Life as a Digital Nomad 101

This is how you get beyond Denmark's borders as a digital nomad

Do you have to be in your mid-20s and way too tech-savvy to succeed as a digital nomad? No, you shouldn't. If you can deliver your service online, you can in principle combine your freelance business with life as a digital nomad. And it can look in many ways.

We have made a guide for you who are considering jumping into it. You will get a handle on what a digital nomad is and how to become one. You get an insight into the advantages and disadvantages of the mobile lifestyle, and a number of good tips for surviving and thriving as a nomad in a modern world. 

Let's start by getting the concepts in place. Most people have heard of digital nomads and have a sense of what it means, but what do the words really mean?

What is a digital nomad?

Being 'digital' is not so mysterious. It is what it sounds like. You work online and use digital tools such as a laptop or smartphone to carry out your work. This is how many of us work. Even if we meet at the same office every day at 9.

The word 'nomad' is an older term which covers people who do not have a fixed place of residence, but move from place to place, often with the aim of finding more food, new pastures and a better climate. Originally, that kind of liquid lifestyle was therefore about survival.

Today, we are more privileged and can choose to live as a digital nomad. Now it's more about having the possibility or the freedom to move without losing his livelihood.

A modern digital nomad is therefore a person who is not dependent on a geographical location to carry out his (digital) work, but has the freedom to travel around and, to a greater extent, work on his own terms. 

But traveling is not necessarily what drives you. Just working regardless of residence. The flexibility and freedom to travel when you feel like it. In principle, the work can easily take place from the same foreign base, as long as you have a visa that covers you.

How do I become a digital nomad?

When you want to chase your dream as a digital nomad, you either need to get your freelance business under control first, or be ready to run it from a hammock or mountaintop. The latter requires a larger buffer saving, so that you have peace of mind and focus on getting the ship into the lake.

Therefore, start saving and make a budget. It provides some security at the start if you can go out with a little money in your pocket. You have something to live on while you establish yourself professionally as a digital nomad, and maybe also some money to burn off on experiences along the way.

The next step is to figure out where you want to travel and how you want to make money along the way.

The best destinations for digital nomads

As a digital nomad, the world is your playground. But there are still places that are more obvious to relocate to than others.

Nomadlist.com gives a good overview of destinations for digital nomads. Here you can search by country and filter by cost of living, internet, experiences, security and much more. 

Here are 3 things you might want to consider when choosing a destination:

1. Are there good places you can work?

For example, cafes with internet access or co-working spaces together with other digital nomads if you plan to stay in a destination for a long time. Check, for example, tropicalnomad.org, which facilitates co-working spaces for digital nomads on the popular volcanic island of Bali.

2. What is the climate like and what do you prefer?

Most people associate the digital nomad life with warm skies, but you can also work remotely from Nordic countries such as Norway, where the island in particular Svalbard is attractive to digital nomads. Here you can exceptionally get a digital nomad visa with lifetime duration.

3. Cost of living and opportunity for experiences.

There are many places in the world where the cost of living is lower than in Denmark. If you travel to Asia, there is a good chance that you can live cheaply and afford more experiences. If you are determined to live with private people, you can probably do it very cheaply. Alternatively, you can check this one guide to Airbnb for beginners.

Think passive income and "rye bread products"

If you can already start generating a passive income, you are guaranteed an ongoing income alongside the freelance income, which can vary, depending on how your setup looks.

The term 'passive income' is of course optimistic. It is not completely passive. But the idea is that you do the work once and make money from it over and over again. It's smart anyway.

Affiliate marketing is an obvious option. A good example of a project that generates passive income is Men's Venture: A blog with a niche topic (in English) where there is a large audience looking for answers to questions related to the topic. If you get good at it, you can even make it your primary source of income and live off affiliate and advertising income. 

Creating a source of income that is something close to passive requires a lot active involvement, and takes some time to build up. 

When you sell yourself online - regardless of whether you are based in New York or in Næstved - you might want to think about developing a so-called rye bread product. It can be a course, an e-book or similar, which you put together once and can sell again and again.

You must have a digital nomad visa

Maybe you already have an idea of where you want to travel and how you want to earn money along the way. But before you head out into the big world, you need to have practical things under control such as visas and insurance.

Many travel on a tourist visa, but that is not quite enough when you want to work remotely from abroad. You have to get hold of one nomadic visa, which allows you to travel and work as a digital nomad for an extended period. Fortunately, there are more and more countries that offer this.

Visaguide.world has compiled a list of countries that offer nomad visas. The guide also guides you confidently through the process of applying for your visa.

To qualify for a nomad visa, you typically need to have an employer in a country other than where you want to relocate to, work as a freelancer or have your own business that you can run online regardless of where you live.

The conditions you are offered as a digital nomad vary from country to country. Freelancermap.com gives a good overview of countries with favorable deals for digital nomads. 

We don't miss Bali, which is a top favorite for digital nomads. Nature is beautiful and the cost of living is low. And then Bali has just introduced one tax free nomad visa, which allows foreigners to live and work remotely in the country for up to 5 years. These are pretty good terms for a digital nomad.

Get a handle on tax and insurance

If you travel a lot from place to place and have a business or an employer in Denmark, it makes the best sense to pay Danish tax. If you have many Danish customers, it can also increase their security that your company is registered in Denmark. Read here how to pay tax as a freelancer.

However, you must remember to inform the bank of your travel plans. It can be troublesome to manage your finances on the go, so it is important to have the bank on the sidelines. After all, you want to have access to your funds in the bank, regardless of where you are in the world. 

Illness, mishaps and accidents can quickly put an end to your nomadic adventure if you don't have the insurance in order. Some insurance companies have health insurance options specifically for digital nomads. 

Check how your current insurance company covers you. If you are insufficiently covered, you can find advice and guidance on the travel blog Nordombord, which compares some of the best travel insurance for longer trips.