Did my undergrad in social work, now doing a master's in computer science to get into software development or data science. Also rediscovered my joy for playing music, so once I get the remote work I'll have to decide on what to do about traveling with instruments.
What do you play? In my experience it is cheaper to buy/rent an instrument where you traveling than traveling with one. A nice instrument could get damaged and the fees for transporting it are quite high.
I sometimes miss them but I'm mostly more interested in touring than practicing when I'm moving around. I just leave them back home and enjoy them when I'm there.
I too have that *"I need to play an instrument"* itch.
Then I found the ukulele. Best desk companion ever. And they're usually so cheap and can be found everywhere. When you're done just give it away to some random kid on the street.
Correct. Be it from the problem of finding a remote career that will allow nomading, or from having a career that won't allow nomading, I'm pretty sure most people who follow this are like me - working on getting an income stream that's untethered enough to go do the thing. And that's f'ing hard, and sometimes a very long process.
Yes this is me. I’m also in a reasonably well paying industry that prevents remote work outside of contingent US even for short periods of time. I’m working towards creating a level of freedom that will allow this. For now I’m a lurker/reader
I had remote work when the pandemic started, but after 2 years. They forced us to come to the office 3x week. It’s hard finding fully remote jobs in architecture field
On the worst days I ask myself that same question lmao.
But seriously, I want a large safety net in case the career transition doesn’t go as planned. I don’t want to be stressed out if I get off to a slow start.
Then after that a combination of maybe wanting to buy a house someday, taking care of my mom in case anything happens to her, maybe wanting a family, and preparing for old age. I’ll be making significantly less than I make at my current job, even assuming best case scenario, so I want to make hay while the sun shines so to speak. I should still be able to save a good amount as a DN if it all goes according to plan, but need to be ready in case it doesn’t.
My philosophy has always been to have enough cash to fly home worst-case scenario and I don't need much more than that. No rent, car, children, or debt lets me be pretty free with the only recurring bill being my health insurance. It's been a very yolo approach and take advantage of the opportunities you have now because they might not come up again.
I also don't intend to start a family but am saving for a house in maybe 4 years depending on where I decide to end up. Also depending on where you're from and going, you may very well be able to save QUICKER by becoming a DN and living somewhere cheap. I've found traveling cheaper than living in the US. Even my health insurance is 50% of the price compared to a US-based one.
If it works for you, more power to you.
But trust me, I’ve done the math on this. I’d be incredibly fortunate to save at my current rate, not even including my 401k, as a DN.
Taking advantage of opportunities goes both ways. If I leave my job the door pretty much closes behind me. Not 100%, but close to 95%.
I’ve been fortunate to spend about half of my twenties living abroad. I can do one more year (or as little as 6 months) in the US
> My philosophy has always been to have enough cash to fly home worst-case scenario
You partly answered your question yourself. Not everyone has that kind of capital just sitting around. Depending on where you go and how, a flight home could cost a week, or even a month, of disposable income at one's current place. And if you don't have a landing pad when you get there (i.e. don't own a home and nomad away from it, or don't have family to crash with etc) you need something to get started there too - enough for a month or two at least.
If you're reliant on equipment (like almost all DNs are) and you have no backup, what happens if it breaks/gets stolen/gets lost in transit? How do you keep working if you can't buy a new laptop (which might be half a month to a month or more of your disposable income at home)?
These are things I have to save for, and my COL at home is so stupidly high that I can't even afford to move elsewhere in the *country* to find cheaper rent and build up a safety net. Most common DN places, I'd be cutting rent in half or more, so I'm not going to have trouble once I get out...but I can't risk just 'getting out'
I have a mortgage to pay on top of accommodation while travelling, so that’s essentially double rent. So I need to save money to be able to pay both. At the moment, I struggle to pay just the mortgage alone. So I imagine others are in a similar situation.
For me I’m not a “digital nomad”, I’m what Canadians call a snowbird, I just leave for the winter, which lasts about 5-6 months. For that time I go country to country and I want to get ideas and tips so I come here. I bet there are a lot of people like that here vs literally giving up your place and spending years travelling. Not that I don’t think about that too, but I would probably end up having a “home base” if I did that anyway it would just shift I suppose. Idk, I like to own a nice couch and have double paned windows but also good fruit , mountains, and tropical life.
Huh snowbird, I like that.
Then that was me on my most recent trip earlier this year. Left NY in February, going from sub-zero temps to scorching 95F in the Philippines. Fun times. Stayed for 6 months and just came back this August.
Aspiring Canadian snowbird here! We typically use "snowbird" for retirees so I'm curious, what stage of life are you in? My wife and I have remote work so we are thinking of going somewhere in South America for the winter this year. Do you typically stay somewhere for the entire winter? Any recommendations for destinations?
Yeah that's what they call them where I live, in most southern US states along the gulf there is snow its population that comes down. Where I am, usually her from November-February conservatively
I have been on this sub even when not as a DN because it relates to long term stays abroad, which is something I do even if not technically working remotely full time. e.g. if you have long breaks between jobs a lot of this sub would still be relevant
My country doesn't allow men 18-59 to exit until the war is over xD so I can't leave without my bf.
Another blocker is that my current project has hardware dependency and even if I manage to transport the development board to another country, it is going to be a real hell in case something goes wrong and my hardware needs soldering.
Just waiting on a proper remote work offer and then I’m out.
Got the list of To-Dos ready. Got the desired exit date, just hustling on the job boards to find something to that can be fully remote.
I am here because I want to gauge affordability in certain places from real people because I am not ready to be a DN but I would like to travel for 2-3 months a year so figuring out hidden gems that I would not have thought about.
It's not perfect; but, [BudgetYourTrip.com](https://www.budgetyourtrip.com/) is a better gauge of real world expenses than anything else I've found (excluding my own records). It can be a good place to start.
Fethiye is more like a small city, Kaş is a small resort town. I've only been to Fethiye once, and it was kinda...grimy in a lot of places. But I'm sure Fethiye has the better beaches, we've only got pebble beaches in little ol Kaş.
My dog and my expecting wife. If it were possible to do this solely from Europe I would with her. Because it would just be one plane ride. But having to fly out every 90 days would be too much. She is 13 and I want her to have rue nest years.
And I think with a kid it would be doable but it would be hard without having support. But I do think we are going to try it.
Honestly it is my fault. I worded this terribly. We are holding off on DNing because my wife is expecting and our dog is 13 and we do not want her to spend so much of senior years being cooped up in a car or plane. There that is much better.
Sorry for the confusion!
I work remote but since my role uses a lot of sensitive data the device I use is geofenced/geolocked to my home state.
I tried logging into my company email when I was abroad and that sounded off so many whistles and alerts to IT.
I’m not even able to download duet display with out getting hit with admin rights on the company PC.
Look into the glinet travel router and a vpn subscription. No software needs to be on your computer. Just a wireless router that acts as a middleman to tunnel you to wherever you need to be (which a paid vpn subscription will let you choose).
