Before I started running my online business full-time, I had a desk job where I received a couple of weeks of vacation a year. Before that, I worked in a position for over five years which gave me no vacation time whatsoever.
While I realize that not everyone receives vacation time, I knew having limited traveling time was not good enough for me.
Even though I have to work while I’m traveling since I’m location independent, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being able to work remotely is a dream!
I enjoy traveling, seeing new places, and being able to work at the same time. Being a “digital nomad” isn’t perfect, but it is a lot of fun!
Just in 2015 I have traveled to the states of Nevada, California, Washington, Wyoming, Utah, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and, of course, the states of Colorado and Missouri. I have been on the road for the majority of the year and I don’t plan on that changing anytime soon.
In fact, I’m currently looking at the beautiful Jackson Lake and the mountains (in Grand Teton National Park) while typing this post.
Many of you seem to be interested in possibly living the location independent lifestyle as well. I know it’s a dream for many, but there are things to think about. Being location independent still means that you have to work and earn money!
Continue reading below if you are interested in learning how to become a digital nomad.
Figure out how you will support yourself.
There are many ways to support yourself and travel at the same time. Whatever you decide to do, figuring it out ahead of time is usually a good idea.
You may find an employer who allows you to work from your laptop and phone, you may decide to run your own business, or you may decide to find work as you go.
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This leads to my next tip…
Have a plan.
Having a plan is a good idea if you want to travel and work at the same time.
Some of the things you will want to think about if you want to learn how to become a digital nomad include:
- What will you do to earn money?
- How much will you need to earn in order to survive?
- Will you need to save money before you leave?
- How long do you plan on traveling for?
- What will you do for health insurance?
- Will you have a home base?
- How will you receive mail?
- What will you do for internet?
- Will you need a visa in order to work?
Determine your pace.
There are pros and cons to traveling slowly or quickly.
Traveling slowly is what I prefer as you can usually travel more affordably this way. It’s more affordable because usually transportation costs are what eats up a travel budget. Plus you have more time to enjoy each place that you are visiting since you will not be in a rush to move on to the next city.
Traveling quickly means that you may be able to visit more places. If you are in a time crunch then this may be what you decide to do. If you are able to work remotely, then this may be possible. However, if you are working as you travel in each specific city this may be more difficult since you will have to hold a job for a longer period of time.
Backup all of your work.
I highly recommend you keep backups of everything you do if you work primarily from your laptop. You never know if your phone, laptop or camera will experience water damage, be stolen, and so on.
You will save yourself a lot of pain and anger by having backups of all of your work.
Work ahead.
Planning and working ahead are both what helps keep me sane. This way if I come across an area with no internet, if I really love an area I’m visiting, or if I am unable to work for some other reason, then I can still have fun and not feel as stressed out.
Trust me, this is key. I’m in Wyoming and the internet so far hasn’t been the greatest. I haven’t been able to work as much as I normally would, but the fact that I have planned and worked ahead has helped me greatly.
Also, I’ve had a lot of you ask what I’m using for internet. I’m using a Verizon MiFi Jetpack.
Unplug occasionally if you work remotely.
The toughest thing I have a problem with while traveling is unplugging.
Being location independent means that it can sometimes be hard to have a good work-life balance. This is because if you are able to bring your work wherever with you, then it may be hard to separate your work and life.
Travel hack.
Since you’ll be traveling a lot, you may want to find a way to save money on your trips. Travel hacking may allow you to travel for cheap or even free in some cases.
Related article: How I’ve Earned $2,500 In Credit Card Rewards In One Year
Keep yourself motivated.
Whether you are working for someone else or you’re your own boss, you will need to keep yourself motivated since you won’t have anyone hovering over your shoulder telling you to get work done if you work remotely.
If you’re having a hard time staying motivated and completing work, then you may want to set a designated work schedule for yourself. This may help you stay on track just like if you were going into an office.
Enjoy yourself.
In the end, you should enjoy yourself. Traveling all over the world yet only seeing the inside of a hotel room wouldn’t be any fun.
Get out there, work remotely, and see the world!
Would you like to live the location independent lifestyle? What other tips would you give to someone who wants to know how to become a digital nomad?
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Very inspiring and great tips. Being able to work at different location would be a dream for us. That means we’ll be able to enjoy our lives and travel around the world at the same time.
Thanks!
It’s great when you can be location independent. It gives you so much more flexibility with your time and where you live. You can live in a lower cost area which is a big savings. You can be flexible with your travel plans and not just take one or two trips a year.
I agree!
I agree with Stef. It is hard to keep up with writing work when on the road. I’ll go away for a month sometimes to finish up projects or ghostwrite a book and it is a battle to keep to a schedule. I love it and am working on my shortcomings to live and travel more freely!
Yes, it can be hard but I think it’s worth it 🙂
Do it!
I work from home, but unfortunately, I can’t travel and work at the same time. To do my work, I need to access customer accounts, so my boss doesn’t want me on general wi-fi. I’d have to buy a data plan for my laptop, which is cost prohibitive.
At the moment, it’s not an issue because we don’t really have the money/energy to travel. But one day when we have a little more expendable cash, it’ll probably aggravate me.
Yeah I just bought a data plan for my laptop and it is definitely expensive. I wish there were unlimited plans!
I want to be location independent badly. I know that’s a few years away for me though. Until that happens I will continue to live vicariously through you Michelle.
You’ll get there 🙂
Thanks for those tips. We’re not at that point right now, but I hope we can have more flexibility (especially with our time) in the future.
Welcome!
If I ever give up optometry, I would love to be location independent. The idea is very liberating. From being away three weeks recently, I can honestly say that I would have to set a schedule for myself. I had all these plans about how much I would get done, and I did about a tenth of that. I am so glad I had some semi-generic posts already scheduled just in case. The whole working ahead thing is a must.
I am so excited for you and Wes and how you get to live life on your own terms. Very inspiring.
Yes, working ahead is definitely a must!
Now that I’m freelancing full-time, I do plan to do a little more travelling and enjoy my “freedom” more. It’s nice that you can still work while you are out of town. I just have to kind of careful about my spending on travel until I’m out of debt.
Congrats again of freelancing full-time Kayla!
Thanks! We are loving it 🙂
That’s awesome! I would love to be a digital nomad for a while. We’re tied down right now due to Mrs. RB40’s job. When she retires, then we’ll try it out. Kid will be in school then, but we could travel and homeschool for a year. Once the kid is out of the house, then it will be wide open. 🙂
Thanks Joe!
This post is awesome! I’m a nurse so blogging may not be my ticket to location independence, but I came up with an equivalent! Check out my recent post about it.