Become A Digital Nomad in 2023?
Introduction
Curious about trying an alternative lifestyle as a digital nomad on a beach in Mexico or from your van? It can be a big decision and hard to know if the lifestyle is right for you. Before we left, there were several questions that we reflected on to decide if this life was going to be right for us.
We’ve also learned a few things along the way. Before you strike out on a new lifestyle, think about how you’d answer these questions to see if being a digital nomad is right for you.
Index
Will a big change benefit me?
Am I running away?
What remote work can I do?
How much money do I need before I leave?
Am I the right age for this lifestyle?
Will I earn enough money?
What’s the worse that can happen?
Can I reduce my work hours?
How much money do I need to earn?
How will this affect my family?
Resources
Will a big change benefit me?
Big decisions are not always easy. We had good lives in Auckland. I had a good job which I enjoyed, we had a lovely apartment in the center of the city and a good group of friends and family close by.
Did we really want to leave family and friends for inconsistency and potential isolation? I guess for us there was really no choice: we had both wanted an alternative life for as long as we could remember.
If we didn’t leave the nest, we would live to regret it later. I think once you have the feeling that a normal white picket fence life is not going to tick all the boxes, you must go for it.
The 9-5 Trap
We had fallen into the trap of working all day, getting home, cooking dinner, and then watching Netflix until bedtime. Nothing wrong with that, if that’s what you want, but we both knew that it wasn’t.
To us, being on the road consistently wasn’t just about travel. It was also about making our lives more simple by owning fewer things and at the same time opening ourselves up to being inspired by new people and new environments.
There are a million different ways to live your life and we are so curious to see how others are living theirs. There are of course many ways to grow, ones that may involve putting down roots in the future. Or not, who knows?
Since leaving, we find it easier to be inspired. We’ve regained a joy and passion for new experiences which we are more open to now we have more time.
Reflect On What’s Important
We can always do things to improve our lives; some changes are easy to make. bigger changes require bigger decisions. Reflecting on the changes we wanted to make (working less, having more freedom, gaining exposure to other cultures, simplifying our lives) we couldn’t stay in Auckland and achieve these changes.
Am I running away?
There is a famous line from the movie Fight Club: “We work jobs that we hate, to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like.” No doubt this will resonate with some. It’s not easy to make the tough changes that can be necessary to make our lives better.
As a result, we can look longingly at an alternative life through the ‘grass is always greener’ lens. Was this true for us? The key is to identify what you are looking for. Can you make small changes to create the life you want? Or does trying something entirely new make sense to you?
We spent many hours walking on the beach discussing this very topic. We made a long list of goals and bucket list items we wanted to achieve over the next 20 years. The weight of those goals gave us the answer.
Leaving For The Right Reasons
Our view was to work jobs we loved but work fewer hours to give ourselves time to pursue other passions. Tilting the work/life balance in our favor. Due to the cost of living in the big city, it simply wasn’t possible to reduce our hours or travel enough to satisfy us. Therefore, seeking a new path was our ultimate decision.
Just be aware that jetting off is not a silver bullet. It requires work and the reality might not be exactly what you expect.
We are not working from a beach hut taking calls between getting life lessons from an Indian guru and then hitting the surf. Well, not every day anyway. So, make sure you are leaving for the right reasons.
It’s a big decision to become a nomad so you want to take your time and make the right choice. Many people start the process and find it wasn’t right for them.
It’s Not All Sunshine And Rainbows
YouTube is full of videos from disgruntled former digital nomads who perhaps were not mentally prepared for the new stresses and feelings of isolation you must overcome. Being continuously mobile can add extra stress to your daily life.
If you are unhappy in your job at home and think taking the same job on the road will somehow make that job more palatable, I hate to tell you this, but it’s unlikely.
If you love your job, great. You are good to go. Or alternatively, take the time to find a job you enjoy before hitting the road. Because once you settle into the day-to-day of working remotely it can feel the same as working in your from home.
