Best countries I have lived in as a web designer

I guess in the beginning I was just traveling around randomly without having a solid plan. Cash burns out quickly as you are moving around. After two years, I couldn't do it anymore. I cannot handle more stress about money. The feeling of traveling when you are actually not travel is a loss-loss situation.

Therefore, like I said many times, be prepared to manage your expectations when you decide to travel and work.

How I started my journey:

After the pandemic I needed some sunlight so I left the United Kingdom to move to Spain. I first stayed in the South of Spain. It was great but I didn't have an income so it quickly became expensive.

I later traveled to Tunisia and Peru, now here are the things to consider when I travel to a new place

1. Timezone

2. Price

3. Language barrier

4. Safety

5. Internet

Time is important, the timezone is even more important. You don't want to have Friday night meetings just because you are working with teams in Asia while you are on the Eastern Time Zone.

Be prepared to work weekends. Remember, it's not a 9-5 anymore. Everyday can be a work day and it depends on how you schedule it.

After such a long time traveling and working, I slowly lost the feeling of being excited for the weekend. I shouldn't be excited about the weekend. A Friday morning should be treated like a Monday morning with the same amount of productivity.

Price is everything. When you run out of cash, the journey is over. You need to have budget and be very careful how you spend.

Click here to download my traveling budget worksheet.

Language barrier. If you don't speak the local language, you are destined to be stuck in an expat bubble. It's totally up to you if you want to learn the language. Also, it is also a bit difficult when you arrive a new country without knowing the language, you will be charged foreigner's prices and often have to pay more. But this will also be fine tuned once you meet other travelers.

While living in South America, I don't speak any Spanish but I managed to learn the basic phrases and they really helped.

Safety is one important factory to consider. I am sure travelers like us coming from developed countries will find living in a new country, especially developing countries, quite challenging. I would say in the beginning, try to stay in nice neighborhoods even if you have to spend a bit more. Soon you will meet other travelers and learn some new hacks to save money.

Internet

It's important to make sure it is working properly. I used to do a lot of Zoom calls so I needed a quiet place with high speed internet. However, I later became very frustrated having to find such places so I stopped doing so many Zoom calls.

Some countries have certain internet restrictions so be sure to look into that as well.

Airbnb VS Hostel

I personally avoid staying in hostels, unless it's only for a quick night. Remember, your computer is your livelihood and you don't want to lose it. You don't want to take the risk of having your things stolen. And I personally don't like the vibe of hostels. I constantly have to remind myself that I am not a university student backpacking. I am a professional on an endless business trip. I can't afford to stay at Marriot hotels but I can spend a few extra bucks to have a good night sleep. Good night sleep is important!

However, there are hostels they are geared towards travelers and digital nomads, I haven't tried out yet - Selina. I am going to stay for a few night and write a review.

Airbnb shared apartment is great and you get to meet people. It's most cost efficient because you will be eating out less.

When to fly?

I always fly out on a Wednesday. I make sure I have nothing work-wise booked on Wednesday and I make it very clear to people I work with that I don't work on Wednesdays.

Why fly on Wednesdays?

• flight are cheaper

• Monday and Tuesdays are often the busiest day and I can use Wednesday as a buffer

• Another day to move around would be Sunday. So if I fly on Wednesday, arrive at a place that I don't really like, I check out on Sunday and move to a new place

• Wednesday lost time MUST be substituted by extra work on a different day, Saturday in my case.