How to Become a Digital Nomad

Imagine working from a different location every month; how about every week or even every day! Moreover, what if you could work while you sat on a beach or travelling on a train? Sound too good to be true? Well it's possible and as any digital nomad will tell you, it's a very exciting lifestyle.

The key to achieving this way of life is to harness the power of the internet and create an income for yourself online. This allows you to work from wherever you want and quite often, whenever you want. However, it's not something you can achieve overnight and it takes a great deal of planning and hard work.

If the idea of becoming a digital nomad is one that interests you, then the first thing you need to do is research the lifestyle. There are plenty of blogs and websites dedicated to this phenomenon, all of which contain vital information and in most cases, are written by people living this lifestyle already.

So now you've learnt more about the lifestyle, is it still something that interests you? If so, the next thing you need to do is create an online income for yourself - something easier said than done unfortunately. You have to be able to work from anywhere, so it's no good carving out an online career that sees you required in a certain place at a certain time every week. Start by thinking about the things that you are good at and then the things that interest you. If you find it difficult to string a sentence together, then freelance writing probably isn't for you. However, maybe you have a flair for design and so building websites could be a viable option.

If you're lucky enough to have a day job already, don't be hasty and quit it right away. You're going to need time to build your online career and money while you are doing it. It can be tempting to think that more hours spent online will prove beneficial in the long run and while you may be right, balancing your day job and online career is the best option at the start.

To really become a digital nomad you have to be prepared to downsize and get rid of everything that won't be needed in your new life. That means your house, car, TV, appliances, most of your clothes and anything else that you aren't going to need. Storage is one option but a lot of it will be obsolete by the time you collect it, so it's much better to sell it, donate it or simply give it away. Keep a small box of sentimental items and store them somewhere safe. At this point, you are ready to fulfill your dream of becoming a digital nomad.