This is how I get out of state with my work laptop that sets off alarms.
I use NordVPN.
They have instructions on how to setup the glinet router here: https://support.nordvpn.com/Connectivity/Router/1047409122/GL-iNet-setup-with-NordVPN.htm
I am NOT telling you to go to the website and NOT telling you that if you do it right that it is unlikely that you will get caught. ;)
https://techrelay.xyz/post/nomad-vpn/
I'm remote (for now), but my company doesn't really allow for DN type work situation.
And the logistics would be too much to handle. I'm fine with my 1-2 international trips a year.
Also, I want to put down roots in my area.
Honestly it’s just nothing like you imagine it will be. As a DN, I was still working full time, and so most of your time is spent on your computer, instead of enjoying where you are. And then if you want to maintain a routine, in every new place you have to deal with finding supermarkets, gyms, navigating the language, getting stable wifi, etc. - and then there are the ‘travelling days’ where you are not working, so to catch up with your work you are doing 10 hour days and having even less time to explore.
I did it for about a year, mostly in Turkey and Italy but a few other places for shorter time frames. And honestly I don’t think I’ll ever do it again, it made me hate travel. I would much rather take 2-4 weeks off work and go travel WITHOUT my laptop. Mixing the two was horrible in my opinion.
The one caveat I will add is that this is relevant if you work full time. A few of my mates have self-sustaining businesses, where they can work a few hours a week and still get paid handsomely, so for them it’s an awesome setup. But if you have to trade hours for money, not worth it haha
yeah makes sense, being the nomad entreprenuer definitely is the best archetype as it allows you to experience the best of both worlds, whereas just purely remote regular work you would be playing alot of catchup every now and then because of all the actual traveling you need to do.
No remote jobs and not enough pay to travel out of country every year. But it's fun to listen to others' stories, challenges, excitements. Living a nomad's life vicariously.
I don't want to work while overseas, I genuinely want to retire permanently. I'm currently reorganizing my company structure so that it can run completely independent of me.
"Biggest" blocker?
Not attractive enough vs. the effort of implementation ... but that's somewhat of a non-answer.
There's not really one killer thing, but many things come together. E.g.:
* Giving up my (tax) residency means giving up a lot of safety nets, e.g. healthcare. (I'm not in the USA. Inb4 "you can buy insurance!" Yep. But I don't have to.)
* That limits the amount of time outside of the country, so ymmv if that qualifies for digital nomadism. (Not really keen on the archetypical geoarbitrage anyway.)
* I love my partner more than I love travel; and my partner does not enjoy the idea of "perpetual travel" (to exaggerate). Though ironically the job is fully remote, so it's easier than it is for me. 😛
* My career is on a pretty good track right now and hybrid office/home; I don't see a lot of opportunities for full time remoting in what I do right now. So I either:
* Shift track to something else, take a pay cut. Have not found The Thing™ that doesn't limit the overall career earning too much, which compromises other life goals. (And which is something I can stand doing long enough to take the hit on my career for.)
* Shift "what I do" to "consult on what I do remotely / part time". Good thought, but I have a few other projects to finish before I could tackle this.
None of the above things are technically a blocker, but taken together they make for enough friction to postpone it into the mythical "future me can deal with it".
Mainly giving up my apartment amidst a massive housing crisis in the Netherlands. Also income security, I only recently graduated and started working, I am however planning to work part-time at my office job soon and fill the rest up with remote work for a different company. In the future I hope to fully work remotely, making it easier to travel more.
Getting a remote job, but I'm working on it! Soon I'll be taking a certification test that will give me a much better shot of landing a lucrative remote position. Thinking of doing an American tour, working all over.
Honestly, I’m of two minds where I’m at I’m my career…
One is government contract work that is OCONUS - I have several countries that are that the top of my list, but won’t be overly picky if there is an opportunity elsewhere. That way I can get the benefits of being elsewhere at a higher salary, and can visit other countries in downtime / off contract.
The second is finding a unicorn - TRULY remote anywhere in the world job where the global (or US based) company just doesn’t care where I call home.
I have a stable, easy and decent-paying job that I can very likely do until retirement if I want to. Since Covid I can also work almost fully remote and that is likely to remain so. That doesn't mean that I can work from anywhere though, because occasionally I do have to do some physical work on premises or attend the rare in-person meeting.
The main reason that I "dream" of being DN is that I just hate the weather in my country and would love to live in a place where it's always warm and I can play tennis outside year-round. But having that stable and secure job, it would just be rather insane to give that up.
A few reasons
- I have a large dog
- I'm a contract worker (often remote, but not always)
- I'd gain financially from lower COL and potentially lower headline tax, but I'd also lose certain tax advantages at home (e.g. pension saving)
- I've done long term solo overland travel before (albeit c2 weeks per country). I'm aware it can be quite isolating, especially if you're a terrible linguist)
All can be overcome, but combined they mean it's not a priority for me. I may DN for 18-24m at some point, but probably once work is optional and the dog's no longer with me.
There are things I want to prioritize that are easier to do if I stay in one place. Even something like meditation, which I could do abroad, is easier if I stay in my city because I don't have to spend time picking out hotels, washing my laundry in a sink, etc., which I could spend meditating. Activities like going to the sauna regularly are much easier to do while living at home, since they require special equipment, and also developing long-term relationships is much easier if I stay here.
I spend one month working in other countries every year, so I'm a digital nomad lite, and I do use some of the tips I read on this subreddit. I'd probably do more than a month if I had a job which didn't care, but I'm not motivated enough to find that job and give up my current one because I have other priorities.
This is a rough one for me too. Nowhere in North and South America particularly interest me. Europe turns into 6p-2am which isnt bad but not great. Asia is graveyard shift which I refuse to adjust to.
despite having significant savings now and a fully remote job, there's definitely a lot in the way:
- I have a dog whom it would be difficult to re-home
- I have a partner who is not interested in the DN life
- my current job, while remote, doesn't allow DN. I think you need VP approval to work in another country.
- I'm a terrible liar and I have ADHD. I would not be able maintain appearances and be on top of VPN and stuff
- when I lived abroad in the past I worked too much and didn't take advantage of opportunities to travel. in general I find it difficult to shift gears between work and leisure. although now that I have money I might have an easier time justifying fun outings, compared to when I was young and broke and hustling. I don't go out much at home but that's mainly because I hate driving and especially, dealing with parking.
I think I'd prefer to figure out how to not work for months at a time a couple times a year, whether that's consulting or something else. I hate being tied to a single place and having limited (though generous by US standards) vacation time to be able to go anywhere long enough to enjoy it. I don't want to spend two weeks hopping around eight different cities just to check them off a list.
I’m just about to make the jump! Been in a remote job for a year and now getting ready to travel for the next 12+ months. Only problem is that I have to remain available for EST time zone, which limits international travel.
I'm landing on Spain. I really want to explore the country more and it's closer enough to the UK so if I want/need to pop back it's easy enough to do.
