Download My Digital Nomad Resources Kit For FREE To Help You Implement The Strategies In This Guide
Download My Digital Nomad Resources Kit For FREE To Help You Implement The Strategies In This Guide
Work From Anywhere As A Digital Nomad
Ever wondered what it would be like to work from anywhere…
This is the life of a digital nomad with the time and location freedom to work online.
Imagine workdays spent coding from the famous Dojo co-work in Bali while enjoying delicious $3 nasi goreng for lunch.Â
After work you head over to Finns beach club with your friends to catch some of the most amazing sunsets you will ever see.Â
You hang out, laugh and chat while sipping on fresh fruit smoothies late into the evening.
Imagine holding virtual meetings from Parisian cafés, crafting content atop a mountain in Peru or running your online business from a bedazzling riad in the enchanted medina of Marrakech.Â
Flexibility and cultural immersion fuel your creativity and the freedom to explore the world however you choose makes everyday an extraordinary adventure. Life has never been better!
In 2014 this was my dream.Â
As I sit and write this on January 9th, 2025, this lifestyle has been my reality for 10 years almost to the day.
To celebrate my 10 year anniversary as a digital nomad, I’m giving away everything I wish I knew back when I was starting out.
This guide will give you all the important things I did to achieve time and location freedom and maintain it for 10 years and counting, minus the mistakes I made that slowed me down.
Enjoy.
Phase 1: Create your Digital Nomad Takeoff Plan
Milestone: Create You Digital Nomad Takeoff Plan
Time Frame: Day 1 – 7
The first step to becoming a digital nomad is having a financially sound takeoff plan that accounts for cost of living in your destinations and any unforeseen circumstances that might come up.
Your digital nomad takeoff plan should include 3 numbers.
I explain them in this short video and the sections that follow.
Download My Digital Nomad Resources Kit For FREE To Help You Implement The Strategies In This Guide
Download My Digital Nomad Resources Kit For FREE To Help You Implement The Strategies In This Guide
Your Digital Nomad Runway Number
Your runway number is how much cash you can have access by the end of your runway period.
For this example we will assume your runway period is 90 days. However, you can adjust this runway period based on your financial situation, responsibilities and comfort level.
To get started with your digital nomad takeoff plan, calculate how much cash you can have in the next 90 days by answering the following questions.
- On average, how much do you spend each month?
- How much do you earn each month after tax?
- How much do you have in savings (optional)
Next…
- Subtract your average monthly spend from how much you earn each month.
- Add savings to this number if you have any and want to use them.
- Multiply by three.
This will give you your runway number (how much cash you can have access to in your 90 day runway period).
Your Digital Nomad Takeoff Number
This number is how much cash you need to takeoff to and comfortably live as a digital nomad in your first destination(s) for 3 to 6 months.
Here’s how to calculate it.
Research Your Digital Nomad Destinations
Start by choosing your first digital nomad destination(s). You will want to consider the following important factors when selecting them.
- Safety
- Healthcare
- Visa durations and requirements
- Cost of living
- Internet Speeds
It’s important that you enjoy yourself too, so consider other factors like the social scene and your general interest in the destination.
Watch this short video where I explain these important 5 factors in a little more detail.
Download My Digital Nomad Resources Kit For FREE To Help You Implement The Strategies In This Guide
Download My Digital Nomad Resources Kit For FREE To Help You Implement The Strategies In This Guide
When choosing your first destination(s), I recommend you put emphasis on low cost of living and productivity.Â
Low cost of living means your money will go further and if you choose the correct destinations you can still enjoy a great lifestyle. This is especially helpful if you don’t have steady remote income as it will keep costs low and give you more time to transition.
Choosing locations based on their ability to help you stay productive will keep you focused so you can build the foundational remote income that will let you maintain the lifestyle into the future.
Once you have a destination(s) in mind…
Calculate Your Digital Nomad Takeoff Number Based On Your Destination
To calculate this number research the following costs for the city or cities (not country) that you plan to stay in.
