E-book | Working While You Travel
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What is a digital nomad
A digital nomad is someone who works but also moves around and travels; someone who isn’t stationary. Digital nomads (generally) only need a laptop and a mobile phone to do their work. Digital nomads can work for themselves or someone else, working remotely.
There are many different types of digital nomads. There are people who house sit, business owners, contractors, giggers (people who work more on a project basis), and professional travelers. I recently met a chiropractor who moved from place to place, working for a nationwide chiropractic company. Digital nomadic jobs include marketing, sales, data entry, drone photography, teaching English, selling products (with the products in a stationary location or also nomadic), building websites, copywriting, creating resumes, coaching, IT (software engineer, developer, or servicing), graphic design, and so many more. The truth is that COVID taught us we can work from anywhere in the world, and there is really no limit to what you can do with a laptop and your phone.
Is the digital nomad life for you?
I honestly think everyone could benefit from being a digital nomad. However, some people I’ve met can’t imagine leaving the city they grew up in, for the first time, a place they love and plan to die in. Getting out of their comfort zone means going to a new restaurant for dinner. So how do you know if you’re ready to be a digital nomad? Reflect on these questions and see what your answers are. If you don’t already know your heart’s desires, this will help you to begin to uncover them.
Do you dream of traveling?
Are you happy?
Do you feel like you’re living fully?
Do you crave being out in nature?
Do you get an overwhelming dread on Sundays because Monday is coming?
Do you wake up and want it to be Friday, every day?
Do you feel you are living your life’s purpose?
Do you feel joy daily?
If you died today, would you have regrets about how you’re living your life?
What do you dream about doing?
If you had limitless resources, what would you be doing with your life?
Do you feel stuck in the everyday routine of life?
Do you want more challenges in your life?
Do you want to have amazing experiences?
Do you want to meet new people and learn new things?
Do you want to work from anywhere in the world?
Becoming A digital nomad
If you are thinking the digital nomad life might be for you and you want to have a clear picture of how to get started, what life is like, and how to make it work, this guide will help you start your dream. Soon you’ll be traveling and working in beautiful places, or in some of the most social big cities! Life is a treasure; it’s time to start living it!
What are the benefits of being a digital nomad
Living as a digital nomad will teach you about yourself, your strengths, and areas to improve. This life will bring incredible people with life-changing connections. Being a digital nomad allows you to have incredible experiences you wouldn’t otherwise have sitting in the same stationary place you once called home.
Living as a digital nomad requires flexibility, and it challenges our need for control. While traveling, I’ve learned that I can only control myself and it’s often not the situation but my reaction to the situation that I need to work on. I’ve learned, like the water, to go with the flow, even when a branch falls in my way, like the water, I must just go around and keep moving forward. I can get stuck in how unfair things are, how I wished things were different, how things should be (according to me), or I can learn to accept things as they are, and find a way forward. No matter if it’s a WI-FI outage, a braying donkey, a broken-down car, a host that gives us the wrong door code (and it’s late at night), a cancelled flight, lost luggage, a construction that delays our travel time, or a vomiting cat, accepting what IS, is imperative to finding happiness as a digital nomad. This acceptance is life transforming; it is freeing.
Being a digital nomad, I’m able to enjoy and experience the location. Getting to eat local cuisine, hike in state or national parks, shop in towns for rare gifts not found back home, and enjoy the hot spots the locals treasure. During our travels, I’ve seen mint condition classic cars, a baby buffalo take its first steps, a glacier thaw into a stunning waterfall, and a grizzly bear for the first time in my life (not in a zoo). I’ve fed a baby cow, seen glass blown, kayaked the open ocean by myself, been kissed by a dolphin, fed a manta ray, saw wild horses on a beach, ridden ebikes over mountains, climbed a mountain in Acadia National park, and so many more memories.
Being a digital nomad, I’ve been able to meet incredible people everywhere, from hiking trails, rental hosts, in restaurants, standing in a driveway, or even in parking lots. But a quick conversation turns into kind suggestions about local things to see and do, restaurants that we must try, or life-changing exchanges. Walking in the parking lot of the grocery store, we met Cheyenne Potter, a 13-year-old race car driver with the determination to live her life with no regrets. During a horse brushing experience, we met owner Nichole Rackliff who had just left her job to pursue her dream of a horse ranch. While shopping in a small town, we met Amanda Duncan, a domestic abuse survivor with an incredible story of perseverance. I also met Khalilah Hamlett, who is bringing black-owned businesses together and spreads her love wherever she goes in life. The sweet story of Scott and Kelli Keena made a lasting impression on me as they risked it all for their dream of owning a candy store, not waiting until retirement like they had planned. The key is to stay open. If you want connection, be grateful for the connections you already have and the universe will bring you more!
I think to some extent all digital nomads experience some type of personal healing. This is a journey few undertake, with countless daily experiences that create happiness, wonder, and awe. The moments of anger and frustration are mere opportunities to continue personal growth and resilience. Countless digital nomads experience less depression because there is always something to look forward to, something to create joy and happiness.
The desire to travel to learn new things, see natural wonders, bask in nature, and experience other customs, language, foods, traditions, cultures, and beliefs is strong in all of us. It is as if through travel, we learn who we are, what we can be, where we came from in a larger sense, and have a greater sense of oneness by walking an alternative path. We crave the freedom, space of limitless potential, adventure into the unknown, connection to others, and the realization of our dreams.
Are you fully living?
Are you happy? Do you feel excited about getting up each day? Do you love your life? Did you create your life with intention? Are you filled with excitement about tomorrow? Do you feel like you’re growing and expanding? Does your soul sing?
I was not living life a few years ago and would better be characterized as the walking dead. I fell into an industry out of high school, made a distinguished career out of it over the years, but not a career of my intentional choosing. I settled. I loved it for many years, but mid-life I changed companies and felt stuck in a job that was making me sick and the longer I stayed, the sicker I got, and the more afraid I was to leave to do something like starting my own business. My mental health was scaring me because I had lost the will to live if it was just going to be more of the same, working to make other people richer through the daily grind, and following the line of red taillights to and from work each day. To get through the days, I turned off my emotions, but in doing so I also turned off joy, excitement, and passion. My emotions make me whole and complete, so without them I was a shell of a human. My family taught me owning your own business wasn’t for people like us, where success was defined by dollars, title and status, happiness was elusive, work was something to be suffered through, and real living happened only happened on Friday and Saturday, with Sunday called the lost day, a day of grief for the suffering that would begin again.
What is it like to fully live? That’s a question I asked myself and then set out to find out. Back home, I felt like I was dying a slow and painful death, stuck in the repetitiveness of the everyday life, even owning my own business. I just moved from the office chair to the couch each day, and the seasons changed around me. My soul was crying out. I realized I didn’t know what it was like to fully live. Everything about my life had been safe and low risk. I wanted to live with wild abandon! I want to create a life wild and free. I wanted to become untamed.
Gregg and I sold most of our belongings, let go of the lease of our apt, and set off on our epic digital nomad journey with our two cats,our second attempt at being digital nomads. At his age of 64 and mine of 46, most people would be winding down, but we’re just getting started! We started our digital nomad travel blog to inspire others to live their best lives.
Being ‘on the road’, I have gotten out of the comfort zone that was killing me slowly and into a world of constant change and expansion. I have overcome fears, learning to walk through the world in uncertainty.
What is a home really
Someone asked me just the other day if I was homeless, or considered myself homeless. The answer is no; I don’t consider myself homeless, though I physically don’t have or own a home. It is true, Gregg and I let go of our lease in April 2021, and moved out of our home after selling and donating most of our belongings. We’ve traveled in our car place to place, staying in Airbnbs or hotels along our travels in the US and Greece.
Not having roots is quite freeing. I was raised to believe that owning a home was out of reach, but I accomplished that thanks to the six-figure job I held, before I resigned to open my a bookkeeping company. I feel so light without the roots of other’s beliefs holding me down to one place or the weight of my belongings.
Society says things like home is where the heart is, there is no place like home, love brings you home, all roads lead you home, and even the word homesick all imply you need a static place to feel comfort, safe, and loved or you will be unwell, unhappy, and lonely.
When we are “rooted” in self-love, self- confidence, and the security found only within, it doesn’t matter where we are. The realization that happiness comes from within, and not from without, including a structure, allows us to move through life, creating joy and happiness for ourselves instead of expecting things to fill the emptiness within. Anywhere can be our home when we are “at home” within ourselves.
The first time, on the road traveling that I looked at Gregg and said, “I’ll see you at home” was when it struck me. It wasn’t really “our home”, but it was home, for a few weeks or a month. The places we stay are the places of memories, adventure, love, sleep, eating, working, playing, where our cats climb everywhere, where food is in the fridge, where we watch TV, we leave and return to, where our belongings are and where we are together. Gregg now defines home as where he does the laundry and serving as our home base. “It’s a base of opportunity for exploration. Home is what you make of it.”
All these years later, we continue to say, “See you at home” when we part. The significance isn’t lost on me. We are so blessed to have a home within ourselves, each other, and wherever we go.
Traveling with cats
We are asked all the time how the cats, Sampson and Delilah (brother and sister Siamese) handle the traveling. When we set off on our travels with our two cats, I wasn’t sure how they would react. They’d really only been in the car a few times, mostly to the vet. The truth is, cats, or at least our cats, aren’t fans of our choice to travel. It has proved to be the single most challenging situation in our decision.
We took them on the test trip we took before we fully got on the road. The need to carry our own vacuum was the first thing we learned from our test trip. The cats crawled under beds, chairs, laid on the floor, and got behind furniture, none of which had probably seen a vacuum in 6 months to 2 years. The cats were like giant dust balls, with literal dust balls stuck to their fur. It was an allergy nightmare.
Once on the road, we were so excited to be traveling, but our cats were not. I know they sensed our energy was different. Gregg was home now, having retired early for our travels. We were in a strange place where others had stayed before, and no doubt they felt that energy, too. Of course, this was all understandable. I was sure over time it would improve.
Several months later, Gregg and I had hardly slept through the night. During the middle of the night, in the 2-5 am time frame, the cats would run through the house crying uncontrollably, sometimes using their paws and claws to open the closet and entry door (making a plucking sound) if we tried to close it, as not to overstimulate them, and the worst part, they often took turns. Once we got one cat settled, the other would lose its mind, and we’d get that cat settled, and then the other was off again. We were at the end of our rope. Of course, by daybreak, they were fine, completely normal. They’d curl up in a cute ball and snooze the day away while we dragged.
For the next few months, we struggled to sleep. We took them to the vet. The vet wanted to put Sampson (our male cat), who struggles the most, on Prozac. That didn’t align with my beliefs, so I opted to find other solutions. We went to a homeopathic vet, trying many herbal pet remedies. We changed his food, tried tryptophan as a natural relaxant, along with other stress reducers, including Feliway, which we use today, Solliquin, but Sampson was allergic to an ingredient, Bach’s Rescue Remedy, melatonin for cats, hemp for pets, and so much more, but sometimes we couldn’t get them to even eat the treat, and if they did, it hardly made a difference. Overall, the Feliway works best.
When we got to Florida, things had been improving, and then it got worse. Just when we started to get some sleep, it got worse. We were not prepared for how the energy of being surrounded by water down in the Florida Keys would affect them. They were crazed. From midnight to 6am they could not relax. Again, they would trade off or both being running around the house crying, making noise, and pushing us for food, we assume as a comfort. We had already had the conversation that we could not continue with the lack of sleep we’d experienced much longer. So when it was worse than ever, in this tropical paradise, we were really upset and exhausted. We resorted to sleeping in shifts, keeping the cats separated from the person trying to sleep. We were still trying various remedies at this point.
After leaving Florida, we headed back to Dallas. We were at the end of our rope, thinking we’d have to stop traveling. A possible solution was suggested to us that would change everything.
Speaking with an animal communicator seemed like a crazy suggestion, but I was desperate and game for anything at this point. Also, I was becoming more and more aware of my own abilities to communicate with animals because of experiences during my travels that brought back memories of my gift as a child that had been squelched. So I believed it was possible for someone to have such gifts.
Speaking with Sampson and Delilah via the animal communicator was an amazing experience. If you ask me, it was real. Sampson and Delilah let us know what their challenges were. We could also let them know our travels weren’t changing, and we needed them to get on board, to which they had a few demands. We met their demands and things improved.
Then we decided to go to Europe with our cats, despite the extreme amount of paperwork, and the challenges international travel would bring. The cats still struggle with the first night in a new place. We just don’t plan to sleep. Delilah settles in after that. Sampson might take a few days to fully settle but still wakes us about 4-6am for breakfast. Delilah still doesn’t like closed doors, but most of the time she leaves them alone now, and we place their cat carriers in front of the doors if she pulls at the doors (by placing her paw under the door and pulling creating a thumping sound). We still use Feliway. We travel with their scratch post, even though it’s huge and takes up a lot of space.
We’ve learned there is a right and wrong way to get set up upon our arrival. We used to bring the cats in the house and then all the stuff. Now, we leave the cats in the front seat of the car, while we first vacuum under everything, including the bed in the master bedroom, then I wipe down the furniture with a peroxide and tea tree oil solution to help cleanse the energy imprinted on the furniture and in the house which cats often absorb and try to “cleanse”, and then we set up their stuff. We set up their litter box (we don’t change the litter when switching places so the litter has their scent), cat mat in front of the litter box, the scratch post, plug in the Feliway, put our own sheets, blanket, and pillows on the bed with their smell on them, cover any furniture with our furniture covers, then bring them inside the house. We feed them inside their carriers before we let them out, otherwise they will be too interested in exploring to eat. Sampson and Delilah are free to explore only the bedroom. We keep the rest of the house closed off until they are more settled, or they become too overstimulated. We do this same process even when we stay in hotels.
People tell us all the time, “You must really love your cats,” and the truth is we do really love them. Boarding, re-homing them, or leaving them with someone else while we travel is just not an option for us. We know that this experience is good for their souls, too!
Being on the road it’s important to keep them healthy. To stay up-to-date with regular checkups, dental cleanings, and comprehensive exams, we have used our Banfield membership regularly. We have found a Banfield in most places we’ve been or within a reasonable drive. For virtual visits, we either use the Banfield “ask a vet” virtual visit or continue to use our homeopathic vet in Maine for quick questions and challenging situations with virtual visits.
how to work while traveling
Working remotely at home sometimes has its challenges, from WI-FI outages, people talking and making noise, to a lack of space to work. These things don’t really improve on the road; in fact, they might be worse.
WI-FI
Overall, I have had great WI-FI, even if I had to plug into the box or run down to the local coffeehouse or hotel lobby, but most of the rentals we’ve used, we’ve checked with the host in advance, as to the capacity of their WI-FI and 99% of the time we have no issue. Just know that like your current situation, regional and system-wide outages will happen occasionally. I recommend going into this experience knowing there will be moments you’re about to have a big meeting and you have no Wi-Fi, or the speed is so slow you get cut off or you may have to travel into town to get a good signal. It’s also worth noting that some rural areas have zero WI-FI and some international countries have limited WI-FI, so check before you go.
In one location, a very small town, the Airbnb host had internet but not enough for my computer. We bought Unlimitedville which worked while were there in TN, but not when we moved to another location in WV. Nomad Internet offers US coverage for those that are stationary or that travel to rural or remote areas. Before heading to Europe for our 1 year traveling throughout Greece, we decided to try Starlink. Before we left, we reviewed Starlink’s map of coverage, which showed strong service in Greece, even on the islands. Starlink provided peace of mind that even if the Airbnb Wi-Fi was spotty or went out, Starlink allowed me to work anywhere (within their coverage area). Many digital nomads I know use Starlink. It’s not perfect, in that you will still have blips, experience lag, but it’s one of the better choices. We were able to pause and restart the service. I highly recommend getting the longest cord Starlink offers. There were several times in Greece that to get a clear picture of the sky for the device, we had to put it on the roof, or in a field next to the house and then fed the cord back into the house via a window or door.
