Top tips for becoming a digital nomad

If you’ve seen glamorous photos of people lying in a chair on the beach, laptop in their lap, drink in their hand, you may be wondering if life a as a digital nomad is for you. After all, who wouldn’t want to work from exotic locations around the world and never need to clock in to a 9-5 again?

Becoming a digital nomad is entirely possible, but there are a few steps you’ll need to take. Here are some top tips for becoming a digital nomad:

Find remote work

It sounds obvious, but without a means to support yourself (remotely), there’s no way you can be digital nomad (you’re just a long-term traveller until the money dries up). If you love your job and you’re pretty sure it can be done from anywhere, consider asking your boss if it’s possible for you to work remotely. A good way to do this is to ease into it but asking to work from home one day a week and gradually increasing this can demonstrate to your boss that you can work from anywhere.

Another option? Take your skills freelance. If you’re great at writing, website development, social media, or anything else you can do on the road, start onboarding clients before you plan to go travelling and you’ll soon be working from a beach in Thailand or cafe in Budapest.

There are plenty of ways to work on the road, and you can even earn money by playing online games in casinos while you travel.

Choose your destination carefully

Some destinations are better when it comes to getting started as a digital nomad. There are plenty of digital nomad hubs where you can get business advice and make friends with other digital nomads, like Chiang Mai in Thailand, Antigua in Guatemala, and Budapest in Hungary. If you’re still ramping up your earnings, you’ll want to choose a country where your money goes as far as possible.

Learn to balance

One of the biggest challenges with being a digital nomad? Balancing work and travel. When you’re in a beautiful place, staying inside to pound out articles or pitch for jobs can be disheartening. But many people also find that they’re continually thinking about work when they’re actually out exploring.

The trick is to set up firm boundaries. Consider when you work best- some people are night owls, while others want to get up at the crack of dawn, get their work done, and get out and explore.