How to Live Like a Digital Nomad

Contrary to how some make it look, it’s not that easy to live the life of a digital nomad. Unless you have significant savings and/or connections, traveling around the world is not something that you can just choose to do on a whim. However, thanks to recent tech advancements and a renewed global interest in travel and culture-sharing, it is possible to work your way towards becoming a digital nomad.

If you know when and how to find the best travel deals, the actual cost of flights around the world becomes much more manageable. Often, this means relying on reliably low-cost airlines, or simply learning tried-and-true strategies for travel in certain areas. You can use this very blog, for instance, to see how you can get the best prices for Asian flights, or why Bangkok Airlines is both a comfortable and cheap way to fly. Hunting for these tips and deals can take some time to get used to, but it’s very effective in the end. 

There’s no reason to be afraid of credit cards when you’re well informed about your chosen card company’s credit and interest policies. To help with this from a nomadic perspective though, you can typically find an updated overview of credit card information to help you choose which one will work best for your travel goals. Apart from finding out which cards can get you the most travel points, you might learn which cards can be used abroad with minimal or zero extra charges. With just a little bit of research you can save a lot of money this way, and then put that money toward the overall experience you’re hoping to enjoy. 

Simply put, find jobs that you can do remotely. You might first consider freelance writing while abroad, as it’s a fairly common path for digital nomads (A Girl Who Blooms is certainly not the first blog to use writing to support a travel routine!). If you have the skills and the hardware, the fields of web, app, and software design can also provide you with regular online revenue, particularly given the rapid expansion of certain types of online businesses. The current growth of mobile gaming stemming from Ireland and the UK shows no signs of slowing down, and creates massive demand for developers; more and more individuals are launching online businesses with no clue how to build or sustain websites. Look for areas like these and your skills, be they in game design, basic web design, or anything similar, can serve you well as remote work opportunities. 

If your main skills are best used in the field rather than remotely, consider becoming a freelancer at your destination. Look for temporary contracts that can allow you to earn income through your own expertise. To give one example, a DSLR camera and a little bit of know-how can set you up to make good money from freelance photography on the ground. Tips and tricks to improve your photography are fairly easy to come by, and can set you up nicely to make good money. To give another example, if you’re well-versed in the technical points of the language, tutoring English abroad is also often an option, and is something a lot of digital nomads take advantage of. Really, you can find freelance work doing a whole range of things. It’s usually worth it to take the time to figure out what skills or interests you might have that could translate to part-time work while you’re abroad. 

Even if you’re planning to stay in one place for six months or more, it still makes sense to pack minimally. After all, “nomad” means having no permanent home. Dedicating your life to travel means learning to pack lightly and let go of the things that hold you down. Don’t rush into this process. Instead, give yourself the space and time to optimise your packing for life as a full- or part-time traveller.