Could You Be a Digital Nomad?

TTT Digital Nomad
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Meggan: Hey everyone and welcome back to Travel Tip Tuesday on the Travel Mug podcast. As always, I am Meggan. Joined my partner inby podcasting, Jenn. How are you?

Jenn: I am good. I just had a funny thought that we should dress up as each other for Halloween, and then that would be

Meggan: Oh my goodness, I just have to like, I don't know if I can be that cute. I, I could, I could be that short because I would be sitting down. So that part wouldn't matter.

Jenn: I'd have to get stilts.

Meggan: We'll just remain seated.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: you'll get a curly wig and we'll call it a day. So today we want to thank SafetyWing for partnering with us to bring you this episode and stay tuned because later in the show, We will talk about their very relevant services to the topic of this week's Travel Tip Tuesday.

So, what is that travel tip, you say? Well, in this day and age, we hear a lot about living and working abroad. But we want to take a few minutes and talk about being a digital nomad and get you thinking, could you, yes you, become a digital nomad? Well, there are apparently over 35 million digital nomads worldwide. So we feel based on that, anything is possible, you know what I'm saying? Now, to start, a digital nomad is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as a person who earns a living working online in various locations of their choosing rather than a fixed business location. Sounds dreamy. I mean, right away, I'm, I would love to be in, and I'm not sure it's in my cards, but I would love to be in, but what do you actually have to think about before, you know, really, truly deciding to become a digital nomad?

So here are a few steps to consider. Among many others. So of course as we preach a lot on this podcast, research, research, research above all will be the most important thing you do. But a few things you might find in that research is the lifestyle really isn't for everyone. So doing some serious self reflection on, why do you want to do this?

Are you running away from something? Are you okay being alone for that long? Of course, you'll likely create a community or meet people, but it may not start out that way. And what is really driving you to consider this lifestyle? Why do you want to be a digital nomad, I think is a really great question to start with. Now, secondly, a big key is what are you going to do for a job? That's part of the whole thing, you know? So what are your strengths and skills? What hard skills do you possess, such as digital marketing? Social media management, IT, just examples. , and do you have the soft skills, such as the discipline to actually do the work rather than just lay on the beach? Or the time management to ensure that you're doing a job in a non traditional setting, where, like I mentioned, you could be doing other things, such as traveling, instead of just working. Now, If you are planning to do your current job, how do you convince your manager or company to allow you to do so?

Have you thought of that? Do you have enough saved, , to support yourself out in the world? Do you have the coin to do so? And then other things to consider, really, amongst, again, quite a few, It sounds daunting, but there's visas, you know, how are you going to travel? What about your accommodations? And what about your country's taxes that they are still going to want to collect from your monies? So these are just, a few things to consider. It sounds like a lot, it could be a lot, and this isn't even everything. However, People are working digitally and traveling the world. It isn't out of the norm these days and if you have the urge to do something different with your life, we wanted to sort of just put this out there and do something a little bit different on Travel Tip Tuesday because maybe this is your sign to go for it. Now something else you will need to consider is taking care of yourself and that means insurance. If you are a digital nomad now or you're considering it, you know that anything can happen to getting sick, to your passport getting lost or stolen, etc.

Jenn: Yeah, anything can happen. So SafetyWing offers travel medical insurance that's specifically designed for the needs of freelancers, remote workers, and digital nomads. And no matter where in the world you are. So with SafetyWing, you're covered all over the world with one policy. It's a monthly subscription.

So you're continuously covered and then you can just turn it off when you don't need it. If you return home. Something else to keep in mind is that they recently launched a new version of their Nomad insurance product with a 0 deductible and a new claim process that takes less than five minutes to fill in what could be better.

And some other Key features that we really love is the zero dollar deductible. Like we said, it means you're covered for even the smallest claims, which is amazing. There's no pre approval needed. It takes just five minutes online to purchase. You can do it the same day you fly out. You can do it if you're already traveling.

And then like we said, it's a pay as you go subscription. You can cancel at any time and it covers you in over 180 countries. So you have lots of options.

Meggan: Definitely. Now Jenn, if I can put this question to you, have you ever dreamed of or given serious thought to becoming a digital nomad?

Jenn: Yes, so becoming location independent was a huge goal of mine in 2017 when I started my travel blog Will Save for Travel. That eventually turned into a freelancing business, a virtual assistant business, which is then morphed into working remotely for a real estate company. That being said, after self reflection, I love having a home base. I am a homeowner, I enjoy most of the time being a homeowner, and we also have four animals, so that is something, uh, that makes it very difficult to be a digital nomad, but that being said, my husband also, uh, works remotely, and because of that, hopefully we'll be able to spend winters in Florida or do longer travel in the future. So that's definitely a goal of ours. What about you, Meggan? Has, has this ever been a goal for you or a thought? No,

Meggan: It honestly really hasn't. I don't think there's ever been a time where either of us, myself or my husband, has been in a role that sort of we both knew we could go anywhere and work anywhere at that time. We've always, one of us has always sort of been tied and that includes now and of course we have good jobs so we want to make sure that we maintain those so that we can at least travel.

So not necessarily. Now, of course, Early retirement would be nice and being able to sort of not work and have the funds to do so, but not necessarily yet During our working careers, but obviously, you know, anything can happen So I don't I don't count anything out but not right now. That's what I would say Yeah, so that is it for this week's travel tip Tuesday We just wanted to plant the seed or maybe this is your sign to really start consider getting out there into the world and Living what's maybe been a dream for you for a while, and maybe it hasn't, but maybe now it is.

So just do your research, ensure you are doing it for the right reasons, and prepare properly, and the world is your oyster. And either way, travel safely, and don't forget, to get your insurance before hitting the road. You can find the link to SafetyWing and their flexible options at the link in our show notes.

And as always, thank you for tuning in. You can find us on social media at TravelMugPodcast including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, at our website, TravelMugPodcast. com. You can support the show by buying us a coffee at the link in our show notes, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps us, and until next time, bye!