5 Tips to Help You Succeed as A Digital Nomad

‘’Not all who wander are lost’’ J.R.R Tolkien
Life on the open road, setting up your office wherever you lay your laptop. No alarm clock and being your own boss — sounds great right?
For me it’s been the best decision I ever made and the last 10 months have been full of adventure, lots of experiences, tasty food, meeting amazing new people and a few sleepless nights with noisy neighbours (but hey, not everything is always perfect!).
You might be considering the digital nomad life yourself, or maybe you are a digital nomad and are looking for some tips to make it even more amazing!? Whatever your situation, this article will hopefully give a few pointers on how to succeed or improve.
If you’re not aware, a ‘’digital nomad’’ is someone who is location independent and earns a living using computer technologies. A ‘’remote worker’’ is classified slightly differently and is usually someone who works for a company at home or on the road, sometimes for specific hours a day.
1. Ensure You Find a Work-Life Balance
This has taken me a while to figure out and I’m still working on it! When I came away I was earning money from freelance writing and I knew I wanted to start another online business. I first started a Shopify store, then moved on to build an affiliate marketing business.
The thing is, after a while, I realised I wasn’t enjoying my surroundings as I was holed up all today in a café or my hotel room.
While I agree you have to work hard when starting a new online venture, I would definitely recommend you take time to enjoy the perks of being a digital nomad like; going on tours, enjoying the beach, walking around the new city you’re in.
Otherwise, you’ll just start to feel burned out like you might have been, in a cubicle at home in the office! Find that balance, work on your online business but give yourself time to be free — plus don’t feel guilty for doing that!

2. Constantly Learn from Others
If you want to succeed at digital nomad life, the best place to start is learning from people who have trod that path before you. Read travel blogs, watch YouTube videos by other travelers and take courses to increase your skills and give you the tools to make money as you cruise around.
There are plenty of free and cheap e-courses available online to help you learn skills like; coding, social media management, copywriting and digital marketing for example.
And of course, setting up your own travel blog is a brilliant way to document your travels and eventually get cash rolling in. Many travel bloggers make money from ad deals, selling products, affiliate marketing and by writing for other people.
3. Choose Your Most Productive Times to Work
Society has usually got us to work between the hours of 9–5 pm, but this doesn’t mean these are the most productive hours for all humans.
I know myself I’m much better earlier on and get all my tasks done before 4 pm when possible. Occasionally I’ll pull an all-dayer if I have to, but I know that my attention span starts to wane after about 3pm.
But on the flipside, I have friends who are night owls and do their best work in the evenings!?
You may know yourself already, as you used to always hit the snooze button finding it hard to get up. If not, test out your working times when on the road and plan to get the most important stuff done in those times.
Check out my article on ‘’How to find a remote job that is right for YOU’’ here.
4. Take Your Time in Each Place
If you’re new to travel, all wide-eyed and shiny booted, you may be tempted to hop from place to place like a wild thing. While this may seem like a good idea, you won’t really get to know places properly and you may start to feel overwhelmed getting behind with work.
Travelling to a new area can sometimes take a day out of your calendar, where you won’t get much work done.
I’ve stayed in Thailand locations 1–2 months at a time with the one-month free visa and extending for one month. I’ve enjoyed this much more than moving on quickly and it’s given me time to focus on my new affiliate marketing business and make connections.

5. Travel with The Right Tools
One of the most obvious and essential digital nomad tools is of course the laptop. Running your business from a phone or IPad isn’t that practical or convenient. Make sure you have a good, secure backpack to carry it in with a waterproof cover if possible — it’s highly likely you’ll get caught in showers in rainy season.
Most places these days will have WIFI, but if you go more remote it won’t always be strong. Some ways around this are; getting a range extender and to buy phone data which can be used as a hotspot when necessary.
Noise-cancelling headphones are a great idea, as working in bustling cafes or in a hotel room with construction going on next door can be distracting.
A smartphone with a good camera is also top on the list of travel tools needed by a digital nomad. If you’re setting up your own online business, it’s likely you’re going to be promoting it on social media and being able to take crisp clear photos and great videos is imperative.

Take Time to Build a Digital Nomad Life That Works for YOU
We are all different and it can take some time to start living the ideal digital nomad life for you. I’ve been travelling and working from my laptop for 10 months now and I’m still finding out what works.
The one thing I am sure of is; it’s been an amazing journey and I can’t wait to see what the next 10 months bring.
If you need extra help starting your own digital nomad journey, let me know in the comments below. If you are a digital nomad, let me know any other suggestions you have?
You can find me in my Facebook group here.
Check out my blog for making money online, mindset and digital nomad tips.
Visit my latest YouTube video to learn ‘’How to start an online business with $100 or less!’’.
