Remote work and travel. These two things have been big parts of my life recently! I grew up in London (not the nicest part) and caught the travel bug after my first ever trip at 17 – which was a volunteer trip with my school. I had to fundraise all of the money for this trip. Since then, I have spent most of my university funds on travel and working hard to save money.
I have been traveling on and off since 2015. Some of these trips were long term while others were just weekend breaks. Now, I travel full-time as a digital nomad and I have been doing so for the past year. I have been to 42 countries so far and my favorites have been Colombia, Egypt, Jordan and Brazil – with my favorite experience being a visit to the Amazon and staying at an eco-resort where I could see the brightest stars ever!
My Journey to Becoming a Digital Nomad
Once I started to work the normal routine of 9-5 after my first year leaving university I began to realize just how abnormal it was. I was working so much overtime and not being paid for it! I would regularly have to give up my evenings to work. Seeing my managers miss their children’s important life events to stay and work was concerning and it didn’t sit well with me.
I knew not all offices were like that but I was experiencing a very toxic work environment. So I decided to save as much money over the years as I could to go and travel South America. While I was there I knew I wanted something different but wasn’t sure what it was or how I would obtain it.
I got home after traveling and started looking into online work (becoming a digital nomad). In the end it took me one year and a half to achieve my goal of becoming self-employed and location independent. I have been a digital nomad for nearly two years now and I’m absolutely loving it!
Currently, my remote work sees me as the Content Manager for many clients. But I also have other income streams such as crypto, stocks and affiliate marketing. I am living proof that you can earn more money than a normal 9-5, work less hours for that income and travel the world as you go!
Best Countries for Remote Work
I have not been to every country so I can’t say that I know the best place for remote work. However, I enjoyed Mexico. It’s not too expensive, you can live by the beach and the culture is amazing! One place that I want to go back to is Thailand. I really want to go there and try working remotely instead of just traveling, as it’s meant to be one of the best places for digital nomads.
Another country that I fell in love with was Egypt. I worked remotely in Cairo for a few weeks and got to know some shop owners. They completely welcomed me into their world! They invited me to eat lunch with them everyday, showed me around the city and we did day trips together.
I really got to know the Egyptian culture through this experience and I fully integrated myself into the local way of life, even if it was just for a short period of time. I have never felt more welcome than I did with my Egyptian family. They even took me to the airport to wave goodbye when I left!
Tips for Getting into Remote Work
Since the pandemic, there has been more opportunity for remote work. Jobs that were done remotely can now be taken online. Some employers have stayed remote, so you can try to agree on how you can work remotely somewhere else in the world (or just go and they won’t know). Some of the most popular industries are marketing, design, tech and online teaching.
E-commerce business is also a great idea, for example selling on Amazon would bring you great income and with a little help from Amazon Agency Experts you would achieve great success. To conclude, I would like to leave you with some final tips on becoming a digital nomad:
- Don’t be afraid of trying new things
- Don’t be afraid of quitting the things you don’t like
- Be open to all opportunities, say yes and figure it out afterwards!
- Work on your mindset and self-belief – if you don’t believe you can do it then you probably can’t!
- Make a plan of how many hours you can put in each week on your remote work dream and try to stick to it. Hard work definitely pays off!
