Untethered

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Meet the digital nomad

There was a time when you couldn't turn your head without seeing someone promoting the 'digital nomad' lifestyle. Runaway bestsellers like Tim Ferris's 4-Hour Workweek promoted freedom and the life of your dreams being just a few keyboard strokes away. The 9 to 5 was for suckers. Learn a few simple secrets and limitless travel awaits.

Maybe you were tempted. Maybe you still have a copy of that book on your shelf, or ads popping up on your Facebook timeline. Maybe you flirted with the idea of being a nomad . but life has a way of, well, getting in the way. Borders closed and then opened again. Life got more expensive. Work got busy. Time passed. Books gathered dust on the shelf. And the dream faded . Or maybe you took the other path, the road less travelled by. You set out, passport and laptop in hand, to conquer the world one Wi-Fi hotspot at a time. Untethered is for those who have made - or are tempted to make - this second choice, and what it actually looks like. You'll be able to peak behind the curtain at the real face of the digital nomad lifestyle. You will discover that, far from the ripped Instagram models sipping piña coladas by MacBooks in Thailand, the real face of long-term travel can look a bit more like this:

» Thom Brown: An English travel writer who, despite starting from almost zero barely a year ago, now lives and travels the world on the back of his writing, and he'll explain exactly how he does it.

» Nora Dunn: A Canadian business owner, blogger and speaker, one of the 'OG' digital nomads, she is a leading expert on how digital nomads finance their lives and travels. She shares her personal story and experience.

» Jennifer Roberts: The editor and customer service manager who performs a range of communication, writing and project management jobs remotely from bases as far afield as South America and Eastern Europe, between occasional visits home to Illinois.

» Barry Kirkham: A British businessman and graphic designer who networked and hustled his way to turning a small local magazine into a global business that he runs from the branches of Brazil and the cafes of Poland.

» Enrique Hygge: The Florida-born business owner who used the connections he made while living in Asia to launch his own widget company with just a few hundred dollars to his name. The risk paid off and his seven-figure business now takes him around the world on his own terms.

» Sarah Cash: An American globetrotter who works remotely for a travel company and has been exploring the world virtually non-stop since she was fresh out of high school.

» Raven Patzke: The former Los Angeles barista who quit her job and reinvented herself as the globetrotting virtual assistant to a famous artist.

» Cathy Raymond: An English teacher from the United States who has lived and travelled in some of the most challenging and exotic countries on the fringes of Europe and Asia, like Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

» Ivy Raff: The former remote software implementation manager who travelled the world solving complex coding problems and now enjoys a more relaxed (but equally global) life as a multi-talented freelancer for a range of diverse clients.

» Harry Cunningham: A Kiwi (New Zealand) expat in London who manages to take his project management job on the road for months at a time, working out of Greece or Poland or Italy as part of his company's remote-work plan.

» Bart Och: The Anglo-Polish photographer, entrepreneur and editor who manages to eke out enough income strictly from his passions to travel the world on a budget, going wherever his soul leads him.

» Henry Worsley: The swashbuckling young journalist and drop-in tour guide, who dashes off to the likes of Kyrgyzstan or Ukraine while taking breaks from his English literature degree at Oxford University.

» Justin Dynia: An American political communication specialist with a full-time job for a congressman who spends months of the year working with a laptop from the cafes of Spain, France and Portugal.

Some of the examples above will resonate with you, and some won't. As we go through, you'll discover a menu of options that you can mix and match as you create a location-independent lifestyle that works for you. You'll be prepared for some of the bumps you're likely to encounter on the road, and will have learned some potent skills you can apply to other aspects of your work and home life, even if you decide (like many people do) that staying home is best for you, after all.

Throughout this book, you'll hear from all of the digital nomads mentioned above in their own words. They'll talk honestly about their experiences, where they have lived and travelled, their advice for you, and what they wish they knew when they were first starting out. Some have written extensively and emotionally; others are more clipped and casual. My intention has been to preserve their authentic voices with as little editing as possible to showcase the true diversity of the kinds of people who can become digital nomads. Not everyone is a swashbuckling wanderer. Not everyone is a financial genius travel hacker. Here, we'll meet them all so you can understand the differences. You will resonate with and agree with some of what you read, and others won't quite fit with you. That's the point: digital nomads are all different. You will see things you can select, embrace and learn from in order to become the kind of long-term traveller who you (may) want to be.

MEET THE NOMADS

Name: Nora Dunn

Canadian, in her mid-forties.

Mostly travels: Sometimes alone, sometimes with friends or her partner.

Currently in: Toronto, Canada.

Digital nomad experience: Twelve years.

Has lived/worked/travelled in: The USA, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Switzerland, France, Spain, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Grenada, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, St Martin and Greece.

Normally stays in a country/city for: Two or three months.

Makes a living as a: Entrepreneur, founder of The Professional Hobo (https://www.theprofessionalhobo.com).

Meet Nora

The current centrepiece of my online career is The Professional Hobo (https://www.theprofessionalhobo.com), a website I've run since I became a digital nomad in 2006. I'm recognized as one of the 'OG' digital nomads and travel bloggers. On my site I not only share my adventures and misadventures alike, but I also help people design their lifestyles and arrange their affairs so they can travel long-term while working remotely. I coined the term 'Financially Sustainable Travel' as part of this process. You can find all my social channels and other outlets on the website. I am also a freelance writer. I write about travel, personal finance, and lifestyle design. As a former Certified Financial Planner, I parlay my financial expertise with my travel experience to dominate the niche of the finance of travel. I am currently a writer and spokesperson for NerdWallet.

How Nora got started

In 2006 I sold everything I owned in Canada (including a busy financial planning practice) to embrace my dreams of travelling the world long-term, in a culturally immersive way. Concepts like 'digital nomad', 'location independent', and even 'remote work' hadn't yet been envisaged, so there was no infrastructure for people like me.

Along the way I carved out a remote career as a freelance writer, and as blogging turned from glorified online journals into a bona fide industry, I became known as one of 'the first' travel bloggers and digital nomads.

I have been a digital nomad since 2006, though after twelve years of full-time travel, I now have a home base in Toronto that I spend at least a couple of months of the year at.

Nora's 'typical day'

When the world around me is always changing, it's important to have some continuity in my routine so that I remain grounded and productive. Thus, I have a pretty solid morning routine that includes exercise and meditation. I also tend to get to work right away and then enjoy whatever destination I'm at in the afternoon and evening, but I'm flexible to whatever the circumstances present.

Nora's favourite thing about the 'digital nomad' life is .

When I close my laptop for the day, I have a new backyard to discover. Even as a new place becomes familiar and I learn how to live and function there, I always feel like a traveller.

Her least favourite thing about the 'digital nomad' life is .

I suffered a profound episode of burnout after twelve years on the road because I had lost all sense of belonging. This was because I never made an effort to connect and collaborate with other digital nomads, and this lack of community proved my downfall. I think there's a balance to be struck between living in a culturally immersive way and socializing with other people who share the same lifestyle/career structure/priorities.

The number one thing Nora wished she knew when she first started out as a digital nomad is .

The travel lifestyle is work! It's like a job unto itself and takes a monumental...