddit, instagram, facebook or any other social media you probably have seen uncountable number of remote workers sitting on a white sand beach, next to the palms, with laptop in the hand, making an income and living “a dream”. It probably get the thought passed through your head thinking : how they can do that and can I do that too?
We all know that remote work isn’t exactly as simple as sitting by the pool with your computer on your lap and grabbing that tan from the sun. It does indeed require a hard work to get right income stream going as well as more self discipline and dedication to keep it going. It would be very easy to skip out work to go explore instead, so you really need to keep your head straight while maintain your work properly and self disciplining yourself to stay on track.
You can move to remote areas or countries which do not come with strong infrastructure, this way you need to stay creative when it comes to tools you require for your work. There are things like electricity, internet as well as equipment which is required for work, picturing a man with his laptop on the beach we keep forgetting about other aspects, what if this man need to go to the loo? will his laptop disappear then or he will need to take it with him? What about other crimes in the area, anything is possible these days and the “dream” job might end up to be a real pain. You need to think about backup constantly, you also need to realise that safety is a number one priority.
Maybe to answer on how to become a digital nomad, we first need to analyse on what this actually means. The term digital nomad is used as a description for many different types of location where independent workers from people who have passive income streams to those who work within specific economy as they move about. The main characteristic that all digital nomads have in common is that they usually spend a period of time abroad each year, they are constantly on the move and take their income while working online. Digital nomad can take a real advantage making average wage but spending on life in counties like Thailand or Bali maximising their saving rate as well as having a cushy lifestyle. This is because in countries like that average income is much, much lower than his own, he is able to take advantage of economy, if we picture the same person going to London, Paris or New York, things wouldn’t work exactly same way…
Whatever income level you are currently on, the goal is to become a digital nomad so you can have the freedom to work and travel across the globe. So let’s move to on how you can become a digital nomad, bear in mind this is a loose guideline to help you get an idea as some of these might not work for your circumstances or desires.
- Start by reducing location ties and expenditures
If you wish to be successful in your plan you need to start by preparing to that very different lifestyle. You need to switch to a model where less is more, ideally you want to be able to take all you have in a backpack, it will be a start to get rid of some of your possessions and invest wisely to still have some sort of point of connection with your current place of living. You definitely want to have a address to maintain everything properly, you may want to speak with family member or a friend about using their address, you also may want to purchase a NAS server (network attached storage), so you can keep all your data backups as well as use it as your own VPN server. of course there are alternative options like cloud services as well as VPN services but it might be cheaper to have your own server, this way you will also have more freedom as well as space. Start eliminating all your retainer services, think if you need that gym membership, or that car, start by cutting everything now and slowly moving your job to your home first so you can learn how to work remotely and once you master this, you can start travelling the world while working. You should of course get rid of any debts you may have and pay of the credit card but certainly keep it, you will need it to purchase your flight tickets, some health insurance and so on, remember that to rent a car or moped you will require a credit card. If you own a house, think about renting it out, it may pay for mortgage as well as fund your lifestyle abroad. Make sure to have a decent savings and emergency fund, do your research on where you are going.
- Find and join digital nomad community
There are plenty of forums online where you can join communities and find frequently asked questions which are answered by people who were exactly in the position you are now. It is worth reading the threads to see what you can expect. Don’t be afraid to approach someone privately, they will be probably more than happy to tell their story. There is plenty of tips which you will find useful for selecting your next new home base.
- You must identify your skills
You really need to spend some time trying to identifying your actually skills you possess so you can monetise them online. You of course need to have a knowledge on how to use computer and internet but troubleshooting problems which may occur while doing so need to be really mastered by you too. The good news is in today’s day and age, you can learn about anything online, there is plenty of tutorials in form of articles as well as YouTube videos that you can find answer to any problem you may come across. Common remote work skills are writing, marketing, computer design, sales, engineering. See what you are good at and think if you can take it to the internet.
- Consider becoming a freelancer
It’s good to have work and have a stable income but you also have loads of time which you can use to create more income, there are many online places where you can advertise your skills and make some decent profits, there is anything from freelance gigs, virtual assistants, photographers or even accountants and consultants. By starting doing little projects on side you can actually build a business. Best is to create a plan and stick to it as only this way you can stay consistent and on top of your agenda.
Are you considering to become a Digital Nomad? Or maybe you are one of them already? Let me know in the comment section below.
All the best,
Lucas
