Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the number of digital nomads. These are the workers who travel across countries and continents, taking "workcations" and enjoying the ability to work from anywhere with internet connection.
I started my digital nomad journey in 2019. Currently, I'm a freelance writer and video producer living in Croatia. Having traveled and worked abroad for the past few years, I've learned — especially through my mistakes — how to make the process seamless and stress-free.
For anyone thinking of taking their worklife abroad, here's what I wish I knew before leaving the U.S.:
1. Create recurring income before taking the plunge
If you run your own business or are a freelancer like me, planning ahead and having a reliable stream of income is crucial. Otherwise, you might end up stressing about running out of money for basic expenses.
If I could go back in time, I wouldn't have spent so much time chasing larger>2. Do research>3. Create a routine that you can bring anywhere
If you're leaving your oceanside hometown to be a digital nomad in a big city, you won't be able to continue your morning routine of, for example, taking a morning stroll>4. Don't solely rely>5. Building a social life doesn't have to be hard
Loneliness is a real concern for many people when they first arrive to a new place. But traveling alone doesn't have to mean always being by yourself.
In fact,>6. Worst-case scenarios rarely happen
Early on in my travel-planning stages, I unnecessarily stressed myself out by fixating on all the worst-case scenarios.
I worried about so many things:
There's a name for this: catastrophizing — and it's quite common. But throughout my entire experience as a digital nomad, none of the worst-case scenarios I had anticipated actually happened.
When I started contextualizing my fears and reframing them as opportunities, it made the unknown far more comfortable to embrace.
With that mindset, language barriers became an opportunity to learn and meeting people became a fun challenge.