- Monthly cost of living for 3 – 6 months excluding rent
- Monthly short term rent for 3 – 6 months (short term rental site eg. Airbnb)
- Health insurance for 3 – 6 months (Safety Wing)
- Return ticket airfare (Skyscanner or Google Flights)
- Optional Emergency Fund (20 – 30% of living expenses)
Add these expenses up and the total you get will be your runway number.
Next, you will need to calculate your digital nomad takeoff date.
How To Calculate Your Digital Nomad Takeoff Date
To do this we will use your digital nomad runway and takeoff numbers.
If your digital nomad runway number (how much you can have in 90 days) is equal to or higher than your takeoff number (how much you need to takeoff in 90 days) then you’re all set to takeoff in 90 days or less.
This is because at the end of your 90 day runway period you will have enough cash to support yourself for 3 to 6 months in your first destination(s).
Congratulations!
Set your digital nomad takeoff date, start saving and get ready to start your new life 90 days from now.
If your takeoff number is higher than your runway number, then we need to revisit your plan to make these numbers align.
There are many strategies for doing that but here are 3 I use with clients most often.
Strategy 1: Revisit your spending –Â See if there are things you can cut from your monthly spending habits so you can save more in the 90 day runway period and still take off in 90 days.
Strategy 2: Choose a new digital nomad destination –Â Choosing a destination with a lower cost of living will decrease your takeoff number (how much you need to takeoff). This can help you reach your takeoff number in the 90 day runway period and still takeoff in 90 days or less.
Remember, a new destination does not have to mean a new country but perhaps just a city with a lower cost of living.
Strategy 3: Increase your digital nomad runway period –Â As a last resort you can push your takeoff date forward by a month or two giving yourself more time to save and hit your takeoff number.
This will increase the amount of time you need to takeoff, but remember achieving takeoff is much more important than the time it takes.
Use the strategies above to revisit your plan and then set your takeoff date.
Once you have a takeoff date, I recommend doing the following.
- Tell you friends and family about your plans to become a digital nomad
- Book your flights as soon as you have the money
- Book your accommodations as soon as you have the money
- Pay for health insurance as soon as you have the money
Doing these things is a way to commit to your new lifestyle and create some accountability so that you follow through no matter what.
When you’re ready to book, I recommend doing so with a travel credit card so that you can benefit from free travel and perks in the future.
Here are the basics of how to do that…
Credit Card Travel Hacking Basics For New and Aspiring Digital Nomads
I only started travel hacking about 4 years ago but it’s something I wish I started doing much earlier in my digital nomad career.
Some benefits include free travel, first class flights for economy prices, luxury accommodations for pennies on the dollar and airport lounge access.
Even if this subject does not interest you I recommend getting a travel credit card to pay for this trip and your day to day spending.
You will literally get to travel for free!
The points you get as a welcome bonus along with the points you accumulate booking trips and on other purchases can be used to pay for future flights and accommodations.
Better yet, the more premium cards will give you airport lounge access, a perk typically reserved for business and first class travelers only.
When choosing a card you want to consider three things.
- Welcome bonuses – Will you spend enough on the card to get the full welcome bonus?
- Annual fees – If there’s an annual fee, will you benefit enough from points and perks to justify it?
- Multipliers – Different cards offer you more points on different types of purchases (multipliers). Choose a card that offers points multipliers on the things you buy most.
I’m not going to mention the welcome bonuses, perks and multipliers as they are subject to change at any time but here are links to some of the best Amex travel cards right now.
I use the Amex Cobalt as my daily card but you can also consider the Amex Gold and Amex Platinum for better reward bonuses and perks if you can justify the annual fees.
You can also sign up for Rakuten and use their website for purchases related to this trip or anything else that you would be buying anyway.
Rakuten works with big brands like The North Face and Dell as well as travel brands like VRBO and Viator. When you buy through them you will get cash back directly into your PayPal account which does not cost you anything extra.