Especially if you’re dealing with a heavy workload and getting up at 4 am to catch a weekly team Zoom meeting due to the time difference.
Remote Year
You’ll need the commitment to make it work. Also, be aware that you can dip your toe into curated nomad packages that give you a taste of the lifestyle. Remote Year sells such packages if you’re looking for some additional support.
What remote jobs can I do?
Our approach was to get organized and ensure we had jobs when we left, rather than starting new careers at the same time as adopting our new digital nomad lifestyle. We didn’t want the extra stress of looking for work during our first few months away.
Check With Your Employer
First, don’t be afraid to ask your current employer if you can work your job remotely if you enjoy it.
The environment is very different since Covid19. The right companies are much more open to this. If you are productive, who cares where you are? Flexjobs reported that employers can save $22,000 per remote worker per year. I managed to find work by speaking to a company I had previously worked at, pitching an offer for is enticing for both parties. So don’t think this is just for online marketers or coders. I work in boring old finance, so if it worked for me, it could work for you.
Freelance Work
If your current employer isn’t interested, or you’d like a new job in the same industry, look for freelance work or employers that are happy with remote workers. Securing the job before you go will help ease the transition. See the resources pages below for the latest top digital nomad jobs for 2023.
How much money do I need before I leave?
“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”
That was really our philosophy here. Figure out a level that makes you feel comfortable, either on your own or for both of you if you’re in a couple.
We decided to be super careful here and we planned to save enough to support us for two years with no income (extreme!). We worked our numbers based on $2,000 USD a month for 24 months.
Of course, this was way over the top, but having some savings behind you to keep you going for at least three months will remove some of the stress. Our view is just don’t ride by the seat of your pants. The more savings, the less stress. You’re choosing an unpredictable lifestyle and having some money behind you will help you weather those unplanned upheavals.
Am I the right age for this lifestyle?
I wasn’t going to include this question, because I really don’t think it’s an issue. It’s not something that really came up for us, but I have seen other people wondering about this.
There are all sorts of age groups living as digital nomads. n the co-working, co-living places we have stayed, the average age is quite young so it might be harder to find a more mature group of friends in that type of accommodation.
But in popular ex-pat areas, there are usually apartments where you can find all age groups. There are also many online Facebook groups and other websites such as sites InterNations which arrange expat weekly coffee meet-ups and buddies to show you around town.
Honestly, there are all sorts and types on this journey, you may just have to push yourself to get yourself out there.
Will I earn enough money?
This is where our planning was helpful. First of all, we had an idea of how much money we needed per month to live in South East Asia as digital nomads.
Tania had been freelancing for a while so had an idea of how much she was likely to earn in a year. If you’re changing careers at the same time as becoming a digital nomad, there are a lot more unknowns in this equation.
A Headstart
If you’re planning on becoming a freelancer, starting a new career, or becoming your own boss, how much of this can you set up and start before you leave? Can you transition from being an employee to freelancing? Can you start working in your new career or business on the side, while at home? Yes, this potentially means working longer hours in the lead-up to the change, but it will make the transition smoother.
What's the worst that can happen?
Playing out the worst-case scenarios by writing them down and working out what we would actually do in each scenario really helped up. We looked at things such as
What if only one of us can work?
What if we can’t find jobs?
What if interest rates skyrocket back at home? (This one actually happened, but we had a plan for it!).
What if we decide to return home because we don’t love the lifestyle?
Once you play these things out, you’ll realize it’s not that bad. The solutions are there. Write them down and solve them as best you can on paper. And then, learn to let go and go for it. You probably won’t need the backup plans, but they’re there in your back pocket if you do.
Can I reduce my work hours?
Absolutely! This is a massive perk. In the transition from an office lifestyle to a nomadic one, it’s likely that you’re going to get used to living on less than you did at home. This allows you to reduce your working hours, leaving you more playtime.