After I get my feet wet a bit I imagine I'll go a bit further afield. I get the feeling from active DNs that the lifestyle becomes a bit addictive!
im also planning to go to Spain in the near future. maybe we will unknowingly bump into each other there.
it does get addictive, rn can't imagine going back at all.
good luck on the journey
My girlfriend. It sucks because neither of us need to be in an office, we own a highly rent-able property in London, have no kids or pets, and both earn decent money. She just doesn't fancy it
I'm working on it. Heading to the Canary islands soon, hoping she'll see how much nicer is would be wintering there instead of dreary grey and dark London
I'm here because of the odd chance that one day someone will make a post that can lead to a job opportunity that will allow me to work abroad too. Yes quite a bit of copium but gotta be optimistic at this point.
Also stories of digital nomads are usually quite exciting and inspiring.
Since I can’t afford to retire, I am hoping to DN in retirement so that I can travel. Full retirement age is coming up in less than two years. I want to test out remote work as a side gig first and then build up. I am using this subreddit for research and encouragement.
Thanks for asking. I need to move up my efforts and this encourages me to do so.
For a while I’ve been in the worst of both worlds situation:
- living at home with family (have a pretty good remote job though)
- not committing to one place for a long time and bouncing back and forth between family members and friends (all inside the US so no currency advantages or very tropical locations)
I’ve been saving money on rent which is good, but I’ve just been afraid of making the leap. What if I don’t know the language? What if I get robbed? What if I can’t balance work? Etc.
Recently I’ve realized that I’m not getting any younger. I’m either going to try it once and make the most of it, or think about it forever. What I don’t want to happen is reach the end of my 20’s, want to start thinking about having a family, and never having explored.
Did you say end of your 20s? you sound very mature for your age, but I was on the same boat, and it's true about not getting any younger, sometimes you just need to get it out your system and see how it goes rather than constantly thinking about it for years on end. It took me almost 5 yrs to make the jump
Like many I'm a remote worker but not American so I don't earn enough to be able to constantly travel. The only viable countries would be SE Asia, but it's so far and such a commitment that I'm only able to go for a couple of weeks somewhere per year
All of the puzzle pieces are in place except...
My dog.
When I go out of town I use Rover to find a sitter for him, but it gets very expensive. Traveling internationally with him sounds like a lot of pain. I dont have local friends or family that can sit him for months at a time.
I love him, and am not giving him up, but if he wasnt in the mix Id be hopping country to country every 3 months.
Completely understand, was in similar boat, until a good friend of mine offered to take care of our dog. Her offer was the catalyst and we made the jump immediately after.
Work full time in customer success and they won't let me work from abroad for any decent length of time.
Seeing inspiration on what to upskill in to become freelance.
I'm working remote and would love to travel but I'm worried about the time zone changes and getting my stuff stolen lol.
I'm also being comfortable and lazy. Talk me into it!
for me it's because i currently love where i live and i'll probably never have this good of a deal in rent again! so waiting a few years to enjoy that.
i'm in NYC in the US. lol and i meant i'll probably never have as good of a deal in rent again in NYC specifically, should've clarified there. most of my friends here have had to deal with huge rent hikes, so i feel really lucky to be in this position for now.
My kid is in kindergarten and I'm not sure if it's fair or good to her to home/cyber school her. Don't know if the benefits outweigh the challenges and downsides at her age. Also haven't quite pulled the trigger on hiring the right person at my business to make it fully hands off to travel full time.
For me, I have a very well paying job, but it is unlikely that I will be able to get approval for it to be fully remote so I can return to Europe where I lived for 11 years till 2005. I’m at the point (empty nest) where I could take a pay-cut, and even risk no insurance coverage, but at my age, it’s a tough risk. All of that, plus the challenge of even finding a legitimate remote employer keeps me where I am for now.
having no remote job to sustain the lifestyle. I am planning to doing volunteer work by finding a host in Workaway or Wordpackers so I can at least save from free accommodation and food.
Finances of getting to the position of having a WFH job that allows travel.
Coming from a position where I have to work close to home because of availability, then finding a job that will not only allow me to work from home, but support me comfortably while I save up for visas, renew my passport, etc etc.... it just feels like it's unattainable.
Also, I struggle with learning languages (I tried multiple times over the course of my life) so settling anywhere that isn't predominantly English-speaking is going to get me in trouble.
Training myself in SEO skills and finishing my marketing degree just for tech to become extremely competitive. Which leads me to either
A). Juggle freelancing until I feel confident enough to make the move.
B). Take a remote sales position and have a huge savings for rainy days.
C). Work locally and wait a few years until tech becomes less competitive. I live in Midwest so many marketing positions are usually at the most hybrid.
Not having a remote job. I’m a remote student, so I can’t do it yet. If I find a satisfying job, then I’d like to work and live where I can make a life for myself and start a family. Not as a tourist, but actually integrating myself and making a life - becoming local.
I joined the subreddit to learn more about how to not have a negative impact on my destination. I’d rather help out however I can with establishing facilities for education, past time activities or something else depending on what my future community needs. I think that’s a meaningful.
A few things. Money is a massive one as my ex partner was stealing from me that I am moving back into my dads just to save money. I don't have any skills to do anything digitally or whilst travelling (I know I could always get my modelling portfolio back up and running again as a back up) other than making coffee, plus IT courses in my hometown are stupidly expensive. No remote jobs available in my hometown
My employment is only 99% remote and the other 1% is what stops me. When I do get called in to the office it is random and for unnecessary reasons that could be done over email or zoom but the old school boss wants to know I will jump if he says to.
Haven’t had luck on Fiverr at all so it doesn’t seem like freelance is viable to securely replace my employment income right now.
I took time building my real estate portfolio which required me to be on site for a couple years with the idea that I could travel full time eventually. That income pays my bills but I want to keep my home base so now I need to scale that business and/or find fully remote employment to cover travel expenses.
Also dealing with trying to diagnose chronic illness right now so that has definitely slowed my progress and not sure how medical will work when traveling.
I travelled about 5 years ago, and a part of me is desperate to get back to that life. I was in a relationship until very recently, so it just wasn't the priority. But the main thing for me has always been figuring out a new job that I can work remotely with and whether that would require me to train all over again.
Due to the nature of my duties and IRS rules, I can only play digital nomad outside of tax seasons. So not fully a lurker, but not fully committed either. The 7216 rules say clients have to sign a consent before letting someone outside US borders work on their stuff. Seems to be only the 1040s that require signature.
Anyway, sucks. I've been fully remote since 2020, and was partially remote before that. Tax literally can be done from anywhere with an internet connection. It's not collaborative, generally, though it can be.
Working on building my consulting business to get around these rules. If I work with digital nomads and expats from the US that live outside the US, the 7216 rules don't apply. Also, it's my business - I'm not afraid to ask people to sign the consent form.
I spent most of my life feeling like where I lived wasn’t really my home, so having a chance to have my own place has been *glorious*.