If you’re in the USA then you can choose to have Rakuten pay you in credit card points instead of cash.
Cash is great but If you’re a digital nomad that travels a lot, points may be better as they often have more value than cash when used for travel related purchases.
Every credit card company will have a portal that you can use to purchase travel services and other products using points.
However, if you want maximum value for your points then you can use Seats.Aero and Rooms.Aero to find flights and hotel rooms that will give you the best value for your points.
Once you have set your takeoff date and paid for your initial travel expenses, you will have everything in place to takeoff and be on the road to your digital nomad life in as little as 90 days.
Congratulations!
The next step is getting remote income handled so that you can work from anywhere and maintain the digital nomad lifestyle for as long as you like.
Phase 2: Get Yourself On A Clear Path To Remote Income That Will Let You Work From Anywhere
Milestones: Save The Cash Required For Your Takeoff Plan, Start Building Remote Income, Takeoff To Your First Destination
Time Frame: Day 8 – 90
The first thing you need to do in this phase is to decide on a clear path to remote income that will give you the freedom to work online.
Start doing this in the 90 day runway period leading up to your takeoff date as soon as you have completed your digital nomad takeoff plan.
How To Start Working Online As Quickly As Possible
If you have a remote skillset like software development, digital marketing, UI / UX Design, you’re a therapist, have data science skills, project management skills etc… then you’re in a good position.
Your fastest path to remote income will be a 100% remote role in your career field that lets you work online as a digital nomad.
Deciding that you will only settle for a flexible remote role, positioning yourself correctly and then consistently applying to these roles is your next step.
Time and consistency will be the keys to your success so get started now.
If you don’t have remote skills or experience and you want to start working online as quickly as possible then you can start with a role that does not require any highly specialized skills.
This will give you some remote income to get started with.
You will want to look for roles that meet the following criteria:
- 100% Remote – So you can work from anywhere
- Opportunity For A Steep Learning Curve – So you can learn required skills quickly
- Opportunity For Competitive Advantage – So you won’t be competing with extremely cheap offshore labor. For example, if you’re a native English speaker you will have an advantage over a non-native English speaker for English teacher jobs
A few examples of jobs that will let you work online without any highly specialized skills:
- Remote Customer Support
- Remote Virtual Assistant
- Remote English Teacher at Cambly, Speexx or italki (short TEFL certification required)
- Quality Assurance Tester (finding bugs in code)
- Social Media Manager
- Transcriber
- Data Entry Specialist
- Content Writer
Choose a role you think would be a good fit and do some research on the skills required.
Brush up on your skills, position yourself for the role by optimizing your resume with relevant experience and start applying to positions.
Again, time and consistency will be the keys to your success so get started now.
Once you start working online in one of these roles you can use this income to fund your digital nomad lifestyle for as long as you want.
Or, you can use it as a stepping stone while you learn the skills you need to take the next step in your digital nomad journey and build a flexible remote career that pays you more.
Building A Higher Paying Remote Career That Lets You Work From Anywhere As A Digital Nomad
If your goal is to build a remote career that allows you to work online and offers more security and a higher salary, then start by choosing a remote career field.
You will want to consider the following:
- Remote – Allowing you to work from anywhere
- Future / AI Proof – For maximum job security
- High Value – So you have good earning potential
- In Demand – For more leverage to negotiate location freedom
- No degree required – So you can build the skills anywhere
And of course you want to choose something that you will enjoy and be good at.
Every remote career will vary in how well it ranks for the criteria above but here are some examples of digital nomad friendly career fields that will give you the freedom to work from anywhere.
- Digital marketing
- Remote sales
- Software developer
- Cyber security
- UI / UX design
- Data science
- Project management
- Graphic design (less AI / future proof)
One great thing about in-demand remote jobs is that employers often don’t care if you have a degree. If there is enough demand for your skillset they will just want to know that you can produce the desired results.
You can get to basic proficiency with many of the skills required for these career fields in as little as a few months and from anywhere in the world.
