Have you ever dreamed of travelling the world while still working on your own terms? For many of us, this is the ultimate dream – the ability to explore new places and cultures, while still making a living doing what we love. But how does one go from being a regular traveller to a digital nomad, and eventually, a Yonderpreneur? Let’s explore this evolution together.
What is a digital nomad?
Although this might sound counter-productive we are going to start this evolution in the middle at the Digital Nomad phase just because this is the stage that most people are just familiar with. The Yonderpreneur definition of a digital nomad is someone who is able to make a living independently of whatever location they are currently living in, for example, surgeons would have a difficult time being a digital nomad. However, someone who does marketing would have a much easier time of it.
How I Became a Digital Nomad
I did not start out as a digital nomad I initially started as what’s called an expat, someone who goes to another country to work I moved from Canada to Mexico to work in real estate in Cabo San Lucas. Then after living in Mexico for a year I went and worked in the Netherlands for a year as an expat. In the Netherlands, I realized that I was not travelling to these places just because I liked starting a business and making money, I was really enjoying more than anything the travelling aspect the feeling of integrating into different cultures making new friends and learning new languages. From there I decided I wanted to continue to keep this type of lifestyle going and I jumped head-first into the life of a digital nomad. I went from Traveller-Digital Nomad-Yonderpreneur so I realized there is a possible evolutionary flow to getting to the Yonderpreneur stage. If you’re at any of these stages or still sitting at home book a call with me and we can diagnose your situation together and help you find the right path.
The benefits and challenges of being a digital nomad.
I have said this before and I will say it again the life of a digital nomad is not some glamorous easy life that influencers make it out to seem frankly it’s much harder and more complicated than just staying in your country. When you stay in one spot you can get long-term rentals or buy and live in the property, keep your kids in the same school build a life have long-term friends you can see all the time you don’t have to worry about visas, have a wide variety of work you can choose from, visit family more often if you live close to them. These are all things you give up when you choose the lifestyle of a digital nomad. However, in my opinion, the good of being a digital nomad outweighs the bad. The main thing is location freedom, in essence, you can live where ever you want as long as you have a strong enough wifi connection whether that is a beach in the Caribbean or in the Swiss Alps it’s up to you. You also get to experience new cultures and meet a diverse range of different people from all walks of life. If you choose to base up in locations that have a more affordable standard of living then you can benefit from geo-arbitrage as well putting more money into your pocket.
What is a Yonderpreneur, and how is it different from being a digital nomad?
Traveller-Digital Nomad-Yonderpreneur, so what is a Yonderpreneur? It’s my own personal definition of the next iteration of a digital nomad if you have heard the term global citizen it’s similar to that. Once you have travelled enough you kind of want to settle down and stabilize your life (at least a little bit). So how does this work where to still get to travel, and keep all the advantages of being a digital nomad your base up? Basing up might look like buying property or starting a business depending on your style of investment. The idea is similar to having an IRA, living outside the USA or your birth country you’ll be better off having your own form of retirement/lifestyle long-term plan.
The Evolution
The time you spend in each of the three phases traveller-digital nomad- yonderpreneur will look different for everyone there is no set time you spend in each category many people won’t even go past traveller and that’s okay! The life of a digital nomad is not for everyone one has to give up many of the comforts of a casual life to achieve location freedom. This is the route that I took to get to the Yonderpreneur stage, it’s not the only way but if you’re starting from the beginning with no previous successful business or investments. Then it’s a good place for you to start.