Combining work and travelling like a digital nomad is the dream of many folks
Photo by CC user novecentino on Flickr

To travel is to live. Hans Christian Andersen, the author of these words, should definitely be praised for such a laconic and precise motto of all travelers. Travelling inspires us to learn more, to become better people, to overcome troubles and to expand our horizons. At the long last, why cannot it inspire us to work? Especially to work right on the road.

Indeed, there is no need to stay tied to a traditional office-based job anymore. At the moment, almost everyone may find an opportunity to work online, which means from home or basically any place with good Wi-Fi. Isn’t it a dream to start the working day in a beach bar after a surfing lesson somewhere on the coast of New Zealand? Many people live this life, even though it is definitely full of difficulties and even dangers. After all, sand and salt water have cruelly destroyed hundreds of laptops! Besides, it’s actually quite challenging to keep working on a beach the whole day long, while an attempt to find free Wi-Fi may turn into a real quest!

In such a way, workspace optimization would be a good thing to master. Nevertheless, this is definitely not the biggest trouble. The real challenge would actually be to find the opportunity to work online and earn enough to finance your travels. And this is certainly not an easy thing, and you’d better not believe those who say that it’s not difficult. Still, it’s doable. Let’s consider a couple of options.

So, one of my friends on Facebook is a web designer and he has once set a goal to see every state in the US. I don’t want to mention his real name so let’s call him James. The moment he decided to try this lifestyle he was a junior specialist, which is why he thought it would be better not to travel abroad. After almost a four-month trip, he has learned how to spend no more than $50-60 a day, which is actually an invaluable experience. He is at home now, although he is already planning his next trip, this time to Canada.

In fact, if your profession is somehow related to IT technologies – congratulations! To find a remote job is not much harder than to find an office-based one, not to mention the fact that jobs in this field are very well paid.

Those who do have certain understanding of financial and economic trends and processes could try another option. I personally know one man who currently lives on the West coast of America and even though he does not move from one place to another too often, he is definitely a traveler – the small town he comes from is somewhere in Minnesota. What he is doing is HF trades and sport bettings – yeah, that’s risky, but he is a master of his craft! For those who don’t know what is HF trading – it is a form of online trading with limited risk which always allows traders to know the amount of their potential profits and losses. As this man has explained, this is better than Forex because you always know how big the risk you take is, so no unpleasant surprises may occur. After all, sudden financial crisis is not the best thing that may happen on the road.

Finally, one more example to follow is for those who do not possess any knowledge in either computer or finance industries. Everything you will need is the knowledge of English and desire to share it with others. One of my friends, let her name be Martha, travels around Latin America and teachers English. This is not the best-paid job ever, but she has learned how to travel low-cost. In order not to be tied to one place, she decided to teach mostly on Skype. Still, she has also tried teaching at local schools for a couple of months, and this was quite successful. Apart from this, she has a journey blog that brings some small profit as well.

As you see, the most important thing one needs to understand how to combine work and travelling is to carefully think about one’s skills and knowledge and find out how they may be applied online. Use your imagination, after all! The biggest misconceptions is to think that you do not have any skills to work remotely. But still, remember, this is only misconception. Good luck and don’t be afraid to try!