The Journey of a Digital Nomad: Living and Working Anywhere

The Journey of a Digital Nomad: Living and Working Anywhere

Just imagine: one week you work right from some snug café in Paris, and the next you work from some breezy bungalow at the edge of the beach in Bali. And your office? Everywhere with Wi-Fi. This is the life of a digital nomad: working remotely while traveling the world. All thanks to technology, this dream of "living a digital nomad life" is at last possible for many. But then the question arises: What exactly does a digital nomad do, and how do they manage it?

That is the digital nomad lifestyle.

A digital nomad is someone who is not attached to any particular office or even city. They are free to travel wherever and whenever they like while earning a living. Freelancing, online business, or working remotely for some company—digital nomads anchor their professional existences in the power of the internet.

For some, the reasons may be obvious. Why go to some dull, monotonous place when you can learn new cultures, meet interesting people, and live life from parts of the world? But it's all about not only taking pictures in cool destinations. That alone is really about work-travel balance, so you enjoy both.

How Technology Makes It Possible

This life of a digital nomad would not be possible without modern technologies. The following describes how connected remote workers are and how they can work productively from anywhere in the world:

Cloud Storage: Imagine all the important documents—be it pictures or projects—stored safely online. Cloud storage helps digital nomads access their work with software such as Google Drive and Dropbox, on either a laptop in a café or on a tablet on a plane. This would mean being able to continue working without any fear of losing the work.

Online Communication: It is always important to stay in communication with clients, bosses, and colleagues. One of the classic examples of online conversation is the video call or the messengers which has an ability to provide group discussion making, which includes Zoom for video calls and Slack for messaging. This would help the employee always connect with colleagues throughout the globe for meetings, sharing ideas or even following a certain piece of information throughout the office.

Task Management Tools: Working on multiple projects from different locations requires organization. Apps like Trello and Asana assist digital nomads in remembering what needs to be done. One can create to-do lists, set due dates, and even engage in teamwork in one app.

Money Management: Be it receiving money for remote working—from clients abroad or anywhere else—using respective services like PayPal and TransferWise, being able to take payment and conduct all money matters is possible digitally from anywhere in the world.

Security: Public Wi-Fi can be dangerous, hence digital nomads prefer to make use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to keep activities private and secure online (like NordVPN). This—of course—for the protection of sensitive information and safety in accessing work accounts.

Challenges of a Digital Nomad

Internet Connection: A digital nomad needs access to the internet; however, it has been one of the greatest challenges. Too often, the search for an internet connection that is strong enough is the adventure of the day.

Various Time Zones: The second big challenge that digital nomads face is related to various time zones. It is hard to arrange a meeting or call due to the existence of various time zones. Sometimes, being a digital nomad means one has to spend half of his or her night awake or wake up at 4 a.m. just to align working hours with clients or colleagues back home.

Work-Play Balance: It could be very tempting to do nothing but travel, but work must go on. A digital nomad has to be very disciplined and allocate some time throughout the day in order to achieve a few things.

Isolation: One can easily get lonely when travelling to a lot of places, especially when one keeps moving from one place to the other. In order to avoid isolation, many digital nomads join communities or co-working spaces with other people who are living similar lives.

What's Next for Digital Nomads?

The digital nomad way of life is quickly taking over. With more countries now welcoming such travellers and issuing special visas and incentives, people might want to work and travel simultaneously as companies embrace remote working.

It might be this kind of lifestyle that is going to get much more familiar in the near future. However, for the time being, it is an attitude toward doing something that does not tie you to your here, right here, at this particular moment. Very soon, you will realize that it can actually be done from any place in the world. Getting a cup of coffee in an East European café or chasing the sunset from a tropical island, digital nomads prove that work and adventure are very well suited together.

Authored By: Januda Bethmin