“The Digital Nomad Handbook: Step-by-step How to Break Free”

Introduction

Dream Scenario

Imagine waking up to the cheerful melody of tropical birds, feeling completely re-energized. You brew a cup of locally grown coffee, kick-starting a day filled with inspiration and productivity. Post-gym, explore the local market, relishing a breakfast of fresh, locally sourced ingredients and a revitalizing juice. Returning with post-exercise mental clarity and another cup of coffee, you accomplish your work goals. Satisfied, you contemplate spending the afternoon surfing at the beach or joining a yoga class. This digital nomad handbook can help make this dream a reality!

Other Digital Nomad Options

This is just one possibility of what working for yourself and living in a new, cheap, foreign, and hopefully beautiful would look like.

Live in Ecuador for a month. If you love it, stay until your visa expires. If not, explore Peru, Colombia, or Costa Rica next. Consider living in a Spanish village after Portugal or investing in an affordable Italian house for rental or personal use. Why not island hope the Philippines and try to find the ultimate beach town to live in?

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to travel the world and experience all the world has to offer. Discover the thrill of leaving familiarity behind. From a lifelong locale, embrace the freedom to pack essentials and explore worldwide.

Travel Positively

“Why not travel? The world’s a stunning place, teeming with beauty, joy, and warm-hearted people. Embrace the adventure!”

Earn in your local currency, relocate to places like Argentina with favorable exchange rates. This allows one to live luxuriously as a digital nomad.

“Mexico offers favorable exchange rates, making it affordable for Americans to move. Explore Southeast Asia—consider Bali, where living costs align with breathtaking scenery.”

Settle in, grab coffee, and prepare mentally. Learn the steps needed to turn this vision into reality.

Digital Nomad – Definition, Pros & Cons

Digital nomads existed pre-lockdowns; their rise isn’t solely due to lockdowns, but remote work surged significantly after the pandemic restrictions. People have been working remotely almost as soon as desktop computers with internet connection have been around. The only difference now is the world had an awakening when they were ordered to work from home for the sake of the world economy.

Therefore, as you can see being a nomad can involve working online and often times not. For the sake of this article we will focus on digital nomads although, it applies to both the same.

Remote work continues to dominate online discussions. Many prefer it, while a minority, especially in real estate, oil, and automotive sectors, resist change.

Pros

The benefits of working remotely and being a digital nomad are many but just to be fair there are drawbacks as well. The people choosing for the digital nomad life as usually well aware of these and make a conscious choice to live this lifestyle.

Explore stunning beaches, climb breathtaking mountains, savor exotic cuisine. Benefit from global experiences, create lasting memories, and cultivate a fulfilling, expanded perspective. Finally, coming out of your comfort zone and connecting with more people would always be a great benefit as well.

Cons

Less comfort, potential loneliness, challenging dating, travel hassles, bureaucracy, culture shock, and occasional digestive issues come with nomadic living.

I was stung by a manta ray in the Riviera Maya while walking in the ocean with water shoes. Although unpleasant, it remains a memorable, survivable experience. I’m eternally Grateful for the lesson learned.

Crucial Digital Nomad Skills

Everyone possesses unique skills; however, for online success, focus on abilities that translate into profitable opportunities in the digital realm. Unless you inherited a fortune or saved diligently, adapt skills for online work if tied to a physical location.

This work can include blogging, vlogging, Forex or stock trading, consulting work, teaching, coaching, etc. Perhaps you are already doing this and making money online while creating your own schedule. If so skip ahead to the rest of the article, this section is not for you since you are clearly an overachiever.

However, unless you’re Liam Neeson and you already have a certain set of skills I suggest learning skills that can make you money online, preferably in something you love or are passionate about.

Finding Your Passion As A Digital Nomad

How do you know if you’re passionate about it?

If it brings you joy and it makes you money then don’t think about it and just do it!

Choose stock trading or online teaching. Build your side gig slowly before confidently transitioning to a full-fledged digital nomad life. Consequently, I suggest taking a leave of absence if available for as long as you can while still keeping your job just in case there’s the slim chance life on the world takes a toll quickly or it simply isn’t what you thought it might be.

