Digital Nomads: What to Know and Where to Go

If you’re a novice at digital nomadism, you’ll need to keep a couple of factors in mind. For many people, the digital nomad lifestyle is a dream come true, but success doesn’t come overnight.

The first thing you should keep in mind is, well, bureaucracy. It may be a boring topic, but it is essential, nevertheless. There’s nothing worse than discovering that there’s a crucial paper missing once you have relocated.

So, first things first. Here are our top picks of things to keep in mind.

1. Get Your Paperwork in Order

First of all, remember that copies are your friends. You never know which document you may need in the future, so make sure to keep copies handy. Also, leave some with a friend or family member back home.

Further out, you should double-check your passport validity and visa requirements, especially if you’re planning to travel to multiple countries on end. Renew your passport if its validity is less than one year – better than to be forced to cover travel expenses to do it in between your travels.

If you’re planning to visit an EU country, familiarize yourself with EU travel laws in advance.

It’s also recommended to obtain an International Driving License – in case you decide to rent a car while traveling.

Last but not least, if you’re planning to settle abroad temporarily or permanently, make sure to check whether you’ll need your birth certificate.

And, don’t forget, no matter where you are, you’ll need to calculate your expat taxes.

2. Insurance and Other Necessities

Insurance policies are troublesome enough when you’re in the country. When you’re abroad, things can become tremendously difficult if you didn’t think of everything in advance.

Nowadays, people are obtaining life insurance at a much younger age. The COVID craze has also played a role in that, but more importantly, expat life can be troublesome if you don’t have coverage.

3. Set Attainable Goals

It is crucial for digital nomads to set attainable goals. For many people, it often proves more sustainable to relocate to a chosen country and stay there for a while before traveling elsewhere. This is chiefly to ensure sufficient funds, but there may be other reasons involved as well.

One good way to go about setting realistic and sustainable goals is the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) methodology, where you set targeted goals by defining key results.

For in-depth info, take a look at some of these OKR templates.

4. Incorporate Organizational Tools

Learn to use Google tasks. It is stellar task management tool that will help you to keep track of performance, tasks, to-do lists, and all other aspects of work all digital nomads need to keep an eye on.

Some of the most helpful Google tasks features include:

•       Task creation, editing and deletion
•       Adding details to tasks
•       Creating sub-tasks
•       Creating multiple lists for one or more accounts
•       Viewing your to-do list
•       Adding emails as tasks through Gmail synchronization
•       Receiving task notifications
•       Setting due dates and times that synchronize with Google Calendar

5. Adapt Your Standards of Living

The usual mistake first-time digital nomads make is to think that this lifestyle is a form of vacation. Sadly, it isn’t. As mentioned above, many digital nomads establish a base in an affordable country and then look to the future.

To start country hopping from day one, you’ll need a huge stash of cash on hand, and you’ll also need to be familiar with the expat taxes of every country you’re planning to visit.

If you’re planning to build your own business rather than rely on gigs, you will need considerable resources to get started, even in the countries that offer benefits to entrepreneurs. In fact, novice digital nomads usually lodge in hostels or Airbnbs, rather than spending money on expensive apartments.

6. Find Your Way Around

Once you’ve settled, it’s time to get accustomed to the way of living in your country of choice. Of course, there’s no such thing as a general tip as there are countries and countries, but luckily the local expat community tends to always be helpful.

The number one thing excited digital nomads forget is that, no matter where they are, they’ll still need to eat, drink and pay their bills. Where will you do your grocery shopping? Which store in the neighborhood is the cheapest? How do you pay your bills and how, for that matter? Where do you buy tickets for public transportation? Is it cheaper to rent a car? And so on and so forth.

In most cases, you will be able to look up tourist organizations for reference, but to get the ropes of the best deal, you’ll have to start mingling with the locals. In some places, the language barrier can be a huge issue.

7. Keep Learning New Skills!

Digital nomads rarely need to be told this, but continual learning truly is paramount for people relying on the gig economy.

Digital nomadism would be impossible without the new technologies, so it is only natural that you should keep informed about the latest apps and tools and also continue expanding your skills.

Given that e-learning and mLearning are all the rage these days, start there. Search for free courses and online degrees/certificates. Remaining competitive is crucial for digital nomads.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are things and things to consider and much depends on your country of choice. Some digital nomads choose affordable countries because they want to enjoy the benefits of inequality and live lavish lives. Others want to explore new countries so they keep traveling. What your choice will be is really a subjective category.

However, if you don’t have an idea how to go about traveling or choosing a starting point, you should rely on other digital nomads’ experiences. Every popular destination has a local expat community, and even less popular destinations are home to at least a couple of digital nomads.

Do your research beforehand and – enjoy the experience!