Do you want to make money while resting and traveling? Being a Digital Nomad gives you this chance.
Quit a job and travel?
The idea is sometimes so tempting: Just quit the unloved job and go traveling. Be free, test boundaries, meet new people.
One topic, however, remains the dear money.
Even in cheap countries like Thailand, Indonesia or Vietnam you have to fly first. You need accommodation, food and health insurance there.
For one year trip around the world, I saved three years as a permanent employee until I had 25,000 euros together. Here you can find my article World Travel & Money: Save for and during the long-term travel. At that time I quit my apartment, stored my things and lived from my savings.
Meanwhile, I can work as a self-employed from anywhere. I do that as a travel blogger and as a freelance consultant for companies and agencies.
Location independent work
For some years, an alternative to the classical professional life shows: Digital nomads earn their money while traveling.
Now there are conferences, books, coworking spaces and hangouts like Chiang Mai in Thailand or Bali.
I also like that I no longer have to do my job at a certain place at fixed times.
For example, I booked flights to Thailand and Australia for January and February 2017, and spent six weeks traveling altogether. And I also think it’s great to be able to switch from the home office to the café in my home town of Cologne.
Location-independent work: advantages
Everyone makes something else happy: some want a house and children. Freedom and the variety between the familiar surroundings in the home and adventures in the distance make me happy.
The advantages of working independently of location are for me:
You get to know many new places and people, have exciting experiences.
You are free and not bound to a job or fixed working hours.
You can choose your clients. In the meantime I have found the customers (among others the Targobank), with whom the cooperation is really fun and who appreciate my work.
You can collaborate with others on a project-by-project basis, as I do with other travel bloggers or consultants.
Location-independent work: disadvantages
Self-employment is not for cowards, I think. There is so much that I have to take care of and always the tax office sits with my demands on the back. If you have strong nerves and can live well with the uncertainty – then self-employment may also be your thing.
The disadvantages and challenges of working independently of location are for me:
When you are becoming a digital nomad make sure to plan your travel accessories.
What you need: skills, network & money
I had a vocational training with the study and PR traineeship, on which I could rely. I have acquired other skills myself or acquired by means of seminars.
In many years, I have built up a network that helps me a lot today.
I tried job boards for the self-employed and found for me not the right projects. Much better it works when acquaintances from companies or agencies hire me as a travel blogger or consultant.
We already know each other, there is a relationship of trust and they know what they can expect from me. Often, this results in long-term cooperations in which I receive orders every now and then.
I’ve put a lot of money into my self-employment, especially in my blog:
Logo and web design
MacBook Air
SLR camera Canon 70D
iPhone SE with EU flatrate
GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition
Regular training
Business Cards
Facebook advertising
Why am I still self-employed after six years? The passion for traveling, blogging and social media drives me. I can design my own job, as I am hurting some disadvantages. You have to look for your clients themselves. Are you good at acquisition?
It requires self-discipline to organize one’s own work. I’ve heard of people sitting in their pajamas at noon after they’ve started working.
Self-employed stands for “self” and “constantly”? Unfortunately, that’s right for me. I work 10 to 12 hours a day, sometimes in the evening or at the weekend.
Times without projects or in which you are sick? There is no money coming in.
Unloved tasks like the tax are part of it. A tax consultant in Cologne supports me. In the fight with the technology help me a small Internet agency and my friend.
I missed my friend, family and friends a year after traveling around the world.
Also, the minimalist lifestyle is not always something for me. I like my rental apartment, nice clothes and shoes. And sun hats. And sunglasses.
Goodluck!