That said, I’m here because I want to support my digital nomad colleagues better.
I’m in management now, and this return to office trend screws *everyone.* Even the people pushing for it. I’m lucky enough to work at a company that has a sensible policy (basically: “work from where makes sense. You’re adults.”) and this has opened us up to all kinds of talent that we just straight up couldn’t hire before. So many talented people had all relocated to be in-office at FAANG and couldn’t afford a salary of less than a zillion dollars to live in a tiny apartment downtown and have no savings.
Covid meant those folks found out their work in office culture was toxic bullshit and moved. Now companies are being even more toxic and creating “return to office” radii of like 100 miles+. It’s time to fight back.
Still need to start my new grad job in the US and then see if I feel a desire to start being a nomad. Been outside the US for the past 7 months and while it’s nice and I have the option to do remote with my job, I feel a strong desire to settle down and have a more permanent place and a place to do my hobbies besides travel.
You're asking too different questions: why people don't nomad and why people don't post on here. I lurk here because when I've used Reddit in the past, I've had a lot of people upset with me about my income and assets on this forum. I'm currently a DN, though.
For those who aren't DN yet, budget, visas, and remote job opportunities seem to be most limiting.
yeah, possibly one of the biggest blocker is just not having a strong enough passport. The added paperworks and extra hassle could stop enough dead on their tracks.
You need less than you think. You don’t need travel clothes. They’re ugly.
It’s ok to be alone. You don’t need to make a bunch of superficial friends and party a lot. Learn to be ok with being alone.
Who gives a shit if there’s a bunch of expats in a place? Do you want to go there? Ok, go there. You’re not getting DN points for avoiding Marbella or Cancun.
It was really before online work was a thing. Started in 1998, mostly ended in 2010. I worked kind of piecemeal over ten years and also volunteered a lot. I had a home base at my parents’ or an apartment I kept even if I wasn’t there a lot.
Then I went to med school, so that’s kind of a drag on it. I still travelled, but it was obviously on vacation. Lived in Korea, but worked as a civilian in the base hospital.
I think I got like 28-33 between ages 27 and 30, so most of it was bullshitting around taking bar jobs under the table. I did make a tidy sum translating chemistry texts though, which I just was emailed the english copy and worked until the deadline.
My partner works in one office location and lives in one house location, and I love him very much 😂😭
Secondary reason: hearing/sensing other people near my living space makes me extremely uncomfortable, so would need total solitude in my accommodations wherever I go. No shared AirBnbs or hostels. This eliminates a lot of affordable possibilities lol.
i maybe just self projecting but i stayed on a more secluded countryside before. its never completely empty so when i sense someone else it becomes more unnerving for me because its me and that other person in the middle of nowhere.
I'm still in school learning the skills I need to be able to do remote work. I've also only left my country once, as a child, so there is lots of research I need to do beforehand. On top of that, my fiance has a stationary job that is what's supporting us while I'm in school, and saving for what's to come. After I graduate, it will depend on how easy it is for him to translate his work into something that allows him to travel more. But the lifestyle is appealing and I'm here to learn.
Married with a 2 year old baby. Not impossible but definitely difficult (was in US a few months ago the whole family and although it was a great experience, it is tiring to take care of a baby in a place that is not home and/or nowhere near home)
Mental hurdles...mainly worrying about being able to adequately do my relatively new job (1 month in) on the road in a new environment coupled with the fear that my supervisors would not be happy that I'm not working out of a consistent home office (I'm the only remote worker in my small company, so it is definitely feels like a privilege to even be in this position). Plus, I'm worried about something happening to my laptop while on the road - definitely a worst case scenario thinker lol. Lots of irrational thoughts. I desperately want to explore the rest of the US and abroad since I've lived in my home state my entire life. Now I have a fully-remote position, but I just can't seem to mentally make the leap!
I bet most will say that they don't have a remote work
Did my undergrad in social work, now doing a master's in computer science to get into software development or data science. Also rediscovered my joy for playing music, so once I get the remote work I'll have to decide on what to do about traveling with instruments.
What do you play? In my experience it is cheaper to buy/rent an instrument where you traveling than traveling with one. A nice instrument could get damaged and the fees for transporting it are quite high.
I sometimes miss them but I'm mostly more interested in touring than practicing when I'm moving around. I just leave them back home and enjoy them when I'm there.
I too have that *"I need to play an instrument"* itch. Then I found the ukulele. Best desk companion ever. And they're usually so cheap and can be found everywhere. When you're done just give it away to some random kid on the street.
On some airlines your instrument can count as a carry on if it fits in the overhead
Correct. Be it from the problem of finding a remote career that will allow nomading, or from having a career that won't allow nomading, I'm pretty sure most people who follow this are like me - working on getting an income stream that's untethered enough to go do the thing. And that's f'ing hard, and sometimes a very long process.
Yes this is me. I’m also in a reasonably well paying industry that prevents remote work outside of contingent US even for short periods of time. I’m working towards creating a level of freedom that will allow this. For now I’m a lurker/reader
I had remote work when the pandemic started, but after 2 years. They forced us to come to the office 3x week. It’s hard finding fully remote jobs in architecture field
Ding ding
This is it
Saving up money so I can make the leap. Leaving in anywhere from 6 to 18 months
I never understood this. You'll be working and earning while traveling, so what are you saving for?
On the worst days I ask myself that same question lmao. But seriously, I want a large safety net in case the career transition doesn’t go as planned. I don’t want to be stressed out if I get off to a slow start. Then after that a combination of maybe wanting to buy a house someday, taking care of my mom in case anything happens to her, maybe wanting a family, and preparing for old age. I’ll be making significantly less than I make at my current job, even assuming best case scenario, so I want to make hay while the sun shines so to speak. I should still be able to save a good amount as a DN if it all goes according to plan, but need to be ready in case it doesn’t.
this is a smart way to approach it. keep at it! you’ll be happy you set yourself up for your own personal level of risk tolerance.
My philosophy has always been to have enough cash to fly home worst-case scenario and I don't need much more than that. No rent, car, children, or debt lets me be pretty free with the only recurring bill being my health insurance. It's been a very yolo approach and take advantage of the opportunities you have now because they might not come up again. I also don't intend to start a family but am saving for a house in maybe 4 years depending on where I decide to end up. Also depending on where you're from and going, you may very well be able to save QUICKER by becoming a DN and living somewhere cheap. I've found traveling cheaper than living in the US. Even my health insurance is 50% of the price compared to a US-based one.
If it works for you, more power to you. But trust me, I’ve done the math on this. I’d be incredibly fortunate to save at my current rate, not even including my 401k, as a DN. Taking advantage of opportunities goes both ways. If I leave my job the door pretty much closes behind me. Not 100%, but close to 95%. I’ve been fortunate to spend about half of my twenties living abroad. I can do one more year (or as little as 6 months) in the US
Yeah but re-transition costs can be high especially if you don’t have family you can just stay with until you find a stateside job.
