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I've done this. In a word: don't. The digital nomad freelancer lifestyle is fine, but one of the things you need to pull it off is a steady base of consulting

I've done this. In a word: don't. The digital nomad freelancer lifestyle is fine, but one of the things you need to pull it off is a steady base of consulting clients already available, preferably with long term project needs, who are ok with your remote schedule. If you go the ad-hoc elance route you'll be competing with 10/hr workers who speak English as well as you in countries with much lower CoL who do this for a living while you're scrambling to deal with flight tickets, airbnb fees and wifi drama in foreign countries. Never mind the problems of getting compensated in a timely fashion. The second time I took an extended working vacation, I had four clients with semi-steady requirements and actually had to turn down work so I could spend as much time on the beach as possible. Way less stressful than hustling for elance/odesk jobs on a daily basis. TLDR; first you get the clients, then you start the travel. ditch elance and use craigslist / your personal network, the lead quality will be much higher.

neilsharma 12y ago
As someone interested in doing work-travel soon. I don't want to compete with the thousands of other competent, english-speaking engineers on elance/odesk/vworkers when my current market-rate salary would be 5-6x more. I was also considering taking on one big project (maybe 1-3 months full-time), and then traveling without work. What about trying to make money doing your own thing while traveling? I was thinking about starting a slice of life podcast series where I interview people I meet, and kickstarting the entire project. Or making a photo book of all the places I go. I'd imagine that these kind of projects would be much more effective to execute/promote if you get fellow (remote) travelers on board. Heard of any good ideas like this?
- miahi 12y ago
  There are a lot of failed Kickstarters with the same idea of "pay me to travel and you will see where I went", and I think it's normal that they fail: it's just a better class of begging for - let's call it as it is - your vacation. Unless you're already very well known (mostly by chance, see Matt Harding[1]) and you want to continue a project, or you are a hugely charismatic person with really really great ideas, the chances to get the funding of your vacation through Kickstarter are slim. I'm not the only one who thinks like this[2]. Maybe there are more who think otherwise, but I would not bet on it. [1] http://www.wherethehellismatt.com http://www.wherethehellismatt.com [2] http://gadling.com/2013/04/25/your-kickstarter-vacation-my-money-no/ http://gadling.com/2013/04/25/your-kickstarter-vacation-my-m...
alexatkeplar 12y ago
This is good advice. The other point I'd make is: when you do start the travelling, ease into it so you get comfortable working from a foreign country, dealing with cell roaming, WiFi, local postal system, co-location spaces etc etc. By ease into it, I mean start with 1 month in a super-backpacker-friendly place like Chiang Mai Thailand, Quito Ecuador, Antigua Guatemala. That approach will massively reduce the stress of starting out.
hackerboos 12y ago
Don't forget the legal barriers and visa troubles. Remember - you're not allowed to work in many of these places on tourist visas...

neilsharma 12y ago

As someone interested in doing work-travel soon. I don't want to compete with the thousands of other competent, english-speaking engineers on elance/odesk/vworkers when my current market-rate salary would be 5-6x more. I was also considering taking on one big project (maybe 1-3 months full-time), and then traveling without work. What about trying to make money doing your own thing while traveling? I was thinking about starting a slice of life podcast series where I interview people I meet, and kickstarting the entire project. Or making a photo book of all the places I go. I'd imagine that these kind of projects would be much more effective to execute/promote if you get fellow (remote) travelers on board. Heard of any good ideas like this?

miahi 12y ago
There are a lot of failed Kickstarters with the same idea of "pay me to travel and you will see where I went", and I think it's normal that they fail: it's just a better class of begging for - let's call it as it is - your vacation. Unless you're already very well known (mostly by chance, see Matt Harding[1]) and you want to continue a project, or you are a hugely charismatic person with really really great ideas, the chances to get the funding of your vacation through Kickstarter are slim. I'm not the only one who thinks like this[2]. Maybe there are more who think otherwise, but I would not bet on it. [1] http://www.wherethehellismatt.com http://www.wherethehellismatt.com [2] http://gadling.com/2013/04/25/your-kickstarter-vacation-my-money-no/ http://gadling.com/2013/04/25/your-kickstarter-vacation-my-m...

alexatkeplar 12y ago

This is good advice. The other point I'd make is: when you do start the travelling, ease into it so you get comfortable working from a foreign country, dealing with cell roaming, WiFi, local postal system, co-location spaces etc etc. By ease into it, I mean start with 1 month in a super-backpacker-friendly place like Chiang Mai Thailand, Quito Ecuador, Antigua Guatemala. That approach will massively reduce the stress of starting out.

hackerboos 12y ago

Don't forget the legal barriers and visa troubles. Remember - you're not allowed to work in many of these places on tourist visas...