Another option used by many digital nomads is a hotspot like Netgear Nighthawk, through AT&T; T-Mobile and Verizon also have their own hot spots. Digital nomads will often have one hot spot through AT&T and another through Verizon because, as we have personally found there are areas where our cell phones can’t make a call including Georgetown, TX outside of Austin and Los Alamos and other areas near Santa Fe, NM, and all of West Virginia. Using a hot spot internationally requires a SIM card from that country.
I highly recommend that you use a VPN (Virtual Private Network), a “service that encrypts your internet traffic and protects your identity” according to NordVPN. A VPN is especially important when using unsecured (open to the public) Wi-Fi accounts. When we were in Greece, I set my VPN to the US which made accessing US websites easier, as some US websites will actually block foreign traffic or traffic from specific countries known for hacking and fraudulent purchases. Keep in mind even some banks will refuse access or login options from foreign locations. By setting my VPN to the US, when I was in Greece, websites believe I was accessing their site from the US.
Working Space
Not all hotels, vacation rentals, or RVs have a dedicated work space and sometimes they say they have one, but it’s some pretty secretary desk with about 5 inches of usable space, rendering it useless. I have worked at desks, couches, kitchen tables, breakfast bars, coffeehouses, and in the bed. Likewise, I’ve worked on planes, ferries and in the car. If a dedicated works space is imperative to your success, take the time to plan for that at each location or with whatever type of accommodations you choose.
The largest challenge is creating or finding an ergonomic workspace. Having a real office chair has been rare.
If you yearn for reliable internet or a comfortable workspace, try DeskHop. They will help you find laptop-friendly spaces, even co-working spaces around the world. Use code LIFETIME99, which provides lifetime membership for $99, $198 discount, while supplies last. They have great descriptions about their locations, including Wi-Fi speed, noise level, power outlets at or near the tables, etc.
Equipment
We travel with some equipment when we travel in the US, including lighting, a camera, and a computer monitor, however, the least amount of items you carry, the easier moving from one location to another will be. Therefore, if you need specific materials, make sure you can transport these items easily, replace them if needed while traveling (sometimes stuff breaks), or order and have them shipped to you. In many places we’ve been, we can’t just run to a big-box store for what we need; it could be hours of driving to get to a big city. In fact, my computer screen broke during our year-long trip through Greece. There are no Apple stores in Greece, so I limped along with my side monitors until we returned to the US. Many times equipment like a laptop can be replaced, even internationally. However, it could be more costly, or there may be quirks that differ from a laptop from the US, like the symbols or certain keys may be specific to that country’s language.
If you rent a room, you might experience noise from others in the home that could distract from your work. If you rent a hotel or vacation rental, or buy an RV, you may experience construction outside, ambient noise, or even very loud frogs and crickets (we couldn’t hear over them) while you work. Through our travels, I’ve encountered noise from upstairs neighbors, to construction, to a donkey braying. My clients know I travel and work virtually, so we just laugh it off and carry on or reschedule if the noise is work prohibitive.
Cell Phones
As already mentioned, some states in the US have better coverage than others from certain carriers. It might be wise to have one phone with AT&T and another with T-Mobile or Verizon.
When traveling internationally, you can get a phone in the country, swap your SIM card with a local one (if applicable to your phone), or use an eSIM.
An eSIM is a virtual SIM card (if your phone is compatible) which allows you to use your phone without physically switching your SIM card. There are several companies that offer an eSIM service, such as Airalo, which offers packages for multi-country hops and stops. The downside is you can’t use your phone for calls or text messages (SMS), however, this is overcome by using Whatsapp, Facetime, or Apple’s iMessage function.
Google Fi allows your phone to “adjust” to the new country as you walk off the plane and resume normal use without missing a beat and is optimal if you’ll be making a lot of phone calls. I would have to unlock my phone and then drop my AT&T service and sign up with Google Fi.
When we began traveling internationally, it made more sense for us to just purchase the international plan via AT&T, our cell phone carrier. We made this decision based on several factors, one of which being that all of my clients are US based and I wanted business as usual to feel like I was in the states to my clients. I wanted them to call me on my regular phone number, be able to text my regular number, and I didn’t want any issues getting SMS short-code texts with identity authentication information to access our bank accounts or other accounts.
In summary, however and wherever you plan to do your work, flexibility is key. If you are a person who needs everything to go ‘just so’ and for everything to be perfect working and traveling will be an opportunity for you to overcome those attachments, because things will go wrong, it won’t be perfect, and that’s honestly the beauty of it all.
where to sleep
As a digital nomad, the top benefit is freedom. Freedom to live by your own desires. As a digital nomad, you can honestly sleep anywhere.
Vacation Rentals
Vacation Rentals are in abundance throughout most of the world. You can use websites to book short-term or long-term stays in cabins, condos, apartments, houses, tiny houses, RVs, treehouses, castles, yurts, and many other unique accommodations like a bubble dome, flying saucer, and a dragon.
Gregg and I lived out the majority of our digital nomad life, primarily with Airbnb. In our experience, Airbnb is better than VRBO because Airbnb has more reviews, more serious hosts, a great review system, a comprehensive list of what comes with the rental, programs like AirCover to provide limited travel protection, Super Hosts which are hosts recognized for excellence, and Airbnb Plus, where the house and the host are recognized for excellence. Airbnb also has add-ons, like Airbnb Adventures, Airbnb Experiences, and online. These experiences often highlight local activities that you might otherwise miss.
We also like the Airbnb search fields which allow us to choose the important amenities like dedicated work space, AC, heating, washer, drier, pet friendly, search by price, a private room or entire house, parking, and many other options to create the ideal situation for our travel needs.
Furnished Finder, for working professionals, is an alternative to Airbnb. You can book directly without the high admin fees you’ll find on other apps. However, some owners will require a refundable security deposit, pet deposit, cleaning fees, and other fees. Their filter fields are simplistic, so if you’re wanting something with WI-FI you can’t filter for that specifically, you’ll have to look at individual listings to see what the unit, hotel or room includes.
If you want an option that provides points, consider Marriott Homes and Villas. These vacation rentals allow you to use Marriott points to book while you are earning more points toward future stays. Although I’ve called their corporate office to complain, they still (to date) haven’t updated their website to include searchable amenities, meaning I can’t even make sure the place has Wifi or a washer and drier. Their lack of published amenities prohibits us from utilizing this option.
There are many conveniences to having a home (or some hotels) compared to other options. We only select homes that have a washer, drier, dishwasher, air conditioning, heating, WI-FI, mostly hardwood floors (carpet is just nasty), and hopefully is out in the middle of nowhere so we don’t wake up and open our door to see our next-door neighbor 5 feet from us.
Another benefit of Airbnb that Gregg and I love is their long-term stay discounts. If you stay 30 days or more, typically hosts will offer a monthly discount of 10-50% off. Therefore, it can be cheaper for us to stay a month than 2 weeks at the same house. Sometimes hosts will offer discounts on stays a week or two weeks long, too.
RV, Van, Bus, Tent Camping, Tiny House, Leisure Travel Van, Car Camping
With so many YouTube tutorials showcasing how to convert a bus or van into a livable space, or make your own tiny house, there are endless possibilities to create your own unique living space.
RVs, leisure travel vans, or campers are another great option. Years before we set out on the road, we talked to builders to build our own tiny house, ultimately settling on a leisure travel van and even made a down payment. But on the day of pickup, Gregg just didn’t think he could like in that tiny space with me, two cats, and two road bikes. When we came back to the dream of travel a few years later, we decided the best way for us to be happy and enjoy the space was to stay in hotels or homes. The key to this accommodation choice is to decide what type of space works best for you. I heard someone say something like the best way to enjoy van life is to get out of the van, meaning explore the outdoors and you’ll be less likely to feel tight in the space. Also note that this choice also comes with the added fees of site rentals. Finding a location to park it can be challenging; the rules at each park can be completely different. Some of these restrictions, can pertain to the vehicle’s age (typically parks can deny anything 10 years or older), size, pet breeds, and with tiny houses being discriminated against at a higher rate than RVs, certain certifications may be required to ensure that your tiny house pipes won’t explode if there isn’t a pressure regulator (the water comes out too powerfully from the tap). Additional fees may also include electricity on top of the site fee, but these fees can be avoided by dry camping, a term that describes on “hooking up” at the site, relying on generators for example, and only paying the site fee. Check the park to see if toys like ATVs or motorcycles are allowed on the property. Check to see if they have restrictions on the number of consecutive nights you can stay.
If you join the Tiny House Nation, Skoolie life (living in a bus), or become a Fulltimer (living in an RV), it’s important to consider three important factors: Wi-FI, laundry, and showers.
WI-FI for sites in RV parks, state parks, national parks, and resort parks are notoriously horrible. There is little bandwidth, a Wi-FI booster won’t help you if there are 500 people trying to use the signal. Many digital nomads have a series of hotspots like Netgear and a hotspot from their cell phone carrier also, to ensure they have optimal coverage. Some are even using the Wi-FI in their car, though I did not have luck with that in the Texas desert. I was never confident in this as a solution, after hearing the challenges of these devices from other digital nomads, which made vacation rentals look more appealing. Again, Starlink may be an optimal solution if you have clear full access to the sky. Note that partial views of the sky, such as those blocked by trees, buildings, or even mountains can create low speeds or bad connectivity.
If you are interested in this life but not quite sure, rent! To see what life would really be like, rent an RV from companies like Outdoorsy, RV Share, or Cruise America. If a tiny house is your speed, check VRBO and Airbnb or companies like Getaway House, Glamping Hub, or Tiny House Listings.
Many RV parks will offer laundry services, but if not, you’ll have to go into town. I’ve seen facilities in national parks around resort and camping areas that include showers. In a pinch, you can always use a pop up clothes line.
Showers can sometimes be a bit more challenging than laundry facilities. If staying close to city centers, a gym membership offers access to shower facilities and you can stay in shape. Of course, already mentioned are the RV parks, campgrounds, national park campground areas, and even state parks, which tend to offer shower facilities. Gregg and I have been impressed throughout our travels at some of the resort-like truck stops that have everything from restaurants, bakeries, showers, laundry facilities, relaxation rooms, with massage chairs. Some rest stops I’ve seen have showers too. You can always try a portable shower, but it’s important to have a place to do so with privacy. Ask me about the time I showered a Big Bend National Park at 5am in the dark in front of my tent, thinking I was the only one awake. LOL.
If you’re looking for something cheaper (sometimes free) or unique on a short-term basis, consider BLM land, some Wal-Mart stores provide permits on a limited basis, truck stops (some Love’s even have RV hookups), and restaurants like IHop and Cracker Barrel, also on a limited basis upon request. Harvest Hosts is another unique option that takes you to some of the most amazing wineries, breweries, and farms (additional purchase limits of their goods may be required).
The Escapees Club is a must! Not only do they offer a plethora of nomadic resources, site discounts, but also solutions to other nomadic life challenges like getting mail.
Car camping has become more popular in recent years as car tents and rooftop tents have reached popularity. Between the car space and the tent space, you can have a bed, office (with this power source), dining set, kitchen, and entertainment section. Jazz up your space with some solar powered lights.
In general, book early to get the location and spot that you want, make sure you know the rules of the place you book, get permission if you’re parking in a parking lot overnight, and join the Escapees Club.
When planning and budgeting your money, consider the cost of your accommodations plus the wide array of site fees, from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars per night, WIFI costs, and vehicle, towing or transportation costs. For example, a truck to pull a 5th wheel could be over $100,000, generating a monthly payment over $1,000 a month, and that’s just the truck. When you add on the 5th wheel payment, plus camp sites, it can be thousands of dollars per month. Additionally, both the truck and 5th wheel are depreciating assets, meaning they lose value over time, they won’t increase in value over time which means with age, mileage, wear and tear, and the class of the RV, you could owe more than they are worth and the resale value could be abysmal.
Hotels and Hostels
Sometimes we can’t find a decent Airbnb (like in North and South Dakota) so we’ve opted for a hotel in these instances or for overnight stays moving from one long-term location to another. For brief stays, or even overnight stays, we love Hilton’s Home2 Suites, which have a full size fridge (for food items that must be refrigerated or frozen), dishes, cups, etc (microwave but not a stove), and plenty of room to put our stuff (instead of leaving it in the car). We really enjoy one or two-bedroom suites (it’s like a mini-apartment) at Marriott’s Town Place Suites brand, for longer stays, as those (tend to) have a full kitchen, including stove. If you plan to stay long term in a hotel, 30 days or more, contact the sales department. You may negotiate a long-term stay rate, which would not be published on their website. Depending on the state, 30+day stays may also be tax exempt. Be sure to inquire at the front desk upon check in or at time of reservation. Hotels with full kitchen amenities usually have laundry facilities on site, and offer free Wi-FI. Hostels can be an inexpensive way to have a hotel-like experience. This hostel booking platform even connects you to fellow guests prior to arrival, allowing you to discover common interests and plan excursions together, ideal for the solo traveler seeking connection. Booking.com allows you to book hotels, hostels, and vacation rentals, while Expedia offers hotels and vacation rentals on their site.
Furnished Apartments
I often talk about how being a digital nomad is not a one size fits all scenario. Something you might not have known about is furnished apartments with luxury amenities in some of the top cities around the US. Landing is one such company. Landing offers living without limits with their network of flexible (without long-term commitment) lease apartments. They offer fully furnished apartments (that includes utilities) in 375+ cities with a fully equipped kitchen, dedicated workspace, fast Wi-Fi, Smart TVs, premium toiletries, and a plethora of storage. Choose from cities like Miami, Phoenix, Austin, Denver, Dallas, Orlando, Las Vegas, New York, and more for you and your (up to) two furry friends (with breed restrictions) to live life to the fullest. A low-cost membership allows you access to all property amenities like pool and exercise facilities while living two months or ten with no long-term commitments, 7 bonus nights per year within the Landing network, with no security deposits, application fees, or utilities, plus you can easily manage your reservations on the app. You may be required to pay pet, parking, lodging tax, or other amenity fees.
Living with Locals
Homestay connects locals with travelers to create opportunities to socialize and create shared experiences. Travelers have no better way of learning about their chosen destination than with people who live there, ready to share all the secret gems and hidden treasures.
Does living with a stranger sound odd? We get in an Uber with strangers; we let Amazon drivers into our home to drop off orders, so why not live with strangers too? Homestay offers short- or long-term accommodation options. This is a low-cost way to see some of the top cities in the world, like Paris, Sydney, Madrid, Boston, Los Angeles, and New York.
Swap Your house
Just like the 2006 movie, The Holiday, where Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz’s characters’ house swap. With applications like CircleHome you can swap your house to travel. There are several ways it can work. You and another user can swap houses, you staying in theirs and them staying in yours. Or, you can do a multi-swap, where you will swap with someone but go to someone else’s house (not theirs).
HomeExchange is another application that’s easy to use. Just find a place you want to go, send an exchange request, and after a few details like paying the member fee, you’re off!
Second Home Exchange
Got a second home you aren’t using? ThirdHome is a travel club for second homeowners. With most home prices averaging in the millions, ThirdHome defines luxury with over 14,000 homes, villas, residence clubs and even yachts.
