A practical guide To living (and working) 8667 km away from the office.
There are a tons of articles about living as a so-called digital nomad. When I look back at the over 5 months of my stay in Taipei, Taiwan I can honestly say that even though some of them might help you make a decision whether or not it something for you, they don’t really prepare you for the challenges you will be facing. With this article I’ll try to give you some practical advice on what to take care of before you leave your country and start a wonderful (or not) journey that you will someday tell your grandchildren about.
Right here I want to clearly state that this text refers to Asia and Taiwan, but from what I know, apart from a few small exceptions, most of the common go-to locations follow similar rules.
But why?
First and foremost you should really, and by really I mean like REALLY, seriously think about the place you are going to live in, and why is it this particular place. For me it was following the love of my life (she might read it hehe) on her one-year scholarship in Taipei. I kinda knew what I could expect the place to be, HOWEVER when I talk to people who kept their online job and just moved here because they thought it was cool, the majority of them say that after the honeymoon there comes real life and with every single day you start to see more and more drawbacks of living and working so far away. Do thorough research and make sure It is really the right place for you and your job.
Let’s do it!
So, to start off, you should book an appointment with all of the people you would normally contact at work in case of emergency: your leader, senior, Project manager, whatever. Tell them the risks that come with your trip, which are:
- You have an accident, you go to a hospital and have no possibility to contact anybody from your company for a day or two.
- Your company equipment that you work on is destroyed or stolen and you have no gear to work on.
- You get sick and suddenly you need to take few days off.
- You will most likely live in an area that has a 5h+ time difference and that affects your flexibility when it comes to working hours.
- You will most likely be unable to attend on-site workshops or projects that require your physical presence and that will affect your scheduling and work assignments.
- If you go to any country that has a limited time tourist visa-free stay, you will need to go for a short trip outside this country every now and then to renew the visa.
- With so much to see around and stuff you need to take care of, the normal yearly vacation allowance might not be enough and you will most likely have to ask for unpaid vacation.
If they are cool and supportive with all that, then congratulations! You can buy a ticket to a tropical paradise or wherever you want to spend your nearest piece of life in!
What’s next?
Now what I suggest you to do is to call an embassy of your destination country and simply tell them what you are trying to do and ask them to tell you anything you need to know and what might be the problems to watch out for. 99% of the time you will connect with a friendly and helpful person that will guide you through the policy of you staying there and what you can do to make it a pleasant experience.
Things you need to have worked out:
Finance — transferring funds and converting them to a usable currency can be pretty expensive in fees and commissions. I use Revolut app which solves this problem, but not all countries will have this possibility.
Health insurance — find a plan that includes an on-site specialist that will arrange anything for you in a short time. Make sure it is valid through your whole stay.
Backup plan — You should secure some money for an emergency comeback or unexpected expenses if something goes wrong. Two months’ worth of anticipated expenses is a good start. That also includes laptop or phone failures.
Unexpected legal stuff — if there is anything you will need to take care of at your tax office or bank, there is a big chance someone can do it for you, but for that there is a need for a disposition.
Connectivity — In some countries unlimited access to high speed internet is ridiculously expensive or simply unavailable. Make sure you won’t be surprised by that.
Of course there are many more things to cover, but the problem is that they vary depending on the country you are going to visit.
What you should prepare for and how to do it:
Language — The thing you instantly get to know that, apart from the Philippines, people outside the big cities don’t speak English, and i don’t mean good English — I mean like no English at all. Even google translate won’t help you. For me it is not a huge issue because my girlfriend studies Chinese, but I can honestly say that if I came here on my own and tried to deal with everything without help for this long I would be screwed.
My advice here is look for a Facebook group of people from your country living in your destination. Talk to them and try to make some friends who could help you in case of a problem. Also, if possible, try to learn at least the very basics of the language you might need.
Adjusting your workflow — The thing you may not be willing to think about is that, overall, you are making your employer take a major risk, so you should be prepared to go the extra mile at work to reciprocate.
I suggest to try working from home for a bit to see if you even qualify for the task. It all sounds cool when you hear about travelling and so on, BUT when something goes wrong you have onsite support, you have high quality equipment like monitors and various devices that might be more crucial to your work than you realize, even a coffee machine to wake you up after a longer than expected game night with your friends. Living on the other side of the world you are on your own, so consider what you use on a regular basis and whether you can live without it, does it impact you performance?
Material stuff — If you work in a somewhat professional company, there is a great chance you use your company laptop or other devices, which obviously might break. So what if they do?
Unfortunately, it is your problem and a risk you must be willing to take. The solution here might be international electronics insurance plans that will allow you to service your device in any country on the list — just make sure yours happen to be on the list. I don’t recommend saving on these, because if you need to randomly get yourself a new Macbook Pro after you drop it or spit some Litchi flavoured jasmine bubble milk tea, you are going to have a bad day.
Getting to know the new place — Try to get as much as possible done BEFORE leaving your home. By that I mean finding an apartment to look at when you land. In this case the friend that you made and talked to about your dream place can be a lot of help. Get to know the area as fast as possible, maybe start your time in the new place with some vacation to get the most out of it so you have a head start and make it a little less intimidating.
Have I done all of that?
I have to make a confession — I didn’t do half of these things, and my migration to Taiwan was an adrenaline driven yolo-type of an experience which caused me a few sleepless stressed out nights along the way. Still, I think It was one of the most fruitful times of my life and it still lasts.
Worth it?
I learnt a lot about managing my time, working out solutions to random problems and enjoying my work on a completely different level, as well as gained a lot more confidence in my capabilities. Even if this article may sound a little discouraging, I want to clearly state that if you ever have an opportunity to go for an adventure like this and you feel capable of doing it, then go for it. Just make sure to prepare for it and take a lot of pics!
