How to Become a Digital Nomad in 2024

Working as a digital nomad offers excitement and flexibility in abundance. You get to live anywhere in the world, embrace unique cultures, and meet new people, just as long as you have a stable internet connection and a laptop.

While the digital nomad lifestyle sounds like a far-fetched dream to some, you'll be happy to know that this dream is attainable with the right planning.

It’s important to consider your current job situation and how it will affect the process of becoming a digital nomad, some of the questions you'll need to ask yourself include:

• Are you looking to move your current work or job role abroad?
• Or, are you looking to launch a new career that will let you become a digital nomad?

The good news is that it’s possible either way, depending on certain factors.

Taking your current job and role abroad may require you to persuade your employer to work remotely. Once this is granted, you can focus on personal and work logistics while living abroad. Here’s a rundown of the things that you’ll need to consider if you’re looking to take your current role abroad and work remotely:

• Work status: Do you have an employer, or are you a freelance worker? If you’re employed, you may need to make the case for remote working with your employer. Visa applications for some countries ask for written permission from your employer certifying you are allowed to work abroad.
• Work schedule and time zones: Some workers have the freedom to work whichever hours they like, whereas others must be on-call or ready to jump into meetings at specific times of the day. Consider how the time difference will affect your work schedule.

If you’re making a career change to become a digital nomad, you may need to be more patient unless you have a good amount of savings. Building up your clientele, portfolio, and work can take a long time, especially at the beginning.

Become a digital nomad from scratch requires a more thorough plan and preparation. Here’s a rundown of things you’ll need to consider when becoming a digital nomad from scratch.

• Choose a niche or specialty: You’ll need to know what services you can offer to clients and customers.
• Build a portfolio to display your skills to potential clients: Building a portfolio and displaying your services on a blog, website, social media profile, or another platform will help you expand your network and gain traction in your new endeavors.
• Start networking: Whether you network in-person or online, doing so will allow you to build business relationships that can benefit you and sustain your digital nomad lifestyle.
• Join a digital nomad community: You may be surprised to see how vast the global digital nomad community is! Joining digital nomad communities on Facebook or Reddit will help you gain cultural insight, network, or make new friends! From Thailand to Spain, and Costa Rica to Taiwan, there are digital nomad communities everywhere in the world.

Read more: 14 Best Digital Nomad Jobs - Travel & Work From Anywhere!

Aside from working hard on your business, job, or project, there’s no point in being a digital nomad if you can’t enjoy where you live! When deciding on a location, there are many things you need to consider to optimize your digital nomad lifestyle:

• Understand the requirements: Before you gather the necessary documents, make sure that you can actually live and work here sustainably. Check out the visa requirements, cost, and length, and ensure that your passport is valid to obtain this visa.
• Choose a budget-appropriate location: “Budget-friendly” locations are relative to the traveler. Be sure to research the cost of living, including rent, utilities, groceries, and more when choosing a location.
• Choose a lifestyle: Would you prefer the laid-back lifestyle in Thailand, sophisticated France, or eco-friendly Costa Rica? It’s important to find a place that can facilitate the lifestyle that you’re seeking to maximize your digital nomad experience.
• Consider safety and inclusivity: Cultures vary drastically in how they treat particular genders, sexual orientations, races/ethnicities, and religious beliefs. Make sure to research the culture and read up on the experiences of people who align similarly to aspects of your identity in this country.
• Connectivity: Consider places with stable internet connections and digital nomad communities. Since the pandemic, becoming a digital nomad has become an option for many, meaning that many locations have become more connected and accessible for remote workers. However, research online to see how other digital nomads have fared in these locations.
• Time difference: Does your work require you to take part in online meetings? If so, will the time difference affect your work schedule? If you’re required to be available during certain hours, the time zone you choose might mean late nights or early mornings.
• Consider how you’ll be paying taxes: Will you be paying your home country or your current country? If you’re from the US, you face the possibility of double taxation depending on income and other factors. Consulting with a tax professional who has experience with digital nomads will help you avoid unwanted tax difficulties.
• Speed of visa approval: You’ll also need to consider how the visa process speed coincides with your ideal timeline. Some countries require tons of paperwork that needs to be submitted at the consulate and can take months to be approved. Others have almost instantaneous approval time online.

Read more: 10 Most Affordable Countries With Digital Nomad Visas: Save Money and Travel the World

Now that you know where you’re heading, you’ll need to set a budget. It’s important to build savings and determine a monthly budget according to your lifestyle before you go. Here are some of the most important aspects that you’ll need to consider when establishing a monthly budget:

• Establish a safety net: Building savings will help you form a safety net in the event of unexpected costs.
• Housing options & rent: Consider whether you’ll want to live in an apartment by yourself or a coliving space with other expats. Or, maybe you’ll become a house sitter to minimize expenses. There are many housing options for expats, so you’ll need to consider how each affects your budget.
• How frequently you’ll travel: It’s exciting visiting a new country, and you’ll want to make the most of the time while you’re there. Consider how often you’ll travel around your new home, and be sure to research how much flights, trains, buses, or other modes of transportation cost in this country.
• Meals & groceries: You should consider how often you’ll eat out, monthly grocery costs, dietary requirements, and other factors. While some countries offer an unrivaled and inexpensive dining culture, others may offer expensive to the point you’ll need to cook your meals from home. Language barriers paired with dietary requirements may also require time spent cooking.
• Business costs: Do you need to set aside some of your monthly salary towards business costs? Whether you’re taking clients out for lunch, paying for equipment, or other, you’ll need to consider this into your budget.