Cruising
Another option many don’t consider is taking a cruise, consecutive or around the world cruises. Internet has always been a deterrent. The new Virgin Voyages might just be what you’ve been waiting for. Virgin Voyages has adult-only cruises perfect for solo travelers and those wanting a more mature experience. You won’t be able to get internet bandwidth like in a city like Dallas, but with their basic and premium packages around $300 a week, or their per day packages around $20-50 a day, you’ll find a package that likely works for you. However, it’s a ship, it’s the internet, I would remain flexible. The Points Guy said “…both the download and upload speeds were… down at 3.79 MBPS; up at 5.23 MBPS”. With internet out of the way, why cruise? The benefits are ease! You can travel far without the hassle of driving, flying, etc, just get on the boat and let someone else get you there. There’s a built in list of things to do (excursions). Excursions often include transportation to and from, the ship handles those logistics, and sometimes they include meals. With the exception of internet, and a few upgrades, everything is included, particularly standard meals.
Not every cruise line has the capability of Virgin’s internet but I hope it rubs off on the rest as digital nomads rule the world. Other cruise lines to consider are Royal Caribbean and MSC (data packages).. While Carnival is usually the best cruise price, their streaming is awful and has not kept up with modern needs. It’s important to really do your research. If you think you’ll just work in port, make sure the port area will have WI-FI and the area/country in general. WI-FI varies country to country.
Community
For many digital nomads the desire for community is strong. The journey of the nomad can be to take opportunities encountered in travel to heal, to grow, and expand. This might include stretching out of their comfort zone to meet new people, public speak, get involved in local volunteering, or find deep connections in nature. Nomads may want to meet other digital nomads, compare notes, collaborate on creative or business ventures or ideas, and form relationships that may last beyond their meeting.
Some digital nomads express struggling with isolation and loneliness. This could be time to understand how beneficial it is to learn to love yourself, to be your own best friend, to take yourself out to dinner, and to journey where few go, INSIDE instead of outside love and acceptance.
The perfect balance of work, solitude, and meeting people is Noma Collective. A group of digital nomads come together in a beautiful place with fun activities scheduled and arranged by the Noma Collective staff. Head to places like Belize, Africa, and Argentina, for 2-6 weeks depending on the trip you choose, co-living with 10-25 other digital nomads, while enjoying activities like dancing, surfing, biking, cooking, boating, swimming, hiking, culture immersion, yoga, local attractions, festivals, and even additional optional excursions. But it’s not all play, there is work too. All participants are remote workers, so WI-FI speeds are taken into consideration to ensure everyone can get their work done. What a great opportunity to hang with people like you, working, playing and traveling the world. If you’re not ready to be all-in on being a digital nomad, this is also a great solution. You don’t have to get bogged down with planning the details, you have a built-in community, and people to share your new experiences with. What a great way to find new business connections and collaborations too! Noma Collective even offers business oriented workshops. Get $150 off with code ALISE150 when you make an inquiry with one of their agents.
Money
Let’s talk about money and what it takes to get on the road. The truth that people don’t like to hear is it takes what it costs for you to create the experience you want. If you really want it… you’ll figure out a way to make it happen.
Gregg and I looked at a travel van, which was $150-$200K. We’ve looked at RVs and campers that were $15K-$500K. There are used options which can be much less. Or if you gut a van or bus, you might do so for $5-$40K, depending on the cost of the vehicle, the repairs to ensure it’s running and safe, the amenities on the interior, and the cost of labor. We talked to multiple tiny house builders and a custom build cost about $30K-$250K. Then we have to pay to park it which can run $30-200 a night depending on location, site size, hookups, utility usage, and if the park has resort inclusions like pool, hot tub, WI-FI, etc, or use BLM land or other free parking options already mentioned. Tent camping and car camping options can cost a few hundred dollars to get set up. Airbnb rooms can cost as little as $30 a night, while a monthly rental can be on average $2K-$10K (some are much higher if you choose private islands, castles, mansions or premier locations) depending on location, size, and amenities, and hotels can run $30 per night for 2 star hotels in a small town, or $500+ a night for four-star brands, in premier locations, with high end amenities. So, as you can see, it all depends on what experience you want to create. There is no one-shoe fits all. It’s what you want to create and what experience you want to have.
“But I can’t afford to rent an Airbnb everything month!” That may be true, but have you looked at your beliefs? You may not have that money in the bank, but can you get it another way by selling an investment property, stock, etc? Can you create a business to increase your earning potential? Can you travel to places where the costs are lower, like internationally, or more unknown locations in the US, rather than big cities or popular destinations? Can you car camp and stay on BLM land instead until your circumstances change? Is there any way to make this dream a reality? Is it really about money?
I thought about calling this section budget, but as you read the word money, you probably had a visceral reaction to the word that you wouldn’t have had if this section were called budget. You would think that money is the #1 excuse people use to opt out of their travel dreams. It is, but it’s much deeper than that.
I have a bookkeeping client that I work with, who is a millionaire, like for real. When I told him what Gregg and I were doing, he was so excited for us, and the first thing he said was, “I’m so jealous. I’d love to do what you’re doing.” We hear this all the time. Literally today as I write this, I’ve heard it 4 times, and I only went to the grocery store. We hear it ALL THE TIME! But here is a millionaire, and he’s jealous of me and wants to do it but isn’t. What gives? It’s mindset! Mindset is driven by beliefs, even fears.
You are always manifesting your future. The future you create is a recycled past or something entirely new, to paraphrase the words of Kathy D. Carter. Regarding money, if you believe that money is scare, in short supply, the root of all evil, doesn’t grow on trees, and that you’re never going to have enough, you will experience scarcity in your life. If you believe that worrying about money or worrying, in general, is an effective use of your time, thought, emotions and energy, then you will attract into your life and experience the things you worry about, leaving your life joyless, full of anxiety and money in short supply. If you believe that there are opportunities that can come to you in unusual ways and you are open to these opportunities, you can be open to many ways of manifesting money. You must believe you deserve money. Money is good because it allows you to live your dreams.
If you are using money as your excuse, it is ok. I did, too. I ask you… what do you want more….to hold on to that belief and stay where you are or create a new belief that money is abundant, flows to you easily, from many sources? The beliefs that kept me small include fears about being safe traveling in the world, having enough money, failing at my business, that Gregg and I would hate spending so much time together, the cats would implode, and so much more. I worried about our travels being legal; I worried about fitting everything in the car. But did any of this serve me? NO. Did it make me powerful? NO. Did it help to achieve my dreams? NO. Did my worrying change anything? NO. Do I have control of these things, really? NO. So why did I do it? Because it’s what I knew! It was a repetitive behavior pattern that I learned from my family, it’s glorified by society, and I get to be a martyr at the end of it all, having been so selfless to worry about these things and that alone makes me special, which gives me the value as a person I had been seeking. So, in short, this destructive, pointless behavior made me feel whole. Pretty F$%&* up, right?
If you are frozen in your beliefs that this is an impossible life for you, then seek help. I offer time slots where we can talk about what’s holding you back. If you have serious unhealed trauma, I dropped Kathy’s contact info below, and she offers a free “let’s see if we’re a fit” consultation.
If you want this life, it is possible. Don’t give up if you feel stuck. Anything is possible! We just need to create new empowering beliefs and create a strategy that overcomes that logistical aspect.
Double Your Money
As a digital nomad with a remote job or virtual company making US dollars, the world is your oyster! You can go anywhere, so why not go places where the dollar is stronger than the currency of the country you are visiting, essentially doubling (or more) your money. For example, I was recently able to afford a business service from Australia, because of the currency conversion. I paid $500 USD to $760 AUD.
As I write this section of the ebook from Greece, I am losing money in the conversion from USD to EUR. Every time I buy gas, food, go out for fun, or take a ferry I am paying in Euros, and losing money, meaning it costs me $1.00 USD to €.91 in EUR. Let’s break it down to see what that really means. So if I spend $1,000, it’s only worth €913.00, and since I’m here for a year, if I spend $20,000 it’s only worth €18,266. You can see that I am paying more than the value of something because the dollar i weaker than the currency in Greece. However, we must also recognize that the cost of living is much less in Greece than the United States. For example, Gregg’s haircut in the US costs $50, but the same services and level of care only costs €15. To get our rental car fully detailed, with an interior shampoo costs about $200 in the US but only €50. When we would tell people in Greece what we would pay for things in the US, they were floored. They just couldn’t understand how it could be so expensive.
If you look for countries where your American money is worth more, meaning the dollar is stronger, it can help you live a more luxurious lifestyle abroad. Indonesia, for example, the rate is 15,000 to 1 USD, with the cost of living being 60% lower than the US. Having a stronger dollar PLUS a lower cost of living helps your money go farther. This means you don’t have to earn as much so you can work less and play more, create more savings for future travel, or just have the most amazing time in Indonesia. Let’s look at other countries: Madagascar at 4,000 to 1 USD, Chile 855 to 1 USD, many African countries are around 500-600 to 1 USD, Hungary 340 to 1 USD, Argentina 340 to 1 USD, Japan 140 to 1 USD, and so on.
If you do your research, you can experience instant wealth, an instant pay raise, an instant increase in your standard of living and experiences just by visiting countries with a weaker currency than the dollar and when paired with a lower cost of living, the world is literally your oyster!
Lower your costs
Sometimes we think that we have to just have more money in order to travel, but you can also look at ways to reduce your travel costs. You just have to be creative to make your dreams come true.
If you stay in Airbnb’s, typically they offer a large discount, the longer you stay with the max discount kicking in at 30+ days. We’ve sometimes saved 20%, 30% and more when staying for 1 month. You can also travel to hot destinations when it’s cold. What I mean is that I am writing these words to you sitting in an Airbnb on a stunning Greek island in the middle of November, in a house I would have paid double for if it were July. Sure I’m not dipping into the ocean or pool, but I did still lay-out in the sun in my bathing suit yesterday. There are chilly and warm days. All that matters to me is that I am waking up for the next 30 days to a million dollar view. There are still a few restaurants open, grocery stores, and gas stations, so we have what we need. We drive 45 minutes, only passing a few cars instead of the baffling bumper to bumper traffic of summer tourists. To us, it’s worth it!
Go to cities or countries where the cost of living is lower! In European countries like Portugal, or South American countries like Ecuador, necessities cost less than other destinations (in general). If you can find a local place to live instead of an Airbnb, or tourist accommodations, you can spend a few hundred dollars a month instead of a few thousand. For example, in a recent search for a future destination, I found that we could rent a local apartment for under $500 a month, which was on the lower end of an American travel standard), while most of the Airbnbs in this South American destination, catering to Americans, went for thousands of dollars a month (and were quite luxurious).
One of the benefits of going “all in” like Gregg and I, meaning we have no home, no car, no regular bills for a homestead, is that we can put the money we would normally spend toward our travels. Instead of paying for a permanent residence, I pay for Airbnbs around the world. Ask yourself if this is an option for you to travel and work full time.
Miles and Points
You likely have accumulated points on credit cards for purchases you regularly make. Look for ways to take advantage of points through business credit cards, hotel credit cards, and airline programs and partnerships to pay for your travels, or at least part of it. There is no better points hacking expert other than The Daily Drop. When you sign up with them, they will show you all the ways you can optimize your points, earn more points faster, and how to get discounts and deals on travel when you take the FREE Daily Drop Miles and Points 101 Course.
If you are thinking credit card annual fees are too costly, here is a list of $0 annual fee cards and here is list of $95 annual fee cards.
If you take advantage of these tips, plus utilize the above strategy of visiting countries with lower cost of living and weak currency (compared to the dollar), you don’t need as much cash as you might think to have the travel experiences of your dreams.
"When we continue to complain and look at everything that is wrong in our life. we usually end up manifesting our past life all over again." Kathy D. Carter
NOt all or nothing
I hear from many people that they want the digital nomad life, but they just aren’t ready YET to be on the road 365 days a year. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Maybe today you can’t go all in, but could you be a digital for a day, a week, a month, or a combination here and there throughout the year?
A digital nomad client I work with is a solo traveler and leaves home to be a digital nomad a few times a year because it’s what works for her. She is still in a space where she isn’t ready to let go of the roots, being close to her family, and having that repetitiveness, but as part of her growth, she’s brave and steps out of her comfort zone for a short time, and she is excited to get out again each time she returns home. This is outstanding! The courage she’s showing is helping many aspects of her life. She’s more confident, she’s growing as she learns new things where she travels and about herself as she’s traveling. She’s making connections with other people, and it’s getting easier each time she leaves. Continuing to re-evaluate what’s important to her is the key.
I chose to decide what I wanted more… to have the house or to go all in on this dream. For me, I wanted going all in more, because of the personal development benefits I knew it would have. I’ve grown so much more than I could have ever imagined. It was the right decision for me. However, there is no one right answer for you. Only you know what’s right for you.
Change is hard
Years before we actually got on the road as digital nomads, we put a down payment down on a travel van. The thought was we were going to get on the road; I was going to start my bookkeeping business (from the road). Back then, I was terrified. I had all the fears about money, safety, and obsessed with all the technical stuff like how to keep food cold in the fridge, water pressure, how to keep mice and bugs outside, how to do laundry, would I have good WI-FI, would there be places for Gregg to ride his road bike, where would we put the cat litter box, and soooo much more.
I was a different person back then. Really, I was. That was before three intense years of healing, training, and becoming untamed. Since then I have identified the source of many major fears, worked to heal the trauma associated with those fears, and walked through my fears again and again in my daily life, allowing me to become more confident in myself, trusting my decisions, letting go of more control, flowing with life, and believing that no matter what happens I will handle it in the moment, so worrying is no longer a necessary part of my life.
Change, however, is powerful. It’s one of the most powerful tools to living with wild abandon that I have. Change pushes me from my cozy comfort zone. It wakes me up each day to be a participant in my daily life, challenges me to grow, to move, to expand, and puts me in situations to FEEL! We are spiritual beings having a human experience, but that human experience is driven by our beliefs, which create our thoughts and emotions, which, in turn, create our experience of reality. Therefore, if you want a new reality, a new life, a new way to experience yourself in your life, then allow change to come into your life. If unhealed trauma prevents you from making the changes you want, like it did for me, get help.
"As we face our fears and walk into the unknown, always accepting change and letting go of control, we are manifesting a higher frequency life." Kathy D. Carter
What to Pack
We get asked, “How did you decide what to pack?” so often. First, we did a test trip before we set out to see if we even enjoyed traveling. What you need to pack depends on your accommodations. If you’re living in your car, that’s very different from us, traveling in our car, to an Airbnb.
Sit back and envision your every day. See yourself getting dressed, eating, cleaning up, working, playing with your pet, and traveling. When you see yourself, what are the “things” you need? If you are living in a tent, you need a power supply to power your computer, for example. In fact, a solar powered option might work best. As you see yourself out in your digital nomad life, these needs and solutions will appear. You won’t think of everything, but it’s a great start. And just know that you can get just about anything from the road.
To get ready for our test trip, we thought of everything we (thought) we needed. We forced ourselves to pack for that quick trip as if we were never coming back. So we looked at everything we owned and decided if we could live without it or not. We really went item by item. It was more than just emotion; it was about function. Space is in short supply so 99.9% of the stuff had to serve a purpose.
We ordered some supplies from Amazon, which were our travel “must haves”, many are below. But when we actually packed to set off on the road for real, selling/donating everything, with only a small selection going into a storage unit, our list of “can’t live withouts” grew because we were faced with the urgent emotional aspect of “this is really happening”. We tried to stick to our original list from our test trip the best we could. When we went back to Texas in December 2021, we unloaded quite a few items that we found we didn’t really need, and we donated more items too, and put what remained into our 5×10 storage unit, which houses our most precious belongings.
