Top Tips Aspiring Digital Nomads

The Ultimate No-desk Digital Nomad Lifestyle

New Year, new beer. 

We get it. And if that’s the depth of your dreams for the year, this article sure as hell ain’t gonna be your thing. 

New Year, no fear.

That’s more like it! This one’s for the wellness wanderlusters, the footloose and fancy-[insert clothing item]-free freelancers; the stock-market-playing surf-chasers and the barefoot accountants who love adventures… they’re out there, right? Because let’s face it, there’s a whole world out there to explore and there’s been no better time to do it.

The necessary ingredients for a digital nomad:

• Sense of adventure
• Willingness to freelance
• Savviness when it comes to tech
• Appetite for upskilling
• Dreams of new horizons
• Ability to handle uncertainty
• Places with internet connections
• Decent phone + laptop
• A kick-ass packing system
• One durable suitcase

Blend all together into a chill smoothie of a lifestyle and you’ve got yourself a growing generation of digital nomads. 

Here’s how they’re making it happen – and what you’re going to copy like the best Bansky-rip off you can manage:

Networking with a Difference

The only limit on your business potential is the size of your screen, the speed of your internet connection and your willingness to play the marketing game. More and more businesses are willing to hire remote teams, so it’s not like you’re trying to disrupt the job market on your own. The door’s been cracked open, you’ve just gotta get your ticket to the perfect destination and step on through.

Check out sources like nomadlist, RemoteOK and don’t discount the more traditional employers either. The ‘dinosaurs’ are catching up too! [insert cheers here]  Here it says that the Aussie Federal Government are aiming to get 12% of their working team to work from home or remotely. 

Get Yourself a Cushion

We’re not talking neck pillows for the long haul flights (although you may want one of those too). Most digital nomads have some kind of financial cushion or back-up. Boardshort boardroom boss is a ballin’ lifestyle – but it may take time to get there. Be willing to have something up your Hawaiian shirt-sleeve so you can earn in the quieter phases of building your dream lifestyle. 

Need to get a feel for what people are charging? This reddit thread will do you for starters or, if you’re a details person, check this out. Might be a bit old but still has some gold in it.

Freedom Over Fanciness

If you’re the lux-and-tux kind (Bueller?) or happy to rough-it-or-tough-it (Chuck?), know what kind of business you’re aiming for and get ready to keep it simple. Influencer or entrepreneur, freelancer or remote employee all take different skill and mindsets. There’s space for the pencil pusher, the paper shuffler and blue-sky thinker – just know what you’re good at and make sure that part of that is budgeting.

The beach is always free and makes an epic barefoot boardroom (and Insta backdrop to make everyone at home cry – which, let’s face it, is a SERIOUS perk), but you’ll need internet like you need air and water – so be ready to make compromises. 

Places like Chiang Mai, Bali, Colombia and Mexico are popular since they offer culture, cuisine and cheap living. They’re chill places where a few bucks still gets you a meal, drinks, a social life and a room to call your own. Chances are, whatever currency you’re getting paid in, will go a lot further in these places.

Somewhere like Sydney? You’re gonna have to be ‘creative’, and we mean compromise. Work out if you’re good with ‘a man’s home is his castle’ works for you if it’s just a bed in a building that offers that royal mix of space, security and speedy internet.

The Secret Sauce | Bonus Tip

And none of this will happen if you’re not ready to get yourself out there. People will need to know you exist. You can go Wolf of Wall Street or the Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but you’ve gotta have your backers. You can’t hide behind that screen of yours.

Get into the community of nomads, back each other, reach out to your tribe. Get a dongle. Get a website. Get testimonials. Get a database of clients and prospects. Get yourself a gig on Fiverr. Create your own courses to sell. Begin to blog. Promote your professional skills. 

Back yourself, become the next digital nomad and let the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, who-knows-what-tomorrow-will-bring, live-your-best-life adventure begin.