Do you dream of spending your afternoons on the beach with your family? Or getting yourself and your family out of the rat race and enjoying life at a slower, more manageable pace?
So did we.
Before starting our journey as digital nomads in 2022, we were filled with doubts. We thought it was for singles in their twenties, not for married 30-year-olds.
We had established careers, a great apartment, and a great group of supportive friends and family. And we were expecting our first child!
Now, two years and one baby later, we can’t imagine living a different lifestyle.
This is a shortened version of my much longer step-by-step guide, so if you’re looking for more detail, anecdotes, and insider tips, check it out.
Table Of Contents
A Word Of Warning
This blog post is a shortened version of my Step-By-Step Guide to becoming a digital nomad. This post is for those of you who have already decided the digital nomad life is for you, and are ready to follow concrete steps towards freedom. Although I’ve left all the helpful links in this article, I’ve shortened up the anecdotes and left out some of the stories.
1 Year Before Becoming a Digital Nomad Family
Becoming Digital Nomads: Making The Decision
If you’re reading this article and not the longer version, you’ve already decided digital nomadism is the right choice for you and your family. Now, it’s time to get serious.
Step 1: Brainstorming
It’s time to make some hard choices. You’ve got to decide how you’ll finance your lifestyle, where you want to travel, and what to do with your home, belongings, and pets. If you have kids, it’s time to figure out how you will educate them while traveling. We began our lives as digital nomads three years before we started traveling by transitioning into remote jobs through networking and reaching out to family and friends to rehome our pets before going on a practice run.
Step 2: Practice Run as a Digital Nomad Family
Once you’ve started brainstorming solutions, it’s time for a practice run. We flew to Italy for a month to test the solutions we brainstormed. This was an essential step, as it showed us what solutions worked and what solutions didn’t. Our cat remains, to this day, with the family who lovingly cared for him during our practice run. We discovered one vital piece of information about my husband’s job during this trip too – although it was 100% remote, he had to remain in Germany.
His employer was not on board with him working abroad. When he mentioned he was in Italy, they demanded he return to Hamburg – but not to the office! After a lot of soul-searching and Italian wine, he quit his job and became a self-employed CEO.
After you’ve decided to become a digital nomad family, go on a practice run together. This allows you to test some of the solutions you will use in your new nomadic lives – before becoming technically homeless.
10 Months Before Becoming Digital Nomads
Step 3: Get Inspired (and Excited!)
After returning home from your practice run, it’s time for the real work. These next months are going to be stressful, exhausting, and filled with anxiety. We second-guessed ourselves at least once a day! That’s why this step is so important—it keeps you positively focused on the why behind the bureaucratic nightmare.
We created Excel Spreadsheets with our goals and countries we’d like to visit. I love a good research project, and these sheets gave us the perfect excuse to go on a research deep-dive. Our lists were a combination of inspiration, motivation, and cold, hard facts.
- Visa Requirements
- Language Spoken
- Average Cost of Living
- Taxation Policy (Territorial or Not)
- Activities in the Region
- Hotels, Hostels, or VRBOs
- Experiences you’d like to have
Another way we got excited was by browsing NomadList, Reddit/DigitalNomad, and consuming hours of YouTube from other digital nomad families. If you need more inspiration, here’s our favorite digital nomad families list!
Keeping yourselves inspired and excited about the upcoming changes will help you conquer the challenges headed your way.
Step 4: Paying for Your Lives As A Digital Nomad Family
It doesn’t matter how you and your family are going to finance their trip, whether that be through savings, remote work, working while traveling, or applying for a nomadic job, you’re one year away from the big change.
Now is the time to start taking your career change seriously.
Work From Anywhere
We both had remote jobs before leaving our home – we started working remotely in 2021 and left in 2022. If you want to know more about exactly how we did this, check out our blog on From 9-5 to 24/7: How we Transitioned from Full-Time Employees to Self-Employed Digital Nomads.
If you’re interested in remote careeer options, check out our blog on WFA: Jobs that allow you to work from anywhere.
Savings
Another way some families support themselves while traveling is through their savings. Even if you plan on working while traveling, it’s important to have enough money saved up for emergencies.
Housesitting
Rent/Accommodation remains our most significant expense while traveling—one creative way to save money is house-sitting. House-sitting allows us to experience a local lifestyle, use a fully furnished kitchen, and sleep in someone else’s comfy bed.