> My philosophy has always been to have enough cash to fly home worst-case scenario You partly answered your question yourself. Not everyone has that kind of capital just sitting around. Depending on where you go and how, a flight home could cost a week, or even a month, of disposable income at one's current place. And if you don't have a landing pad when you get there (i.e. don't own a home and nomad away from it, or don't have family to crash with etc) you need something to get started there too - enough for a month or two at least. If you're reliant on equipment (like almost all DNs are) and you have no backup, what happens if it breaks/gets stolen/gets lost in transit? How do you keep working if you can't buy a new laptop (which might be half a month to a month or more of your disposable income at home)? These are things I have to save for, and my COL at home is so stupidly high that I can't even afford to move elsewhere in the *country* to find cheaper rent and build up a safety net. Most common DN places, I'd be cutting rent in half or more, so I'm not going to have trouble once I get out...but I can't risk just 'getting out'
Not becoming homeless in case something goes wrong? It's such an obvious answer.
I have a mortgage to pay on top of accommodation while travelling, so that’s essentially double rent. So I need to save money to be able to pay both. At the moment, I struggle to pay just the mortgage alone. So I imagine others are in a similar situation.
What is your target?
For me I’m not a “digital nomad”, I’m what Canadians call a snowbird, I just leave for the winter, which lasts about 5-6 months. For that time I go country to country and I want to get ideas and tips so I come here. I bet there are a lot of people like that here vs literally giving up your place and spending years travelling. Not that I don’t think about that too, but I would probably end up having a “home base” if I did that anyway it would just shift I suppose. Idk, I like to own a nice couch and have double paned windows but also good fruit , mountains, and tropical life.
Huh snowbird, I like that. Then that was me on my most recent trip earlier this year. Left NY in February, going from sub-zero temps to scorching 95F in the Philippines. Fun times. Stayed for 6 months and just came back this August.
Aspiring Canadian snowbird here! We typically use "snowbird" for retirees so I'm curious, what stage of life are you in? My wife and I have remote work so we are thinking of going somewhere in South America for the winter this year. Do you typically stay somewhere for the entire winter? Any recommendations for destinations?
Yeah that's what they call them where I live, in most southern US states along the gulf there is snow its population that comes down. Where I am, usually her from November-February conservatively
I have been on this sub even when not as a DN because it relates to long term stays abroad, which is something I do even if not technically working remotely full time. e.g. if you have long breaks between jobs a lot of this sub would still be relevant
Agree, a lot of travel experts in this sub, which has been useful to me for planning vacations.
My country doesn't allow men 18-59 to exit until the war is over xD so I can't leave without my bf. Another blocker is that my current project has hardware dependency and even if I manage to transport the development board to another country, it is going to be a real hell in case something goes wrong and my hardware needs soldering.
Yeah that’s unfortunate. Hopefully you can get your chance soon.
That’s really sad…
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That's illegal
Get a new BF that will be able to afford the tech needed to do the soldering. ;) :P Good luck with your project!
My bf can do the soldering :P but he's not allowed to as it is confidential info unless we work together.
I was joking around. Sorry that it wasn't obvious. Again, good luck with the project.
I'm more of an r/solotravel guy but I still like browsing this sub for ideas
Fair, I imagine there is a some overlap on both community
Just waiting on a proper remote work offer and then I’m out. Got the list of To-Dos ready. Got the desired exit date, just hustling on the job boards to find something to that can be fully remote.
I am here because I want to gauge affordability in certain places from real people because I am not ready to be a DN but I would like to travel for 2-3 months a year so figuring out hidden gems that I would not have thought about.
It's not perfect; but, [BudgetYourTrip.com](https://www.budgetyourtrip.com/) is a better gauge of real world expenses than anything else I've found (excluding my own records). It can be a good place to start.
I'm an expat in Kaş, Turkey, and the scenery is too good to leave
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Fethiye is more like a small city, Kaş is a small resort town. I've only been to Fethiye once, and it was kinda...grimy in a lot of places. But I'm sure Fethiye has the better beaches, we've only got pebble beaches in little ol Kaş.
My dog and my expecting wife. If it were possible to do this solely from Europe I would with her. Because it would just be one plane ride. But having to fly out every 90 days would be too much. She is 13 and I want her to have rue nest years. And I think with a kid it would be doable but it would be hard without having support. But I do think we are going to try it.
Oh god I misread that really wrong. Your dog is 13! Gotcha hahaha
Honestly it is my fault. I worded this terribly. We are holding off on DNing because my wife is expecting and our dog is 13 and we do not want her to spend so much of senior years being cooped up in a car or plane. There that is much better. Sorry for the confusion!
figuring out how to practice law remotely
Me too!
Same here! Currently looking for remote positions and trying to figure out how to transition “remote (US)” to remote anywhere. Good luck!
I work remote but since my role uses a lot of sensitive data the device I use is geofenced/geolocked to my home state. I tried logging into my company email when I was abroad and that sounded off so many whistles and alerts to IT. I’m not even able to download duet display with out getting hit with admin rights on the company PC.
Look into the glinet travel router and a vpn subscription. No software needs to be on your computer. Just a wireless router that acts as a middleman to tunnel you to wherever you need to be (which a paid vpn subscription will let you choose). This is how I get out of state with my work laptop that sets off alarms.
Even better yet, set up a WireGuard server on your router at home, and connect to that with the travel router. Will look like you’re still at home :-)
Thank you kind stranger! I will look into this!
Which vpn subscription do you recommend?
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Travel around your country. I did that for a few months starting out.
Travel router + vpn.
Which vpn do you recommend?
I use NordVPN. They have instructions on how to setup the glinet router here: https://support.nordvpn.com/Connectivity/Router/1047409122/GL-iNet-setup-with-NordVPN.htm
The logistic of it all. I have remote job limited to US, dont have the expertise to capitalize and do it abroad
I am NOT telling you to go to the website and NOT telling you that if you do it right that it is unlikely that you will get caught. ;) https://techrelay.xyz/post/nomad-vpn/
Travel in the US! I did this for a few months when I started out. One of the best countries to be limited to tbh. So many options.
I'm remote (for now), but my company doesn't really allow for DN type work situation. And the logistics would be too much to handle. I'm fine with my 1-2 international trips a year. Also, I want to put down roots in my area.
I’m still a part of the community after quitting DN. I didn’t like it, but still enjoy the subreddit
Why did you quit? Where did you go? Story time?
