Stuck in a Dead-end Job?: Change Your Life, Become a Digital Nomad - Here's How
Kristjan Vingel
To live (almost) anywhere in the world and do your work independently where ever and whenever you wish, you need to have certain skills.
There are some sets of skills that give you the flexibility I described above.
Being a lawyer, doctor, or tax consultant - is not going to cut it.
Most professional skills are very tightly coupled with geographical location. E.g., lawyers can pretty much only work as a lawyer in the country they learned the law. The law is very different in different countries and is even more different when you change the continent. So if you learn the law in one country, you're stuck with this country. Good luck!
Being a software engineer, on the other hand, gives you the flexibility to work in (almost) any country you want. Also, many companies allow remote jobs, which means you can be from country x, work for a company located in country y, and do your work in country z.
Learning to code is of course hard work and it's not for everybody. Yet, there are many different skills you can learn to become a digital nomad.
It's insane, it's possible to learn these skills for a very small price and a bit of dedication, yet most people don't take advantage of that.
Just go on e.g., Skillshare, and take your pick: graphic design, UI/UX design, learn 3d modeling with Blender, learn copywriting, marketing, WordPress stuff... a ton of options!
Simply take some courses, read some books, do some projects and in a year or two, you can drop your boring life behind, take a trip to whatever country you want, and do your work from a local Starbucks.
Don't worry about the how. Just start doing and keep doing. Stay focused and don't give up. You'll get good at your chosen skill and figure out the how for sure. Or better yet, the "how" will figure out by itself. You just need to worry about learning the skill and building up some sort of portfolio.
It's the ability to choose what you do - the freedom - that makes it all worth it.
K.
Written by
Hi, I'm Kristjan. I'm a software engineer from Estonia. I like to write about life and self-development.