Start by taking an inventory of your skills, experience, strengths and personality type. Do a little bit of research on some different career fields and choose one you think will be a good fit.
When choosing a career field, consider narrowing down into a specialized area that’s in high demand. This will give you more leverage when it comes to your flexibility while working online and the potential for a higher salary.
For example, software development is in high demand right now. If that interests you then you could consider specializing in blockchain development, which is a very specialized area that’s also in high-demand and will probably increase in demand for years to come.
Once you have chosen a career field, your goal is to be able to show a potential employer that you have the skills they want.
Here’s how to do that:
- Learn the basics – Take online courses to get to basic understanding and proficiency
- Practice the skill and and create proof – Build a portfolio or do personal projects and create case studies you post on a personal website and / or Linkedin
- Stack more proof – Consider taking more courses or tests to get certifications. For example, if you want a developer job in blockchain you could become a certified blockchain expert. Post any certifications on your website and Linkedin
- Gain real world experience and start getting paid – Take on freelance or short term contract roles and offer a discount on your first few gigs get some traction
Add your new skills, certifications and experience to your resume and start applying to remote positions as soon as possible.
I can’t say it enough… Time and consistency will be the keys to your success so start now.
You only want to focus on the remote roles that will give you the freedom you need to support your digital nomad lifestyle while avoiding hybrid roles or roles with serious location restrictions.
In this video I explain some of the strategies I use to help clients identify the most flexible remote positions.
You can also check out my free guide where I’ll give you 5 more strategies to identify flexible remote roles that will let you work from anywhere. I’ll also give you one of my favorite places to look for these remote jobs that most people don’t know about.
Remember, you’re building a new career so be willing to take an entry level job early on if it’s going to give you the freedom to work from anywhere in the world.
You will be getting paid to gain experience and learn high value skills with the freedom to work online as a digital nomad. Things could be worse.
If you use the freelance strategy to gain experience and you enjoy it, you can also consider building a career as a freelancer or freelancing to supplement your full time income.
For many people, achieving a 100% remote career that lets them work from anywhere as a digital nomad offers the perfect balance of freedom and security.
However, some of you may want to take becoming a digital nomad to the next level, and attain more freedom and income potential with a remote business you can run online from anywhere in the world.
If that’s you then let’s talk about how you can do it.
Build A Business That Lets You Work From Anywhere In The World
If you’re the entrepreneurial type then building a business is an excellent way to gain ultimate time and location freedom with great earning potential.
However, If you’re just starting out as a digital nomad and do not have any entrepreneurial experience then I don’t recommend starting a business as your primary way to earn money online.
If you have followed the steps above for building a remote career that lets you learn high value skills while you to work from anywhere, the next step in your digital nomad career could be using the skills you have developed to start an online business that supports you full-time or supplements your existing online income.
Or, if you’re truly confident you have the skills, time and money to succeed while you navigate a location independent lifestyle then you can start with this path.
Here’s how…
Step 1: Choose A Business Model
The model you choose will depend a lot on your skills, money and the product or service you’re thinking about offering.
Here are a few examples of highly flexible business models that will allow you to live a digital nomad lifestyle and work from anywhere.
Affiliate marketing: Sell other people’s products online for a commission.
Primary skills needed: Digital marketing.
Startup cost: Low.
Ecommerce: Sell physical products online.
Primary skills needed: Product sourcing and operations, digital marketing.
Startup cost: Medium.
Coaching: Coach people on a skill or through a transition.
Primary skills needed: Coaching, people skills, digital marketing and sales.
Startup cost: Low.
Digital products: Sell digital products like ebooks and video courses.
Primary skills needed: Content creation and digital marketing.
Startup cost: Low.
Content creation: Create and monetize content on platforms like YouTube and Skool.
Primary skills needed: Content creation and digital marketing in some cases.
Startup cost: Low.
Service agency: Provide services that can be delivered online to individuals or businesses.
