Part 2 – Becoming a Digital Nomad: The Practical Side of things

If you’ve read part one of this, you’ll now know how to become a digital nomad.

But don’t go booking your flights yet!

There are certain things you need to consider before you go away and start jet setting around the world. Even if you’ve travelled before there are things that you may not have thought about when it comes to long term travel AND working at the same time.

Set a budget

The first thing you need to do before anything is to set a budget for yourself. If you don’t you’ll be back home before you know it.

If you have a salaried job, then your salary is the amount you can spend (minus any taxes and savings). But if you are a digital nomad that is more of a freelancer, I would recommend having some savings before setting out into the big wide world.

If your current plan is to travel and find a job on the way, then good luck to you but I then think you’re definitely more of a backpacker than a digital nomad and you may be home before you know it.

You don’t just need to budget your day to day costs such as food, excursions and other living expenses. You also need to factor in flights, maybe those long haul flights that cost a bit extra, or those extra long haul ones to get you home to see family once or twice per year.

Do you have travel insurance? Any other subscriptions? How about your taxes?

These are all things you need to think about before you start to become a digital nomad.

Booking flights

Booking flights can be as cheap or as expensive as you want them to be.

If you want to take three flights over 50 hours on budget airlines to get you across continents then do it. If you want to fly first class on a direct flight and sip champagne at every chance then you can do that too. But this all goes into the budget part of the equation.

Another aspect you may need to consider is the flights you need to leave a country.

Many countries need a flight leaving when you arrive as part of their visa requirements. Do you have this or do you have a flight that is fully refundable just in case?

My very first travel experience was nearly stopped at the airport as I didn’t have a flight leaving the country!

I now either book a very cheap flight leaving the country and then don’t take it ($10 Air Asia or Ryanair flights are great for this), book a flight using airline points that is mostly refundable or book a fully refundable flight with a major airline which is normally quite expensive to start with.

I’ve now been doing this a long time and have a rough idea of where I’ll go next so I normally have a flight leaving already booked.

How, what, why, when and where

The how, what, why, when and where are questions that should always be asked about every destination you are going to.

How are you going to work there? Where are you going to work? Will you work in your accommodation, will you join a coworking space, do they have coffee shops to work in, what is the internet like?

Why do you want to go there? Is there a particular site or culture you want to experience? Or are you just going there because others are going as well?

When is the best time to go? Do you understand what you’re getting yourself into if you go in the low season or high season?

I have answers to all of these before I go to a destination and have a backup plan for each. I normally work in a coworking, but I know my accommodation has good wifi and I can point on a map to a coffee shop that would do the job in a push. Worst case scenario, I know I will have data on my phone to work if needed.

What am I going to see in the destination? What attracts me to it?

Why do I want to go there?

When is the best time to visit? Should I go now or wait a few months until the weather is better? I know it is busiest in peak season, but I also know that it is so quiet and rainy in low season, it isn’t worth going to.

Where will I be? Is this the best place in the city to stay in? Where on this island should I stay? Is this the best country for me to be in right now?

All of these questions should be thought about before even booking a flight so that you can do the best work possible.

How long to stay in each destination

This will boil down to one of two options of how you enter the country.

By entering on a Digital Nomad visa, you may have the opportunity to stay in the country for as long as 2 years. This is a great option for people with families who want their children settled and forming friends. It is also a great visa to have if you don’t like moving around as much and would rather have some form of base. It allows you to rent a house on the local rental market which is normally cheaper than AirBnB or short term lets.

However if you enter the country on a tourist visa, you may only have 30-90 days in that country before you have to move on, depending on your passport and what country it is you’re visting. This will leave you a lot more limited in what you can and can’t do in that time.

Stay for a long time or travel more

One of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is how long you’ll stay in one destination.

I often stay in each place for one month as I believe that is enough time to get to know a place, enough to explore around it and then know if I want to go back.

