We see several pictures on social media these days – ocean in the front, laptop in hand and earning an income while sitting on a beach, or working remotely in a café while overlooking snow-covered mountains.
This leads us to one common question – how does one become a digital nomad? In fact, how does this industry work at all?
Now, before sharing with you on what digital nomad is, you need to understand that as cool and breezy as the photos look on social media, life as a digital nomad is not easy.
You need a lot of discipline and dedication to work, because it is so easy to skip on your deadline and enjoy a sunset or explore the new town you’re based in instead.
Further, you should have a skill you’re able to sell. There is no guided blueprint on how to become a digital nomad. Everyone has a set of skills that we can sell. While some may take a little time to discover that, becoming a digital nomad is actually fairly simple.
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At A Glance
What is a Digital Nomad?
Working from a lodge in South Africa
As the name suggests, a digital nomad is a person who does not work in a cubicle or does not have fixed hours of work.
Digital nomads have no fixed base and is constantly on a move. We spend days or months either abroad or outside our home ground.
A digital nomad earns income by working on gigs or has several income streams.
A digital nomad is location-independent as long as they have a laptop and good internet connection to get their work done.
The common characteristics of a digital nomad is that they work remotely, are location-independent and have true freedom. Some of them have passive income streams i.e. they earn an income without actively working.
Now certainly the next question from you would be – how can I exactly become a digital nomad?
Of course, everyone likes freedom and mostly the start is the most difficult thing while picking something new. Below, I will give you a few tips and steps on how you can also follow this path of ultimate freedom.
Easy steps on becoming a Digital Nomad
Mount Elbrus, Russia
Traveling the world over the past two years, I have somehow become a pure wanderlust. I cannot stay at home, I have to be always on the move to be sane. For this to happen, I had to leave my corporate job. I was working 9-5 and most of my bucket list and travel dreams were still on a standstill.
So one day, I decided to quit my job, travelled to Meghalaya for many days. That’s when I realised that the more I travel, the more I’m tapping on my savings. The only way to earn on the go is to become a digital nomad and freelancer.
I was quite unsure on how to go about doing it and that brought in a lot of stress and anxiety. One thing I was very certain about was that I will do it now matter how long and difficult the path seemed at that time.
Fast forward to today, it has been a year since I’ve been a digital nomad, living off the hook and traveling as and when I like.
I think being a digital nomad is the best job in the world.
With the help of my experience, I for sure can give you a few steps to kick off your path towards becoming a digital nomad.
1. Identify and Build Your Skills
To be a digital nomad you need some serious skills. For this, first you need to identify what you are good at that you can sell online.
Blogging can be one such option, but that requires years of hard work. If you like writing, an alternative job to this can be to write for others and build a portfolio.
Isabel’s note: That was exactly what I did. I started writing and pitching to online publications, sometimes even writing for them for free, all in a bid to build a portfolio and gain credibility. Soon after, I was published on news sites.
However, if you are not in a rush to become a digital nomad, you can start by working for someone and learn about the online space first. The best part about this job is you will be paid as well while developing the skills. Once you have everything you need, you can take the plunge and sell your skills online.
2. Become A Freelancer
Once your skills have been identified, you need websites where clients can buy and pitch for those skills.
Some of the prominent websites are UpWork and Fiverr where you can find the gigs that suit you the best and tweak your account and pricing based on demand/supply and your skill level.
On these websites, businesses and clients post jobs along with the description and every job has a set budget.
A freelancer can pitch to these businesses for the job which allows businesses to review their portfolios and profiles to decide if they are fit for the job. If you are deemed fit for the job, you are asked to complete the work in a set time, and your performance of your work can be rated by your client.
Here are some of the most sought after jobs as a digital nomad/ freelancer:
Transcription
This is one of the most sought after works that businesses need, in which you have to transcribe voice recordings into words after viewing a video footage or listening to an audio. You can find many websites that pay for such services,
Proofreading
In this kind of a job, all you have to do is read through the document and correct all the grammatical errors. With this, you would also have to correct any spelling errors and make the document look consistent. If you have a good command of English, this job is perfect for you.
3. Build Your Business
After finding your skills and building gigs, another essential task is to build your portfolio. You can only increase your earnings if you increase your presence and outreach.
Read: 7 Essential Digital Nomad Tools For Every Remote Worker
Once you start working, you will realise how powerful and important referrals are. Your work will be talked across the industry and clients will automatically introduce you to other clients if your work is good.
You can also reach out to more people by building a portfolio and showing your work in the form of a kit or resume.
4. Start to Reduce Location Ties and Expenses
Now to be on a constant move, you cannot be tied to a particular place. This will not only increase your expenses but will also make leaving difficult.
Imagine if you are paying rent somewhere, and then paying for a hotel as well due to constant travels. I know many people in my circle who have sold their houses and let go of their rented apartments because of this case.
Further, you have to decide what is essential for you. If you will keep spending on materialistic things which are not really important for you, it defeats the purpose of being a digital nomad if you’re going to hoard materialistic things.
I personally would rather spend on booking a flight ticket than buying the latest gadgets.
5. Decide On Your First Destination
After setting up your business, it is time to BE a digital nomad – go to a foreign place somewhere to be based to travel and work.
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This execution might seem like a hard task to do as you have to be very dedicated and disciplined in such a way that you don’t get distracted with leisure all the time and instead, focus on work.
Setting up a time table in this case is important, in such a way that you dedicate a particular time to work when you will only concentrate on completing the project.
After this, you can go out and work as and when you like. You might find it challenging at first to focus and set a routine, but once you get a hang of it, everything will become easier. This digital nomad job might be the most fun job you’ll ever do.
6. Create A Plan and Stick to It
Goal-setting is essential. If you have no goals, you might be in an endless loop unsure of what tasks are essential and what needs to be completed first.
You need to set goals on what you want to achieve, how much time you will stay in a place, and what work you will need to complete by the end of it.
If Plan A fails, how will you support yourself? Are there any alternatives?
All this brings us to one essential thing – be organised. Carry a planner with you.
Remember that income is not the only thing that you need yourself to be focused on. A freelancing job can be so distracting and time-consuming that we often forget other essential things like our health, insurance, etc.
I hope this article is useful to you in one way or another. Always remember, take one step at a time and remember your end goal. The sooner you start making plans, the faster you will get there.
This lifestyle might seem difficult at the start but slowly you will start enjoying everything about it.
Working location independently is one of the best feelings one can get. You can go home as and when you want and you can spend time at a particular place for however long you want.
There is a pool of resources out there on how to become a successful digital nomad (such as this article!), you just have to reach out and tap into the right infrastructure.