Primary skills needed: You will need a skill you can offer, for example, software development or content creation. In addition to that, digital marketing, sales and people management (if you build a team).
Startup cost: Low.
Consulting agency: Provide expert advice to people or businesses.
Primary skills needed: An area of expertise eg. digital marketing, cyber security, sales, law etc…. Other skills needed include digital marketing, sales and people management (if you build a team).
Startup cost: Low.
SaaS product: Create a useful software solution for the public or businesses.
Primary skills needed: Software development, digital marketing, sales and potentially project management.
Startup cost: Medium.
Step 2: Create A Flexible Plan For Your Remote Business Idea
Do some research and answer the following questions.
- Product / Service / Content:Â What product or service will you create and or sell? Or, what content will you create?
- Audience:Â Who is going to buy the product or service you create and or sell? Or, who will consume the content you create?
- Targeting:Â Where are you going to find your customers and / or audience?
- Price / monetization: How much will you charge for your own products? Or, how will you monetize your content on other platforms?
Step 3: Test Your Idea
You will likely need to test different product / content ideas with different audiences that you target on different marketing channels until you find a combination that works. Otherwise known as product / market fit.
Use the lean startup principles to test your ideas, improve based on real world feedback and fail fast so you can conserve resources and move onto the next idea.
Start with a minimum viable product (MVP)
The most basic version of your product, service or content that you can release to your audience to test and gather feedback
If you’re selling digital products this could be a short 20 page ebook, if you’re creating content for Youtube it could be your first 10 videos.
Considering a service or consulting business? Then, it could be the specific deliverables you offer and if you’re affiliate marketing it could be a specific vertical market you specialize in.
Develop Iteratively
If your audience is receptive then Improve on your MVP and release new and better versions based on the feedback you get from them.
Validating learning
Use real-world feedback from your audience to validate new product ideas and content direction so that you don’t waste time and money creating things that nobody wants.
Fail fast
When an idea has failed, cut your losses fast so you can move on as quickly as possible and avoid wasting time and resources on an idea that is not going anywhere.
Use customer feedback
Make a habit of listening to your customers / audience instead of relying on your own hunches and intuition.
Stay flexible
Focus on staying flexible over excessive planning. This will allow you to test ideas and pivot quickly if you need to.
Step 4: Repeat Until You Succeed
Repeat this process with as many ideas as you need to until you get some traction.
From there you can decide to keep your business as a side hustle or scale it so that it can support you full time as a digital nomad.
Next, we are going to talk about how to best spend your first 90 days on the road to set yourself up for the digital nomad lifestyle long term.
Phase 3: Your First 90-180 Days Working Online And Living As A Digital Nomad
Milsteones: Steady Remote Income, First 90 Days As A Digital Nomad
Time Frame: Day 90 – 180 and beyond
By this point you should have a digital nomad takeoff plan to support yourself for your first 3 – 6 months on the road and a clear path to remote income that will let you work from anywhere.
Your 90 day runway period should be used to execute on your takeoff plan and start building remote income. This will get you on the road to your first destination and hopefully allow you to secure some income working online.
Let’s talk about what you should be doing after you take off.
You’ve just landed in your first destination.
Congratulations!
You’re now officially a digital nomad.
In order to build on this lifestyle and secure incomes sources that let you work from anywhere I recommend you spend the next 3 – 6 months doing the following.
- Continuing to build remote income
- Enjoying the digital nomad lifestyle
- Learning the art of nomadic travel
Let’s talk about how to do these things.
Building Remote Income That Lets You Work From Anywhere
If you’ve already made the transition to working online and have remote income that you’re happy with, then congratulations, you’re a successful digital nomad.
But if you don’t… then you need to get to a point where you have steady remote income so that you can sustain your digital nomad lifestyle into the future.
If You're Still Working on Landing A Remote Job...
If you’re still working on landing a remote job, then continue the process.
This is critical if you want to be a digital nomad so treat it like your full time job and work at it Monday to Friday at least 8 hours a day.