Clothes
We packed clothes for warm and cold weather, and boy have we used our cold weather gear even staying away from snow and ice. The key regarding clothes is not to over-pack, which you WILL be tempted to do. You only have one body. How many clothes and combinations can you possibly wear? I recommend having outfits that have pieces that can be worn with other items. For example, have 3 pairs of pants that can be worn with 7 shirts so you can mix and match and not feel like you’re wearing the same thing every day. We also have a washer/drier at all Airbnbs we stay at, so we can do laundry often, meaning we don’t need more clothes for stretches between laundry day. As you travel, will you want to get a t-shirt of all or certain places you visit? To this day, I am over packed on clothes, and I can’t possibly wear them all. If I ever need something, I can always run out and buy it, so save as much space here as you can.
Traveling in our car from Airbnb to Airbnb, we pack our clothes in bags which take up less room than suitcases, but we also use vacuum storage bags for some of our clothes and linens (we bring our own sheets, pillows, comforter and one set of towels per person) that we travel with. Since some Airbnbs don’t have closets or dressers at all, or Gregg’s clothes take up the space that is provided, I travel with my own cubes, so I can store my clothes on location with easy access points. I love the shoe bags we bought. They have been amazing at keeping the beach sand in the bag, and not in my clothing bag as we have traveled, while still being big enough to fit several pairs of small shoes.
Kitchen
Safety is always a priority, so we also travel with portable carbon monoxide detectors (3). So even though it’s a large item, we travel with a water distiller to ensure we have pure water to drink so we can stay healthy on the road. Kitchens in Airbnbs vary. We never know if we’re going to get aluminum pans from the 1950s or professional chef cookware. To ensure we stay healthy on the road, we travel with our own pan and Instant Pot with carrier.
Cats
We love traveling with our two Siamese rescue cats, Sampson and Delilah. We do everything to make them as comfortable as possible, since cats don’t like change. The cat mat (outside the litter box) is stored for travel in this jumbo ziplock. Their food dishes are micro-chipped activated, so they can’t eat each other’s food. There are portable litter boxes or collapsable litter boxes, but we just use the cat box they’ve always had.
Toiletries
Most Airbnbs include soap, shampoo and conditioner, though I bring my own so I can use products that don’t have harsh chemicals; they usually buy the cheap stuff. For my toiletries and personal items, I could not survive without this toiletry bag. This bag holds so much, almost two years later, I am still amazed, and it is for men and women.
Safety
Especially in big cities, you will want to use these blockers to keep your credit card numbers from being stolen, and this document holder to protect passports, which can be done just by being near your wallet or purse. Since we have a storage shell on top of the car, we use this step to reach it. Without the step, we could never reach all the way back into the storage container.
Leisure
Some Airbnbs have blackout curtains and some don’t, so we travel with a sleep mask that doesn’t push on your eyelids. We are avid readers, but lugging a bunch of books was a hassle, so we went to the Kindle, which can hold thousands of books without hogging the space. Even my purse needed a downsize to save space. Of course, when you’re traveling to an amazing destination, you’ll want a selfie along the way, and I found this stick the most versatile. However, if a selfie stick isn’t your style, try this camera mount. We are so glad we travel with our own alarm clock. Yes, we both have phones which have alarms, but better sleep is achieved when the tech is out of the bedroom. We have been astounded as to the inconsistency of water quality throughout our travels. When I tell you this next item, you’re going to think I’m crazy. If you have a tiny car, this is not for you, but we travel with a cart. This cart, folded it fits perfectly in our car flush against the back of the back seat, comes in handy when we have long treks from the car to the house or hotel, to help carry more items (than our arms can carry), and it comes in handy at farmer’s markets, art shows, picnics, festivals, etc. Some Airbnbs have satellite TV, some have cable, some have just apps like Netflix or Hulu. The way to make sure you have access to your favorite shows is a Fire Stick or Apple TV device.
Business
In order to run multiple businesses from the road, I travel with my computer, a slim portable monitor that supports multiple devices, and a portable foldable keyboard that also supports multiple devices, even your phone. If you’re hosting video meetings, recording a blog, or running a podcast, I recommend bringing your own lighting because you just never know what you’re going to get in Airbnbs. This light is very versatile and compact, though I travel with the Socialite, even though it’s larger because I need a lot of light. I highly recommend a compact surge protector with USB charging slots. We have only been at one house that had one. During our travels, we have gotten caught in so many crazy spring and fall storms, which can be costly to our equipment so protect yours with a surge protector.
It’s great to journal about your travels, take time for personal development, or take notes, but notebooks and journals take up a lot of space. I have the reMarkable, which I LOVE so much. It’s a digital notebook, which I can access online, email notes from, and have so many notebooks for different purposes; I have a notebook for each business and personal ones too.
Since I record videos and take professional pictures for both my businesses, I pack this camera and tripod. Since I deal with numbers all day in my bookkeeping business, Gregg convinced me to bring my regular monitor (besides my portable one). I love my monitor, and it’s compatible with my computer, but it’s a pain to fit in the car.
Business cards are important, but an enormous box of them takes up a lot of space. While I do carry paper cards in a backpack, Gregg and I also use a digital business card, that we could completely customize to our brand for a onetime fee, which works great on a trail, or anytime we might not have one on us.
Car
Since we spend so much time in our car, we made sure to protect our seats from spills like drinks, food, cat vomit and cat pee. Cat pee is never something we have or had to worry about until one day we were on this winding road, and everyone was car sick (except Delilah, she was holding space for the rest of us), and Sampson passed out and peed. I was covered, but thankfully it didn’t go over the seat cover and into the car. Just to tell you how that story finished, we pulled over, grabbed the tablecloth we travel with that’s always kept within easy reach, and Gregg held it up around me while I used the baby wipes we keep within easy reach, and I cleaned myself off with the baby wipes, and put on a pair of his sweatpants that were easily accessible, took the car seat cover off, and we were off driving again in no time. We spend so much time driving in places with no reception, on the way to fun activities, or to the Airbnb, so we each have a Zoleo, a satellite communication device, which allows us to text our contact list to arrange for help if we ever need it, on the side of the road or the side of a mountain. If the car malfunction is just a dead battery, we have this gem to boost the car battery. One time we even lent it to a police officer whose rescue was hours away. In order to eat healthy as we travel from place to place, I recommend this food warmer, which is ideal when I’m hiking or in transit. While you’re driving, drink plenty of fluids, even if it means having to stop for bathroom breaks.
Hiking and Biking Gear
Gregg loves to road cycle and I love to hike. So, of course, we had to make room for all of our gear and bought a bike rack (which can even carry e-bikes) to carry both of Gregg’s bikes. You can find all of our favorite gear in our store.
International Travel
When you are hopping on and off planes, and/or traveling country to country, what you can carry is even less. As Gregg and I look toward Europe in 2023, we will both be down to a single suitcase, and a carry on or backpack, and a cat. That’s it! Tile is a great way to track your luggage or keep from misplacing important items. Even though this is a significant downsize, we are ready. Why? Because we want to live in countries like Greece, France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Ireland, more than we want our stuff. Our luggage will have to hold the cat box, litter, cat food, toiletries, clothes, computer, Kindle, reMarkable, portable monitor, portable lighting, selfie stick, bike and hiking gear, shoes, and yes, I’m taking my frying pan too. I’m still trying to figure out how to take the water distiller, but it really looks like a terrorist device, so maybe not. I am also trying to figure out how to travel with my pillow. One way to make everything fit in a suitcase is using vacuum bags or clothing cubes. An international adapter is a must.
Secret Must-Have
You are going to think this is bizarre, but traveling with cats, we have found one secret must-have. It is painter’s tape. Whenever we enter an Airbnb we grab the painter’s tape before we even let the cats in the new house. We have taped everything… pet doors, windows, under-cabinet openings so they can’t crawl into the walls or cabinet spaces, next to refrigerators, sealed up spaces around drier air vents, etc. The great thing with painter’s tape compared to duct tape is it doesn’t leave the residue that duct tape does. We’ve even used it to tape the gap from the screen door to the frame to keep bugs out. It is so handy to have.
Domicile and How We Get Mail
If you go all-in, with no home, you’ll have to decide on your domicile, where you will legally call home. You will want to seek legal and tax advice to decide where you should legally call home. Income tax, health, life, and car insurance, vehicle registration, driver’s license, mail, where your will be probated upon your death, and more will be determined wherever you choose to call home.
While many states in the US require a physical home, some place you live, that’s static, where if you leave you plan to return, some states have less restrictive rules, making them perfect for the digital nomad to call home.
Texas- Our Domicile plus Mail and Check Forwarding
Gregg and I are domiciled in the state of Texas, which was perfect for us because we already lived there. Texas is one of the few states that does not have state income tax. We acquired our Texas residential address for domicile (this is not a PO Box) from Texas Home Base. For a fee, they provided us with a residential address, and they are our mail receiving agent. We had to give them the legal authority to receive and open our mail on our behalf, which is sent to the address (in Wichita Falls, TX) they provided us. They have several services that we love. We get all of our mail electronically in our account dashboard. I can download the PDF, have them hold the mail item, shred it, or mail it to me where I am on the road, using USPS, UPS, or FedEx. We also signed up for their check service. We give them the authority to send checks we get in the mail directly to our bank for deposit. At first this service seemed like a luxury, but to my surprise we’ve used it quite a few times. Gregg and I have both gotten refunds for professional services we’ve used and our tax refunds via mail that were quickly sent to our banks for deposit. If we need something sent to us, it’s quite a simple process of adding the address of our current Airbnb and selecting the forward button on the item on the dashboard. When our car registration needs to be renewed, we need to do it in Wichita Falls. A driver’s license must be applied for, along with voter registration. Since getting our address, we’ve had only a few challenges. Even though our address is real, our car insurance company wouldn’t accept it, so we had to use our son’s address for Farmer’s Insurance. American Express also would not allow us to use our address for our credit card account, but it was the only one.
Texas Home Base is not the only domicile provider. Escapees is specifically for RVers, but is open to everyone and they provide great educational tools to domicile in Texas. Also, if you are living in an RV full time, you’ll want to make sure you have the correct driver’s licence for your rig.
Florida and South Dakota
Florida and South Dakota are two other states that digital nomads prefer for domicile. South Dakota has some benefits that Texas and Florida don’t, but I encourage you to look at all three states to determine what is the best option for you.
If you are living out your digital nomad experience in an RV, review the benefits of Escapees. They offer a lot of value and provide a new member guide.
Living Internationally
Even if you live internationally, you still must have a domicile address in the US for your federal taxes, driver’s license, etc.
Business Address
Just like you need an address, so does your business. As a business owner, you are required to be available during normal business hours to receive mail of a legal nature. As a digital nomad, that’s not really possible. It’s imperative as a digital nomad to have a registered agent to receive your mail on behalf of your business. Texas Home Base, my domicile address and mail facilitator, cannot act as a registered agent for my registered Texas business. I have used Legal Inc for several years and I’m so happy with them as my registered agent.
Packages
We receive packages on the road in a few different ways. The biggest challenge is that we can’t receive packages to our Airbnb via USPS (United States Postal Service) because we don’t really live there. The host who owns the house is domiciled at that address and they won’t deliver (usually) to anyone other than that person or family. This means we have to be creative sometimes to receive packages.
Amazon
Even if we are in a farm town, in the middle of nowhere, sometimes we still need our Amazon items. With Amazon items, it’s hard to know if the item will be shipped via USPS or UPS. We use lockers to pick up our package(s), which could be at the local drugstore, or a Whole Foods in larger cities.
Online Stores
If we order from online shops, we often check what carrier(s) they use to send the item. We have had no issues receiving UPS or FedEx because there is no federal register, like with USPS, of the address. If they only ship USPS, then we either get the first and last name of the host to put “in care of” on the package besides our own names to ensure it’s delivered, or we send it to our domicile address in Texas and have them ship it to us.
Ship to Our Domicile Address
If we are ever in doubt about a package getting to us, or we know the item will be delivered via USPS and we don’t have the host’s name to put “in care of” on the package, then we actually send it our domicile address back in Texas. Once Texas Home Base receives the package, they alert us we received a package. I pop in the current Airbnb address on our Texas Home Base dashboard and have them ship it to us via UPS (there is a long list of shipping options to choose from). We have done this a few times, and it’s not ideal to pay for postage twice, but if we really need the item, paying twice is better than not having it at all.
Have someone bring it
If one of our kids or friends is coming to visit, sometimes we will send the package to them, and have them bring it with them.
THE INSURANCE DILEMMA
One of the biggest obstacles I faced in leaving my “regular” job was medical insurance. I hear the same concern from others who want to become digital nomads.
The fear we are all instilled with based on the current structure of healthcare is that if something catastrophic happens, it could mean personal financial ruin. Looking at the prices of COBRA or in the marketplace, I’d be paying over $500 a month for basic care (just for me), not even catastrophic circumstances. I needed something more affordable, but finding other options was overwhelming.
It would be easy to let healthcare be a reason not to live your digital nomad dreams, but there are plenty of different options that can likely meet your needs.
There are a few things to consider when you plan to travel regularly. What is your budget? Do you want catastrophic coverage? Do you want emergency evacuation services? Will you be traveling domestically or internationally? Will you be living internationally? Will you be traveling between other countries and the US regularly? Where you will travel and how often? Do you need to go to the doctor a lot and require regular medical care and prescriptions? Will you need coverage for outdoor related activities like hiking and mountain climbing? Do you have money to pay for expenses up front and get reimbursed?
Insurance
Typically, with traditional insurance programs, like a PPO or HMO, your access to healthcare is limited to a certain city or state and specifically the US. Therefore, traveling outside of that region or the US could cause you to pay higher rates or not receive coverage. If your plan requires pre-authorization, you may be required to travel back home in order to get that pre-authorization. Be sure that if you have an insurance plan, or want to continue to use your traditional plan, you are aware of the location requirements of your policy, meaning do you have to be in a certain location to access doctors, get care, and be covered financially.
If a traditional plan is not for you, you travel internationally, or you want additional coverage, there are several options from single trip, multi-trip, or long-term insurance (trips lasting a minimum of 90 days), and annual insurance.
The Market Place offers many traditional plans, however, they are fairly expensive unless you qualify for assistance. Keep in mind that these traditional plans may be geographically specific and limit your coverage while traveling.
Safety Wing offers Nomad Insurance specifically for digital nomads. This can be used internationally and for a short time when you return to the US (restrictions apply). With services for remote workers or digital nomads, the monthly fees are cheap. Safety Wing does not cover preventative or regular healthcare needs.
GeoBlue, travel medical and international health insurance offers single trip, multi-trip, and long-term plans. Their GeoBlue Xplorer Premier program covers you inside and outside the US. GeoBlue may be one of the more expensive policies you’ll encounter.
Atlas Travel offers single trip or long trip international medical insurance.
IMG is a smaller company, however it offers an international health coverage and travel insurance for short or long trips.
Allianz Global provides a wide variety of options, including annual travel insurance, single and multi-trip insurance, emergency medical, trip cancellation, and more.
Allianz Care is international health insurance. They offer additional resources like finding a treatment provider abroad along with wellness webinars, and settling down in a new country.
Cigna Global provides international health insurance for employers, individuals, retirees, students, and families.
