Nowadays, working remotely is the new norm, so why not take advantage of this flexibility and discover the world. If you are trying to become a digital nomad, and travel while working a few months out of the year. Here are 8 tips, especially if you are on a budget.
1. Travel off pick
Make sure you are traveling during the right month. Traveling is more expensive when you go during touristy season, due to the demand the prices go up. Although, the off-pick season has been shrinking in the last few years, as more people are now traveling post-pandemic and with remote work. Check out this article with the most up to date off-seasons dates for each region. Once you are set on a month, make sure that the weather fits your ''criteria" and it's not rain/mosquito season (speaking of experience here).
2. Reach out to your network for accommodation
You'd be surprised, but housesitting happens more often than you'd think. If a home owner is going away for a while, they'd rather have someone look after their house, for basic care and make sure nothing happens. A lot of time it's not that easy to find, because people can't drop their life to watch after a friends house. That's where we come in! Someone will prefer leaving their home to a friend or a friend of a friend for reassurance. So send a few emails and texts asking your connections if they know someone that would be interested, and it will be a mutually beneficial deal.
3. Volunteer in exchange for free accommodation & food
If you can't housesit, you can use websites like Workaway or WWOOF to find free accommodation (and sometimes food) in exchange for your help. You can find hosts all around the world, usually they are farm owners looking for some help with their estate. You can arrange your schedule to help them a few hours of the day or on weekends and work your usual job the rest of the time.
4. Do groceries and cook
Eating out regardless of where it is can get pretty expensive in the long run. The best option is to do your own groceries as if you were in your country, and cook. Do some research in advance to find supermarkets you'll be confortable shopping at. I tend to go for the brands I already know that have a presence abroad, like Carrefour, Sainsbury's, Costco, etc. Then, after some time in the country, I'm able to get recommendations on more local stores and feel more comfortable using them (just an anxious person habit).
5. Stick to one airline and sign up for their rewards program
Choose an airline you like and works for you price wise and in terms of the routes they have available. Make sure they have a good customer service (although it's pretty hard to get by with airlines). Once you have picked one sign up for their rewards program and start earning points for each travel. Once you have enough points you can redeem them for discounts on flights.
6. Get the right travel card
Make sure you get the best exchange rate possible, by using the right payment method for you. There are a lot of online banks out there like Revolut or Starling Bank that have advantageous exchange rate and are essentially made to travel. No need to call your bank to unlock it for using it abroad. Some regular banks also refund any exchange rate fee if you get local currency from an ATM, so do your research.
7. Use public transport
Unless renting a car is necessary, or afforbable, you'd probably want to use public transport. Make sure to search if they have one, how it works (if it's safe), and how to use it. Sometimes depending on the country the taxis will be about the same price as the metro/bus, so look into the official apps they have there (equivalent of Lyft or Uber) and compare the prices. And when possible, just walk to get around.
8. Check for deals and discounts
Search Groupon or Viator for deals on activities or transportation discounts. You'd be surprised but they have a lot of good offers and for about anything you can think of.
9. Pack efficiently and bring all the essentials
Make sure you bring all the items you'll need on your trip. Buy all essentials in your home country, some items can be more expensive abroad like sunscreen, mosquito spray, allergy medicine, etc. That being said, make sure you pack light so you stay within the allowed weight limit for transportation (if using planes), and avoid paying any overweight fees. If you want to take smaller trips within the country you are in, you might need to take the plane and the weight limit is lower for in-country flights.
Travel Safely Tips
Make sure you do your research on that specific country in advance, so that there are no surprises. When doing the whole digital nomad thing, you'll usually want to maximize your time abroad and stay for a couple of weeks or even months (within the allowed time for tourists for that country) so better feel comfortable enough there.
Things to think about:
Research the area you'll be in (safety, supermarkets, public transport etc.)
See if you have contacts that live there (friend or friend of friend) so you have an emergency contact just in case.
Get a travel insurance, if your own doesn't work abroad.
Check if you'll need a phone sim card, and compare prices.
Learn the basics of the language, if it's not yours, to get by.
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