If you're thinking of finding nomadic jobs to fuel your travels around the world, but don't know where to start – you're in the right place. When the term "digital nomad" has become synonymous with the influencer, content creator or marketing roles we see plastered all over Instagram – it can be easy to forget the breadth of opportunity for aspiring digital nomads who work across a myriad of fields. That's right, it's not just creators and virtual assistants – there are so many jobs you can work remotely while travelling the world. During my years of travelling, I've met app designers, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs and coders – all travelling the world at their own pace and happily working more traditional roles but on a schedule that suits them. Some are employed, while others have gone the freelancer route or even built their own businesses.

This time, we're deep diving into life as a tech nomad – what is the difference between a digital and tech nomad? Our interviewee shares his story of how he gave up a life as a personal trainer and retrained as a web developer while travelling the world before setting up his own company. This interview looks at the ways a tech nomad approaches long-term travel and the unique considerations they have to make in order to maintain the lifestyle. This interview offers an alternative perspective to show that there are so many different ways to live your life nomadically while working remotely.

I'm Lucy, a solo travel expert from the UK who has spent a decade travelling and working as a digital nomad. I've explored over 50 countries and I'm passionate about combining adventures with slower, more intentional travel that allows us to connect on a deeper level with the communities we visit. In this series, I'll introduce you to digital nomads who have turned to a remote lifestyle for many reasons and from a range of backgrounds to explore an alternative way of living and working online. They'll share insight into what they have gained from this remote lifestyle and the lessons they've learned along the way.

 

The Essentials for  Aspiring Digital Nomads

Before we get into the interview, don't forget to check out these articles if you're thinking of becoming a digital nomad. They're packed with useful tips and actionable advice for finding nomadic jobs and making the remote laptop lifestyle your reality.

If you are considering digital nomad life, you will need a travel insurance policy as your safety net. SafetyWing's Nomad Insurance Essential provides coverage in 175+ countries, and they've recently expanded coverage to include adventure sports and electronics theft too. My favourite thing about the policy, as a digital nomad, is that I can add-on electronic theft insurance for up to $3000 worth of electronic valuables. This is HUGE for someone whose entire life and business is their laptop, camera, phone and tech. They also cover:

  • Meals & accommodations if you have a travel delay over 12 hours
  • Emergency dental care up to $1000
  • Medical care including prescriptions, emergency care and hospital stays
  • Coverage for lost checked luggage
  • Flights home if something bad happens
  • Continued coverage for visits back home
  • Coverage for motor accidents
  • Coverage for injuries from leisure sports & activities

If you need coverage for a longer period, you might consider looking at their Complete plan - includes all Essential features, plus comprehensive health coverage with routine healthcare, mental health support, and maternity, most countries in the world, including in your home country.

Read my full blog post on Choosing Travel Insurance for Solo Female Travellers

Interview with a Digital Nomad

This month's digital nomad interview is with Simon, a digital nomad who is currently travelling the world and running his own web design business, Sculpt Websites. Simon has been travelling the world and working remotely with online businesses, coaches OBMs and clients in the fitness industry since he set up Sculpt Websites a year ago. After working as a personal trainer and then the manager of several gyms for seven years across the South of England, it was the decision to buy a house that inspired Simon to look at what he, and his girlfriend, Steph, really wanted from their lives.

Simon's story is one that will really resonate if you're feeling lost, or stuck on a path that you didn't choose. It's a great reminder that life is short, and that it's never too late to start again, to retrain and realign your life to seek contentment (even if it doesn't look like the life everyone expects you to live).

 

What first inspired you to try digital nomadism?

Why did I become a digital nomad? Because I wanted to do something fun with my life whilst I was young enough to appreciate it. I had worked as the manager of various gyms for 7 years in the south of England, and been a Personal trainer before that - so my whole working life, and most of my social life, was spent in gyms. I saw so much repetition day to day, and nothing ever changing. 

