I was in Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India, for a month as a digital nomad in 2023.

One day, I went on a six-hour-long hike (Lamadugh Natural Valley Trek) with a Canadian guy I met at the hostel. He was a big, tall guy with regular hiking experience, while I was a complete beginner.

We started hiking at around 11 am, and after two hours of hiking, I was exhausted, I could hike, but I needed some rest in between. This guy was so fast, I wasn’t able to keep up with him, and he was forced to rest just because of me.

Since the hike is six hours long and we must return before sunset, he told me to hike faster. 

Since the altitude also began to rise, I said that if you hike with me, we would both go slowly, and this six-hour hike would take eight hours, so I think I should head back.

He told me to go back to the hostel and continue hiking.

After resting for a while, I started descending. On the way back, I got lost and Google Maps wasn’t working either. I was very scared as I was completely alone in the middle of a dense pine forest, but I continued to descend the eastern side of the mountain without trying to find the exact route since I was certain that the city of Manali was located on that side of the mountain.

I finally found the route after hiking for half an hour. I felt relieved, and while returning, I made a video about how I earn money while I travel. The video is in Hindi, if you don’t understand Hindi, you can read the blog post I wrote about how I make money while traveling the world.

That was my unique adventure experience while hiking in Manali.

How To Become a Digital Nomad?

The way of becoming a digital nomad isn’t the same for everyone. Everyone has different passions, skills, and professions. 

So, there isn’t one specific blueprint for everyone to follow.

But there are some steps you can follow to become a digital nomad if you are just passionate about becoming a digital nomad.

You need some high-paying skills, a remote job or an online business, a little bit of confidence, and a destination with a reliable internet connection.

Let’s break down the steps of becoming a digital nomad.

Learn Required Skills

Google and YouTube and relevant blogs are the best teachers out there.

However, it’s not easy for everyone to learn from these free resources because educational resources from those platforms are not organized and straightforward.

So, you can use online courses to learn the required skills.

Here are the best places to educate yourself and build skills:

  • YouTube
  • Udemy
  • Skillshare
  • Coursera
  • Lynda
  • Udacity

By signing up for one of these resources, you can get access to thousands of online courses that will help you build skills fast.

Udemy and Skillshare are the best places to learn creative skills and the required skills to become a digital nomad, such as graphic design skills, photography skills, marketing skills, web design skills, etc.

If you want to learn to code, you can try FreeCodeCamp or CodeAcademy to get free coding lessons and tutorials.

How Digital Nomads Make Money While Traveling The World?

There are many ways you can make money while traveling the world as a digital nomad.

You can make money doing freelance jobs and remote jobs for companies.

Also, you can build a passive income generating business to make money while traveling or even sleeping too!

Here are three types of jobs and businesses digital nomads do while traveling the world.

1. Start Your Own Business

You can start a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel to document your nomadic life and share your experience.

The best part is,

By doing these, you can build a passive income-generating business that makes money while you travel.

Also, you can start other passive income-generating businesses to make your digital nomad life easier. Because having passive income streams means true financial freedom.

Check out this post to get some genuine passive income ideas and to learn more about passive income.

17 Genuine Ways to Make Passive Income While You Sleep

2. Freelancing

Freelancing isn’t a passive income-generating business, but it’s one of the best ways to make instant active income as a digital nomad.

In freelancing, you have to sell your services to earn money. If you have a high-paying skill, you can make massive money by doing freelance jobs.

For example,

If you are a graphic designer, you can sell your graphic design services. You can design logos, banners, flyers, illustrations, etc.

The best place to sell your graphic design service is 99Designs. It’s the only design-specific freelance marketplace available on the market.

You can be a freelance writer, photographer, virtual assistant, digital marketer, and the list goes on.

If you’re a beginner, I suggest you start your freelance career on Fiverr because it’s user-friendly and beginner-friendly.

Read more: Freelancing for Beginners – The Ultimate Guide to Freelancing in 2024

Also, you can use Upwork, Freelancer, Guru.com, Facebook groups, and other social media platforms to get more clients.

Are you a young hustler?

Join our facebook group – ‘Young Hustlers

3. Get a Remote Job

The difference between remote jobs and freelance jobs is remote jobs mean you’re a full-time or part-time employee at an organization or a company, while freelance jobs end once the project is over. In both cases, your presence isn’t required at the office.

Remote jobs are better than freelance jobs because sometimes it’s hard to get clients as a freelancer and remote jobs make your digital nomad life more secure.

If you have the required skills and degrees, you can quickly get a remote job and work from anywhere.

You can be a web developer, app developer, growth hacker, marketing specialist, graphic designer, software engineer, and the list goes on.

Some well-known companies offer flexible remote jobs for digital nomads. Some of them are:

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Remote Job – 7 Remote Companies to Get a Remote Job and Travel the World

Online job boards such as We Work Remotely, RemoteOK, and Remote.co are some of the great places to find flexible part-time jobs or full-time remote jobs. Or, if you’re looking for something more specific, here’s a good site for remote SQL jobs.

Also, the power of networking is huge. LinkedIn is a great place to apply for jobs. Also, it’s a great platform where you can showcase your experience and skills and network with other professionals.

You can directly approach a company for a remote job. Choose a remote-friendly company, let them know who you are and how the company can benefit from your skills, and ask if they have any positions available.

Read more: Work smart, earn passively, and do what you love

Get Digital Nomad Insurance

It’s essential for remote workers and digital nomads to have international health insurance and travel insurance.

SafetyWing is a travel medical insurance that was created by nomads for nomads.

You’re covered in 185 countries, and you don’t need to let them know about your itinerary in advance.

It’s the perfect solution for people like me who are always on the move and never quite sure where we’ll be next month.  Check out their website at SafetyWing.com.

Thanks for reading this article. 💚

If you loved what you read, would you be able to buy me a cup of coffee? It’s okay if you can’t right now.

If you have any questions or if you wanna work with me, feel free to contact me. I’m always available to help young hustlers like you @InuEtc on Instagram.

Keep traveling!