Week #3 → Flights booked + some long-term travel tips for lowering costs

Being a digital nomad isn’t all about work!
One of my favourite things to do, is to plan new trips. The research, the planning, and the excitement involved with flying to a new country is a fun, fulfilling process.
This past week, after oscillating between several different countries, I finally decided to book flights to Iceland, and from Iceland to Poland.
The plan is to spend a few days in Iceland, before spending 1.5 months in Poznań, Poland, while traveling around various other European countries during that time. The plan, is to also see Italy, the Czech Republic & Hungary during that 1.5 months in Poland.
I’m super excited to be visiting Iceland, Poland, Ukraine (again), Greece, Thailand & Georgia over the next few months. Perks of working for yourself!
The best thing about Europe, are the cheap flights betweens countries, and the great network of trains that allow you to access a bunch of different countries, for relatively cheap.
There’s a big misconception that you need to be making a lot of money to be a digital nomad; but that’s simply not the case. You can live in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Baltics, South-East Asia for dirt, dirt cheap.
The key to bootstrapping, for those of you interested is to plan ahead. If you plan far enough ahead, there’s no reason why you can’t live for cheap in several countries, while you build your businesses.
This is a non-eCom post, but it’s one that people have been asking me about. So here are some useful tips that I recommend. In the beginning stages of building my businesses, these saved me A LOT of money.
- Limit your logistical costs → The biggest issue that first-time digital nomads have, is that they want to see as many countries as possible, living the good life; fancy restaurants, first-class flights and private limousines. This isn’t reality. Limiting logistical costs is easy; pick a single country to live in for 1–3 months. At the initial stages, you’ll want to reduce costs by limiting flights, buses and rental expenses (which I’ll discuss below)
- Limiting rental costs → My usual strategy, is book an Airbnb for a few days, sometimes a week. Airbnb is fantastic for short-term stays, and they do indeed offer a discount if you book monthly, however, this isn’t enough if you’re bootstrapping. Even know, I prefer to avoid Airbnb for long-term stays, as I can save up to 30–40% by using a short-term rental through an agency. If you absolutely are hellbent on using Airbnb, you can negotiate them down 10–15% or more by messaging them before booking.
- Contact a real-estate agency in advance, and inquire about short-term rentals (1–3 months), and set up viewings for the first few days in a new country. Renting an apartment using an agent has the downside of an upfront cost (first + last months rent, and an agent fee), and utilities, however, even by using an agent, you’ll save 30–40%, and be able to find a place in a good location.
- Cook your own meals. Eating out, even in cheap countries, can get pricey if you add up your total expenditures over a 1-month period. Cooking your own meals, is not only cost-effective, but it’s also much healthier, because you know what you’re putting in your body. In Ukraine, 99% of the food is lathered in butter & sour cream (not really, but you get my point).
- If you’re looking for additional income, teach english at night. If you’re staying in a country for 3-months, and speak fluent english (or are a native speaker), you’ll be in high-demand — especially in Eastern Europe. It’s decent money for a few hours per-night, you’ll get to meet locals, and you’ll have plenty of time to work on your business during the day.
The most important thing is to set a schedule, and stick to it. Keep yourself accountable, work hard, and most importantly — enjoy yourself.
It’s easy to get caught up in saving money, and working, but you need to enjoy the new country you’ll be living in. Set aside money for seeing the sights, exploring historical areas, and visiting other cities; traveling within a country is usually fairly cheap, and even in less-developed countries, cities are pretty well connected via trains.
“What countries should I visit”
That’s entirely up to you. But based on my experience, you want a country that is cheap, safe, has enough touristy things to keep you busy during off-time, and a decent population of english-speakers..The following countries come to mind..
- Ukraine
- Poland
- Georgia
- Bulgaria
- Serbia
- Thailand
- Hungary
Any questions, just ask.
Until next time,
Ryan