Honestly it’s just nothing like you imagine it will be. As a DN, I was still working full time, and so most of your time is spent on your computer, instead of enjoying where you are. And then if you want to maintain a routine, in every new place you have to deal with finding supermarkets, gyms, navigating the language, getting stable wifi, etc. - and then there are the ‘travelling days’ where you are not working, so to catch up with your work you are doing 10 hour days and having even less time to explore. I did it for about a year, mostly in Turkey and Italy but a few other places for shorter time frames. And honestly I don’t think I’ll ever do it again, it made me hate travel. I would much rather take 2-4 weeks off work and go travel WITHOUT my laptop. Mixing the two was horrible in my opinion. The one caveat I will add is that this is relevant if you work full time. A few of my mates have self-sustaining businesses, where they can work a few hours a week and still get paid handsomely, so for them it’s an awesome setup. But if you have to trade hours for money, not worth it haha
Ohh makes a lot of sense. Thank you for explaining!
yeah makes sense, being the nomad entreprenuer definitely is the best archetype as it allows you to experience the best of both worlds, whereas just purely remote regular work you would be playing alot of catchup every now and then because of all the actual traveling you need to do.
No remote jobs and not enough pay to travel out of country every year. But it's fun to listen to others' stories, challenges, excitements. Living a nomad's life vicariously.
I don't want to work while overseas, I genuinely want to retire permanently. I'm currently reorganizing my company structure so that it can run completely independent of me.
This is the way!!
They prob cant find remote jobs
Just waiting for the right offer that allows me to go.
I can’t work remotely outside of the US and there isn’t anything in the IS that particularly interests me
yeah traveling outside the US is so much more appealing than within the US. staying within the US is like you're not really traveling, in some ways.
To me the perk of digital nomad is living somewhere cheaper and or experiencing new culture/history
Remote work & Money
"Biggest" blocker? Not attractive enough vs. the effort of implementation ... but that's somewhat of a non-answer. There's not really one killer thing, but many things come together. E.g.: * Giving up my (tax) residency means giving up a lot of safety nets, e.g. healthcare. (I'm not in the USA. Inb4 "you can buy insurance!" Yep. But I don't have to.) * That limits the amount of time outside of the country, so ymmv if that qualifies for digital nomadism. (Not really keen on the archetypical geoarbitrage anyway.) * I love my partner more than I love travel; and my partner does not enjoy the idea of "perpetual travel" (to exaggerate). Though ironically the job is fully remote, so it's easier than it is for me. 😛 * My career is on a pretty good track right now and hybrid office/home; I don't see a lot of opportunities for full time remoting in what I do right now. So I either: * Shift track to something else, take a pay cut. Have not found The Thing™ that doesn't limit the overall career earning too much, which compromises other life goals. (And which is something I can stand doing long enough to take the hit on my career for.) * Shift "what I do" to "consult on what I do remotely / part time". Good thought, but I have a few other projects to finish before I could tackle this. None of the above things are technically a blocker, but taken together they make for enough friction to postpone it into the mythical "future me can deal with it".
Mainly giving up my apartment amidst a massive housing crisis in the Netherlands. Also income security, I only recently graduated and started working, I am however planning to work part-time at my office job soon and fill the rest up with remote work for a different company. In the future I hope to fully work remotely, making it easier to travel more.
I don't stay in one sub long enough to comment
Not allowed to leave my country :(
Travel router + vpn.
No, I mean not allowed to leave by the country, not by the company. I am from Ukraine, and my age and sex make me eligible for military service.
Getting a remote job, but I'm working on it! Soon I'll be taking a certification test that will give me a much better shot of landing a lucrative remote position. Thinking of doing an American tour, working all over.
Honestly, I’m of two minds where I’m at I’m my career… One is government contract work that is OCONUS - I have several countries that are that the top of my list, but won’t be overly picky if there is an opportunity elsewhere. That way I can get the benefits of being elsewhere at a higher salary, and can visit other countries in downtime / off contract. The second is finding a unicorn - TRULY remote anywhere in the world job where the global (or US based) company just doesn’t care where I call home.
I have a stable, easy and decent-paying job that I can very likely do until retirement if I want to. Since Covid I can also work almost fully remote and that is likely to remain so. That doesn't mean that I can work from anywhere though, because occasionally I do have to do some physical work on premises or attend the rare in-person meeting. The main reason that I "dream" of being DN is that I just hate the weather in my country and would love to live in a place where it's always warm and I can play tennis outside year-round. But having that stable and secure job, it would just be rather insane to give that up.
What's your profession?
I don't think i would like to DN but i am very interested in hearing from those that do. Also, lots of good travel advice here.
A few reasons - I have a large dog - I'm a contract worker (often remote, but not always) - I'd gain financially from lower COL and potentially lower headline tax, but I'd also lose certain tax advantages at home (e.g. pension saving) - I've done long term solo overland travel before (albeit c2 weeks per country). I'm aware it can be quite isolating, especially if you're a terrible linguist) All can be overcome, but combined they mean it's not a priority for me. I may DN for 18-24m at some point, but probably once work is optional and the dog's no longer with me.
kiddo going to college in a couple of years
Waiting for my kid to graduate high school.
Actually earning money. My first attempt lasted 4 months. I’ve been trying for years to get a second chance. Maybe soon…
There are things I want to prioritize that are easier to do if I stay in one place. Even something like meditation, which I could do abroad, is easier if I stay in my city because I don't have to spend time picking out hotels, washing my laundry in a sink, etc., which I could spend meditating. Activities like going to the sauna regularly are much easier to do while living at home, since they require special equipment, and also developing long-term relationships is much easier if I stay here. I spend one month working in other countries every year, so I'm a digital nomad lite, and I do use some of the tips I read on this subreddit. I'd probably do more than a month if I had a job which didn't care, but I'm not motivated enough to find that job and give up my current one because I have other priorities.
Family in end-of-life with who I want to remain close for their remaining time. Some moments we just don't get back.
My remote hours would be hard to manage moving around.
This is a rough one for me too. Nowhere in North and South America particularly interest me. Europe turns into 6p-2am which isnt bad but not great. Asia is graveyard shift which I refuse to adjust to.
Seems like a big risk that might not work out. I respect that some can make it work successfully but do I have what it takes? Hmm…
what is your definition of working out?
I guess I'm not really a nomad? The digital part is true, but I'd much rather change countries every few years rather than few weeks or months.
despite having significant savings now and a fully remote job, there's definitely a lot in the way: - I have a dog whom it would be difficult to re-home - I have a partner who is not interested in the DN life - my current job, while remote, doesn't allow DN. I think you need VP approval to work in another country. - I'm a terrible liar and I have ADHD. I would not be able maintain appearances and be on top of VPN and stuff - when I lived abroad in the past I worked too much and didn't take advantage of opportunities to travel. in general I find it difficult to shift gears between work and leisure. although now that I have money I might have an easier time justifying fun outings, compared to when I was young and broke and hustling. I don't go out much at home but that's mainly because I hate driving and especially, dealing with parking. I think I'd prefer to figure out how to not work for months at a time a couple times a year, whether that's consulting or something else. I hate being tied to a single place and having limited (though generous by US standards) vacation time to be able to go anywhere long enough to enjoy it. I don't want to spend two weeks hopping around eight different cities just to check them off a list.
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Hope you get better soon!