We had always rented in Brighton, so in 2022 me and my girlfriend, Steph, tried to buy a house. I took a look at the amount we would actually be paying for a standard (pokey) 2 bed house, and I was shocked. We would have been locked into this contract for 30+ years! We both decided it just wasn’t us. A two week backpacking trip around Scandinavia showed us that there were plenty of people staying in hostels and working whilst travelling - so we thought, let’s do that instead.

 

What was your journey to becoming a digital nomad?

Steph started as a VA almost straight away, and I trained as a web developer. I’d never done anything like this, I had no idea how websites worked, I couldn’t write a single line of code. But I handed in my notice, and started learning my new trade whilst travelling around Thailand. It was a hell of a leap, but I remember thinking “just do it now whilst you can!”. 

I started Sculpt Websites not long after finishing the training, and an old colleague saw my marketing and referred it to her new boss - which lead me to pick up a client early on in my journey. I now do private web builds and agency work alongside each other. It was (and still is) amazing waking up on a random Tuesday morning and thinking “I would normally be at work right now” but instead I am living the life that I want to. 

 

What does a day in your life as a digital nomad look like?

Now a full time digital nomad, a normal day for me, looks something like this - Usually I wake up around 7-8am, work for a few hours in the morning, and then enjoy my free time for the rest of the day, going to the gym or the beach, catching up with family, having a few drinks or a meal out somewhere. But I have the ability to craft each day as I want - I plan work around my activities, which I feel is the proper way to do things.

Don’t get me wrong - I still have stressful long days every now and then. Sometimes you have a lot of work on at the same time, and it can result in pushing yourself to get a project finished! It’s very different to my old life of working 10 - 12 hours most days and barely having any free time. My life couldn’t look more different to 3 years ago!

 

What is your approach to digital nomadism?

I prefer to travel around slowly, rather than trying to squeeze in as much in to as little time as possible. The beauty of nomadism is that you can do that - you don’t have to rush! Spending 10 weeks in Thailand was amazing, we were able to see some amazing sights and experiences, but also able to have the long work days when needed and not feel like you’re missing out. Some of our extended trips have had us staying for many weeks in USA, Portugal, Vietnam, and a few places in the UK including Leeds, Cornwall and Canterbury.

Where are your favourite – and least favourite – places as a digital nomad?

My favourite place since we started - probably Chiang Mai, Thailand. That place is just perfect for so many reasons, but as a nomad - it has everything you need, it’s quick and easy to get around, the food is amazing (try some Khao Soi - you won’t regret it!), and there are plenty of workspaces, coffee shops etc. Oh and it’s pretty much 30 degrees every day.

My least favourite - a city called Haiphong in Vietnam - we were only supposed to be there for a night but due to food poisoning we extended our stay to 5 days and it was not a particularly nice place to be. It felt a bit dodgy, and wasn’t really anything for us to do - no greenery or nature, just busy roads in every direction. (Anyone who’s been to Vietnam will tell you what the roads are like - pretty much unfiltered chaos). It was a long time to be spent in a hotel room.

 

What’s the most challenging thing about being a nomad?

It’s not actually being a nomad - it’s trying to set up a business as a nomad. You have to consider time differences when talking to clients, you have to always make sure you have functioning Wi-fi and a VPN wherever you are, you have to consider travel days (and unexpected hiccups), you can’t get into routines for very long. This is actually partly why my girlfriend and I slow travel and spend a good few weeks/months at each destination, it allows you to find routine for a short time before moving and starting all over again.

The other part of the reason that we travel to places for longer periods is because packing takes its toll on you after a while. When you have to pack for the next week, every week, it becomes such an effort. Another really tough part of being a digital nomad is wanting to go and do lots of adventures all the time, but remembering that you have to work! It can be difficult to motivate yourself on a Monday morning to actually do some work when you have sunny weather and a beach just over the road.

 

What do you love the most about being a digital nomad?

The pay-off is so worth it - when you have finished work and you get to go and have these experiences, you remember why it is such a good lifestyle. And that’s my favourite thing about nomadism overall, you can work when you want and enjoy yourself when you want. Life as a nomad allows you to see so much more than the same old places I saw in my old life. Adventure. All the time.