Gregg and I chose to travel to Greece with the Silver Cigna Global plan. Cigna Global offers coverage in the US and abroad, but we excluded the US coverage to keep our rate down, since we plan to be in Greece for one year. We also kept the rate down by increasing the deductible and co-insurance, as we are very healthy people and this is really just for catastrophic incidents. If we go to the doctor it’s only about once a year, in which case, it’s cheaper for us to pay for that out of pocket. Cigna did ask about past diagnosis, and while I’m very public with my past MS diagnosis and complete recovery in 2018, Cigna was concerned and said MS is usually an automatic decline. However, in my particular circumstance they excluded any future coverage related to MS (no pre-existing condition coverage) but I was able to proceed with getting coverage. I have to admit I was sweating a bit while we waited to see if they would accept our application.
I will share that we had a Cigna agent contact us (we requested off their website) and when I told him we were also working with a broker (which was true), he didn’t want to lose our sale (because they have quotas to meet), he offered us a discount that we could not get anywhere else and we signed with him. We signed up for insurance on a Friday and by Monday we had our certificate of insurance for our visa interview as proof of coverage.
Since this is worldwide coverage, we are covered everywhere but the US, in case of flight diversions, a change in plans (if we get declined for the Greece visa, we’ll apply somewhere else), etc. Cigna Global has coverage for hospitalization and an add-on plan for regular out-patient/doctor visits. We can use this plan anywhere is Greece unlike Greek insurance plans which tied us to a specific area or hospital.
Heymondo covers single trip, annual multi-trip, long stay, and COVID-19 coverage. The 24/7 doctor chat is a wonderful benefit.
World Nomads cover trip essentials like trip protection, emergency medical insurance, emergency evacuation, and gear protection. Unlike some policies which don’t cover injuries related to outdoor activities, World Nomads cover over 200 activities.
Travel Guard annual or short-term plans may include trip cancellation and interruption, medevac, car rental, and travel medical expenses.
SquareMouth compares 104 policies and provides multiple annual, single-trip, adventure and sport, and cruise insurance quotes for you to compare.
Interamerican offers medical insurance for those visiting Greece.
International Citizens Insurance works with lots of top insurance companies and can compare plans to help you choose the best plan for less than a year or a year or longer.
Gusto is not only a payroll provider for businesses, which you may use to pay yourself and your staff if you create your own business, but it also offers health insurance, 401K, and other benefits.
Medicare offers great coverage for retired individuals. Gregg has been covered by Medicare and his supplemental policy during our domestic travels but remember it does not cover costs outside the US.
Medical Share Plan
Medical sharing is not for everyone. The typical medical sharing program has a religious affiliation, morality clause, doesn’t cover injuries related to outdoor activities like skydiving, covers unexpected injury and illness, and best serves relatively well people that don’t require frequent doctor visits for recurring illness.
There are many medical sharing programs. Some require you to pay upfront and then reimburse you for qualifying expenses, while others pay directly for your qualifying medical expenses. Some require you to open a special bank account, while most just send you a check in the mail.
CHM uses the funds I pay monthly, about $250 a month for the Gold level, towards other member’s medical bills so when I have a medical event, I submit medical expenses covered by their Guidelines (click HERE to see their Guidelines), that I paid for completely up-front, and I have been fully reimbursed, approximately 3-6 months later, when the event meets a certain amount. I also have the Brother’s Keeper, which for Gold level members “provides unlimited cost support per diagnosis” for an additional fee, protecting me from catastrophic events. There are no restrictions on doctors, locations in the United States, or medical groups; I can see whomever I want, wherever I want. Even some of my pre-existing condition costs are covered. There are other levels for a smaller monthly cost. Click HERE to check out CHM. *Details and specifics may change over time. Check for the latest program information. In regards to prescriptions, CHM provided me a prescription discount card, which I have used multiple times, however some of the other prescription cards listed below offer better pricing so I go with the better price.
netWell is a sharing program that offers telemedicine, imaging, lab, emergency room, in-and outpatient surgery, hospitalization and more in the elite plan.
Medi-Share is for families, seniors, and employers, without an annual cap or lifetime limit. Access to telehealth, telebehavioral health, dental, vision, and prescription discounts, are just some of the benefits of their plans.
Healthy Nomads is a cost sharing program, with virtual primary care, tele-health and counseling. There is an initial amount that you must pay out of pocket before expenses can possibly be covered, however, that is not unlike regular insurance programs. It’s important to understand what they will pay for and what they won’t pay for before signing up.
Zion Healthshare, not associated wtih any religious organization, is a non-profit medical heathshare program featuring preventative care, telemedicine, mental health and prescription sharing.
Sedera gives individuals and families a cost-sharing solution, which may include pre-existing condition sharing, medication sharing, 24/7 telemedicine, and medical shopping concierge.
Liberty HealthShare programs vary by age and inclusions. Eligible medical expenses include annual wellness and screening, physician visits, home health care, tele-health visits, and medical testing.
Prescriptions
In our world today prescriptions can be a significant financial burden. Depending on the medication, here are a few options to cover medications domestically.
Cost Plus Drugs is probably the most amazing solution to lower prescriptions costs that you’ve never heard of. Mark Cuban (yes, THE Mark Cuban) is an owner/investor in the company which cuts out the pharmacy middle men and buys right from the manufacturer creating HUGE savings for you.
GoodRX, with over 35,000 locations, is a free public US based prescription discount program. They do have a paid program that includes a tele-health service. I use GoodRX for situations not covered by my heath sharing program and found their prescription prices to be the best compared to others. I also like their website which allows me to search for coupons, discounts, labs, and pet medications too.
SingleCare is another free US public prescription service. I like their website because you and plug in your medication and get coupons and discounts.
I often show up to a pharmacy with my heath sharing prescription card, along with SingleCare, and GoodRX and ask them to check for the best price. Sure I’m not their favorite person because of the time this takes them, but don’t be afraid to ask. I’ve had pharmacists know what the best or lowest price they can sell it to me, and to save themselves time, they just give me the lowest price. That’s the other thing, just ask the pharmacist “What is the lowest price for this, and how can I get that price?” I also ask if there is a manufacturer coupon available for the medication I’m buying.
Medical Travel
Now that you’re becoming a digital nomad, you don’t need to limit yourself just to domestic healthcare. Medical Tourism can save you big bucks for big or small procedures, treatments, or medications.
What is medical tourism? It’s when you go to other countries with high healthcare quality but low healthcare costs. These lower costs allow you to manage your healthcare while recovering in some of the most amazing places.
Countries like Singapore, Japan, Sweden, UK, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, Argentina, Bahamas, and Mexico are just a few, among many, that cater to medical tourism due to medical research, renowned doctors, cutting-edge technology, and highly skilled medical staff. Just imagine getting an invasive dental procedure and sitting at a stunning beach at a first class resort sipping a fruit smoothie made from local fruits that you’ve never had before for your recovery, and all for less than you would have paid in the US.
Some countries are even offering medical visas to encourage you to have your procedures done in their country and spend your money at their hotels, restaurants, etc. To qualify for a medical visa, often you are required to have medical insurance and documentation showing the necessity of the procedure or treatment, and more. Keep in mind most US insurance plans do not cover you outside the United States (see medical insurance for solutions).
It’s important that you do your research before making any decisions. Evaluate the region, if it is safe for American’s to travel there, the language and the culture. Make sure the facility and doctor(s) have the accreditations necessary to perform the procedure. The hospital/doctor may have an international patience service department which can answer your questions, provide travel suggestions, and recovery logistics. Be sure that you have your financial affairs in order back home, and have protocols in place should there be complications or worse. As someone who has visited doctors in Greece, I can tell you that communication can be challenging. The slightest misunderstanding can have serious implications. Be sure that you ask about accessing translation services of documents that you sign and verbal communications with the staff. Ask how the recovery process will go, if and when you need to return to be seen, and how long the recovery is expected to take.
Yes, a medical procedure with a vacation and money savings to boot sounds like a dream, but be aware there are many risks. It is imperative that you investigate the qualifications of the doctor and the facility. In the US you have recourse if malpractice were to cause you great injury or even death, but in a foreign country there is sometimes little recourse. When it comes to transplants, there are many countries that have strict laws around organ transplants, since many of the organs come from the black market. You do not want to break the law and risk jail time out of ignorance. I cannot stress enough that you must do your research. There are companies that help facilitate your medical tourism travel.
Living Internationally
With more and more reasonably priced countries offering digital nomad long-term visas, now is the time to pack your bags! So if it’s been your dream to wake up on the beaches of Greece, Portugal, Costa Rica, or France, seize the day.
During the time Gregg and I were dreaming of our travel plans, we thought about moving (permanently) to Costa Rica full time. We spoke with a lawyer about the requirements and someone we’ve known for years, but never met, who lives there, who spoke honestly about the corruption, challenges, and benefits. Ultimately, the financial requirements, specifically the amount of money we had to put into a Costa Rican bank, long with bank corruption, ultimately kept us from moving there. However, that eventually gave life to how we live today. But don’t worry, we still plan to go back to Costa Rica, as it remains our favorite place in the world and now that they have a digital nomad visa, it’s calling. To us, Costa Rica is the ultimate land of healing, rest, and connection with spirit; that’s why we’ve been seven times!
The key to international travel is deciding the time frame you want to travel and what the amount of time you are allowed to stay in that country. Will you travel while keeping a home base, have no home moving from country to country, abiding by the exit visa requirements, or, like us, apply for a long-term stay visa?
Deciding to keep a home base makes domicile and residency easier. If you are “sans house” (French for without) and going from country to country within their max stay visa requirement, can be tricky, especially traveling around the Schengen area of Europe. Gregg and I considered this option, before deciding on a long-term stay visa, but we couldn’t figure out how to travel in and out of the Schengen area, Ireland, and the UK with the cats, paying special attention to the 90/180 rule with the cats (based on countries they were allowed and each countries pet requirements), and without coming back to the US.
The Schengen area is a group of countries that act like one border. For example, when you fly into the US, you get your passport checked one time, but as you go state to state, you don’t have to have to show your passport again, you just go from state to state freely. It’s like that in the Schengen area of Europe. When you fly into any Schengen country, have your passport validated, and then you can move freely throughout the Schengen countries without showing your passport again. However, there may be police checks. There are approximately 26 Schengen countries today with more coming soon, that operate as “one travel border”. Some of the Schengen countries include Austria, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Iceland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, and more.
The 90/180 rule means that some countries, like France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, allow you (limited to specific countries of origin like the United States) to stay 90 days in their country without a visa. The stay must not exceed 90 days (or face fines, banning from the country or region, and other severe punishments), within a rolling 180 days or 6 months. There are two ways to approach this rule: you can stay the 90 days all at one time or in increments. If you stay all at one time, I do not recommend staying right up to the 90th day, because if your transportation out of the country is delayed, this would overstay the immigration laws and can result in penalties including being banned from returning to that country. Once you’ve consumed your 90 days, you must leave the Schengen area for 90 days, and cannot return without a visa. This means you’ve consumed 90 days of stay within the rolling 180-day period. They do this to ensure you don’t live there without paying taxes. If you choose to travel in increments, this is where it gets complicated, but it’s not impossible to manage with the Schengen Visa Calculator, which also has a nifty map. Using the calculator, let’s say that we arrive in the Schengen area on October 1, 2022. On our first visit, we stay for 30 days and then we go to Australia for 30 days. This means at the time of departure from the Schengen area we have 60 days left out of our rolling 180 period. If we return to the Schengen area December 1, 2022 for 30 days, leaving on December 30, 2022 we have 30 days remaining in our rolling 180-day period allowing us to leave and come back for 30 more days, but again I would not stay right up to the last day in case of delays. But let’s say that I go to the UK for 6 months and never consume that last 30 days. Since the 180 days are rolling, if I’ve been gone from the Schengen area for 6 months, it’s reset and I can now stay in the Schengen area for 90 days, out of a 180-day period.
However, depending on how many trips you take, it can be a lot of back-and-forth and time zone changes. The plus is being pampered in the luxury airport lounges; some include showers, napping corners, and gourmet food.
Concerned about managing time zones? Every Time Zone is a great application to stay organized in one or many time zones around the world, even in situations where it could be the next day or a day behind your time zone.
Safety is a concern many people bring up when it comes to being a digital nomad. STEP (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program) allows you to register (for FREE) your travel itinerary with The State Department ensuring if an event happens in the country you’re visiting, like weather, war, terrorist attack, evacuation, etc, you’ll be informed. As a frequent traveler you can create an account and add all of your travels outside of the United States.
During our year living in Greece in 2023 we woke up one day to an email from the Department of State that basically said due to an international conflict, as American citizens we should be extra aware of our surroundings and take precautions if we should feel unsafe during our travels. This was a bit jarring. We’d never thought we could become targets just for being US citizens, especially since personally we don’t have political views or take part in any political groups or forums. We have felt completely safe in Greece and Greece is a “level 1” risk, according to the Department of State. As Gregg and I prepare for future travels, we check the Department of State website to check the threat level of the country we are interested in. For example, we are not interested in visiting a country known for civil unrest, rape, kidnapping, and the ransom of American citizens. When the Department of State suggests that Americans reconsider traveling to that destination, we really give thought to it. We speak with other travelers about their experiences, we weigh how much is our government creating fear, and weigh the risk if something were to happen. The possible risk to our lives, our safety, our joy of life and the experience we want to have in the world isn’t worth taking a risk with our safety.
Even in a country “safe for Americans” you can experience issues. Mike Dodge, Head Writer of the Daily Drop, in January 2023, during his trip to Tunisia, found himself part of a police tourist scam. Tunisia is a “level 2, caution while traveling country”. The police stopped the cab he was in, said his driver wasn’t a real cab driver, and put him in another cab, but that new driver was in cahoots with the police to rip off tourists. The new driver drove him to the middle of the desert and demanded his money and stuff. Mike stood his ground and refused to cooperate because 1) he ensured he had cell service BEFORE leaving the airport so he called someone who had his location who would contact The State Department and authorities if he was not returned safely 2) he knew the crime stats in Tunisia showed a low rate of violent crime. Mike felt this was about intimidation, not harm, but was quick to note that standing his ground was easy as a white tall male and this approach is not for everyone. Without Mike’s cooperation, the driver took him where he wanted to go without further incident.
It’s also worth mentioning that what we focus on we make happen, even if we’re focusing on not wanting it to happen. If we focus on feeling and being safe, we can attract safe adventures. If we focus on the fear, we have that something bad will happen, that focus can bring safety challenges into our life even in the safest locations. So don’t obsess on your fears or you’ll get what you fear. Not everything bad that happens is a result of our attraction. There is chaos in the world, or perhaps our soul contract for this life brings about a situation for us to grow and learn from. Either way, we have no control. Obsessing will not keep you safe. Spending your energy trying to think of how to react to every situation will not keep you safe or really prepare you. It just steals your joy and attracts more issues into your life.
Apostille
If you intend to travel internationally and obtain a digital nomad or other long-term visa, you will probably be required to provide an apostille for your birth certificate and marriage license, an authentication of the document that’s recognized abroad.
Countries require an apostille for personal documents such as marriage, birth, and adoption certificates to ensure they are legitimate, that you are who you say you are. Business documents that require an apostille are patents, judgements, and ownership papers.
An apostille is not the same as a notary. A notary authenticates the signatures on a document, an apostille authenticates the document itself. The apostille process was created so that international entities could receive foreign documents and know they were valid.
To get an apostille, contact the Secretary of State for the state that issued the document. This means if you have a document issued by the state of Texas, you cannot take it to the Secretary of State in Michigan; only the Secretary of State in Texas can authenticate it. There are often request forms to complete and fees to pay. States may offer in-person appointments, by mail or online requests. Be sure to read the requirements and follow their directions completely. On average, it takes 5-45 days to get an apostille of a single document.