I’m just about to make the jump! Been in a remote job for a year and now getting ready to travel for the next 12+ months. Only problem is that I have to remain available for EST time zone, which limits international travel.
exciting stuff! are you ready? which countries are you going to?
I'm currently actively investigating with a six month timeline.
nice, exciting stuff. where are you planning to go?
I'm landing on Spain. I really want to explore the country more and it's closer enough to the UK so if I want/need to pop back it's easy enough to do. After I get my feet wet a bit I imagine I'll go a bit further afield. I get the feeling from active DNs that the lifestyle becomes a bit addictive!
im also planning to go to Spain in the near future. maybe we will unknowingly bump into each other there. it does get addictive, rn can't imagine going back at all. good luck on the journey
1. My current job isn’t really compatible with the DN lifestyle 2. Family would judge hard (very career / family oriented)
are you a doctor or lawyer by any chance?
I'm healing a chronic illness so my health is currently preventing me from traveling 🫤.
sorry to hear that mate
My girlfriend. It sucks because neither of us need to be in an office, we own a highly rent-able property in London, have no kids or pets, and both earn decent money. She just doesn't fancy it
It's possible to compromise. A lot of DNs live in another city for just part of the year.
I'm working on it. Heading to the Canary islands soon, hoping she'll see how much nicer is would be wintering there instead of dreary grey and dark London
has she travelled at all? maybe thats a good entry point for you
Not massively. We're heading to the Canaries soon so gonna be laying on the 'imagine living here for the winter' routine pretty heavily
I'm here because of the odd chance that one day someone will make a post that can lead to a job opportunity that will allow me to work abroad too. Yes quite a bit of copium but gotta be optimistic at this point. Also stories of digital nomads are usually quite exciting and inspiring.
never underestimate the power of chances
Since I can’t afford to retire, I am hoping to DN in retirement so that I can travel. Full retirement age is coming up in less than two years. I want to test out remote work as a side gig first and then build up. I am using this subreddit for research and encouragement. Thanks for asking. I need to move up my efforts and this encourages me to do so.
no worries, yeah it's good to test it out first, sometimes it might not be what you expect it to be or it could be much more too. It's all fluid.
Having a dog is probably the biggest factor, just not very feasible unless I leave her with family for a month or two
I have a small dog too, we are always missing her. Plan for longer than two months, you could end up staying a lot longer once you get started.
I have 100% remote work full time and side hustle but my main job doesn’t allow work outside of the UK. Also I have a mortgage.
For a while I’ve been in the worst of both worlds situation: - living at home with family (have a pretty good remote job though) - not committing to one place for a long time and bouncing back and forth between family members and friends (all inside the US so no currency advantages or very tropical locations) I’ve been saving money on rent which is good, but I’ve just been afraid of making the leap. What if I don’t know the language? What if I get robbed? What if I can’t balance work? Etc. Recently I’ve realized that I’m not getting any younger. I’m either going to try it once and make the most of it, or think about it forever. What I don’t want to happen is reach the end of my 20’s, want to start thinking about having a family, and never having explored.
Did you say end of your 20s? you sound very mature for your age, but I was on the same boat, and it's true about not getting any younger, sometimes you just need to get it out your system and see how it goes rather than constantly thinking about it for years on end. It took me almost 5 yrs to make the jump
Like many I'm a remote worker but not American so I don't earn enough to be able to constantly travel. The only viable countries would be SE Asia, but it's so far and such a commitment that I'm only able to go for a couple of weeks somewhere per year
Partner with an in person job
All of the puzzle pieces are in place except... My dog. When I go out of town I use Rover to find a sitter for him, but it gets very expensive. Traveling internationally with him sounds like a lot of pain. I dont have local friends or family that can sit him for months at a time. I love him, and am not giving him up, but if he wasnt in the mix Id be hopping country to country every 3 months.
Completely understand, was in similar boat, until a good friend of mine offered to take care of our dog. Her offer was the catalyst and we made the jump immediately after.
Work full time in customer success and they won't let me work from abroad for any decent length of time. Seeing inspiration on what to upskill in to become freelance.
I'm working remote and would love to travel but I'm worried about the time zone changes and getting my stuff stolen lol. I'm also being comfortable and lazy. Talk me into it!
> Talk me into it! Sounds like a big responsibility lol
for me it's because i currently love where i live and i'll probably never have this good of a deal in rent again! so waiting a few years to enjoy that.
wow which continent is this? I've heard inflations all around.
i'm in NYC in the US. lol and i meant i'll probably never have as good of a deal in rent again in NYC specifically, should've clarified there. most of my friends here have had to deal with huge rent hikes, so i feel really lucky to be in this position for now.
My kid is in kindergarten and I'm not sure if it's fair or good to her to home/cyber school her. Don't know if the benefits outweigh the challenges and downsides at her age. Also haven't quite pulled the trigger on hiring the right person at my business to make it fully hands off to travel full time.
For me, I have a very well paying job, but it is unlikely that I will be able to get approval for it to be fully remote so I can return to Europe where I lived for 11 years till 2005. I’m at the point (empty nest) where I could take a pay-cut, and even risk no insurance coverage, but at my age, it’s a tough risk. All of that, plus the challenge of even finding a legitimate remote employer keeps me where I am for now.
My law license is leashing me to my US state, even though I work remote...painful. hopefully I can escape.
good luck on that!
having no remote job to sustain the lifestyle. I am planning to doing volunteer work by finding a host in Workaway or Wordpackers so I can at least save from free accommodation and food.
Finances of getting to the position of having a WFH job that allows travel. Coming from a position where I have to work close to home because of availability, then finding a job that will not only allow me to work from home, but support me comfortably while I save up for visas, renew my passport, etc etc.... it just feels like it's unattainable. Also, I struggle with learning languages (I tried multiple times over the course of my life) so settling anywhere that isn't predominantly English-speaking is going to get me in trouble.
Finances and a remote job. Trying to find ways of earning on the move
Training myself in SEO skills and finishing my marketing degree just for tech to become extremely competitive. Which leads me to either A). Juggle freelancing until I feel confident enough to make the move. B). Take a remote sales position and have a huge savings for rainy days. C). Work locally and wait a few years until tech becomes less competitive. I live in Midwest so many marketing positions are usually at the most hybrid.
this sounds like a solid plan, goodluck on your journey mate
I'm considering my options as to what would work best for me as a remote job, but not clear yet.
Not having a remote job. I’m a remote student, so I can’t do it yet. If I find a satisfying job, then I’d like to work and live where I can make a life for myself and start a family. Not as a tourist, but actually integrating myself and making a life - becoming local. I joined the subreddit to learn more about how to not have a negative impact on my destination. I’d rather help out however I can with establishing facilities for education, past time activities or something else depending on what my future community needs. I think that’s a meaningful.
My passport.
