It was a dream for many people to become a digital nomad and explore, learn, earn, enjoy and live without the hassle of going back home and rearranging everything after a week or a month of traveling.
For many people traveling is how life should go and many of us love to see more of this world, meet new people and live in peace on a beach or a rooftop hotel and enjoy nights in a nightclub or just lean on a sofa watching Netflix without having to think about physical work and ethics of an office.
This is really how a digital nomad can live life to the fullest and keep on working while tripping around the globe.
If by chance, you had this dream (even if it once in your life) and you are still interested, you can read this 3 step guide to understand how one can become a digital nomad with no experience and travel the world just by following our step-by-step guide that’s easy to follow and helps once become a digital nomad without looking back.
Let’s read the digital nomad 2024 guide now:
Step 1: Go out, Connect and be Digital
Being a digital nomad doesn’t start with going out with a handbag and carrying your laptop or a camera. It is more than a life you are living in your comfort zone. You have to prepare for the best of the nomadic lifestyle and here’s how:
1. Start small (take some baby steps)
The first step to becoming a digital nomad is to start small (if not from scratch). You don’t need to quit your job right away or close your physical business, just take a few days off work and travel around the city. When you’re ready to make the leap, you’ll have already built some experience under your belt and you can now at least assume what could happen if you are not around your homeland.
2. Be open-minded (be collaborative)
You should always be open-minded about where you want to go, how you want to explore, and what you want to do. Don’t get stuck in one place. If you find yourself wanting to move somewhere else in a city or a country, then do it! There’s no point in being tied down to any particular location if you aren’t happy there even if it is the most famous place on the internet and everyone is talking about it, chances are you don’t feel the joy at that place. You should create a mindset to collaborate with others and if you feel that it is better to somewhere else, you should have a mindset to go there.
3. Find a mentor (someone who is a digital nomad)
Don’t listen to some YouTubers who don’t know what they are talking about. watch those who are actually visiting a place they are talking about. A good way to learn how to become a digital nomad is by finding someone who has done it before. Ask them questions about their experiences and what they did to prepare themselves for the transition. You can find these people online or near your home and even in your friend circle.
4. Network (be social)
Social networks are free, you can make friends and chat with them on almost any topic you like and build your own network of same-interest people. As networking is a great way to meet people who share similar interests you can join groups on Facebook and LinkedIn to connect with others who are interested in traveling and working remotely. You can do the same on Instagram and Twitter too.
5. Get out of town
Testing is good. If you live in a big city, try going to smaller towns nearby. Smaller cities tend to be less expensive than bigger ones, and you’ll have a much easier time meeting people. This will help you understand your choices.
Step 2: Learn, that’s a Need
Before you actually go out for your real nomadic trip to become a real digital nomad, you should learn something new every day of preparation and get yourself ready for the coming days. Here’s how:
1. Learn how to code
As the English language helps communicate with most of people around the globe, coding is the language of computers. If you want to become a digital nomad, then you need to learn how to code. You can do this online or offline. There are many free courses on YouTube and Khan Academy and for a few dollars on Udemy that teach you how to code. You should start off by learning HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). These two languages allow you to create websites. After you have mastered these two languages, you can move on to Javascript and PHP. Once you know how to code, you can build your own website and make money online. For a quick, you should learn wordpress development, content writing, logo design, voiceover, or such other skills that can help you be a freelancer on sites such as Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, and Guru and make money on the go.
3. Learn how to sell online
Selling is about marketing yourself and here we are talking about selling online. If you want to be a successful digital nomad then you need to learn about SMM (Social Media Marketing), SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (Search Engine Marketing), SMM (Social Media Marketing), PPC (Pay Per Click Advertising), etc. You can learn all of these things online.
4. Learn how to travel
5. Learn how to work remotely
Working remotely means working from home. Working from home is ideal for freelancers who want to become successful, independent workers, and digital nomads. To successfully work from home or we should call it “work on the go”, you need to first set up your work properly. Then, you need to a place where the internet is working fine, and you can charge your devices. Finally, you need to learn how to focus on your work while you are being a digital nomad and living in a hotel.
