Digital nomads, including myself, are popping up like mushrooms. Or my algorithm is so ruined by my work as a workation expert that I don’t see anything else. But it also makes sense. Times have changed. The way we work has changed. We want to get everything out of life when we’re young (I’m 35 and consider myself young too), and no longer wait until retirement to take nice long trips. So why not choose a life full of freedom and flexibility as a digital nomad, or remote worker, or workation-ganger, or whatever you want to call it.
What is a digital nomad?
I call myself a part-time digital nomad these days. Everyone knows the term digital nomad and most have an image of it: someone lying in a hammock by a palm tree with a cocktail in their hand and laptop on their lap. I am not that person. By the way, those are only the fake influencers who take such pictures, because that is not the real life of a nomad and there is no way you can do your job properly.
A digital nomad is someone who does online work remotely. This can be from anywhere in the world. This person does his or her work digitally and only needs a laptop and good Internet to do the work. Some travel briefly and still have a permanent residence, while others travel the world continuously and no longer have a home of their own. The latter is also where the term nomad comes from.
How I created my remote work life
To the surprise of many, I just live in the Netherlands. If you follow me on Instagram you will see that I travel regularly, that’s right, but I just live in beautiful Utrecht. It’s just that I really enjoy traveling. Especially in winter I like to escape the Dutch weather and leave for a tropical climate. Still, if you can do your work anywhere, I prefer to do it from a beautiful place. That’s why I call myself a part-time digital nomad, because I travel part-time. By the way, I have very little with labels. You just have to do what you feel good about and what you need. You can read how I created my remote work life here.
Different types of digital nomads
You regularly read inspiring, or even enviable, stories of others who are turning their lives around and also choosing freedom. This can be rigorous in the form of selling your house and going to live in a minivan, but it can also be smaller. For example, by not settling for your 25 vacation days to go on a trip but working remote from abroad on a regular basis.
Digital nomads can be salaried people as well as freelancers or entrepreneurs. As a freelancer you may have more freedom to make your own plans, but with that comes all the risks of being self-employed. Nothing wrong with being salaried and thereby agreeing with your employer what flexibility around remote work there is. I did this myself for many years and it worked out fine.
When I lived in a coliving in Valencia for several months, most of the roommates were also employed. They came from all kinds of countries, from Colombia to Sweden.
On workingremotely.com you will find many examples of people working remotely. Sometimes a week, sometimes a few months, sometimes just in their own country, sometimes on the other side of the world. Anything is possible. Here are some examples of inspiring people, in different situations.
- Nancy went from civil servant with 9-to-5 job to free life
- Michel has been traveling around Europe for 9 years as a Digital Nomad
- Ayla lives in Vienna and travels frequently
How can I become a digital nomad?
If you also like the idea of living as a part-time or full-time digital nomad, as a first step, look online for people who already live this way. Get inspiration from their stories, contact them, ask them questions. No you have, yes you can get. Most people enjoy telling about their special lifestyle. Here are my tips for starting a life as a digital nomad:
- Start following other digital nomads on Instagram.
- Search Facebook groups for digital nomads. You can also search here specifically for Dutch people traveling around in a minivan, if that’s what you want. Or people who live in a certain place. There are pretty specific groups for this.
- Read travel blogs by/about digital nomads.
- Visit Meetup events, which many digital nomads attend.
Read the 7 steps to becoming a digital nomad in this blog: https://workingremotely.nl/hoe-word-ik-digital-nomad-de-7-stappen-naar-jouw-droomleven/
What are digital nomad occupations?
In addition, it is a good idea to determine whether your current job is suitable for you to do (some of it) remotely. And perhaps also whether your employer is open to having you work from a different location on occasion. What occupations are suitable for remote work? Maybe it means you have to look for another job. Or that you need to start developing certain skills that make life as a digital nomad possible for you. Not quite getting there? Then I would love to help you with this. In our online course Remote Ready I take you step by step through the preparations for working remotely. From remote skils, to cool destinations, to productive work to the legal rules. Completely at your own pace.
More inspiration on digital nomads
