When it comes to travelling, there are two types of travellers. There are the “tourist” travellers… and then there are the travellers who LIVE to travel…
If you think about people who travel, it’s pretty fair to put them on a spectrum that identifies their true level of wanderlust. The spectrum would be on a ranging scale of “homebody” all the way up to “digital nomad”... Homebodies are the individuals who could care less about traveling, while digital nomads are the ones who have turned traveling into a complete lifestyle!
There, of course, isn’t a real “spectrum” that categorises travellers based on their level of wanderlust but if you consider yourself as one who would love the opportunity to turn travel into a lifestyle, then you are someone who would fall in love with the digital nomad lifestyle.
What is a Digital Nomad?
Well, there’s no “true” definition of what a digital nomad is but a better way to explain it would be to break down the name itself.
Digital: The digital part of digital nomads means that these individuals have location independent jobs. They earn most, if not all, of their income online, so as long as they have access to the internet, they have the ability to earn income, through any mobile devices.
Nomad: The nomad part of digital nomads means they’re not tied down to any single destination or location… they’re constantly on the move.
Once you put the two terms together, you’ll see that a digital nomad is someone who travels the world earning an income on a mobile device, such as a laptop, with an internet connection.
These are travel and work benefits that people working a typical 9 to 5 job don’t get to experience. Because you have such flexibility, you can travel to a new destination every few weeks or even every few days if you want, but most digital nomads will stay in various destinations for extended periods of time to get to know the location better and to fully experience the culture there.
Earning As a Digital Nomad
Earning as a digital nomad is the part that makes people a tad bit apprehensive about the whole idea. They’re not too sure about the idea of leaving their reliable full-time income and trading it in for the beautiful world of uncertainty. It’s completely plausible to have that concern but the thing that people are scared of about this lifestyle is the very thing that should be the least of their concerns!
In fact, you’re more likely to make more money as a digital nomad than you would working a full-time job. In fact, carving out time to make sure you have a good work-life balance should be more of a concern than worrying about earning enough income because the money will find you.
According to global-goose.com, the best way to maximise your time in each location is to travel slow and work fast. This allows you to not miss any highlight of your destination while working as efficiently as possible. That’s enough to make some people make the move to quit their full-time jobs and start their digital nomad journeys but for others, they need more convincing. Take a look at some of the most common and profitable ways to earn an income as a digital nomad.
Work As a Transcriptionist
If you have a good set of headphones, can connect to high-speed internet, and can type as fast as Speedy Gonzales can run (with accuracy), then you have all the makings to become a transcriptionist. A transcriptionist is a fancy way to say, professional typist, but that’s in no way intended to downplay the job… this is a job that not too many people have the skills and speed to do.
As a transcriptionist, you’re going to be listening to recorded or live audio files and convert the verbal messages into text format. You’re pretty much typing what you hear. This skill set is one that’s pretty amazing to have but not easy to do.
To be a successful transcriptionist, you have to know a computer keyboard like the back of your hand, be able to focus on the computer screen without looking down at the keyboard, and type the message with very minimal mistakes. The medical and legal industries utilise this service heavily.
Build an E-Commerce Store
The world of entrepreneurship already gives you the freedom to work a flexible schedule but then when you add the aspect being location independent, that just takes your earning potential to a completely new level.
As the owner of an e-commerce store, you not only have the ability to make money because you’re a business owner, but you now have the ability to make money from anywhere in the world just from your business itself.
You can use shopify.com to build a fully-featured website to give customers the ultimate shopping experience. This will allow you to start accepting orders the moment you’re virtually “open for business!”
Engage in Freelance Work
Freelance work is a great way to work on your own time. In order to have a successful career in freelance work, you need to do an assessment of your strengths and weaknesses in the services you can provide.
Maybe you’ve thought about data entry but you’re not too confident in your speed of typing. But maybe you really enjoy writing on your personal blog about all the places you’ve been… Instead of solely writing for your personal blog (for free), you can actually get paid for travel writing! Travel writing might have been just a hobby but now you can actually profit from it through freelance work.
Freelance work not only includes writing but it also includes web design, bookkeeping, photography, marketing, and many more jobs as well. Look at all the areas you excel in and freelance your skills and talents into a profitable service!
*Collaborative post - for more information on what this means, please see my Disclaimer.
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