Transition to Online Work

As stated above, try to keep your full-time job as long as you can in order to maximize your income as long as you can while transitioning to an online job or income generator. As a result, your savings will come in clutch on the road so bring the gravy as long as possible.

Start your side hustle as soon as you decide you want to become a digital nomad. This will maximize your experience. To develop skills needed to transition to an online job will can gain skills by joining the various free online courses offered on Udemy, Coursera, and even Harvard University. Seriously though, a combination of YouTube videos + google searches can provide tons of free education.

Build a portfolio and client list as soon as possible because this needs to build up to a point where it can sustain your travels while on the road. With regards to that, this means building a portfolio on sites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Toptal. In addition to those options, numerous other unconventional ways of making money with websites like taking surveys, watching videos, and trying out apps. Finally, for full-time type jobs check out flexjobs, Indeed, and ziprecruiter.

Digital Nomad Career Examples

Drop the Starbucks and avocado toast aka Save Some Cash

Save save save! – Live a life of minimalism while preparing to travel full-time. Be Amish for a while. In addition, sell you tv, make your own butter, and grow a Led Zeppelin-esque beard. While I am kidding, it’s not necessary to wear overalls you should definitely cut down as much as possible on your splurge items. Finally, splurge items things you spend money on to comfort you as make you feel better about you but that are not necessary.

Now don’t hate me for this, but that means Starbucks, that means sushi, that means items like caviar scented truffle oil that you can pass on that will save you tons of money in the long run. Emphasis on that this is money that will come in handy when you are in a dream location with amazing cheap food.

You’ll be happy to have stopped buying overpriced lattes months ago so that you can enjoy as many guava filled croissants in Mexico city as you can eat at a time, or the very best chai from an Indian street food vendor in front of a palace. Consequently, that 7 dollar latte is not that good and can translate into 5 amazing lattes somewhere else down the road.

Ready To Be A Digital Nomad? – Things to Remember

Passport

If you don’t have a passport yet visit the U.S. Passports website for help on obtaining one. Because, if you are looking to travel out of the country soon it’s best to make an appointment and go in person for an appointment to possibly get one the same day or in the mail in a few days.

I recommend opting for the extended passport option which is not extra. This gives you many more passport pages which you will need is you are visiting numerous countries in the next 10 years.

I opted to make an appointment and get my passport shipped express and ended up paying about $200 not including parking and taking the day off from work. The passport arrived a few days later.

Visa

To offset the negative effects of the pandemic some countries are offering visa programs targeted at those working remotely. In addition, there is even some competition going on currently to attract people working remotely because this benefits the local economy.

Portugal

A popular expat destination, offers a renewable 2 year residence visa for those that can prove they have a remote job, and therefore an income, for the length of their stay.

Georgia

Some countries offer digital nomad visas like Georgia that don’t even require a visa as long as you prove a minimum income or bank account statement. You can stay for up to 365 days without needing to get a visa. The country of Georgia is very accommodating to digital nomads and even allow for you to open a bank account without being a resident unlike most other countries. For these reasons Georgia is quickly becoming a digital nomad favorite. Find more info here.

Digital Nomad Visa

Besides these two other countries like Czech Republic, UAE, Spain, Italy, Estonia also offer digital nomad visas. Therefore, be sure to do your own research on working in a different country as a digital nomad because this varies greatly by country. Also, some countries allow you to work on a tourist visa while others may not. Finally, you need to research visa requirements for the countries you will be visiting for your country of residence.

Mexico

If you are from the US you can generally work online here as a digital nomad working for a US employer for up to 3 months at a time on the tourist visa.

Selling or Storing Your Belongings

FYI this section applies to everyone differently.

How long you are planning on living the digital nomad lifestyle?

Are you doing this to just travel and visit as many places as possible or are you visiting different countries to find a country to become a permanent resident?

If you are definitely looking to do this full-time without looking back then the obvious choice would be to store the belongings you are not willing to part without and selling as much as possible on sites like Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, and Ebay.

Other options include renting storage units and locking in a specific price for the desired amount of time you think you might consider coming back. So, if you looking to see how it goes choose a shorter length storage option like 6 months or 1 year.

