How to Become a Digital Nomad

Picture this: traveling the world, moving from country to country throughout the year, working from the beach—all while making an income.

This is a lifestyle that more and more people are living thanks to the Internet. They’re called “Digital Nomads,” and all they need to make an income is a laptop and Internet connection.

The trend has become so big that there’s even a documentary about the digital nomad lifestyle.

If this idea seems out of reach, think again. There are many ways you can work on the road, make good money, and live a liberating lifestyle.

Earning Money from Anywhere

Working remotely has become much easier in recent years. There are now lots of opportunities to make money, whether you’re on a beach in Costa Rica or hiking in the mountains of Malaysia.

While many digital nomads work for themselves, this isn’t a requirement. Many companies allow employees to work remotely from anywhere in the world. Many tech companies, in particular, have a partial or completely remote workforce. A few examples of companies with an all-remote staff include Automattic (the company that runs WordPress.com), InVision App, and Modern Tribe. Other companies with remote opportunities include GitHub, Amazon, and Apple Computers.

To find opportunities, try visiting individual company websites. You can also use employment websites like GlassDoor and We Work Remotely.

If working for yourself is more your style, the digital nomad life is perfect for you. Contract and freelancer gigs are perfect for the remote lifestyle. Specifically, many web developers, designers, bloggers, writers and similar professionals don’t need to be tied to a geographic location. Work can be done from a coffee shop or the beach; meetings can be run via Skype or Google Hangouts.

Many digital nomads supplement their income by taking on gig economy jobs like those on Fiverr or driving for a rideshare company. Others build successful blogs or websites they can operate from anywhere.

Making It Work Economically

If the idea of being a digital nomad sounds cool but you wonder how you can possibly afford it, you might want to change your paradigm. Believe it or not, traveling the world as a digital nomad can be cheaper than where you live now.

Let’s start with your two biggest expenses: your home and your car.
Imagine if starting next month you didn’t have to pay your mortgage or rent and didn’t have a car payment and insurance to worry about.
Wouldn’t that be liberating? In fact, many digital nomads live without these big expenses.

Making it even easier, there are lots of places in the world you can live very cheaply compared to the United States and much of Europe, especially if you’re earning dollars or Euros. This can be true whether you rent an apartment or stay in Airbnbs.

A site called NomadList.com crowdsources information about great places to work as a digital nomad. Many cities in Eastern Europe and Asia have affordable costs of living, good Internet access, and great cultures.

Indeed, many digital nomads give up big salaries at home but agree that the tradeoff is worth it. They don’t need to make as much money working from around the world and their lifestyle is drastically improved.

Namecheap Can Help you Become a Digital Nomad

Namecheap has many services that can help you realize the dream of being a digital nomad. Your skills plus Namecheap can be a winning combination for digital nomads. Here are a few:

• Create your website with our inexpensive hosting services, including WordPress hosting.
• Match it to a domain name for less than a buck for the first year.
• Get G Suite to manage your email and calendar from the cloud.

Are you ready to live the digital nomad lifestyle? Let us know! And if you’re already working remotely, we’d love to hear how you make it work in the comments.