As I work a 9-5 from a Monday to Friday, I only really have Saturday and Sunday to explore. That means that if I were to stay a month in each place, I would only have three lots of weekends to explore, so just 6 days plus whatever evenings I can have in a city. If I need to see other towns and cities around it, that isn’t actually much time to get to know a place.

Should you stay for 3 months?

Well that depends on the country and what visa you have.

But for me, I would rather see a bit of everything than everything of only a few places.

I also know some people that don’t work full time who decide to move frequently and only stay 3-4 days in each place. They work for a few hours each day and then move on.

That may work for you, but it doesn’t work for me.

Also note that the travel needs planning of where to go, where to stay, what to see, what to eat and whilst working full time. That is a lot to do every 3-4 days!

I’ve done it, but it isn’t fun!

But if you’re travelling as a couple, this may be more doable and more affordable than if you’re travelling by yourself.

Things to consider when working

I always have a plan B, C and D.

I know when it comes to my work I have the options of my AirBnB, a coworking, coffee shop and last case scenario is getting a SIM card and hot spotting. The last case is going to Starbucks as I know they always have wifi all over the world.

I know all of these before I go because I know that my work comes first. It is as much a part of my planning as it is booking flights. If I don’t have a job, then I can’t travel.

I need to work and I try to work from a coworking space, but I always know where else to work if that doesn’t work out for me.

How to Choose Accommodation

I’ve written before about how to choose accommodation when travelling as a digital nomad.

But this will mostly come down to how you travel and what your budget is.

I’ve met a lot of people who decide to stay in hostels and then work from coffee shops as that is what fits their budget.

But I’ve also met people who stay in large two bedroom AirBnB’s by themselves because they want an entire desk set up and somewhere private to work.

I generally stay in AirBnB’s and then normally have a few nights in a hotel when I first arrive or just before I leave a country if the AirBnB is a long way from the airport or border I’m going to. But I work in coworking spaces in between so that works for me.

When I choose hotels, if I stay in one over a weekend or when I am purely travelling then I’m happy to stay in a budget place. However, if I have to work from the hotel, then I may stay somewhere slightly nicer where there is a desk and chair in the room. Some business hotels even have a business centre to work from.

Money on the road

How to get paid should be in your business plan but how do you actually get your money when abroad? Bank fees? Credit card? Points and miles?

I travel with a Wise card to get local currency out of ATM’s (mostly) fee free and to pay for goods using my card or ApplePay without any fees as well. I’ve used it for years and have never had any issues. It allows me to be paid in one currency, send money to myself in another currency and then put some aside in the local currency for day to day spending.

In most parts of the world, cash is still king, so I always have some of the local currency on me as well. (I also like to keep some as a souvenir from everywhere I go as well). I normally get this from an ATM using my Wise card but I also have a stash of US Dollars, Euros and British Pounds on me as well as an emergency back up. I can change these currencies at money changers all over the world and sometimes the rate is very good, even better than using an ATM.

Because I carry a lot of cash, I have them stored away in a very secure area and I encourage everyone to find somewhere on their person or in their bag that they can store some cash. On my first trip, I had some saved in a pocket of my wash bag!

In addition to my Wise card, I also have a few credit cards I keep as well. I have an entire post on the best credit cards for digital nomads but to keep it short, I have two American Express cards which I use for accruing airline points, a Virgin Atlantic Mastercard for when American Express isn’t accepted and another old credit card linked to my bank that I haven’t used in years but I keep as a backup backup!

Packing

Deciding what to take will depend on everything else I’ve already discuss.

As a general rule, the faster you travel, the less stuff you should take.

When I have done my extended trips, I have only taken a 40L carry on backpack with just a few changes of clothes which I wash regularly. Everything I pack is versatile and can be worn with more than one outfit. I don’t take any nice to haves and really make do with what I can carry on my back.

If you are moving on every few days, the less you have to repack, the better!