To summarize, to get the best value and save as much I recommend selling the majority of your things. You will not miss them unless they have sentimental value.

If you end up travelling for a few years you will have spent a lot of money on things you can repurchase when you come back. If placing too many things in storage you will end paying more for storage that what the item is worth.

Therefore, find family member or friend to let you store as many things as they can for things you cant easily replace if and when you come back.

Living the Digital Nomad Dream – What can go wrong?

Overspending

One big mistake is losing track of your expenses and spending too much of your savings. Because, you will want to keep a minimum amount of money for emergencies. So, think of a number in your head that you will need for coming back to your country if needed, for emergencies, and for unexpected expenses.

Loneliness

It’s easy to be single while living somewhere permanently so adding travelling to the mix doesn’t help things. So, as you travel and keep in touch with loved ones back home you will find yourself questioning whether travelling is worth missing out on these moments. Hence, this is purely subjective to each person, only you know whether travelling is worth it or not.

Nostalgia

You will inevitably miss certain things you had back home. Just remember, this is totally normal but remember that you chose to travel the world in order to live a higher quality of life and sometimes this means missing out on certain luxuries from back home. So being from the US, I miss the access to all of the things whether at the store or online, you can get pretty much anything at a decent price like electronics, supplements, and miscellaneous items.

Digital Nomad are in Constant Movement

Get ready for constant movement. Packing, organizing, reorganizing, unpacking. Rinse and repeat. This of course depends entirely on your travel plans, your visa length, flight prices, high and low travel seasons per country. You might decide that visiting countries with lengthy stay options for a slower type of travel that seems to be very popular nowadays.

Oddly enough, No constants

At the same time being in different countries constantly means you will have access to different type of infrastructure and amenities. Healthcare, transportation, cost of living are all factors that will change depending on the countries you visit. Keep an open mind and go into being a digital nomad knowing that you will have to adapt and adapt quickly.

Visas – Things to Know As A Digital Nomad

Overstaying your Visa

Life happens, people lose track, and your visa could be one of them. Or you simply thought the visa expiration date was a different entirely. Either way, the consequence for overstaying your visa range from getting a fine to possibly being held in a detention center.

Examples Countries For Digital Nomads

USA

Very strict penalties are dealt so best to avoid overstaying your visa in the USA if you ever plan to come back to the USA. Penalties are deportation from the US, visa voidance.

Mexico

While Mexico offers a very generous tourist visa of 180 days this is no longer the norm. Overstaying your visa whatever the number of days you get will result in a monetary fine that varies depending on the airport you’re flying out of.

Thailand

Americans are not required to get a visa if you have a US passport and leave within 30 days with proof of departure date as long as your passport does not expire within 6 months. Extending your visa for 30 says will cost 1,900 Baht. Overstaying your visa will have a cost of 500 Baht per day up to a maximum of 20,000 Baht. Overstay for 200 days and you might be be held in a detention center.

Schengen Area

This area is an area of Europe that allows for free movement between the countries in this area. US citizens do not need a vis to travel in this area with the caveat that you can stay a maximum of 90 days within any 180 days period.

Consequences of overstaying your visa might include receiving a fine, deportation, or being banned. Keep in mind that some countries have stricter consequences than others and it depends on which country you get caught.

Don’t overstay your visa if you can avoid it. If you run into circumstances that prevent you from exiting the country reach out to immigration officials and let them know or contact an attorney for advice.

Digital Nomad Community

One of the best ways to get the most out going from city to country to continent is by joining digital nomad and expat communities. You can further enrich your experience by being active on communities in cities you are located at or might be headed. Be open and talk to everybody without fear but with a sense of street smarts, because you should always keep your guard up when in an uncertain place. Coffee shops, Co-working spaces and English-speaking hangouts are all great places to meet other foreigners.

How to find Digital Nomad communities:

Digital Nomad Insurance

While you should be fine without insurance while travelling abroad it’s worth getting at least a bare minimum world insurance plan just in case. You never know what can happen and it pays to be have at least some insurance for an emergency.

