I have been working from countless remote places for many years now. As you can imagine I have encountered all sorts of issues while travelling. Thankfully nothing major.
Hopefully, after reading these tips, the risks for you to encounter the same issues will be reduced.
1. Health Insurance is a must
Let’s start with the obvious but also the most important tip I could give you.
Get yourself health insurance.Do not just rely on what you think your credit card will cover.
If you do not know which insurance you should get, depending on the country you are from, your health conditions, and your destinations, the best solution for you is to subscribe to a digital nomad Facebook group and ask for some help there.
2. Savings are crucial
Do not leave your country without savings. Even, if you are 100% sure you will get monthly incomes while travelling the world.
You don’t know what could happen to you or your family during your journey.
I haven’t always followed that rule, and I suffered from it.
If you cannot save some money, try to make sure your relatives will be able to help you in case of an emergency.
3. Accept the risks
Being far from home, hitting the road, carrying nothing more than your backpack, moving to new places every month or week and eating exotic food will be a very different life.
You are not prepared for this. You will face some issues. Even I, after travelling the world for nearly 10 years, have to accept that I will not control everything.
I am 100% sure that you will at least have to face one of these issues listed below (which all happened to me or my girlfriend):
- Losing your belongings (wallet, phone, passport)
- Having your phone or your laptop stolen
- Getting sick
- Being broke
- Something bad happening to your loved ones
- People putting you at risk (drivers, guides or other nomads)
- More recently, the rise of a pandemic
My advice here is simply to prepare yourself as much as you can but more importantly to accept the risks. Everything ended up well for me after all.
4. Connect with online communities
For each country you will visit, there is at least one Facebook group connecting digital nomad or travellers from all around the world.
This is where you will find the most updated news but also the most well-informed people on where to go for the best internet speed, the most outstanding spots to work from etc.
There are also digital nomad groups. The group I subscribed to is named Digital Nomads Around the World.
5. Local Apps
We often read on travel blogs: “to travel cheap, live like locals”.
Before landing in a new country, do a bit of research work to find out what are the apps used by locals for:
- Food deliveries
- Taxi services
- Booking accommodations
In some countries, apps to use might vary based on the state or the city you are staying in.
6. Subscribe to a VoIP plan
VoIP stands for voice over internet protocol.
If you need to be able to call abroad or to receive calls from anywhere in the world you should subscribe to a VoIP solution for digital nomads.
To log in to some bank accounts, or other secured platforms, you will often need to confirm your session with a code that will be sent to your phone number.
Therefore, make sure to get yourself a solution that is also allowing you to receive and send texts.
Google seems to be the best provider at the moment, just because it is Google, but there might be other companies that will suit your needs.
I use Skype, but I will need to transition to Google Voice.
7. Travel with at least two credit cards
As written above, you will likely lose some of your belongings during your travel. The easiest thing to lose is probably your credit card.
I can’t count how many times it happened to me. I have to confess though, that I tend to lose things easily.
I highly recommend you to travel with at least two credit cards. And if you do, make sure to keep them separated. One in your carry-on luggage, another one in your checked baggage.
That’s all for now, but I will keep updating this post.
