What do you do as a freelancing nomad?

Hey Community, Did you ever come across any YouTube videos that sold the freelancing gig to you? That taught you how to freelance? Where to start? The good and bad points of freelancing? or just follow any YouTubers that specialise in freelancing (for inspiration)?

I'd be interested in learning more...

Thanks in advance.

Anyone know of any groups or resources for Ph.D. students working on dissertation while living as a digital nomad? I know there are several virtual writing groups around, but wondered if there were any specifically for digital nomads, particularly those who are dissertating.

Thanks!

I have finally saved enough money to start investing. What company gives good, diversified access to stock, ETFs and mutual funds? Does it make sense to use company like Vanguard or Fidelity for that? I’m a EU/Poland citizen, how would I transfer my money back and forth without incurring significant fees?

Hello digital nomad!

I dream of being an independent digital nomad. But it feels very elusive & unattainable with my success rate. In full disclosure, whilst I have dreamed about making money online since high school; I have not earned a single cent making money online. $0, nada, zilch!! On the contrary, I have spent a lot of time & money on books, podcasts. Even though I have spent a lot of time reading/listening to others, I do not have anything to show for it!

I have made attempts in the past to start an online business, but these fizzle out quite quickly when I do not see traction especially when the goal I have set myself is too high.

Instead of reaching for the ultimate nomadic lifestyle goal, I want to start much smaller. Really small! I am simply looking to make $50 profit per month from a new online business. That’s it.

I need some advice from you please!

• Is $50 profit too low? How long did it take you to earn $50 profit per month?

• What is a good way of achieving this goal?

Thanks
Mark
aka the $0 online business entrepreneur

When you meet new people or reconnect with old friends, do you “out” yourself as a digital nomad? The simple question “where do you live?” makes us uncertain now. We wonder if some places may be less welcoming to digital nomads, or if “digital nomad” has a negative connotation in some places. If you are forthcoming from the start, does your status as a digital nomad make it hard to form friendships?

We would love to hear how other people navigate this… how to balance being authentic in relationships vs. withholding the context (and allowing people to assume you’re on vacation, for example).

Thanks!

I’m currently in Penang, Malaysia and I was thinking to head to Thailand next. What are the best islands in Thailand to get some work done? I was considering either Ko Lanta or Ko Phangan because those both islands have coworking spaces. I might need to take some client calls, also video. Is the wifi good enough? Are there any other differences between the islands?

Hey guys, here’s a question I’ve been asking nomads I meet everywhere, but still haven’t found good information. My startups mostly focus on american and european markets but I don’t have a registered company, nor I live permanently on any of these countries.

I get the cash payments online in paypal (or adsense) and transfer it to Thailand (or Malaysia, or Bali, or Brazil, or wherever I’m at). The thing is… for low volume living expenses it seems fine, but as I scale the business, I’m starting to think more and more about fiscal law.

A fellow nomad told me to transfer it to Singapore, Hong Kong or The Virgin Islands, and then use an international credit card anywhere. I don’t know if it’s the best way to optimize this… any ideas?

Also, could there be any problems in selling to these countries without a registered local company?

HI, I’m from Argentina: new to Nomad List, and to digital nomad life in general

I want to travel to Budapest on March for two months, can anyone recommend
the best area to stay?

Here’s a sticky guide that I’ll keep updating with a clear path towards becoming a digital nomad as this is one of the most common questions asked.

MONEY
Get a remote job
Remote jobs aggregator https://remoteok.io
Work From Home aggregator https://wfh.io

Become a remote freelancer
Remote freelance agency https://toptal.com
Another remote freelance agency https://x-team.com

Build a remote business
???

PLACES
Find destinations to go https://nomadlist.com/cities
Travel guides https://wikivoyage.org
Travel guides (for SEA) https://travelfish.org
Research cost of living https://numbeo.com

Places to Work http://placestowork.net
Coffee places to work http://workfrom.co

GEAR
Packing list http://www.carryology.com/insights/insights-1/packing-list-of-a-digital-nomad/
Nomad List #gear channel https://nomadlist.com/chat/_gear
Nomad List Gear https://nomadlist.com/gear
SIM cards http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Prepaid_SIM_with_data

Hi, let me start by saying i’m an idiot when it comes to these things. I know all the infos are out there and I’ve been reading posts here as well as googling lots of blogs to find answers but there are just so many details and personal aspects that it leaves me dizzy! I’m hoping for a kind soul to share his/her wisdom with me in simple words. Bear with me while I try to wrap my head around this:

I NEED: 1. to be able to get payed by international customers in Dollars and Euros mostly 2. A way to get to that money with a debit/credit card for online payments and ATM’s in whatever local currency needed (thinking of heading to Bali next)

I AM: newly nomadic designer working with platforms like 99designs and upwork as well as some direct clients. I have swiss citizenship, but am no longer resident there, or anywhere else.

