The life of a digital nomad does have its drawbacks. You don’t always know if there will be a regular stream of incoming work. Some clients pay late, or even not at all. Often while others are enjoying paid or public holidays, you still have to fire up the laptop and start typing.
Of course, it’s not all bad. In fact, most of it’s pretty good, which is why you do it. As long as deadlines are met, you can get up when you want, do what you want, when you want. And if you get the rest of it right, wherever you want. This last bit can be a bit tricky. Not being restricted by location won’t be for everybody. For some, it might only extend to making it as far as the local coffee house that has a Wi-Fi hotspot. Or it could be spending a couple of mornings writing when the family is on holiday.
However, if you want to use this freedom to see more of your country or even others around the world, there are other issues to consider. This is especially true if you have a family or pets to consider. Still, the life of a digital nomad doesn’t have to just be for bright twenty-somethings with faultless Instagram profiles. Especially if you use some simple ideas as starting points.
Table of Contents
Planning
After thinking about living the free life of a digital nomad, the last word you want to see is ‘planning,’ but as you already know, getting organized is all part of being a freelancer. For instance, at the simplest level, if you have a big project with a deadline that is three or four weeks away, there is no reason you have to do it sat at home. You could, for instance, look online for short getaways, grab yourself a bargain, and make the most of the change of scenery to recharge your batteries while you complete the project.
If you have semi-regular but not guaranteed work that you have built up from a number of sources over time, you can also do the same, provided you plan out that wherever you are staying has access to the internet. Or that there is somewhere in the nearest town with public Wi-Fi where you can have breakfast, upload work, and check emails if you have to, and somewhere at least semi-peaceful, you can sit and write.
People and Pets
Most often, being a digital nomad does not mean that you are simply working from anywhere. It means that you don’t have a ‘proper’ home but instead will live in a different town, state, or country for three or six months at a time. This ideally means keeping your worldly possessions to what you can fit in the back of your car, which, if you have a family or pets, just isn’t going to happen. If you are not one for home-schooling, this can be particularly unnerving for kids, so you might want to leave this part until they go off to college, but with pets, you can still do this provided you get the right people involved.
Moving house every three to six months has, as you would expect, a stressful effect on your four-legged companions, and often, you can’t take them on the journey in the same vehicle as you. When this happens, using a service like Shiply to source a reliable pet transport service can get your pet from A to B with minimum stress for both you and the animal.
Security
Whether you are travelling alone or with others, going to a new place can be filled with exciting opportunities and no small amount of uncertainty. While planning both where you are going to stay and how you’re all going to get there in one piece is important, staying safe when you get it is also critical. This falls into two areas, physical security and digital security.
Physical Security
Includes letting somebody know where you are going to be. This doesn’t mean just the town or state but the actual address and where you are going each day. If there is nobody to ‘miss’ you, there is nobody to call for help if they don’t hear from you for a couple of days. On top of that, making sure you have all of the necessary insurances in place is key, not only for your own well-being but for those who care about you as well. It is also important that you keep where you are staying locked at all times to prevent intruders.
Digital Security
When it comes to digital security, you need to make sure that roaming around does not mean your own data and that of your clients are up for grabs by anyone who steals your device or takes advantage of less than secure public Wi-Fi. You could be wise to use a VPN to keep your data more secure, which has the added bonus that you can watch your paid subscription services no matter where you happen to be, and also have access to a backup device, so if yours goes missing you can still access your WIP which you have, naturally, stored on the cloud.
Wrapping Things Up
If living the life of a digital nomad is something you aspire to, then it can be very possible, provided you tick some all-important boxes. First of all, you need to make sure you plan as much as you can, even if it’s ensuring you have somewhere quiet to write, and somewhere you can access the internet. Next, if your family and pets are on board with the whole idea, make sure they can get from one place to another with minimum stress, especially those that might not be fully aware of why this is all happening. Finally, keeping safe while you do all of this is paramount, and that does not just mean physically, but keeping all of your tech and data away from those with malicious intent who could take advantage of it.
Continue Reading: Destination Bali: 5 Tips for Better Beachlancing
About the Author
James Daniels is a freelance writer, business enthusiast, a bit of a tech buff, and an overall geek. He is also an avid reader, who can while away hours reading and knowing about the latest gadgets and tech, whilst offering views and opinions on these topics.