Healthcare can be hit or miss depending on the country you’re in. Mexico, for example, provides health or low cost medical care for all Mexicans and foreigners if they can prove they are residing in Mexico. Some foreign insurance policies are valid in Mexico but you will want to confirm this before travelling. You can always get worldwide health insurance like Safety Wing.

Balancing Work & Play As A Digital Nomad

No matter where you live or what you do for a living, finding balance is an important factor for being happy and successful. The same balance applies to living and working abroad. Finding a healthy pattern in your life is hard enough due to living in different locations constantly but that is exactly what you have to do.

Hard to believe, but the constant packing, moving, and unpacking will become routine and you will eventually find the best way to plan your day, week, and next trip to a different country. Packing and unpacking will become second nature to you and you will learn to regret spontaneous purchases that will impact your packing routine.

Unless you plan on living in one location for months at a time you should try to plan your next stop weeks or months at a time. This will help to avoid stress as much as possible because stressful moments will be unavoidable and you should get used to them as soon as possible.

People forget luggage, phones get lost, backpacks get stolen, things get stolen, and you must get used to this and obviously try to avoid these moments by preparing for everything.

Take photos of important documents and email them to yourself. Make copies of important documents to keep in a secondary place just in case. Don’t stash all of your money in one place.

If you plan to rely on online work for your income I recommend you build-up your client list, polish up your online store, or figure out exactly what companies you plan on doing part-time or consulting work for well in advance to reduce stressing out about money.

Digital Nomad Tips & Tricks

1. Internet speed

Check and double internet speeds and WIFI access for every place you are staying at beforehand. The last thing you need is spotty WIFI to slow down or impede your ability to make money. For example, Zoom calls work best with 10 to 20 Mbps. Most countries nowadays have modern internet infrastructure and these speeds are easily surpassed in most places.

2. Choose the best bank account

Choose a bank account that will allow you to withdraw money without charges a fee. Read the small print and check how much they will pay you back if you use someone else’s ATM and vice versa. Some places like Charles Schwab offers to pay you back for ATM fees worldwide.

3. Digital Nomad Specific Credit Cards

This is a big one for digital nomads. Travel credit cards are a thing and a huge thing at that. Get creative with the credit cards you decide to get. Some cards include access to airport lounges so if you plan on travelling frequently this card might pay for itself since lounges provide food, drink, good internet, and a place to rest while you wait for your flight. Other cards help you prevent foreign fees, miles, insurance, and other benefits.

4. Time Zones

This might be a factor depending on where you plan on working. If you need to be online at a certain time you might be limited to moving to countries within a certain range of hours of your current time zone. For example, if are from the US you might be limited to anywhere in the American continent which includes Mexico, Central America, and South America. Technically, there are lots of options within the American continent but it might be challenging to work from anywhere else like Europe, or Asia.

5. VPN

It might be strange to think about but you probably should consider investing in a VPN service. This will come in handy when in a different part of the world and you want to access content only available to IP addresses in a different part of the world. Think Netflix, email, and banking.

5. Join Digital Nomad communities

Do yourself a favor and seek out communities either online or in person to avoid falling into loneliness and depression. Connect with others also on the road looking to connect and make friends. Hostels are great places to stay in for this reason. Otherwise, Coworking spaces are a great way to connect with other travelers and locals as well.

6. Phone Plan

Most cell service providers offer international plans there are other options for having cell service when travelling abroad. International plans can be costly depending on your plan and carrier so if you don’t want to waste time figuring this out then this is the least complicated option. Sometimes, purchasing a local sim can provide a cheaper option to having cell service locally. Just walk into a local cell phone store and choose the best sim for your phone. E-sims are also an option and they work the same as sim cards but without the need for a physical sim card.

Conclusion

If you’re still reading this far I truly appreciate it and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Hopefully, you’ve learned something new you didn’t know about becoming a digital nomad and my step-by-step and my guide helps you begin or continue your journey. I try to be as honest and open in my writing style and hopefully this is noticeable.

If you ask me I think everyone should travel to different countries and learn about other cultures. It changes your perspective, can expand your horizons, help you create long-lasting memories, and finally it helps the local economy.