As a bonus, we get to cuddle adorable animals while traveling! Although earning money through house-sitting is difficult, not paying rent saves you a ton of money. Our first month in Thailand was as house sitters on the island of Koh Tao. This saved us over 700$!
We find housesits through Trusted Housesitters, by asking our social circle, and by joining facebook groups.
Work and Travel
Other families finance their lives by picking up odd jobs, or seasonal work, while traveling.
Just be aware – while some countries like Australia and New Zealand have Work and Travel Visas, these rarely allow travelers dependants, meaning you can’t bring your kids with you. Some countries, including Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand, have a dramatic labor shortage in certain sectors. Qualified immigrants are allowed to bring their families with them. While it’s not life as a digital nomad, it is a way for you and your family to travel the world while earning money. There are career paths that allow you to travel while working – no laptop required.
We’ve heard a couple of podcasts about families who pay their way by fixing iPhone screens, cleaning people’s laptops, giving massages, yoga lessons, life coaching, haircuts, or personal training sessions. If you have a physical skill that earns you money at home, it can earn you money abroad.
Although there are plenty of creative ways to earn money while traveling, working abroad while on a tourist visa is illegal.
Further Financial Tasks
I am not qualified to give financial advice.
This is not financial advice; it reflects what we do.
Retirement Policy
One of the most difficult parts about transitioning into a Digital Nomad Family life as 30-year-olds is that we are aware of the importance of financial planning.
We don’t pay into a retirement policy, but we are planning financially for retirement. We have life insurance policies and are investing our leftover income broadly to ensure we won’t have to work forever.
Taxes
If you’re serious about digital nomad family life, research the taxation policy of your home country before leaving. In Germany, for example, residents have to deregister to avoid paying income tax. In the USA, this is not possible; taxes are unavoidable.
To avoid paying high fees or getting arrested for tax fraud, check your country’s policies and hire a tax consultant or accountant if you have any additional questions. Our friends in Thailand spoke to a consultant and saved tens of thousands of Euros a year.
Life as a digital nomad family isn’t just sunsets and margaritas. It’s important to make sound financial decisions that won’t negatively impact you or your children’s future—even when traveling. Before hitting the road, figure out how you’re going to work, plan for retirement, and continue saving while traveling.
6 Months Before Becoming A Digital Nomad Family
Step 5: Housing
If you’re renting, now is the time to talk to your landlord. Do you want to sublet first? Ask them. Are you quitting your lease entirely? Tell your landlords about your upcoming travel plans.
If you’re a homeowner, you can decide what suits you and your family. There’s no right answer here, just what suits your family.
Renters need to talk to their landlords about upcoming travel plans. Ask about subletting or renting to people who need (or want) to purchase your furniture to make moving out easier. Homeowners can decide what to do with their homes; they can rent it, Airbnb it, sell it, or keep it. It’s up to you to figure out what’s best.
Step 6: Getting Rid of Your Belongings
If I could go back in time, I would start getting rid of our belongings SO MUCH EARLIER! Here’s how we got rid of (almost) everything we owned. I won’t go into too much detail here, but if you’re stuck on this step, check out our blog on Getting Rid of Everything You Own: The Ultimate Guide.
Get rid of at least one item a day. If you see something you don’t need, snap a picture and load it on your local secondhand site instead of walking past. In Hamburg, this is Ebay Kleinanzeigen, but Facebook Marketplace works well in most parts of the world.
Step 7: Become a Legal Family
Clearing up any legal issues you may have in your home country is a must before becoming a digital nomad. Having a clear will and testament in your home country, discussing estate planning with a close relative or friend, and clearing up any custody issues with an ex-partner are essential steps in becoming a digital nomad.
We chose to get married before heading out into the world. This made our visa applications, insurance policies, and tax bills all easier to deal with—not to mention registering the birth of our child abroad! The truth is that life as a digital nomad is legally complicated. If there’s a quick legal fix for any of your issues, do it.
Step 8: Quit Those Contracts
Depending on the deadlines in your country, now is the time to quit those contracts. Make a list of your monthly subscriptions, home costs, and anything else you pay monthly, and start quitting. I’m talking about fitness studios, cell phone providers, internet, electricity, water, gas, public transportation, health insurance, accident insurance, legal insurance, and meal delivery services, to name a few.
We were shocked at how much money we spent monthly on contracts! Our monthly fees totaled over 800 Euros—how much we spent on rent in Thailand.
Notifying your School, Daycare, or Childcare
If you’re setting out into the world with your children, notify their school, daycare, or nanny well in advance.