You’ll benefit from geographic arbitrage, so the same dollar amount will go further. One of the main reasons I wanted to become a nomad was the freedom it provides.
If I was waking up at 4 am to jump on a Zoom call with Geoff from Finance and then smashing out another 9 hours, living as a nomad would be considerably less fun. No offense to Geoff. So then at some point, you’ll likely have to pick a number for your monthly budget and try and stick to it.
How much money do I need to earn?
As a couple, we decided we wanted to live on $2,000 USD per month. We arrived at this by researching copious amounts of travel blogs and YouTube videos. I can report, so far so good.
Our budget has been just right. Of course, it helps that we have started with some of the cheapest countries in South East Asia.
But… do we go out on the town as much as we did back home? Hell no, not by a long shot. A big night on the cocktails even in Asia, will set you back a pretty penny. Can we go to posh restaurants every night? Also nope. Am I rocking the latest Lululemon men’s stretchy pants? You can probably guess.
But, can we drink the local beers, and eat the best street food, every single night? You betcha! We went about 6 months without cooking an evening meal, all within this budget. There is a term in the retail industry called ‘trading down’ where you must change your spending habits to match your new reality. In this case, it’s a change but it’s definitely not a sacrifice.
Is The Trade Off Worth It?
This is my point, you’re going to have to make better choices to match your budget. You’ll have to decide if this trade-off is worth it.
Is the purchase going to add to my experience, or could it increase my work time and thus decrease my fun time? If we are working only 3 hours per day, then each dollar is more precious. How much of my precious time do I want to swap for each dollar? If you believe, as we do, that time is more valuable than money, it’s a fair trade.
For us, it all comes back to Time vs Money when reviewing your proposed new monthly budget. $2,000 is not a kingmaker in even the cheapest parts of the digital nomad circuit anymore. Get that number up to $4,000 plus and you’re in the elite category, at least in South-East Asia.
Do What Works For you
It is likely you will cut your living expenses in half compared to most Western countries, so if you decide to try and earn the same, you’ll likely be in that top 10%. But for me becoming a nomad was also about reducing my hours by at least half and increasing my spare time.
If I’m going to move to Boracay in the Philippines to have one of the arguably best beaches in the world on my doorstep, then I want time to lay in the hammock and stare across the horizon.
How will this affect my family?
I’ve been living away from the UK for over 10 years so I with dealt with the process of moving away from loved ones a long time ago.
In fact, the digital nomad lifestyle of being able to pick up sticks and live anywhere gives me the option of living closer to the UK or even in the folk’s attic for a while, which wasn’t possible as an ex-pat on the other side of the world.
If this is your first time moving away, it will have an impact to consider, and it’s worth reflecting on this before you make a decision. Only you know your family dynamics and how stressful being away from their full time will feel.
Video calls help and having emergency funds set aside to get back home if you need to will make it easier. But for some people, being far away from family can be a deal breaker. This can also change over time. As parents age or babies are born, maybe the pull to be at home will tilt the scales in a different direction.
Final Note
We hope some of these questions help in your planning and preparation. Becoming digital nomads was one of the best things we ever did and although we had our doubts and stress at times, we wouldn’t change a thing.
Please let us know if there are any other questions you want us to answer or what other things you’re thinking through before hitting the road.
Resources
Here are some of the sites we used along the way to plan and undertake our due diligence.
Nomad list - A great site for reviewing your budget options
Nembro – Where does your budget allow you to go?
Airbnb – Great for long-term stays with a monthly discount
Agoda – Great for short-term stays
Booking.com – Another option for shorter-term stays
SafetyWing – Insurance, made by nomads for nomads
Lonely Planet – Choosing where to go
Sherpa – Visa Planning
We Work Remote – Remote Working Jobs
Working Nomads – More Remote Working Jobs
Traveling Lifestyle – Top digital nomad jobs 2023