I have my essential packing list here.

However, when I have travelled for a longer period and have moved less frequently, like when I moved to Chiang Mai, I have packed more stuff in a larger 65L duffle bag. I love this bag as it can be used as a duffle and has straps that can be tucked away or pulled out so it can used like a backpack.

I appreciate the extra space it gives me but I wouldn’t want to carry this with me if I had to pack it up frequently.

Backpack v suitcase

The debate of whether to take a backpack or suitcase still goes on amongst travellers.

Here’s my take on it;

Take a backpack.

Simple. If you’ve noticed my above recommendations, both of them have been bags that go on your back.

Suitcases are difficult for navigating public transport, going up and down stairs, and you’ve always got to have a hand on it, which makes using your hands for paying or looking at directions on your phone that little bit more challenging.

The only time I would consider a suitcase was if I was to move somewhere for a long time and had some valuables or perishables that may get squashed. Then a large suitcase would be my option. I picked this when I moved back from New Zealand to the UK and packed a 30kg bag of almost everything I own.

Which brings me onto…

Minimalist or take it all

I fall into the minimalist crowd as I like to take as little as possible with me. Some clothes that work for multiple occasions, my laptop and a few other small bits of tech and thats about it.

However I know people that travel with their own pillows, a make up bag the size of my torso, enough shoes to keep a centipede busy and so much more as well. I once met a guy that travelled with two additional monitors for his work in his suitcase. I have also met digital nomads that have travelled with a saucepan and frying pan because they never liked the ones they found in their AirBnB’s.

Some people have creature comforts, which I get. Some people have kids, which also needs more planning and stuff (which I won’t speak about here as I have no experience doing so but there are many people that travel and work remotely with kids).

But my main theory is that if I need something that desperately, I can always buy it in my destination.

Packing cubes?

I have travelled with packing cubes and without them. If I am travelling with less stuff then I like to use them as it keeps everything together and organised. But I have also found them to be odd sizes that don’t quite fit your bag which actually means they take up dead space in your bag as well.

I can recommend using these Osprey packing cubes which go well with my 40L Osprey Farpoints backpack I’ve already mentioned.

Packing cubes should be on your trial and error list. Some people love them and some find them pointless. I’ll let you make up your mind for that!

Back home

As well as looking forward to everything you have on your plate whilst travelling and working remotely, you may also need to keep half an eye on things back home.

Staying in contact with friends at home is now so much easier that when I first started travelling more than 10 years ago, but it still takes effort to maintain those friendships (if you want to of course!). Checking in with friends, sending birthday and Christmas cards, and picking and choosing what big life events to miss because you are on the other side of the world all take up mental bandwidth.

Belongings

Even if you plan on selling everything before hitting the road, it is likely that you’ll still have some stuff/ important documents, personal effects of sentimental value or maybe just some furniture you couldn’t get rid of.

Will you be paying for storage for these and how often does that need checking up on. Can you leave it with parents, siblings or friends and how long are they realistically going to be ok with holding onto it for?

Do you own a home you’ll be renting out? How will you manage that on the other side of the world?

There are probably more things that I haven’t thought about here.

Summing up part 2: The Practical Side of Becoming a Digital Nomad

These are some of the practical tips that you need to think about before becoming a digital nomad. Whilst the images of sipping coconuts in a hammock with one hand pretending to do some work on a laptop is the dream, the reality is slightly more nuanced than that.

There is a lot of planning and preparation that goes into working remotely, from where to go, how to work and what to take with you. With time and experience, all of this comes a lot more naturally to you, but before you leave on your first trip as a digital nomad, this guide can help you through those questions.

Keep reading for part 3.

Dan

Dan is an avid traveller from London. His first big adventure was in 2010 living in Malaysia for 3 months. He has been on the road almost constantly since 2015 travelling to destinations that aren’t on the mainstream tourist trail and working full time and travelling since 2021.