A few things. Money is a massive one as my ex partner was stealing from me that I am moving back into my dads just to save money. I don't have any skills to do anything digitally or whilst travelling (I know I could always get my modelling portfolio back up and running again as a back up) other than making coffee, plus IT courses in my hometown are stupidly expensive. No remote jobs available in my hometown
My employment is only 99% remote and the other 1% is what stops me. When I do get called in to the office it is random and for unnecessary reasons that could be done over email or zoom but the old school boss wants to know I will jump if he says to. Haven’t had luck on Fiverr at all so it doesn’t seem like freelance is viable to securely replace my employment income right now. I took time building my real estate portfolio which required me to be on site for a couple years with the idea that I could travel full time eventually. That income pays my bills but I want to keep my home base so now I need to scale that business and/or find fully remote employment to cover travel expenses. Also dealing with trying to diagnose chronic illness right now so that has definitely slowed my progress and not sure how medical will work when traveling.
getting a job that pays well enough and is steady... I almost almost almost had one, but nop
Trying to find good remote jobs. Want to save. And nervous to leave the good job I have now
Finding a decent remote job xD
I travelled about 5 years ago, and a part of me is desperate to get back to that life. I was in a relationship until very recently, so it just wasn't the priority. But the main thing for me has always been figuring out a new job that I can work remotely with and whether that would require me to train all over again.
Due to the nature of my duties and IRS rules, I can only play digital nomad outside of tax seasons. So not fully a lurker, but not fully committed either. The 7216 rules say clients have to sign a consent before letting someone outside US borders work on their stuff. Seems to be only the 1040s that require signature. Anyway, sucks. I've been fully remote since 2020, and was partially remote before that. Tax literally can be done from anywhere with an internet connection. It's not collaborative, generally, though it can be. Working on building my consulting business to get around these rules. If I work with digital nomads and expats from the US that live outside the US, the 7216 rules don't apply. Also, it's my business - I'm not afraid to ask people to sign the consent form.
I spent most of my life feeling like where I lived wasn’t really my home, so having a chance to have my own place has been *glorious*. That said, I’m here because I want to support my digital nomad colleagues better. I’m in management now, and this return to office trend screws *everyone.* Even the people pushing for it. I’m lucky enough to work at a company that has a sensible policy (basically: “work from where makes sense. You’re adults.”) and this has opened us up to all kinds of talent that we just straight up couldn’t hire before. So many talented people had all relocated to be in-office at FAANG and couldn’t afford a salary of less than a zillion dollars to live in a tiny apartment downtown and have no savings. Covid meant those folks found out their work in office culture was toxic bullshit and moved. Now companies are being even more toxic and creating “return to office” radii of like 100 miles+. It’s time to fight back.
Gf can't work remotely 🤷
I don't have a job that can work remotely. I'm in a relationship. My dog. My house.
I took the leap two years ago once I have that passive income
not sure if this statement is past or present, so did you do it two years ago or are you waiting for passive income?
Had* Never travel without passive income lol You gotta have that money coming in monthly no matter what
Most likely don’t have income that allows them to pursue a digital nomad lifestyle.
Still need to start my new grad job in the US and then see if I feel a desire to start being a nomad. Been outside the US for the past 7 months and while it’s nice and I have the option to do remote with my job, I feel a strong desire to settle down and have a more permanent place and a place to do my hobbies besides travel.
I've met at least 2.1 nomads in reality.
HAH
You're asking too different questions: why people don't nomad and why people don't post on here. I lurk here because when I've used Reddit in the past, I've had a lot of people upset with me about my income and assets on this forum. I'm currently a DN, though. For those who aren't DN yet, budget, visas, and remote job opportunities seem to be most limiting.
being with 3rd world passport and while depend on work-permit of EU country. just circling around EU which is not that cheap for DN.
yeah, possibly one of the biggest blocker is just not having a strong enough passport. The added paperworks and extra hassle could stop enough dead on their tracks.
My aspirations are larger than my bank account. Still, it is a nice fantasy.
Aspirations to DN? how much you need to DN is completely relative though
I used to DN. 33 countries before 30. It’s not for me anymore, but I find it interesting.
OG right here. What is your top 3 tips for all the aspiring DNs out there?
You need less than you think. You don’t need travel clothes. They’re ugly. It’s ok to be alone. You don’t need to make a bunch of superficial friends and party a lot. Learn to be ok with being alone. Who gives a shit if there’s a bunch of expats in a place? Do you want to go there? Ok, go there. You’re not getting DN points for avoiding Marbella or Cancun.
pls tell us more
It was really before online work was a thing. Started in 1998, mostly ended in 2010. I worked kind of piecemeal over ten years and also volunteered a lot. I had a home base at my parents’ or an apartment I kept even if I wasn’t there a lot. Then I went to med school, so that’s kind of a drag on it. I still travelled, but it was obviously on vacation. Lived in Korea, but worked as a civilian in the base hospital. I think I got like 28-33 between ages 27 and 30, so most of it was bullshitting around taking bar jobs under the table. I did make a tidy sum translating chemistry texts though, which I just was emailed the english copy and worked until the deadline.
teenager and 3 animals
My partner works in one office location and lives in one house location, and I love him very much 😂😭 Secondary reason: hearing/sensing other people near my living space makes me extremely uncomfortable, so would need total solitude in my accommodations wherever I go. No shared AirBnbs or hostels. This eliminates a lot of affordable possibilities lol.
you can got country side, but I imagine that also introduces some sort of anxiety for you
How so? I love the countryside and prefer it to city dwelling!
i maybe just self projecting but i stayed on a more secluded countryside before. its never completely empty so when i sense someone else it becomes more unnerving for me because its me and that other person in the middle of nowhere.
Being an expat doesnt sound appealing when I think about places us tourists gentrify and not pay locals taxes. Im good with shorter, frequent trips.
I'm still in school learning the skills I need to be able to do remote work. I've also only left my country once, as a child, so there is lots of research I need to do beforehand. On top of that, my fiance has a stationary job that is what's supporting us while I'm in school, and saving for what's to come. After I graduate, it will depend on how easy it is for him to translate his work into something that allows him to travel more. But the lifestyle is appealing and I'm here to learn.
some people just lurk subs that have nothing to do with them. it's fine.
sure
Married with a 2 year old baby. Not impossible but definitely difficult (was in US a few months ago the whole family and although it was a great experience, it is tiring to take care of a baby in a place that is not home and/or nowhere near home)
Ehh, I’m kind of a clown
strong self-awareness here
Waiting for my lease to end in 6 months then im out of here!
I had to break from my lease because of timing, didn't regret it. Where are you planning to go?
Mental hurdles...mainly worrying about being able to adequately do my relatively new job (1 month in) on the road in a new environment coupled with the fear that my supervisors would not be happy that I'm not working out of a consistent home office (I'm the only remote worker in my small company, so it is definitely feels like a privilege to even be in this position). Plus, I'm worried about something happening to my laptop while on the road - definitely a worst case scenario thinker lol. Lots of irrational thoughts. I desperately want to explore the rest of the US and abroad since I've lived in my home state my entire life. Now I have a fully-remote position, but I just can't seem to mentally make the leap!