I suppose it’s safe to say that the dust has long since settled around what might previously been the very mystified world of Digital Nomads. Thank goodness for that, because now the reality of what being a Digital Nomad is all about can shine through, beyond those courses and training programs which lure people into some “mastermind” that will supposedly help them live out their lives as Digital Nomads.
In our exploration of the Digital Nomad lifestyle, we take a look at what it really means to be a Digital Nomad and the ultimate aim is to simplify it to such an extent that anybody who has ambitions of becoming a Digital Nomad fully understands that the responsibility to make it happen lies solely with them.
Defining the term
A Digital Nomad is basically just someone who embraces a life of travel as a result of the fact that they can earn their living remotely. Naturally it’s the travel bit which differentiates a Digital Nomad from a remote worker, because remote workers, like Digital Nomads, work remotely, but they don’t necessarily choose to travel while earning their living remotely.
How Digital Nomads earn their living
Any income-generation channel which can be pursued remotely basically makes up the list of options for the manner through which Digital Nomads earn their living. These can be classified into two categories, one being working remotely in the sense that you exchange your time for money, while the other exists in the form of operating a business remotely.
So a remote-working Digital Nomad might be someone like a copywriter, a graphics designer, a web developer, etc, and that job they do remotely doesn’t necessarily have to be a part of the digital media space itself. A lawyer can consult remotely, for example and if they choose to travel as a result then they definitely qualify as a digital nomad.
A Digital Nomad who operates a business remotely would usually be involved in the digital media space, as is the case with a remote-working one, but their remotely run business doesn’t necessarily have to be in the digital media space. So while you’d typically find businesses such as SEO and Web Design Agencies, you would also find Digital Nomads who perhaps own properties back home and they either manage them remotely or they hire some local staff to do so, beyond the management of some of the elements of that business which expressly require hands-on involvement, of course.
Where digital nomads lodge while traveling and working remotely
Depending on how much money they manage to make while traveling, Digital Nomads can lodge anywhere from backpackers’ hostels to luxury resorts and five star hotels! Normally they’d get a medium-term lease on a serviced apartment though, because it’s just more practical that way.
Some challenges faced by Digital Nomads
Digital Nomads have many challenges to navigate, not least of which is the visa issue. Usually Digital Nomads just run around the planet on tourist visas, but in many countries this is technically not the correct way to approach this type of lifestyle.
