Becoming a Digital Nomad - 2023 edition

Presenting the 2020 edition, updated December 2019!

Imagine living the lifestyle you want while making money and working anywhere in the world. Imagine enjoying the beaches in Thailand one day, then trying the best pizza in Italy the next.

It sounds like a dream - travel anywhere you want, make money doing something you enjoy, and live life to the fullest. It's not a dream, though - a growing number of digital nomads are leaving the 9-to-5 life and choosing to take control of their life.

What is a digital nomad? A person who travels at will, lives where they want, and does their work digitally. They have no cubicle and no dress code. Digital nomads are young, old, male, female, single, married, have children, and are from almost every country on this planet. If you want to become a digital nomad, nothing can stop you.

Becoming a Digital Nomad offers a proven step-by-step guide to test and transition into the digital nomad lifestyle. It's one part travel guide and one part how-to. Steps build on each other in chronological order, and a dozen worksheets guide you with specific questions to answer. (These are freely available to save and print offline or online, whatever works best for you.)

Step 1: know yourself and what you want focuses on you, good reader. We have some work on do on understanding you, the person you see in the mirror.

Step 2: clarify your desires and acknowledge limitations does two important things in gearing you up for your journey.

Nomadus interruptus: just a test, please is an interim chapter dedicated to setting up a good test of the digital nomad lifestyle.

Step 3: making money puts together a list of the many ways digital nomads can make money along with some notes on how to manage your money across borders

Step 4: get affairs in order focuses on what needs to be done before leaving your country.

Step 5: gear up and slim down focuses on what to pack and how to deal with the rest of your stuff, depending on your choices from earlier steps.

Step 6: the big move and settling in counts you down from your last few days at your old place to your first few days at your new place.

Step 7: start enjoying your new life helps establish new habits, make new connections, and helps to make the lifestyle a sustainable one.

Step 8: going home - or making a new home for yourself anywhere you choose to go.

Learn from dozens of digital nomads, get how-to advice on every aspect of the transition, or learn how to test the lifestyle out before committing to it.

About the author

Chris Backe has lived as a digital nomad since 2013, and taught English in South Korea for five years before that. He is a travel blogger, a web developer, a guidebook writer, and a digital nomad consultant. He's married to an awesome Canadian, and together they've traveled across Asia, Europe, South America, and North America.