Leaving an official school system without a set destination can be difficult, so it’s better to leave your family time to figure out a solution well in advance.
Plus, daycares and nannies depend on your child for their income; it’s polite to give them advance notice.
Step 9: Get Health and Travel Insurance
Do NOT start traveling without health insurance!
As digital nomads, we change countries frequently; even when we’re based in one country, we travel in that region. That’s why we’re insured through Genki, a health insurance company created for digital nomads.
Step 10: Bank Accounts
This is your time to begin researching the banking solution for your family. You may need to open an account with a new bank, open a travel credit card, or inform your bank of upcoming travel plans. Ensure you clear these issues before boarding the flight – you want to arrive at your destination with access to funds!
Consider applying for a credit card with travel perks. Our Chase Sapphire card has earned us a free month-long stay in the Caribbean annually. As digital nomads, almost all our major expenses are paid by card, meaning we rack in those points, baby!
2 Months Before Becoming Digital Nomads
Step 11: Final Preparations
This is your last chance to clear up anything left on your To-Do list. We found keeping a running list of Short, Medium, and Long tasks helpful. Each of us was responsible for a Short Task a day, two medium and one long task a week. Prioritize Tasks that have to be done in person, as you won’t be there for much longer!
Applying for Visas
I am not a lawyer, immigration specialist, or consultant. So take my advice as anecdotal.
You may need to apply for visas depending on your family’s citizenship, how slow you intend to travel, and what work you’ll be doing while traveling. While most countries have tourist visas for members of the privileged Passport Club (EU, USA, CA, AUS, and NZ) on arrival, some countries may require you to apply for a visa in advance. Remember, working while on a tourist visa is illegal.
If the country you want to visit doesn’t have a visa or residency permit that works for your family, or you feel uncomfortable lying about your employment status, you can skip it for now and come back later. Applying for visas gets easier with practice.
Booking Tickets
By now, you will know where your first destination will be. It’s time to start booking!
One thing to think about? If you’re flying into a country on a tourist visa with a one-way ticket, you will need proof of onward travel. We use the service Onward Ticket – they purchase a real flight reservation for you that will be automatically canceled, for 16$.
A Southeast Asia-specific option is to book a bus ticket on 12Go.
Gathering Documents
Life as a Digital Nomad is a bureaucratic nightmare. We travel with a Binder full of documents everywhere we go. As some countries require your documents to be recent, now is a good time to make sure you have the essentials. These are:
Birth Certificates
Marriage Certificate
Background Checks
Immunization Records
Recent Health Documents
Proof of Income
Proof of Insurance
International Driver’s License
Another thing you should do (especially if you are planning on getting married or giving birth abroad) is to have all your documents translated and authenticated.
Let Your Bank Know
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to inform your bank about your upcoming travels. My bank allows me to complete a form online with my expected travel dates and locations. This keeps my bank card working and allows me to access my money worldwide.
Undercover Address
Life without a permanent address isn’t possible in today’s world. To get around this issue, we send our mail to my husband’s mother’s house in Germany, and my parent’s house in the US. Legally, those are our two addresses.
Ask a friend or relative about using their address for mail, bills, and visa applications. Make sure you trust this person – if a letter comes, they’re going to be the ones to open them for you!
1 Week Before Becoming Digital Nomads
Step 12: Packing
It’s time to pack up your belongings! And then unpack them because you have too much, before repacking them again! If you’re looking for tips on packing lightly, check out my blog on Two Suitcases – How We Travel Light.
Step 13: Saying Goodbye
The hardest part of your family’s digital nomad journey is here—the Good-Bye Week.
One way I like to rationalize the tears is mathematical. Now, we spend 3-5 weeks traveling with our families. That’s, hour per hour, more time spent together than if we lived nearby and had dinner once a month.
I want to say it gets easier, but it doesn’t. Saying goodbye to those you love is the price we pay for our lifestyle. We’ve been doing this for two years, and it’s still hard. But so worth it.
Be Digital Nomads.
You did it!
You waded through the financial, legal, and bureaucratic minefield that laid before you, packed all your belongings into suitcases, and got on the plane! It’s time to sit back, enjoy a well-earned beverage, and get excited about the beautiful life coming your way.
Digital Nomad life is all about relaxing, adapting, and figuring out how to enjoy the finer things in life. Since becoming digital nomads, we’ve switched continents three times, and we’re about to move again this year. It’s essential to keep up with your legal status, relationships, and documentation while traveling – so check out these articles for more tips on life as a digital nomad family.
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