In recent years, more and more people have been combining both travel and work. With the proliferation of online jobs, we are increasingly working independently of location. This provides the opportunity to lead a nomadic lifestyle. But how do you actually do that? In this article you will get an answer to the question “how to become a digital nomad?” This piece is for people who want to be part-time digital nomads rather than full-time.
Over the last decade, I’ve come across them more and more: people who do their work online, which allows them to work literally almost anywhere. All they need is a laptop and strong internet. I encountered them in coffee bars, hostels, airports, train stations, Airbnb’s, high-speed trains and even in… Airplanes!
Being a huge travel addict myself, this lifestyle has always intrigued me. Especially since it allows me to travel more often and longer! Working part of the day and enjoying another country, another culture, for another part of the day. Too good to be true? Well no, if this is your thing and you really want to go for it, you can definitely work towards this. Discover below the steps you can take to become a part-time digital nomad. I’ll give you examples from my own experiences.
By the way, you learn a lot from traveling, even as an entrepreneur. Discover here what travel taught me and what I took with me into entrepreneurship.
1. Digital nomad: does that suit me?
Before flying in, it is advisable to do your research extensively. Of course, you don’t want to come home from a cold start while working on your trip. By delving into this lifestyle, you are already discovering what the possibilities are and whether this is really for you.
You can find all this through Google. There are a lot of digital nomads from the Netherlands and Belgium who share super interesting information on their blogs, YouTube channels or Spotify accounts. During the pandemic I was able to watch and listen to this extensively so I could get a good idea of this. Tip: there is also Lonely Planet’s Digital Nomad Handbook, highly recommended!
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2. What digital nomad jobs can I do?
Okay, I have to admit it: this decision did not happen overnight for me. I have often thought about what jobs I could do online. Becoming an independent photographer and web designer was the most interesting option for me. Want to know what you could do as a digital nomad? Then look mainly at what you like to do, whether you can help another person with it and whether you can make money from it. Again, Google is your best friend. Digital nomads come across in combination with all kinds of jobs.
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3. Digital nomad lifestyle testing
Once you want to know what you want to do, then you can go for it. You can make it easy on yourself by starting part-time: create a permanent home base and go work elsewhere every now and then. That’s how I started and how I still do.
In recent years, I have gone to work and travel in France, Greece, Canada and Colombia. Experimentally, I experienced that the Internet in French big cities is really super, only in rural areas it is a little different. Then again, in Canada, I can’t say a bad word about the Internet. Neither in Medellín (Colombia), which was also a fantastic experience. Want to test out this existence? Then pack your laptop and take it out of your backpack at your favorite destination for a few hours to work. As locations, I can highly recommend Nice, Calgary and Medellín!
During my first years as a digital nomad, I became aware of my large ecological footprint. These days I limit it by moving around Europe as much as possible by train. Want to know more about this? Then discover how to become a sustainable digital nomad here!
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4. Fine-tuning digital nomad existence
Still as excited as ever? By all means, keep it up and try to balance your work. For example, in recent years I noticed that I really do need a permanent home base. Hence the decision not to be a full-time, but part-time digital nomad. Sometimes I work as a web designer and photographer simply from Brussels, sometimes from the other side of the world. What activities do I do as a digital nomad? Creating websites and developing and editing photos for clients as well as producing my own work as a photographer. This is often street and travel photography.
In addition, finding the right balance can be an art in the beginning. If you are a start-up entrepreneur, you probably want to work a lot on your own business. Totally fine, but then you have fewer hours to get travel experiences. Thus, I usually try to start early and end early, stopping at 3 p.m. at the latest. As for video calls: fine to arrange from the EU or from Colombia, but from time zone Western Canada still a different matter. The latter requires some flexibility, because between Calgary and Amsterdam you have a time difference of a whopping 8 hours!
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Take your time
I’ll be honest: Surely I took four years on the top four steps. Some people need much less, or much more time. That’s all fine, because if this is your thing then you can really do this all your own way! I wish you the best of luck with your start as a digital nomad!
Article updated January 4, 2025.