In my experience as a digital nomad, I have become a very efficient traveler.
So here are my top five tips for traveling as you pursue your nomadic career:
1. Do not tie yourself – Let’s face it: having a nomadic career, in other words having the ability to earn money from anywhere, is easier if you don’t have a lot of personal responsibilities. If you have a wife and kids, it becomes more difficult to raise the stakes and head out into the wild. Not impossible, mind. Simply more complicated.
It has less to do with age than commitment. Someone older and single has more freedom than someone fresh out of college who is married with a child on the way. When other people depend on you for their livelihood, it limits your freedom.
2. Beware of material possessions – Things are well. People like things. They like to have nice things, like houses, fancy cars, expensive clothes, jewelry, etc. But when you lead a nomadic lifestyle, the more stuff you take with you, the less freedom you have.
When it comes to material possessions, in my experience, the more things you own, the more those things own you.
For example, if you have a nice car, you’ll want to make sure you take care of it. You can take it to the car wash every week. You are very careful when driving it through busy city streets so that it does not get scratched or dented. You will not let people eat or smoke in your car so that it does not stain or smell bad. After a while, you are no longer the owner of the car, but almost an employee of that car. You are working for it, and not the other way around.
For the nomad, the only possession he really needs is liquid assets like money or access to money. Everything else can be bought on the way.
3. Keep moving – There is a whole world out there waiting for you. Along the way, you will constantly discover beautiful new places and exciting experiences. Keep moving so you can see as much and experience as much as possible within your limited time here on Earth.
A nomadic career can provide you with the means. It will be up to you to provide the forms.
4. Keep your mobile devices charged – This can be more complicated than it seems, especially if your journey takes you to some of the most remote regions of the world where a dependent power supply is not guaranteed.
My advice is to invest in a portable power supply that you can keep charged all the time. That way, you can plug in your smartphone, tablet, or laptop so you never lose power — and connection — to the source of your nomadic income: the Internet.
5. Follow your happiness – The goal of pursuing a nomadic career is to do the things you want to do and be in the places you want to be.
But happiness is not a destination or an activity. It’s a state of mind. Follow the paths that make you happiest and avoid those that cause you anxiety and frustration. Simple advice that hardly anyone follows. Except nomadic warriors like you, that is.
Recommended Resources:
- The Family Freedom Project
- TheMinimalist.net
- ALLPOWERS™ Portable Solar Charger
- The Zen Habit Guide to Happiness