Spend the next 3-6 months committed to sending out as many customized applications as possible focusing only on 100% remote positions
I recommend setting a daily requirement for the minimum number of applications you will send out.
Be flexible at first in terms of working hours, location requirements and even pay. Your primary goal right now is to land something that gives you steady remote income and some location flexibility.
You can work on maximizing flexibility and salary after you have the basic means to sustain yourself as a digital nomad.
Once You Have A Job That Lets You Work Online...
So you have landed a remote job or your employer has agreed to let you work remotely. If this is the case then I recommend spending the next 3-6 months being as productive as you can.
Your employer is trusting you to work from anywhere in the world so show them you’re capable of it by maximizing your productivity as much as possible in this period.
This will result in more trust and more time and location flexibility in the future.
You will also gain a lot of experience managing yourself remotely which is a skill that will prove valuable as long as you’re living a digital nomad lifestyle.
If you’re working a remote job but want to transition to something that feels more like a career, or you want to go all in on a remote career from the start, here’s how to spend your first 3-6 months on the road.
Building A Remote Career That Let's You Work From Anywhere
If this is your goal then you should spend the next 3 – 6 months building the required skills, creating proof that you’re good at them and finally applying to remote roles.
If you’re working online in another job then you have remote income to support yourself and you can work on your remote career at your own pace.
If you’ve decided to go all in on building a remote career then hopefully you have already chosen a career path, done some research on the required skills and started learning them in your 90 day runway period.
Here’s an example of how you can prioritize your first 90 days as a digital nomad if you’re taking this route.
Month 1: Learn Skills – Identify the foundational skills and 3 high value areas you want to specialize in, inside of your chosen career field.
Find a good online course for the foundational skills and 3 more for the specialty skills.
Set a goal for completing one course a week and if any of the courses offer some kind of recognized certification, even better.
Month 2: Experience, Proof & Early Income – Identify some of the most common job requests on Upwork and start creating a portfolio (if applicable) based on those.
Alternatively, you can consider creating a small website that talks about you, your certifications and your areas of expertise.
You can then publish short articles on your website and Linkedin talking about your areas of expertise or case studies that showcase projects you have completed.
Start by looking for work on freelance sites like Upwork to get some real word experience and start earning remote income. Consider offering discounts on your first few jobs and take the time to go above and beyond so that you get good reviews.
Month 3: Full Time Remote Income – If you’re enjoying freelance work, then you can consider building a freelance career as it will provide you with the flexibility to work from anywhere.
Otherwise, you can continue to gain experience freelancing, add the experience to your resume and start to look for a full time remote position using remote work channels that offer flexible opportunities.
Remember, this is a critical time in your transition so treat building your remote career like your full time job and show up everyday.
Starting A Business That Lets You Work Online
Starting a business is challenging and getting your business to a point where you have enough remote income to sustain yourself may take a while.
That’s why I recommend having a remote job, significant savings or some other form of income to sustain yourself while you build your business.
Regardless of how you support yourself, here’s an example of how you can manage your first 90 days on the road to test your first idea or two.
Ideally you have already researched the following things that we discussed earlier.
- The business model you are going to use
- The product, service or content you plan to create
- The audience that will buy your product, service or consume your content
- The channel(s) you will use to target your audience / customers
- How much you will charge or how you will monetize content
Month 1: Create your MVP – The most basic version of your product that you can present to your audience. If you’re a little bit embarrassed about it that’s okay, as long as it does what you say it will do.
If you have access to potential customers (you have an audience or are part of a community) then you can ask these people exactly what they want and build your MVP based on that, you may even be able to secure pre orders.
Month 2: Testing and feedback – Put your MVP in front of your audience and get some feedback. Consider doing a beta launch where you offer your MVP at a deep discount in exchange for this feedback.
Month 3: Iterate or pivot – If you get some buyers or engagement with your content, that’s a good start. Get feedback on how you can improve the MVP and create version 2 of your product. See if you can find new customers that will pay full price for version 2 of your product.