When requesting your apostille by mail, you can send it via expedited mail such as next day UPS, and put a prepaid expedited shipping label in the envelope, when you send it, so you get it back as soon as possible. The Secretary of State often will not pay to send it back to you, so if you don’t include a prepaid label, you won’t get it back. This can be costly. However, if you need it quickly, this is a great time saver to send it expedited there and back.
When Gregg and I were in the process of getting an apostille for our marriage certificate and birth certificates, we had a few challenges. The Secretary of State for my birth certificate required a $1.00 check or money order, a completed request form, the birth certificate and a return pre-paid UPS envelope with label. I was mailing off several documents at one time, and forgot the $1.00 check or money order. So I paid $75 to ship it there and back, and another $114 to send it there and back again; this time, I remembered the $1.00 money order. It was an expensive reminder to slow down and triple check everything was in the envelope. Want to know why I forgot about it? Simple… I was focused on the hard stuff. I kept telling myself, “oh that’s easy… I’ll get that before I send it”; then I forgot it. We also had an ice storm that closed the state offices for several days, preventing Gregg from getting the apostille of our marriage certificate (in person, not via mail). We discovered they would not accept the certificate we had due to a very light signature on the certificate, they deemed was unreadable. Gregg had to go to another office and get a new certificate and then go back to the Secretary of State, to get the apostille for the new marriage certificate. Luckily, he was successful that second time!
We decided to have the apostilles we requested via mail sent to our son’s address C/O Our Son’s Name, Our Name, and his address. We didn’t have an issue with them sending it back to him, as we did with our FBI background checks (they won’t send a federal document to someone else’s name). I don’t know that every state will send it to someone else on your behalf, but something to consider. You may want to use your domicile address, or the address of where you will be when it is returned.
Just remember that you want to leave yourself enough time in case something doesn’t go according to plan. We encountered overnight mail service that was days late, closed state offices, documents mailed back due to lack of required contents, fingerprints that wouldn’t scan (for the background check), mail that couldn’t be sent because we sent it to our son’s address, and more. So, leave yourself some time!
FBI Background Check
Most digital nomad or long-term visas will require an FBI background check. This is required to ensure that they aren’t letting someone into their country that will create crime or even minor disruption.
The FBI can be contacted directly for an FBI background check, however, there are approved channelers, or companies authorized to request an expedited background check. In general, an FBI background check will cost between $50-$200 depending on the services you choose, such as expedited processing, shipping, printing of the report, fingerprint collection method, etc.
National Background Check is an expedited channeler. The electronic form is quick to complete and easy to use. They have many options to capture fingerprints from digital can with their partner, The UPS® Store, or mobile scan, where they will come to your house or business. Gregg and I used this channeler to get our background check. It took 10 minutes to complete, we easily set up an appointment to get our fingerprints scanned, and were able to pay for everything on line. They gave us the choice to have electronic results, printed results or both. They also offer expedited shipping. There were several fingerprinting locations near us, and we were able to even get a same-day appointment, though we scheduled it over the weekend, a few days later, for convenience. Please make sure to read what you need to bring to your fingerprint appointment. We were required to provide two forms of government ID, like a driver’s license, passport, social security card, military ID, and so forth.
National Background Information is another channeler. They offer 24 hour service, however, getting the fingerprint services may take longer. They have fingerprinting locations around the nation. Their fingerprinting partners include lawyers, private businesses, express passport locations, and more.
Obtaining your FBI background check should not be done too far in advance of your final visa meeting or it will be invalid. They want to know that within a close time frame to the approval of your visa, you were not involved in any criminal activity. On average, it should be done within 20-45 days of the meeting. However, be sure to ask your consulate representative what their requirement is.
Since we are already digital nomads, we are used to being creative with getting our mail. Since we were about 2 weeks away from our consulate visa appointment when we did our FBI background check (because they require it to be as recent as possible), we had the results sent to our son, who was near where we were staying. Our thought was that if it came late, after we left our Airbnb, he would get it and no matter where we were, we could pick it up from him. We did not know at the time, and want to share with you now, that federal documents often cannot be sent to anyone but the requestor. Since we listed the return address as C/O Our Son’s Name, then Our Name, and the address, they wouldn’t mail it. We had to call the background check phone number, provide an address either to the Airbnb where we were staying or to our domicile address, which would have had to forward it to (as they often do with documents we need to have to physically).
We had a few challenges getting the background check done. My fingerprints would not scan. There are three basic types of scans, a perfect one that isn’t too light or dark, including clear ridge detail. You get a green check if they scan perfectly, yellow means it’s not perfect but possibly acceptable, and red, which of course, means not acceptable. I was getting red and yellows for each finger. We had to call the help desk to the company that services the fingerprint machine, who said that my fingerprints as mostly all yellows had enough detail to be processed, though that’s not always the case with a yellow status. When we went to scan Gregg’s, the machine stopped working. It would take Gregg three trips to get his fingerprints submitted. Also noteworthy is the appointment we made online was useless. The UPS® store we went to said they never get appointment notifications, so just to come in while they were open. I’m not sure if that’s the case nationwide, but I wanted to mention that was our experience. Gregg was finally able to scan his fingerprints and submit them.
Long-Term Visa- Greece
As Gregg and I considered moving international, Greece was in our heart from the start.
If you are a US citizen, you can grab your passport and visit Greece for up to 90 days within a rolling 180-day period. However, there are other types of visas that allow you to stay longer, including the Golden Visa, which involves buying property, a digital nomad visa and a financially independent person (FIP) visa. I will say that it was my experience that the requirements are very subjective per consulate. It was also my experience that the requirements our visa officer communicated were very different from every single blog (even ones from lawyers) that I found online.
The FIP visa is for people that don’t need to work in the country while they are living there, meaning that you are financially independent. It’s very important that you be able to provide proof that you will be an upstanding visitor, not be a financial or medical burden on their country. The FIP visa requirements Gregg and I are being required to meet are as follows:
- we must each complete an application for the FIP visa plus two photos (like passport photos)
- we had the photos taken at the AAA office for free with our membership
- we must show bank statements showing we have $30,000 in the bank at the time of the visa interview, per person
- the money must be in the bank as one lump sum, they cannot earn it as you travel
- no special bank account was required, it was just our regular bank account
- we did not have to provide the source of the money
- we did not have to put any money into a Greek bank account or even open one
- marriage certificate with apostille, document authentication, and translation into Greek
- birth certificates with apostille and translation into Greek
- use the provided form to be medically certified by a doctor to enter Greece to confirm that you will not bring infectious or parasitic diseases or disabilities like tuberculosis, syphilis, or profound mental and psychotic disturbance into the country
- we went to a regular doctor with the form and they completed the document and signed it
- no proof of blood tests or xrays were required for our consulate interview
- a full background check from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- we used an FBI channeler to complete this and got our fingerprints done at a UPS store that offered this service
- 1 full year of pre-paid health insurance per person with $100,000 in coverage, at least
- we signed with Cinga Global (Silver plan)
- Airplane ticket non-stop from the US to Greece; they frown on international layovers even if you don’t leave the airport
- this visa, if approved, is valid for one year
- If this visa is approved, it is valid only for Greece, meaning we are not allowed to leave Greece other than to return home to the US, in fact, we MUST return to the US once the visa is concluded
- accommodations can include a leased (purchasing property is the Golden Visa) house or apartment, Airbnb, or hotel, but proof of accommodation is required
- there are no residency steps required once in Greece, but if we were looking to move there and renew our visa, we would need residency
- there is no requirement to put money into a Greek bank, have a lawyer, meet with local law enforcement or local or federal agency
- provide a US passport, completed application, application fees $200 per person, completed items above, and be interviewed within 30 days of leaving the US bound for Greece
Long-Term Visa- Portugal
While more and more countries are creating digital nomad visas, I think Portugal has led the way. In fact, Portugal has been one of the top countries for Americans to move to and visit.
When I talk to people about moving to Greece, I often describe the process as trying to break into a prison. In comparison, Portugal is like ordering a pizza, it’s so easy.
Portugal is so American-friendly that Portugal is repeatedly recognized as one of the top countries for expats, retirees, and vacationers. With a strong economy, exceptional health care, a temperate climate, ocean access along the coast, and a variety of visa options, Portugal is one of the top international digital nomad destinations.
The Golden Visa requires a property investment, however, the digital nomad visa requirements are easily achievable. Based on my research, these are the requirements for their financially independent visas:
- must provide bank statements proving that you have $36,000 per person in the bank
- the visa is valid for one year but can be extended
- one year of travel and medical insurance must be purchased in advance of your final visa meeting
- the visa application must be completed for each person
- valid US passports with two extra passport photos
- proof of accommodations
- criminal record background check
- a statement showing the purpose of the relocation
- it’s been stated that the visa includes free travel throughout the Schengen area in Europe, however, I saw that same statement in many blogs about Greece and per our Greece visa officer that’s not the case
- pet relocation rules are easier than many other countries
- airline ticket to Portugal
Once our long-term visa is complete in Greece, Gregg and I plan to apply for a visa in Portugal. The fact that Wi-Fi rankings award Portugal higher than Greece is another reason to settle in Portugal. It’s possible that taxes will need to be paid in both the US and Portugal.
Check out Lingoda to learn a new language to start your new adventure today.
Long-Term Visa- Hungary
Hungary is another country that’s offering a digital nomad visa.
Why move to Hungary? Hungarian food is known throughout the world, high speed WI-FI, low cost of living, and high safety standards. The digital nomad visa, called a White Card, is valid for one year. Again, I’m told that travel throughout the Schengen zone is permissible, however, that has yet to be confirmed.
Based on my researchthe reqirements may include the following:
- certificate stating the basis of the remote work being performed
- verified company profit
- proof of income $24,000 approximately per person
- application
- passport with two extra photos
- proof of accommodations
- valid plane ticket
Leveraging award points
Leveraging award points and maximizing rewards and discounts using tips and tricks make travel easy, fun, and cheaper. Rewards could include cash back, points from credit cards, hotel stays, purchases, and even how to double dip with points and miles. If you plan to travel extensively, there are a few tools I highly recommend.
- The Daily Drop created by travel bloggers Nate and Kara, this FREE newsletter shows you how to use points to optimize your dollars, learn the travel lingo, and deals that you’d otherwise not be aware of. I feel like their head writer is a part of our family. Each morning Gregg and I wake up to his daily newsletter and enjoy his personal stories and humor.
- As already mentioned The Daily Drop also offers a Miles and Points 101 Course.
- Fare Drop is the sister of The Daily Drop. Also created by Nate and Kara, this tool offers domestic and international flight tracking so you get the best fare deal. The domestic plan is free, but the international plan for economy class does cost about $50 and international business class about $100 annually.
- The Points Guy is another great tool to understand how you can collect and use points to optimize your travel for less dollars spent. I realized just how famous The Points Guy was when I saw his logo on the side of an airplane LOL!
- Cash back apps like TopCashBack, Rakuten, and American Airlines Shopping to collect points or cash back, often with discounts, for purchases you’ll make anyway. Sometimes you can double dip, get points/miles on a card and get cash back.
Checklist
Here is a quick list of things to do or have before departing on your trip:
60-120 days out
- Domicile- choose your domicile address or service
- Mail service/check service- if your domicile address is not your mail service, it’s time to choose a mail service and check depositing service
- Registered agent for your business- if applicable, choose and sign up for this service (who will receive legal notifications regarding your business, if you have one). Unless you are expecting a legal notice to be delivered, you may complete the sign-up process now.
- Spread the joy- it’s that time… the time to start looking at what you own and decide what you will take and what you give to someone else to spread the joy your item has brought to you!
- Even if you keep your home base it’s great to look around and figure out what is coming with you and what is staying.
- I recommend doing a full trial-run now! Gather every single item you intent to travel with, leaving nothing out, into travel bags so you can see how much you intend to carry with you.
- Make a list of these items so when you go to pack “for real” later you won’t have to emotionally decide, because you already decided. This also keeps emotional attachment from
- I recommend doing a full trial-run now! Gather every single item you intent to travel with, leaving nothing out, into travel bags so you can see how much you intend to carry with you.
- Contact donation organizations and arrange for pick ups of items you will gift to someone else.
- Contact storage companies and determine price based on the size unit you will need.
- Begin to move your belongings a little at a time or plan to do it in one big load. I recommend starting this process now as it can be more time consuming and emotionally shifting than you may think.
- Start ordering or buying luggage, storage bins, or travel items you may need
- Even if you keep your home base it’s great to look around and figure out what is coming with you and what is staying.
- Business office on the go- start thinking about your office set up to work from the road. Do you have a dependable laptop, how many monitors do you want, what keyboard and mouse is best for work and travel? Start ordering any new items you may need.
- Whatever your office set up, I recommend a few trips to your local coffee shop to make sure it’s the optimal set up.
- Phone Service- decide what type of phone service you will need on the road. If traveling internationally will you get a local SIM, a local phone and plan, or an eSIM like Google Fi?
- Vehicle Insurance- make sure you are insured including: umbrella, car, RV, bus, toys like ATV, etc.
- Be sure to have the policy info, the cards, etc.
- Prepare to sell your car- if you will be flying place to place, you may decide to sell your car and cancel your insurance plan.
- Depending on how you plan to sell your car, you may need to pay off the car to get the title and sell it on the open market.
- Prepare to buy a car or vehicle/accommodations- if you are traveling domestically or internationally, you may want to buy a new car, RV, van, bus, etc.
- Start researching now
- understand the international rules of owning/buying a car in a country you may not be a resident of and the requirements for registration, obtaining license plates, etc.
- research loans, if applicable
- research adjustments you might make if you are converting from a bus into a home on wheels
- Don’t forget you can rent RVs from companies like Outdoorsy, RV Share, or Cruise America, so you can make sure you really like a specific layout or brand before you buy it.
- Bank access- make sure that where ever you are you’ll have bank access. We discovered that heading to Greece we would not be able to access one of our bank’s apps to move money. We had to change banks to ensure that we could access our funds from anywhere in the world.
- Medical Insurance: start researching the best plan for your needs and choose your medical insurance plan
- Driver’s License: International driver’s license, domestic license for the type of vehicle or rig you’re hauling along with any permits required
- Get an international driver’s license eve if you don’t plan to drive at your destination, you never know what could happen and it serves as another form of ID.
- Passport: make sure your passport is up-to-date and valid for up to 5 years before expiration.
- If you need a passport rush, contact the AAA office to get your passport fast
- even domestically we carry our passport, ensuring it’s up to date, valid for 5 years before expiration
- Carry a copy of your passport also. When you travel, leave the real passport where you are staying with your stuff, but carry the copy in public.
- Also carry your passport in an RDIF case
- If you have a visa to the country you are visiting, make sure to have that!
- Have two copies of all forms of identification.
- Rent a car- domestically or internationally it might make sense for you to rent a car short or long-term. Start looking at options based on your trip and destination.
- Shipping- if you are shipping your belongings or your car to your new location domestically or internationally, start looking at shipping companies.
- Remember when shipping internationally you will likely have to pay taxes or fees associated with picking up your items and have to clear customs with the correct paperwork. These fees could be more than the value of the item, as crazy as that sounds.
- Don’t delay on setting up your shipping appointments and securing your dates because if you are shipping by boat, it could take a month or more to arrive at your international destination. You may need to put it on a boat now so it’s there when you arrive.
- If shipping a car, really determine if this is worth the cost and headache. You will likely
- Share your location- If you have an Iphone use the share your location function with a group of close friends and loved ones so if something occurs they can have your location and provide assistance.
- Apostille and translate documents Birth Certificate and Marriage Certificate, if needed for international travel.
