How to travel the world while working - Digital nomad life

How to travel the world while working is the only guide you need about a digital nomad life. Follow in these easy footsteps of the digital nomadic lifestyle!

A digital nomad life or a nomadic lifestyle means your life is constantly moving. As a digital nomad, you will not have a fixed home address, and your home will be on those epic roads of the world. Nowadays, the digital nomad lifestyle has become quite popular, and it is growing daily. Today, there are many location-independent workers thanks to global digitalization. The number of 3.2 million digital nomads that replaced their traditional jobs in 2019 rose to an incredibly 6.3 million in 2020! That is a massive 96% increase in digital nomads in just one year! Nowadays, out of 328 million, 7.3 million Americans state they are digital nomads!

Probably the COVID pandemic helped those numbers to grow, but still, that is a massive number, would you agree? So bare with me; here is what you need to know before embarking on your digital nomad life journey:

– Being “your boss” – you still have to work, but you can work whenever and wherever you want. For instance, you can enjoy a digital nomad lifestyle in Serbia.

– Freedom – whatever that may mean for every individual

-Possibility to change locations, to often travel, and to see many fascinating outdoor places

-Ability to express, to be creative and innovative

-You can plan many events and trips ahead

– Ability to work from your bed or anywhere else where you feel the most comfortable, relaxed, and rested

– You can eat and work 🙂

– You can pick any place to call your home. Remember, home is a feeling – not a place!

– Ditching the toxic office environment and unhelpful colleagues

– Learning new skills, culture, languages, people, etc

– Saving money by living in low-cost places around the world

– Flexibility

– Personal growth

– Networking

– Digital nomad life requires organizational skills. You have to be a well-organized person to lead a successful digital nomad life

– A healthy and balanced life can be a struggle

– You will often have a minimum time to do the basic household things

– The feeling of loneliness that comes more often

– Lack of the sense of belonging somewhere – which is 50-50 a bad and a good thing

-It is not easy as many people think. Digital nomads usually work more than people who work regular 9-5 jobs

– You will probably move often

– Your productivity can often suffer

– “I don’t have anything to wear” moments

– Different shifts

– You have to be in civilization, at least during the workweek

– Always being able to find a way to solve the problem on the road

– You may experience breakdowns when the internet connection becomes bad. Your job depends on your internet connection

– Lack of private space, your toilet seat, your bed, etc

– Often lack stability – mental, financial, etc

– No steady income

– Staying in shape can be hard

– Burnouts and homesickness

– Lack of benefits and security

Before quitting your traditional job and embarking on a digital nomad life, you have to figure out how to start making money online. In the beginning, it can be hard to choose what suits you the best. Firstly, decide between the two things: remote work or entrepreneurship. Decide whether you want to -and can work – as an entrepreneur with your own company or work for other companies remotely. 

More and more businesses are turning to remote work. Why? Well, that is how the companies reduce the physical costs of the company: such as office space, etc. Thus, there is plenty of choices out there, and there is room for everyone!

• Consulting
• YouTubers
• Selling On Amazon, Etsy, and such
• Creating Online Courses
• Freelance Writers
• Website Designers
• Language Education
• Virtual Assistants
• Blogging
• SEO Agency Work
• Customer Service
• Bookkeeping
• Software Developers
• Marketing

Here are some of the useful, and popular sites to find work as a digital nomad:

– Remote

– College Recruiter

– Flex Jobs

– Working Traveller

– We Work Remotely

– Upwork 

– Fiverr

– Indeed

– Solid Gigs

No, it is not easy to be a digital nomad. Indeed, it is not easy to transition from a traditional job to a digital nomad life. Many people may google: “How to travel the world?” and end up finding loads of suggestions to become a digital nomad. However, many of those sources are not so realistic. The digital nomad lifestyle requires us to live with as little as possible. For sure, no one moves around and travels around with so many suitcases. That, however, brings its benefits and downsides. But the best part of it – over time, you learn how little we need to live!

You must decide how much money you will need every month. Then, you can travel and live in the desired country. Then, find remote jobs, and those will enable you to live and work. Basically from anywhere in the world. For example, be a digital nomad in Croatia and enjoy Croatia adventure tours in the meantime!

It is true, I have to tell you – digital nomad life is not for everyone. Before looking at how to become a digital nomad, you should do one crucial thing. You shall rethink all the aspects that make one a digital nomad. So please, ask yourself some questions: Am I ready to live on the road? Am I ready, or not, to not have a steady income? Am I ready to ditch most of the material things I have now? The most important question to ask yourself is: Am I ready to miss my family, friends, and everything I have achieved so far?

If you are an open-minded person, the one who is ready for challenges of all kinds, able to get around and accommodate easily in every setting, and feels okay sharing your living space if needed, then digital nomad life is perfect for you! Besides, you can try it out and see how it works! Think also about the knowledge, and abilities you will learn. The more you are willing to learn – the more you will earn. Education is the key, and it opens many doors, many of them you did not even know existed!

Digital nomad lifestyle is not for you if you are hard to get out of your comfort zone. Also, digital nomad life is not for you if you are not an open-minded person and ready for challenges. Plus, and if you lack any discipline whatsoever. Digital nomad life requires discipline because there won’t be your regular office or boss who is setting up an hour when you have to be at your workplace.

Sure, you will have deadlines, but you will be freer to work to accomplish those deadlines wherever and however, you want. But there will be only you who will force your inner worker to do all the working obligations. If that already sounds hard for you, then you might reconsider your choice of enrolling in a digital nomad lifestyle.

In all honestly, there is no such thing as a specific formula or a path you shall follow to become a digital nomad. Everyone has a different story, and what worked for someone else might not work for you. However, if you have no clue where to start and how to become a digital nomad, here are ten simple steps you can follow to complete your journey and make your dreams come true!

1. Figure out what are your: desires, goals, skills, and are you willing to do all it takes to start having a digital nomad life?
2. Before quitting your traditional job, start reducing your expenses and cut out your passion for materialistic things
3. Explore locations, destinations – especially digital nomad-friendly places around the world. You cannot live in the middle of the desert or the jungle and be a digital nomad. You will need a stable internet connection and such. I mean, you sure can live there, but it is a LOT harder.
4. Join digital nomad communities on Facebook, Linked In, Reddit, etc.
5. Identify your skills, and if some skills need improvement 
6. Become a freelancer
7. Research about entrepreneurship and consider becoming an entrepreneur who started his own business
8. Consider first studying abroad or working a traditional job there – it can be a great way to start and explore your chances once you are abroad
9. Picture your future digital nomad life and figure out how you want to live
10. Create a plan and try to stick to it, but always have a backup plan for a digital nomad lifestyle

To sum it up, if you wish to become a digital nomad and start being location-independent. You have to do research and start working towards your goal – NOW! If you do it properly, you can embark on within a few weeks and build a sustainable and functional business that provides you with a solid income to live on in a year or two!
With all the information above, it will be much easier to learn how to travel the world and how to start having your dream – digital nomad life! So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start chasing your digital nomad life dreams!