If no one buys your product or you have no traction with your content then you may need to pivot, either to a new product idea, a new audience or new messaging / value proposition.
This is a very simplified and accelerated version of how you could test your product idea if you only had 3 months to do it.
More than likely, you will likely need to go through this process multiple times before you hit a winner. In addition to that, businesses like ecommerce and SaaS with longer product development cycles will be very difficult to test in three months.
This is why it’s so important that you have the financial means to support yourself as a digital nomad as well as invest in your business ideas for an extended period of time until you find a business idea worth pursuing.
Enjoying The Digital Nomad Lifestyle
I made this mistake in the beginning and I regret it! I didn’t plan as well as I’m telling you to and as a result I felt financially insecure which led me to hold back on enjoying myself for my first year and a half as a digital nomad.
I told myself I needed to conserve as much money as possible and spend the time working. Ultimately, this took a toll on my mental health and had the opposite effect, lowering my productivity and making it harder for me to build the remote income I needed to work online.
This is a critical point in your digital nomad transition and to be successful you must focus on building a remote income, but remember, you have taken a risk and gone all in on starting a new life so allow yourself to enjoy it a bit too.
There will be plenty of things you can enjoy for free and If you created a solid takeoff plan you should have the budget to enjoy some paid recreational activities too.
When you’re not working on building remote income then consider spending time doing some of the following things.
- Join the communities and meet new people
- Plan mini trips on your weekends / time off
- Treat yourself to experiences you can’t have at home
Allow yourself to enjoy breaks when you need them so you don’t work yourself to the point of diminishing returns and burnout.
Being a digital nomad is about enjoying the freedom that comes from working online as much as it is about maintaining the lifestyle with productivity and discipline.
So, make some new friends, go on some adventures and experience the lifestyle while you continue your transition to remote income.
Learning The Art Of Nomadic Travel
Traveling to new destinations, learning to quickly set up your life and striking a balance between deep productivity and deep travel experiences is a balancing act you will need to get good at when you become a digital nomad.
Over time I’ve created what I refer to as travel flows. Productivity sprints for periods of deep productivity and explorer travel flows for periods of deep travel.
These help me optimize for whatever my goals are at the time, remain productive anywhere I go and balance that with exciting adventures.
I like to call this the art of nomadic travel.
For your first 3-6 months and especially if you don’t have steady remote income then I recommend optimizing for time and productivity while you continue to make a full transition to working online.
The ability to choose destinations based on what you want to achieve is one of the biggest perks of being a digital nomad. Leverage this freedom and choose an affordable destination with minimal distractions to start with.
This way your money will go further buying you more time for the transition and you will be able to stay focused on your goal of fully remote income.
Here are a few strategies to help you do that.
Destination Hacks For New Digital Nomads
- Choose low cost of living destinations – So your money goes further while you transition to steady remote income (South East Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe will typically offer the most affordable living).
- Choose remote destinations / small cities – Over big cities so you will be less distracted while you transition to remote income. Smaller cities / towns also tend to be cheaper.
- Leverage destination proximity – Small cities that are close to bigger cities or other destinations of interest so you can visit during downtime and still enjoy your remote lifestyle.
- Choose one base destination – Choose one base destination where you will stay for a minimum of 3 months to save time, money and help you remain productive. Use destination proximity to see new places instead of constantly relocating.
Getting Setup In Your First Digital Nomad Destination
As a digital nomad in a new destination you will want to take care of the basics as quickly as possible (ideally in the first 24-48 hours) so that daily errands won’t get in the way of your productivity after the first few days.
Get acquainted with and set up the following things as soon as possible.
- Food – Find grocery stores that meet your dietary and budget requirements or setup food delivery apps if you plan to use them.
- ATMs – If you’re in a cash economy you will want to know where the closest and most trustworthy ATMs are with low or no fees.
- Transportation – Some countries have their own versions of Uber that you won’t be able to access until you’re in the country with a local number. If you’re taking public transport, some cities like Istanbul require you have a transit card to use the service.