I HAVE: 1. A swiss bank account (UBS) with CHF and no credit card (for savings not to be touched). 2. A spanish bank account (Deutsche Bank) with EUR with a debit and credit card for backup money. 3. A Paypal Account.

The plan is to earn the money I need to live monthly and put it into a spending account and only touch the others (CHF/EUR) if I didn’t make enough money.

So far I’ve come across these options:

1. Paypal
   I already have a paypal account and It does some of what I want. Except I’d have to transfer my online money to my Euro Account to spend it with my spanish credit card. Which sounds like a lot of fees. Blog posts about nomad finances all seem to say paypal is an expensive option.

2. Open Local Bank Accounts / Use Butcoins
   I would like the simplest solution possible. Opening new accounts for every country sounds like too much paperwork (which I hate with the intensity of 100 hell fires). Bitcoins? I’m already confused with all the real currency’s involved please don’t bring in digital ones…

3. Payoneer
   Biggest plus: It is integrated in the platforms I work with (99d & Upwork) so I can pay out my earnings really simple and supposedly cheap. They also give me a Mastercard to spend that money and multi-currency “bank accounts”. But I’ve read really mixed reviews about it so I don’t know what to think of it in the end.

4. Revolut:
   Seems to be just what I need. You get a Mastercard and . It seems like they have really low fees, good exchange rates and no ATM extra-charges? I read some good reviews (except customer service which seems to be terrible with both Payoneer and Revolut). Customers can pay me directly with the multi-currency bank accounts but I would have to find the best way to bring my earnings from 99d and Upwork into here (I read about a guy that uses payoneer to send money to his Revolut? Is anyone using a similar setup?)

5. Travel Credit Cards
   I’ve read about those who are suposed to have low fees and no ATM-charges, have not done any research yet.

So this is what my research brought up. Is there something I missed? Seems like getting to your money is harder than actually making it xD
Does anybody with a similar situation have personal experiences and clear suggestions on this topic?
I can’t seem to make up my mind between payoneer and revolut. I also read about Transferwise bringing in their own credit card but could not find any infos from them? I would really appreciate your inputs because as mentioned I find this all quite overwhelming and would love an easy solution that involves the least amount of paperwork/effort (even is I loose a few cents here and there if not possible otherwise)

Thank you all!!

Have any of you nomads been approved for a mortgage in a foreign country?

I am a UK citizen, and now that I work online I’m interested in maybe buying a property somewhere else in Europe. I don’t particularly want to live in the UK, and house prices are ridiculous here anyway. I would much rather buy a little apartment in one of any number of European cities; just somewhere to have as a base in between travelling.

Has anyone ever done such a thing? How did the process work? Which country did you buy property in and how straight-forward was the process?

Hi everyone,

Starting in May 2016, I’m taking a year and a half abroad to work and develop my online businesses. I’m making more than 10k dollars per month at the moment from mainly 2 revenue streams. It works well but we all know how things change fast online - that’s why I’m always looking to launch new businesses.

We all know how the team is important in each profitable business. That’s why I would like to meet other nomads to launch online projects together.

I’m more a digital marketing expert and have as well some web design + web development skills. My ideal vision will be to rent a house at 3 or 4 (a programmer, a designer, a marketer and an operations/sales expert for instance) and work together on new online projects (eCommerce, saas, or anything else that can be profitable). We can even be more in the house and would work on other/more projects. Because the team will probably be international, our projects can have a quick international scope (I’m French and I speak English and Spanish as well). We would change our location every 2/3 months to enjoy the nomad’s life

Do you find my proposition interesting? According to you, how can I improve it?
Or, do you know any other way to find business partners as a nomad?

Thank you very much for reading me,

Best,
D.

Which is your favourite country in the world to incorporate and why?

I have a product that I plan to retail in the EU, Japan, the USA, Canada and New Zealand. Where should I incorporate?

I’d love to hear some advice on how to get customers and making everything work smoothly and remotely.

//Chris

I’m thinking about living fulltime in an RV mostly in the US and North America. Is this still part of the digital nomad community? Is there anyone who has tried this? Pros? Cons? Thanks!

Hey everyone! There’s often loads of blogs and threads about nomads from Americans and Europeans but I haven’t come across any for nomads from Asia-Pacific.

I personally hold an Australian passport and Hong Kong PR and completely new to being a nomad. Any suggestions at all or resources that others may have come across on this particular topic?

Personally, I’m looking at broad medical/health insurance, travel insurance and as a bonus, insurance which may also cover scuba diving