Take a look at what it's like to live as a digital nomad in Peyton's vlog below!

Now that you’ve figured out your primary income, selected country, and budget, you can apply for the visa! Different countries have different visa options, as some (not all) will have digital nomad visas. While digital nomads often work on tourist visas in some countries, it isn’t necessarily advised because it is illegal to do so.

When applying for the appropriate visa, ensure that your passport validity is for an extended period. Most countries will require your passport to have at least 6 months of validity after entry, however, you should ensure that your passport is valid for a much longer period if you’re considering traveling and living abroad.

Some of the documents and items you may need when applying for a visa (in-person or online) include:

• Passport: Ensure that your passport is valid for long enough and that you have empty pages in your passport for future travel stamps.
• Passport-sized photos: Applications usually require 2 or more. Getting your photos done somewhere like Walgreens or another authorized photo center ensures you have pictures of the right size for the country you're applying to.
• Proof of minimum income or savings: This typically comes in the form of bank statements.
• Job contracts or client agreements if freelance: For most countries, you'll need to show that you either have a permanent contract with an employer or individual contracts with long-term clients that prove you meet the minimum income requirements.
• Health insurance coverage: Separate from travel insurance, health insurance needs to be purchased from an insurance company in the country you're applying to. Health insurance abroad tends to be much cheaper than in the US!
• Accommodation booking: Some immigration officers will want to see proof of accommodation to ensure that you have somewhere to stay when entering the country.
• Flight ticket: Sometimes, you’ll need to have your proof of inbound flight before you get there. If this is required, you’ll need to show the airline reference, flight number, and the date and time.

Accidents can happen anywhere, whether you’re unemployed, working a 9-5 at home, or as a digital nomad across the globe. Because of this, you’ll need to obtain traveler’s insurance.

Most countries will require you to buy health insurance from that country. However, this is different from traveler’s insurance. While health insurance will cover you for routine check-ups, hospital visits, medication, and more, travel insurance will cover you for emergency medical expenses such as repatriation, in addition to trip cancellations, damaged baggage, and so on.

When it comes to traveler’s insurance, you can opt for digital nomad-friendly insurance such as:

• World Nomads: Designed by travelers for travelers, World Nomads offers comprehensive insurance plans for digital nomads that cover accidents abroad, medical repatriation, stolen or damaged baggage, and more.
• SafetyWing: Offers insurance for nomads, or remote teams. Flexible plans allow nomads to cancel at any time, and renew whenever or wherever they are.
• IMG Global: Offers a range of travel insurance options from families to adventurers and sports enthusiasts, and from business travel only to a comprehensive plan that covers medical expenses in-country.

Now you’ve got the basics and the essentials locked in, it’s important to optimize your workflow before you go! Take these steps to maximize your digital nomad life abroad!

• Simplify your life: It can be hard to leave your favorite floral shirt or efficient air fryer at home, but simplifying your life will make being a digital nomad easier. As long as you have your laptop, passport, keys, and wallet, you’ll be fine! Be sure to pack light, and remember, that you can get most things while you’re out there!
• Download useful apps: While working abroad, you’ll need to ensure that you have useful apps that can assist in keeping track of finances, work, and more. Consider downloading apps related to online banking, and content management systems for work, or other tools which will make life easier such as CityMapper, Uber, Booking.com, and more.
• Get a VPN: Depending on the country you’re going to, you may need to obtain a VPN to gain access to some of the apps you use back home. Whether this is for work, entertainment, or otherwise, VPNs are a legal way (in most countries) to access sites and apps restricted by geo-blockers.

Becoming a digital nomad isn’t always fast or easy but it’s definitely manageable! Simplify the transition towards becoming a digital nomad into these steps!

Digital nomads are changing the world around them in incredible ways by injecting creativity, empathy, and new skills into evolving industries around the world. Be prepared for challenges if you decide to join the ranks of location-independent workers but know that your hard work will be worth it.

Before you go, check out Go Overseas’ Nomad Essentials to get you started you can even search for your dream job abroad by exploring our global job board.

Not ready to launch your digital nomad career? Consider teaching, studying, or interning abroad to get your feet wet!

Read more about being a digital nomad abroad:

• Expat vs. Digital Nomad: which is right for you?
• How to Move Abroad: Live Overseas as an Expat