- Look up the Secretary of State for the state associated with your document(s) to retrieve the form(s) needed to request the apostille. Complete the forms.
- Mail the forms, any payment, the original document (not a copy) along with a paid return envelope. I recommend paying for tracking on both the one you’re sending and the one they send back to you.
- Electricity converter and/or adapter- It’s important to know what voltage your destination country uses. Greece uses 230V frequency is 50 Hz, which is higher than in the US at 120 V. When we go, we will need a voltage converter and a power plug adapter, or a combined plug adapter/voltage converter.
- Credit Card Copies: Before leaving make copies of your credit cards, front and back. If you lose them, you’ll know who to call and what the accounts were. You can leave these copies with a trusted friend so you don’t risk losing those too.
- Visa Documents: If traveling internationally for an extended period of time on a long-term visa you’ll likely need
- a certificate of heath so make your doctor appointment now
- FBI background check- start researching if you want to use a channeler or the FBI directly and how you will want to collect your fingerprints.
- bank statements- you may be required to have a minimum amount of money in your bank account and be able to prove this via a bank statement.
- Visa Interview- Schedule your final visa interview now so you get the date you need. Make it as early as you are able which is usually about 30 days prior to departure.
- Pets: If you are traveling with pets, be sure you have researched that country’s pet import requirements. Obtain a pet travel agent if needed to help you understand the process and documents needed for the country or countries you are visiting.
- If you are having your pet picked up from you and delivered to you in the country you will be visiting or moving to, be sure to secure these dates as soon as possible.
- Vet certification of your pet’s health may be required so make the necessary vet appointments now .
- Taxes- contact your CPA or tax attorney to inquire about how you may be subject to international, state or local taxes if you are doing work, selling a product (even online) while you travel. Make an appointment now to begin to ask these questions and get clarity on your tax liability.
- If you have a business that will allow your expenses to be deductible, be sure to have a way to organize your receipts, like the AutoEntry application or a pouch.
- If you will be outside of the US at tax time, have a CPA or tax attorney that you can work with electronically to file your taxes.
- Learn about travel hacking now, so you can start earning points toward your adventures. Capital One’s Venture card is one of the best credit cards on the market providing excellent travel benefits. Yes, I speak from experience. My three favorite credit cards are my Capital One Venture card, Platinum American Express and Chase Sapphire card. A good travel credit card can provide travel insurance, reimbursing costs associated with item replacement due to lost luggage, or flight delays or cancellations. Also look for car rental insurance and credits toward services like Uber, Equinox, Audible, SiriusXM, Door Dash, Clear®, and Global Entry.
- Be sure you’ve signed up for Clear® or Global Entry to make entering the country faster and stand in fewer lines. Remember, with certain credit cards, the cost can be fully or partially reimbursed. Gregg and I have been Global Entry members since it came out, and we love it. I can’t tell you the time and convenience saver it is.
- Make your appointment now to get your Global Entry application so it’s complete when you are ready to start traveling.
0-45 days out
- Domicile- complete paperwork to set up your domicile and submit.
- Mail Service- complete paperwork for mail and possibly check deposit service; Remember, this will stop your mail from coming to your regular address and it will go to your domicile address. .
- Visa Documents: If traveling internationally for an extended period of time on a long-term visa you’ll likely need
- Certificate of heath- go to your doctor’s appointment and have them complete the medical certification form the consulate requires.
- FBI background check- collect your fingerprints and submit forms necessary to obtain your background check. We received ours via mail in a sealed envelope which we did not open, so the consulate can open it and know it was not tampered with.
- Bank statements- you may be required to have a minimum amount of money in your bank account and be able to prove this via a bank statement. Get these printed so you can provide at your meeting.
- Visa Interview- Attend your interview with all of the necessary documents.
- Insurance- sign up for the health insurance program that you chose a few months ago so the policy is active in time.
- Shipping- prepare your items for pick up or drop off.
- Contact TSA- Not sure what you can bring on a plane in the US? Now you can ask the TSA directly. Text TRAVEL to AskTSA at 275-872 and get your questions answered.
- Check flight status with the awarded Flighty app, with the ability to predict delays and notify you of gate changes, sometimes before the airline does.
- If you think your flight will be affected by bad weather, be sure to check with the airline’s website for their weather travel voucher or travel waiver for more information.
- Know in advance what the airline’s cancellation and change policy is.
- Business card- Did you remember your V1CE business card? Don’t waste your precious packing space with a year’s worth of business cards. This small key-chain size card will allow you to customize and share your business links (when you have WI-FI and cell service).
- Your car- with title in hand, you can start the process of selling your car, finding someone to mange it if you want to put it on Turo and start making money from not using it, or
- A Pen- Yes it sounds too simple, but carry a pen, you’ll thank me later.
- For fun: I’m just going to throw this out… to start off, get your hair cut, your nails done, a massage if you like them, etc before you go so when you arrive you feel like the million bucks you are!!! You’ll keep up with those things as you travel, but it’s nice to start out feeling shiny.
- Cash: If you have a small bank or online bank, you may want to really think about carrying more cash. We went a whole year without seeing our bank so it was good that we had enough to last the entire year. You may also see this as a safety issue, which depending on how you move through the world, it might be, so use your best judgement.
- Locate the US Embassy- make sure you know where the nearest US Embassy, if traveling internationally.
- Itinerary:
- Send travel itinerary including dates, location address and phone number to your circle of loved ones and friends.
- Be sure YOU have access to all of your itinerary details. Don’t assume because it’s on your phone you’ll be able to access, get codes, etc. Sometimes WI-FI is down when you are trying to access or you are outside of cell range. Have a back up.
- Make sure to write down phone numbers of people you’re meeting, your hotels, transportation, etc. Again, don’t assume you’ll be able to Google them.
- Prescriptions: It’s a good idea if you carry prescriptions to have the copy with you in case it gets lost and you have to replace it. Or use a pharmacy that has coverage in the area you will be. Try to get the max amount of your prescription to limit the number of times you have to get refills.
- Remember to always keep your prescriptions in your carryon bag never your luggage.
- Start packing-Remember that for basic necessities, you’ll likely be able to get something when you arrive. Everyone brushes their teeth, washes their hair, etc so just know you will be able to get many basic needs when you get there.
- Register with State Department- for international travel so you will get alerts and updates about the area(s) you will be traveling to.
Create your own business
What are the benefits of being a business owner
Just like living as a digital nomad will teach you about yourself, your strengths, and areas to improve, so will being a business owner, no matter how big or small the business. The benefits can be endless, including creating your own schedule, outsourcing, and doing little to no work (if applicable), working with other gifted creators, building confidence, the joy of creation of your business from the ground up (like having a baby and watching it grow up), financial freedom, no longer having to live and conduct business by someone else’s moral code, and no more fears of being laid off.
Being a digital nomad business owner, I’m able to create my schedule (this is the case for most digital nomads, but not all), working when I want and playing when I want.
Being a business owner allows me to live by my own moral code. Gone are the days of ‘sucking it up’ to make the boss happy. If something doesn’t fit my moral code, I don’t have to take that client, or work with that person, etc. I remember the time I had a prospective client, and I was so excited about working with them. We immediately had a great connection, but soon I discovered they performed animal testing. I was sad to tell them I wouldn’t be working with them, but it was within my moral code to protect the lives of animals first.
One reason I was afraid to start my business was because I had the belief that working for a big corporation was safer and that working for myself was less safe. During COVID my business actually grew, while many of my friends and colleagues were let go or laid off. I was really glad that I didn’t wait to leave my six-figure salary to create my own business.
I have also really enjoyed the creativity of building my businesses (I have more than one). It really is like having a baby and watching them grow up. I love creating social media posts, writing blog posts, educating clients about their financials, or helping someone overcome limiting beliefs that are keeping them small in their life.
As a business owner, there are tax benefits that may be available to you. For example, as a travel blogger, my travel expenses are part of my business expenses and are deductible on my taxes. This is not professional or tax advice, but I advise you to speak to a tax attorney about deductions that might apply to your business so you can decide for yourself how to proceed.
How I chose bookkeeping
Back when I was working a traditional job, earning six-figures, I desired a big change in my life. I wanted to leave my job and create something of my own. One day, in what seemed like an act of magic, I came across an online course that would change my life, illuminating the path to a life I had never even dreamed of. The thought of owning my business, creating my schedule and the life I wanted that had once seemed out of reach, was coming into focus, and so were the dreams of what I could and would do with my time. I took the course and a few months later left my full-time job. I made a conscious choice to fully live, to feel again, to embrace life with a gusto I’ve never felt before. That business led to other businesses and now that choice has led me to choose my dream of traveling and sharing my story with you.
What does your heart desire?
Perhaps your dream is to travel, to experience all the things this Earthly planet offers, and you’re ready to live on the road or travel intermittently, or just mentally and emotionally live more freely, on your own terms, honoring your own moral code, connecting with nature, or to heal your mind, body and soul from the sanctuary of your home. Having more control over your schedule, what you spend time on, and having the life you want can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be.
So, if you’re wondering how to work, travel and get paid, or just follow your dreams and passions, let me illuminate a path for you to becoming a bookkeeper.
Bookkeeping
Why bookkeeping?
Become a bookkeeper for the following 20+ reasons:
- No experience needed- for real
- No degree, certification or test required, but there is one if you just want one
- One of the lowest upfront investment and overhead businesses you can create
- Completely virtual/remote, anywhere in the world
- Be in business in as little as 90 days (results will vary)
- Work as much or as little as you desire
- Set your own hours and schedule
- You are in complete control of who you work with
- Run your business by your moral code, not someone else’s
- Easy ways to expand your business and offer more services to make more money
- Computer applications make it easy to complete daily tasks and keep you organized (results will vary)
- You don’t need to be a computer whiz
- The course taught me what i needed to know to get started, even how to get my first client and has a support system that has helped me be successful
- In-demand industry because every business (by law) must keep financial records
- Future proof- even with the digital age, financials are not something that can be completely AI (artificial intelligence) driven; a human must be involved to look at them
- Make good money- I charge $89-$250 per hour depending on the situation, but the average bookkeeper charges about $60-80 per hour
- Certifications, classes, and additional service offerings allow you to increase the hourly rate you charge
- Post COVID more and more people like you are ready to own their own business and create a different life by going into business for themselves, meaning more people than ever will need bookkeepers
- The course I used has an outstanding support system
- The rules in finance don’t really change much so it’s easy to become an expert
- No office or rent expense is required, I run my business from the kitchen table in a different state each month
What is bookkeeping?
In your personal finances, when you go to the grocery store and get a receipt for your purchase, this is an expense, or money going out of your bank account, and you might categorize or label this, and all of your grocery store receipts, as food. When you pay your bills, rent or mortgage will be categorized as rent and the electric, gas, and water bills will be categorized as utilities. Each bill or receipt for an expense is an individual transaction that makes up the money you spent in a month and if added together, you can determine how much you spent in total on food, rent, and utilities. Likewise, the transactions of a business, spending or making money need to be coded or labeled. It’s imperative as a business owner to understand where money is being made and where it’s being spent and together those transactions are used to create the financial reports. These financial reports are a summary of the month or the year’s transactions and tell the story of a business making money or losing money.
What is a bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper is the person who records and codes the transactions of the business. Even just a few years ago this was all done on paper, but today sophisticated computer applications make it so easy and fast.
I started my bookkeeping business years ago without a college degree of any sort, with only a laptop and a bookkeeping course, and that same business allows me to be on the road traveling today while serving my clients. I have loved working with my clients, from all industries, needs, skill levels, and personalities, that have allowed me to feel like I was helping people, making a real difference in other’s lives, and providing strategic guidance that would affect their livelihood.
First, I took this free course to help me understand exactly what bookkeeping is and how with no business experience I could own my business.
It was easy to see how comprehensive the course was, but unlike most courses which are dry and boring, Ben Robinson, owner and speaker on many of the videos, was the ultimate Dad, providing Dad humor and keeping me engaged. The videos were simple to follow and understand. They showed real bookkeeping scenarios and prepared me for many standard and unusual bookkeeping situations.
In my experience, any time I tried something new or big, my body wanted to stay small, safe, and my thoughts try to convince me I can’t do it. My internal dialogue shoots excuses and catastrophic examples of how I could fail at me like a cannon, and sometimes my body even tries to distract me with illness or pain. Therefore, the course was so amazing for me, because there is such a strong support system of bookkeepers of a variety of skills and skill levels to provide insight. I know I could not have launched my business without this amazing support system.
There are so many success stories from the course and a few stories of those that didn’t create the business they hoped to. When I look back at the individuals who didn’t build their business, it wasn’t because they didn’t have the tools or ability to be successful. They didn’t build the business they wanted for a myriad of reasons, often personal situations at home or work, or barriers they created in their mind they couldn’t overcome like their fear of failure.
The bookkeeping course has developed and changed over the years since I’ve been a member. Ben Robinson, the owner of the course, hired a team of people to update the course and create a world-class system to educate future bookkeepers. I have not found another program out there that’s as comprehensive, easy to follow, entertaining, offers the flexibly of packaging and payments, the support from the Facebook group, regularly scheduled educational sessions, the option to learn additional skills like doing tax returns, to expand your business, the option to join an association and get certified (Digital Bookkeeper Association; at an additional cost), and a support email address to send questions to.
Now, the question is… IS BOOKKEEPING RIGHT FOR YOU?
If you think bookkeeping is what you’ve been waiting for to change your life, get un-stuck, create your own schedule, get started NOW!
If you are thinking… but what about after I take the course… how do I get set up the business part? The bookkeeping course will help with you with most of that but so will I. To get you started, here is a link to the BEST bookkeeping application, in my opinion, and the only one I use in my own bookkeeping business.
Keep reading! There are more business tools below.
Other businesses you can create
If bookkeeping is right for you- AWESOME! If not, don’t worry! There are endless possibilities of jobs you can do from the road. It really depends on your imagination, your heart’s desires, interests and talent. If you want to work for someone else, have your own business, work as an independent contractor, you can create the optimal working situation.
The best way to determine your business is to look at skills and experience you already possess and what you love to do. If you love to create custom blends of teas, maybe make that into a business. If you love to create non-toxic health remedies, that can be a business. If you love to talk, you could create a virtual friend business where people pay you to be their friend and talk with them because they are lonely or have social issues that prevent them from making friends easily. If you love to plan travel, you can create a travel planning company. With the advent of AI in every corner of our lives, can you create some sort of AI centered business, either teaching people how to use it, offering AI prompts, or creating AI art pieces? If you have had a career in human resources, for example, you could create an HR consultation business, helping business owners with fractional HR services, if you’ve done social media, you could create your own social media management company. Maybe you love unpredictability and doing a lot of different things, so a virtual assistant might be your dream company. Has it been your dream to hold or organize retreats all over the world? If you are a yoga teacher you could hold yoga retreats, or be the yoga instructor for other’s retreats all over the world as a means of traveling. If you are great at building sales funnels, that might be your jam. If you are skilled and love to read and write contracts, could you create a business around contract modifications? Are you a teacher that could tutor kids or college students? Are you skilled at Canva and creating content on demand for others? Do you love to use Photoshop and love editing photos? Does creating a tour company or working as a tour guide sound appealing?
Here are a few more:
Proofreader
Do you love to read? Do you have a passion for language and words? Proofread Anywhere offers a course that will teach you how to proofread and spot errors to become a freelance proofreader. While proofreading is more than just spotting errors, this course, taken at your own pace, will teach you about launching your proofreading business, including setting prices and communicating with clients. Proofreading can be done on a beach, in a rainforest, or in your favorite big city, so it’s an exciting digital nomad option.