 

Is digital nomadism what you expected?

Being a DN is quite similar to what I expected, and I really do feel like just chatting to people in a similar position helps you to realise how great it is. A lot of people I’ve spoken to say they started out just with a temporary trip, but then decided to stay and carry on doing it as they didn’t see the reason to go back to their old ways. We bumped into a bloke in Vietnam who said he was only going to go for a summer, but now lived and worked from there as it was better and cheaper to do so. It was cheaper for him to fly his family out to see him twice a year, than it would be to buy a house in the UK so he had been there over 6 years.

After finishing university, I always assumed I would just be in a standard job for the rest of my life. This way of living never even occurred to me, but since learning about it I can’t see myself going back to that life anytime soon.

 

How do you cope with loneliness as a digital nomad?

A lot of the networking groups that I am part of have many freelancers who all agree about how lonely it can get. Running a one-person business can be very lonely compared to the old life - at the gym my whole day would be spent with other people from start to finish! I’m very lucky as I have a big family, a majority of them live near London. I also have friends who live in the same area, so every few months we come back and stay with family for a couple of weeks at a time - get a recharge before going off somewhere else. The networking groups also help, as there are many people in a similar position, so it’s always refreshing to hear other people’s perspectives. 

Then of course it’s being in social settings when you are away - staying in busy locations with lots going on is always a must when we are working - we often just go out for drinks, and meals out sometimes with people we meet but most of the time just me and my girlfriend. There are always hostel nights, excursions, groups, parties going on in most places we go. Just check good old fashioned Facebook groups and you’ll find loads of stuff going on in the local area.

We also do a lot of housesitting too, so we get to look after dogs and cats for weeks at a time, usually in amazing massive houses. You pay a yearly fee on Trusted HouseSitters and then basically get free rent for looking after pets. It certainly keeps things fun and interesting.

Any trends or shifts in digital nomadism that you have noticed?

I think that the world has changed in this way because of communication and globalisation. It’s very easy for me and my generation to take these things for granted - having anything we want at any time, finding communities of people with similar interests in seconds, communicating with anyone else in the world is so easy - life was not like this 20 years ago! And way further from it 40 years ago.

This path has been paved for us, and we are able to benefit from it by working from anywhere. I think this change in society is just the beginning, and things could look very different in 20 years time and beyond, with more and more people prioritising working from different locations.

 

What inspired this shift in your priorities?

What shifted my way of thinking about traditional employment - money isn’t everything. It’s ingrained in you from UK culture and society to make money so that you can get stuff - a flashy car, a house full of things, designer clothes and bags, the latest tech. Then you save all your money for retirement, hoping that you will be able to enjoy it later when you are 60 or 70 years old. It’s a strategy that many have followed for many years. But it doesn’t mean it’s the only way to do things…

I’d rather travel, and do these experiences whilst I’m young and healthy. I’ve seen things like health and financial situations change very quickly for people, even at a young age. The thought of always saving for a rainy day, but never actually getting there is kind of depressing, so I thought let’s get out and do it now. My girlfriend put it perfectly - “You can always make more money, but you can never make more time”.

Have less stuff, enjoy some experiences and get to the end of your life happy.

 

Any advice for aspiring digital nomads?

I guess the whole “if I can do it, anyone can” saying is overused and easy to overlook - but the facts are I had NO EXPERIENCE in being a web designer. I had no experience in online work. I could send an email, I could book a flight - but I had no idea what I was doing at first! 

If you really want to change the way you live, then you can. You can educate yourself quickly, or over a long time. You can pay for training and help, or you can do it for free. You could take the first step today if you wanted to. 

And yes …  I get that I was in a good position of no mortgage and no kids which was a big bonus, but I still had to throw away my well paying job, my car and my comfy familiar routines. You can always research how to overcome your barriers - there will have been loads of people that have done it before you.

It’s not for everyone, but digital nomadism is on the rise and I think it’s only going to become more common. 

 

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