- Phone / Sim – A local SIM is almost always the best option so check here for the best providers. E SIMS are not ideal long term but can be a good back up so you have service as soon as you arrive.
- Gyms / Rec clubs – Get your memberships as quickly as possible and ideally in a location close to your accommodation.
- Social – If you want to meet new people then join the relevant communities (usually on Facebook or Whatsapp) as soon as possible or even before you leave. This is where you will connect with people who want to meet and learn about the events going on.
The sooner you get these things sorted out the sooner you will be able to jump into a productive routine. This is even more important in remote locations where there may be less options for these amenities.
Productive Remote Routines For Digital Nomads
Having daily remote routines is a great way to quickly create structure in an unfamiliar place. They will help you feel grounded and allow you to transition between time zones more quickly.
Sticking to them long term will help you build the habits you need to successfully work online with minimal or no daily oversight and ultimately increase your output.
Here are some of the strategies I use to manage my remote routines.
- Time boxing
- Primary task for the day
- Secondary tasks for the day
- Additional tasks for the day
- Daily habits
- Daily journal / review
You can set up your remote routines based on your personal goals and hobbies but here’s an example of my current remote routine.
Time Boxing
I will plan my day the night before in intervals as small as 30 minutes. This gives me a rough schedule to stick to and pushes me to complete tasks in a set time period.
Primary Task
I will have one important primary task for the day that I must complete no matter what. This should be something you know you can get done so that you don’t get into a habit of not completing it.
Secondary Tasks
These are also important tasks usually on my weekly to do list. I start on these only after I have completed my primary task for the day.
Additional Tasks For The Day
These are usually small easy to complete tasks I need to do at some point, like pay my credit cards. These easy tasks still give me a feeling of accomplishment when I check them off.
Daily Habits
These are things I must do everyday and I check them off as complete at the end of each day. Checking off the habits helps me build some accountability and after about a month the habit becomes harder to break.
I will also remove habits if I do not see any real benefit after a month and replace them with a new one. Keep the ones that work, drop the ones that don’t
My current daily habit checklist includes:
- Read / Study actively (no distractions / take notes)
- Gym / Cardio
- No phone before 1:30PM
- Stick to meal plan / hit macros
- Complete primary task
- 4 Hours of deep work
- Plan next day
- No phone after 11PM
Daily Journal / Review
At the end of each day I will check in with myself about how the day went and how I feel. I will also write down the highlights of the day to remind myself of the things I achieved no matter how small.
I highly recommend trying a similar remote routine out for a month. I am almost certain you will be surprised at how much more focused and productive it will help you be.
In addition to creating daily routines I also recommend setting goals over 3 month time blocks.
You can then break these goals down into smaller chunks which become your daily and weekly tasks giving you a direct path to achieving your quarterly goals.
Review your goals at the end of the 3 months period and plan the next period accordingly.
This can be a great approach to planning the things you want to achieve in your 90 day takeoff period along with your first 3 – 6 months traveling as a digital nomad.
Focus
If I were to leave you with anything at the end of this section it’s that you need to focus.
The first 3-6 months on the road are a critical point where a lot of digital nomads fail because they get distracted with the lifestyle before they have stable remote income. Ultimately, they end up running out of money and having to return home.
Spend this time building the foundational remote income you will need to maintain the digital nomad lifestyle long term. You will be grateful you did.
Make Your Digital Nomad Dream Reality
You now have everything you need to start your digital nomad journey, transition to a source of income that lets you work online and get a first hand taste of true time and location freedom.
Start now and in as little as 90 days you can have the freedom to work from anywhere, while you unlock endless opportunities for growth, creativity, and connection, all while living a life on your terms.
To your freedom and unlimited adventures.
Download My Digital Nomad Resources Kit For FREE To Help You Implement The Strategies In This Guide
Download My Digital Nomad Resources Kit For FREE To Help You Implement The Strategies In This Guide