6. Learn how to live frugally
Living frugally is about being resourceful and not always having to buy things from the markets. When you’re traveling, you don’t always have access to certain amenities. So, you need to learn ways to survive without them. Living frugally is not only about saving money, but also about finding creative solutions to problems. You should learn how to live without gas, ac/heater, clean water, enough food, and good weather conditions. This will help you to go anywhere you want to.
7. Learn how to budget
Budgeting is about planning ahead and not letting yourself go broke. If you want to travel the world and be a digital nomad, then you need to plan ahead. You need to figure out how much money you’ll need each month to sustain yourself while you’re away from your home. Budgeting helps you avoid financial emergencies and stay organized to enjoy your days.
Step 3: Final Preparations for Becoming a Digital Nomad
If are ready with the above tips, you can read this final step to get yourself ready to become a digital nomad and enjoy your life to the fullest:
1. Start Saving Money
The first step to becoming a digital nomad is saving money and doing it as much as you can starting from the day you are reading this article. You need to have enough savings set aside to cover at least 6 months of expenses if you plan on traveling full-time. If you don’t save any money now, then you won’t have anything to fall back on when you’re ready to leave. This is not going to be a budget for your travel, it should be a backup plan. So save now.
2. Find a Job That Works for Your Lifestyle
This is not necessary for many (if you followed the guide carefully) but it is an option for some. Once you’ve saved some money, you’ll want to find a job that works for your lifestyle. Ideally, you should be able to work remotely from anywhere in the world, but even if you aren’t able to do that right away, you should still try to find a job that doesn’t require you to commute or read the 1st tip of step #2 on this article to understand how you can survive without having a job.
3. Learn How to Travel Lightly
If you’re going to travel full-time, you’ll want to learn how to travel lightly. When I say travel lightly, I mean you should only bring what you absolutely need along with clothes that you can wash and dry yourself. You shouldn’t pack much more than that. A digital nomad could do all the things without really having to pack the whole household items in a bag. Still, you might think that you’ll just keep everything you own while you’re traveling, but that’s not necessarily true. You should get rid of everything else before you go. Donate items to charity, sell items online, give them away, or throw them out (if you like).
5. Create a Bucket List
When you’re planning on leaving your home country to become a digital nomad, you’ll want to create a bucket list. A bucket list is basically a list of things you want to experience before you die (may you live long). Make sure that you write down places that you want to visit, activities that you want to participate in, and people that you want to meet while being a nomad.
6. Research Where You Want to Go
After you’ve created your bucket list and followed all of the above-listed steps, you’ll want to research where you want to go for your nomadic life. There are many websites out there that allow you to search for suitable cities around the globe. You can use these sites to determine whether a particular city would be a good fit for you or just see them on Google Maps with Streetview.
7. Complete your Documents
Depending on your plans, you may or may not need a visa but now that you know where you want to go, you’ll want to apply for a visa or a ticket (depending on your passport). There should be a foolproof plan for your travel and stays so that you can preplan everything and be able to deal with different circumstances. Depending on where you want to go and what type of visa you need, you may need to wait anywhere from 30 days to several years so prepare for that and fly for your dreams.
8. Be a Digital Nomad
After you are done with all three steps and the tips inside for becoming a true digital nomad, you should grab your laptop, camera, smartphone, backbag and go out of your home to live the life of your dreams.
Yes, that’s your life, go live it as you want to live.
NOTE: Here are more (frequently asked questions with answers) for you to make you understand the digital nomad lifestyle.
Best destinations for Digital Nomads:
Digital nomads love to live in a country where most of their time can be spent in fun activities like watching natural beauty, playing games, eating at public places, taking pictures, making videos, sharing the moments on social media, and where they have enough spare time to do the things they want to do. They love being free and in our study the top 10 best destinations to live in as a digital nomad are:
- Thailand
- Bali
- India
- Portugal
- Colombia
- Vietnam
- Australia
- Argentina
- Dubai
- Hungary
And also Indonesia, Spain, and Italy are one of the best places for digital nomads to stay and live a nomadic life on a remote basis.
Do digital nomads make a lot of money?
According to SDC International Shipping and some of the best known payment gateways, digital nomads earn $40,000 to $100,000 annually and most of them work on an hourly pay basis. Most digital nomads work on freelancing platforms and some of them have created their own systems to be free and make money even while they are sleeping.
We will keep this guide updated to help you understand how one can truly become a digital nomad and still enjoy life.
Stay with us.