If you want to make a career in proofreading or just have better emails, blogs, or you want to write a book, Grammarly can help you do just that. This online application works with emails, documents, projects and even social media to compose mistake-free writing.
Affliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is a great way to help others and make money. Affiliates are other businesses that you connect with, create an agreement with, to sell their products or services, giving you a commission of sorts. Affiliate marketing is how you showcase or how you intend to sell their products for them, to garner that commission for yourself.
How to Get Started
What types of things do you want to sell? For example, I have lots of affiliate links that you’ve encountered in this document, but none of it isn’t something I wouldn’t mention to a friend. Meaning that I am choosy who I partner with. No amount of money is worth breaking trust with my tribe. I’m here to help people first, make money second (yes, this is how I earn a living).
How to connect with an Affiliate
When you find a product or service that you like, go to the bottom of their website and look for the word affiliate. If you don’t see a link there or direction on their site (sometimes under contact us, about, etc), then click the contact page, and let them know you want to become an affiliate and ask them how you can partner with them. Be prepared to be told no! It’s ok, if you’re told no… I’ve been told no a lot!!! It’s ok, they are not meant for you. They will usually respond with a link to an application. Be prepared with a PayPal email address when you complete the application, that’s set up with a bank to receive your payout once you’ve made a sale. If approved, you will receive a link that you can use to advertise their product or service, that is specific to you, so they will know you made the sale, so they can pay you. Often affiliates will provide you images that you can use to advertise their item(s).
Some affiliates use larger companies to manage their affiliate program. They don’t want to be responsible for approving/denying, creating links, etc so they hire someone else to do it. The affiliate may direct you to apply with their affiliate program manager.
How To Advertise Links
You’ll need to have a way to talk about or showcase their product(s)/service(s) like a social media account, blog post(s), vlog, videos, newsletter (if you have an email list), etc.
But Wait, There’s More
You can also create relationships with companies to sell ad space on your website, banner ads, or use Google Ad Sense if your website has enough traffic to earn more money. Be careful with this one though… too many ads can keep people from going to your site, your posts, etc.
Teaching English
TEFL Academy offers courses and certifications to teach English as a foreign language in the US and abroad. Just choose a course and study using your phone, computer or iPad. Once you complete the course, just write your curriculum vitae (CV), a short written summary of a person’s career and qualifications, and apply for jobs. TEFL Academy even offers job postings that you can apply for right on their site. TEFL is the most awarded course provider, earning the GoOverseas & GoAbroad Awards in 2019, 2020, and 2021! With their accredited and regulated courses, they are recognized in the US and UK by QUALIFI, DEAC, and AQC.
Photographer
There are so many types of photographers needed around the world. Consider being a vacation photographer, portrait, blogger, landscape, wildlife, and more.
Every photographer needs to display their photos and I LOVE SmugMug, a do-it-all platform for anyone wanting to build a photo business. SmugMug includes storage, photo sharing and selling your photos. SmugMug Source manages RAW photography assets with intelligent search tools, all on your platform.
Meet Up Master
“Having your own Meetup groups puts you in complete control of your profits, ,” says Jessie May, brand strategist in her Meetup Mastery Course.
Meetup allows you to become the leader you know you can be. With live events near you, or all around the world, you can build your brand, garner a following, and grow with strategic collaborations
Blogger
Create a pet, travel, food, health, fitness, fashion, photography, or DIY blog while traveling. Blogs make money through a variety of ways. You can have ads on your site or sell products for other businesses which are called affiliates. Selling digital items you create, like a course, ebook, service, or tutorial, or a physical product you manufacture, can bring in big bucks.
If you choose the bookkeeping path, one of the many ways to get clients is with an interesting blog showcasing your bookkeeping knowledge and establishing yourself as an expert. I didn’t embrace blogging with my bookkeeping business, but as you know, blogging is my 2nd full-time job.
It’s a Lovely Life does a great job with their courses that expertly show you how to create a compelling blog and posts, and it really helped me to jump start my travel blog. If you want to add a blog to your site, I highly recommend any of their blog courses. Creating a blog might sound too difficult but it’s really easy with the It’s a Lovely Life blog course and is a great way to gain confidence in your business. You will find their course HERE.
If you create a blog or just want to have accurate emails and social media posts, Grammarly is a must-have tool. This online application works with emails, documents, projects and even social media to compose mistake-free writing.
Drone Pilot
Drone Pilot Ground School just sounds cool; flying a drone is so much fun. I feel like if I can learn, anyone can (I’m not very coordinated). I am amazed how easy Drone Pilot Ground School makes learning to become an FAA-certified drone pilot. They have a 99% success rate, a money-back guarantee if you don’t pass the FAA exam, lifetime access to keep your license up to date, one-on-one support, and a lot of lessons, test, quizzes, and test prep. It’s important to note that even if you just want to use drone footage for your business, you must have your certification. If you plan to work or go outside the US, check the drone laws by country. I regularly see postings for drone operators needed in industries like construction, film, land surveying, land mapping, real estate, first responders, inspections, and more. You could even be a drone blogger, offer drone product reviews on YouTube, or a film editor.
House Sitter
Can you imagine getting paid to stay at someone else’s house in amazing locations around the world? You can create your own business or use some apps to connect you to home owners. Housesitting usually comes with watching pets too, so if you love animals but don’t have one of your own, this is a great way to get those furry cuddles.
If you are traveling internationally depending on your visa, most visas do not allow you to receive money or work within the country. Therefore, in those situations, it’s best to trade your services for free accommodations. However, I would speak with a professional regarding your visa and this arrangement.
Author
Everyone has a story inside of them that wants to come out. Are you ready to tell your story? Are you ready to share the fantasy wrapped in words that’s living inside your heart and mind?
Anyone can write a book. Someone recently said “…but I’m not a great writer”. That’s OK! In today’s world of artificial intelligence, you don’t need to be. The truth is, I’m probably not a great blogger, but at the end of the day if we all help someone, then we are making a difference in the world and I aspire to that.
As I said, there are so many tools that can help you to be a better writer, checking your punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, etc.
One of those tools is Grammarly. Grammarly is an online application working with emails, documents, projects and even social media to compose mistake-free writing.
Course Creator
I know what you’re thinking… what kind of course could I possibly create?
What do you love to do? What talents and skills do you have? There is always something that you are good at that someone needs in their life. I have seen tutorial videos about how to get the stem off a strawberry, to how to quickly clean a caked on oven, how to change a tire, how to clean the kitchen in under 5 minutes, to more serious things like how to be a good leader, how to interview someone, how to grow your own food, and more.
Even as a bookkeeper, you can expand your bookkeeping business or have additional income by creating a training course like how to read your financials, how to create a journal entry, and so on. I’ve had several bookkeeping clients that just wanted me to show them how to manage their own books and answer their questions.
After months of researching every course application I could find, there was one clear winner for me- myQuest.
The myQuest application it is so easy to upload a few videos and have a professional-looking course for sale on your website or even without a website. What I love about myQuest is that it is super easy to use, it looks high tech to your customer, and it has lots of tools that help your customer/student through the videos toward success. Their training techniques have been nationally awarded.
Click HERE put Alise Saunders 5% OFF in the reference field for a 5% discount!
More Helpful Resources
Legally create your business
If you want to speak to a lawyer about the best path to creating your business, but don’t want to spend big money, I recommend Legal Shield’s program. They have been in the legal business since 1973 providing low-cost legal services to individuals and business owners. Their Start a Business Package can have you legally established in the US in a few weeks.
When I used it, I was so surprised how fast it was to have an LLC formed and registered in my home state. The lawyer answered my questions via phone and email. I’ll tell you I own a few businesses and my first one cost me over $1000 to set up with a lawyer in a fancy office. Legal shield cost me about $300. They even filed the paperwork with the state (the state required a $305 filing fee), and referred me to a Registered Agent service, legally allowed to receive documents and notifications via mail on behalf of my business so I could be on the road and travel, giving me freedom to roam.
I’ve also set up a business completely on my own. If you are feeling a bit savvier and want to do it all on your own, this LLC legal template will walk you through the easy steps to fill in and save. Just be sure to complete any necessary steps in your state or region to comply with local laws.
Legal Shield is also a key tool as a business owner to get inexpensive legal advice, have documents reviewed, and contracts created.
Legal Shield isn’t the only option though. Zenbusiness is another great option. They can help you launch your business and really hold your hand through the process, including EIN, registered agent services, compliance, domain name and website.
Incfile is another great option to help you form your company. Incfile can help you structure your business, manage state compliance, and registered agent services.
Setting up your website
If you want to set up and create your website on your own, but feel it’s impossible, this course will help you easily and quickly get up and running, and best of all, you can mirror your screen to theirs so you won’t get lost and frustrated.
If you want someone to create a website for you, Home Key Studios can add pages to an existing site and create a blog section on your website. Home Key Studios manages my website and has been an integral part of my success.
If you want to set up and create your website on your own, but feel it’s impossible, this course will help you easily and quickly get up and running, and best of all, you can mirror your screen to theirs so you won’t get lost and frustrated.
If you want someone to create a website for you, Home Key Studios can add pages to an existing site and create a blog section on your website. Home Key Studios manages my website and has been an integral part of my success.
Legal Contracts & Agreements
In today’s world, I feel strongly about protecting myself and my business by having the appropriate website disclaimers on my website and legal contracts at my fingertips. Click HERE to see the VIP legal template package I bought the because it’s still cheaper than an hour with a lawyer in my hometown and it has many contracts/agreements I need, ready to download at a moment’s notice. However, at the very least, I recommend having the Starter Bundle, which includes the main website disclaimers. These are easy to fill in!
Social Media
Regardless of what business you start, social media will probably be a large aspect of your marketing plan. The issue I ran into was how time-consuming it was to create posts each day, for all the channels, and publish them. Then I found Later. Later offers a customizable Linkinbio feature, incorporating my brand colors. I have added a featured video, multiple business links, I can link each post to a website regardless of followers, and they even have Shopify and Mailchimp integrations. But the real time saver comes in their social media planner and publisher, which allows me to publish posts in my sleep. I am a huge fan of Later and all the changes they continue to make.
SEO
Regardless of what business you create, if it includes a blog, website, or social media component, you’ll want to include SEO, Search Engine Optimization.
SEO is important to ensure your website or blog posts can be found on search engines like Google. You’ll learn that SEO is how you get found in searches and how it works. SEO is the reason when you put “grocery store near me” in Google, the Wal-Mart near your house is returned in the search. So, if someone types “bookkeeper near me” we want you to also return so you can get business.
SEO is about knowing what keywords to use; what words are being searched for. This application can help you determine what keywords are best to use for your business. I did not use SEO applications for my first two businesses, but use it for my travel blog.
When you click HERE and get 20% off coupon code KSDISC (while supplies last)!
Digital Business Cards
Whether you’re traveling light or just like to be efficient and live with ease, here is another digital tool! V1CE is an amazing digital business card. Sure, we still carry our old-style business cards, but we also love the ease of having a fully digital, fully customizable digital business card. I can add my logo, brand colors, and link tree. I can even generate a QR code.
Sharing your business card is as easy as tapping the card on someone’s phone. The benefits of this 21st centuray business card include, a onetime investment, vs paper cards are a repeating expense, update your information as often as you want in real time, with over 30 different calls to action, your business is more accessible than with a paper card, information remains secure, and it’s eco friendly. Card choices aren’t traditional either. Choose from the NFC Tap (enabled sticker for the back of your phone), so it’s always with you, a mini-keychain card, wristband,card, or get the lanyard holder, great for networking events.
Pictures and Lighting
Lighting is important on a zoom call, creating a video, taking pictures for your website or social media, or even a blog or vlog (video blog) post.
To create great pictures, videos, or have well-lit meetings on zoom, all you’ll need is a cell phone, tablet, or camera, and good lighting. I love the light I use and can’t help but recommend it to you. Socialite is the light I chose after months of researching. I have the 18” light. Socialite is so versatile it’s compatible with a camera, phone or tablet, to record, and the light changes color tones and brightness levels easily.
You can find the lighting I have HERE, and you can save 5% with coupon code ALISS5.
Free Travel (Really!)
The top excuse I hear from clients is “I can’t afford to travel”. There are many ways to travel as a digital nomad, but you can also learn how to travel for free. That’s right… free travel.
If travel is really your dream, why not do it for free, right? There are many people traveling the world for free. Click HERE to see the course that shows you step by step how to email your way to free travel. No joke!
Overcoming Fear, mental and emotional blocks
Overcoming Fear, mental and emotional blocks
Creating your own business can be challenging. When I got my first client, I was so excited, and then I had an absolute melt down to the point I made myself extremely ill. It wasn’t because I was unprepared as a bookkeeper. The amazing bookkeeping course I took made sure that I was prepared! It was because it was so far outside my comfort zone my mind launched into a looping story about how I would fail: I was too old to start over, I’d embarrass myself, and I’d make no money. I had a lot of traumas I had not yet healed from my childhood and it all got triggered. If I didn’t find a way through that wall of fear and beliefs limiting my potential, I could not achieve my dream of finally becoming a bookkeeper and travel. I sought emotional help to get out of the rut of traditional help, which was talking about what happened, wanting to move on and “see you next week” for more of the same. Wanting something out of the norm, I tried something out of the norm. I wanted something I’d heard no one talk about before- I wanted permanent freedom from the trauma, fears, and limiting beliefs. That’s when I was referred to Kathy D. Carter.
I’ve been seeing Kathy weekly for three years, as of September 2022, our conversations are virtual, and we’re often in different time zones. I hardly recognize the person I was when we first started. Kathy has helped me see myself with clarity, identify the traumas I had/have not processed and process healthily so that I can release the past holding me in the past, to be free to step into the present and create my future as a powerful person. What I saw as the worst things I’ve done in my life have come out of the skeleton closet and into the light to be held with love and compassion, an opportunity to truly know myself, practice forgiveness and shed the weight of these things I have carried all of my life.
Kathy is gifted in facilitating healing conversations to provide the insights needed in going deeper in yourself to provide key insights and ask key questions. I can 1,000,000% say that I would not be living my dreams, owning my business, specifically my dream of traveling as a travel blogger on the road with no home to return to, without my sessions with Kathy. I am learning to walk myself out of the mental and emotional prison I had built for myself, created out of a deep desire to protect myself, rendering my life energy into a state of catatonia. I’m learning to let go of control, perfectionism, my need to be right, and I’m learning to feel my feelings for the first time. It has been a hard and equally amazing road through the hills and valleys of unhealed trauma and decades of stored emotion (emotion too difficult to feel and was stored away in the body), but with Kathy as a guide and witness to my profound work, I am seeing changes in my life like I never imagined was possible. I’m really excited to see what’s next. My soul is forever changed by our meeting. I am living my best life, my soul’s purpose! If you feel that you could benefit from a guide and witness to your hard self-work, I hope you have the courage to try a new and different path to get there.
Click HERE to get in touch with Kathy Carter, and give code Wild and Free and receive a 20-minute free consultation!
I hope this guide helps provide insight and options to creating your own business and choosing a life of travel. As a digital nomad travel blogger, travel changes me almost every time I step out of the door. Sometimes I’m constantly challenged to learn something new, be in the moment, release a learned behavior like control, overcome a fear (or many fears), be adventurous, try new things regularly, and encounter situations I would never experience entrenched in my normal routine of life. These expand all parts of me, helping me to take up more energetic space in the world, giving me the ability to offer more to the world, providing me opportunity to walk through fears, and feeling a euphoria of being alive and living fully. I hope you too can further expand, and be Wild and Free!
