Ready to break away from the 9-5 grind? Jess Cooper of Ben Bate Real Estate breaks down eight lifestyle and financial advantages of being a digital nomad.
Living life as a digital nomad sounds tempting to most people — and with good reason. People who are travel enthusiasts and who often feel suffocated by a regular, 9-to-5 job find the life of a digital nomad liberating and exciting. In many cases, it’s exactly these feelings that are responsible for making such a life-changing decision. There are numerous benefits to being a digital nomad — keep reading to learn more about them.
The first and most important benefit is the ability to travel all the time, enabling you to work anytime and anywhere. One word to describe it adequately is freedom. What’s more, being a digital nomad gives you plenty of opportunities to grow both personally and professionally.
Also, you get to meet and explore new cultures as well as meet all kinds of diverse and fascinating people. One of the most appreciated benefits is the lack of long and tedious commutes. Moreover, with this way of life, the costs of living are usually lower, and you can pursue new hobbies and interests.
1. Traveling All the Time
The benefit of traveling all the time is often a critical one when deciding to become a digital nomad. It is one of the main reasons people are interested in this lifestyle. When you are living and working as a digital nomad, you have great flexibility regarding traveling. You can travel as much or as little as you want since a physical workspace does not constrain you. Essentially, that means that you can move to a new place or country every few months, but you can also move places every couple of weeks — it depends solely on your personal preferences. Everybody is different, so naturally, different things work for diverse people.
2. Working Anytime and Anywhere
Digital nomads have the flexibility and freedom to work anytime and anywhere, as much as they like. They only require their laptop, WiFi, a table, and a comfortable chair. They can work from a sunny cafe in Bali or a cozy bookstore in Vienna. Being a digital nomad allows you to choose an inspiring place for yourself whenever you feel bored with your current working place. This is a great way to feel confident, motivated, and inspired by your work. Being free to work and travel wherever you want is a dream come true for many people.
3. Growing Personally and Professionally
People who are digital nomads are continually exposed to new ideas, challenges, and settings. These things are what help digital nomads grow both personally and professionally. This personal growth is one of the main aspects of digital nomadism. We can see it through various daily activities such as navigating the transportation system, dealing with disappointments, and meeting new people.
As you already know, cultures differ from one another in different aspects, so naturally, we have more difficulty adjusting to certain cultures than others. Each situation that you face as a digital nomad helps you learn and grow as a person. All of your digital nomad experiences make you more well-rounded and conscious of the world around you.
4. Exploring New Cultures
Another thing that you get as a digital nomad is a chance to explore new cultures. Living in a place or a country for some time is the best way to get to know the culture with its traditions and customs. There is a difference between being a traveler and a tourist. You can learn so much more by being a traveler — one of them is being more humble. This is because the more cultures you meet and places you visit, the more you are aware of how little you know.
Additionally, you can observe how we are different as cultures, but the same as human beings. Digital nomadism is a great way to make all kinds of connections with diverse people who come from distinct regions, cultures, and backgrounds. You don’t even have to speak their language necessarily. Moreover, you will have a chance to try all kinds of delicious and existing local food, listen to their music, and learn more about yourself.
5. Meeting New People
When we have a common experience with someone, we connect with them on a whole new level. This is especially true when this happens with a stranger you don’t know so well. These people you meet on your journeys as a digital nomad will perhaps be able to understand you better in certain aspects than your friends at home.
Going through a life-changing situation with someone allows you to connect much faster and deeper. For example, if you go bungee jumping or sky-diving on your journey, you’ll definitely remember the person who shared the experience with you. Friends who meet this way often become like family over a short period of time.
6. No Tedious Commutes to Work
Another appreciated benefit of being a digital nomad is the fact that there is no long and tedious commute to work. The commute to work can exhaust you even when you begin working. People are not very fond of these commutes as they waste valuable time and they don’t get paid for that time to and from work.
7. Lower Cost of Living
Regarding digital nomads and the preferred countries for living, countries with a lower cost of living are quite popular. Such countries not only offer a lower cost of living, but they also offer stunning landscapes and nature as well as fast internet and basically everything you need. You can live in many beautiful countries worldwide for just a fraction of the cost. Additionally, you save money you’d otherwise spend on mortgage, electricity and gas bills, car insurance, etc.
8. Pursuing New Hobbies and Interests
When traveling as a digital nomad, you have plenty of opportunities to see and try some new hobbies and develop some interests. Perhaps you don’t even know what you like and enjoy doing until you get in touch with it on one of your journeys; some hobbies and interests are easier to pursue in certain places.
Just like anything else, there are always pluses and minuses to being a digital nomad, and they should all be researched before diving into what might be an extreme lifestyle change for some people. But these many benefits digital nomadism brings could make it just the right choice for you.
Author Bio
Jess Cooper is a part-time journalist and blogger based in Sydney, Australia. She is working closely with Ben Bate Real Estate, writing blogs on various real estate topics, including advice on finding dream houses for sale in Narooma and other places in Australia. Jess is energetic, creative, and highly motivated, with many interests, including careers and career advice, working remotely, interior design, business and lifestyle. She is very organised, has her life fully under control, and likes sharing her insights with the rest of the world.
Join Virtual Vocations
Joining Virtual Vocations grants you access to our hand-picked remote jobs database. Learn how our service works, browse job leads by location and career category, or search hundreds of hand-screened remote jobs to find legitimate work-at-home job leads that match your skills and background. Register for free or contact us for more information on our service guarantee.
Check out our menu of Career Services provided by our team of certified professionals, including resume and career coaching services for remote jobseekers. Resume assessments and writing, LinkedIn profile enhancement, and cover letter writing are available to maximize the success of your remote job applications. Discounts on all services available to subscription members, become one now.
