British DN here. Worked in Construction for Main Contractors doing the Quantity Surveying (Cost Management for US ppl) for 5 years. I quit after 3 years of being a Trainee/ Assistance and went Freelance in London for a year, which I was heavy recommended not to, and arguably far too young or inexperienced to do so, but I bullshitted my interviews and it threw me in the deep end and I became really skilled and experienced very quick.

I took a break to India/ Sri Lanka, then came back did more Freelance saved up £7k and went to Mexico as wanted to live life in Sun an get out of the hell hole that is UK these days.

Had 2 ideas for making money:

1. Teach English so I got a TEFL cert while sneakily at work those last 3 months in UK. Cost me £150 and was all online. Passed. That’s my back up if anything ever goes wrong I can always make money somehow as a native speaker.
2. Set up Export Management Company. I tried hard with this but inevitably gave up after first year because I was running v low on cash, it was wayyyyy harder to break into clients that I wanted to work with and I was completely out of my depth LOL

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It didn’t matter though… because I found out I could actually do the QS/ Estimating work remotely… effectively helping Trades/ Subcontractors price jobs an do estimating.

I emailed around ALL my old managers/ linkedin contacts and one old manager had gone solo and set up a small construction firm of his own. We negotiated a 50% pay cut on my rates, but flexible hours and I’d just charge a day rate for his Estimating needs.

He introduced me to a small Bricklaying company and charged him for me (taking a %). He told me he’d only “take a tenner” (£10) but me an the Brickie found out after 6 months he’d been taking £50 (so charging the Brickie £200).

We cut him out as he was actually a lying prick, and we decided to go it alone at a meet-in-middle rate of £175. That was 2020.

I’ve since built out his entire Bricklaying Company into something professional, with all the top Construction certs, and doubled his Turnover (during Covid). We just did our record year and next year looking to go for £1 million turnover. His biggest job was 3 houses and we’ve now done 21 Homes in both 2022 and 2023, and began doing enormous Care Homes and have been able to bring his Brother back into the business.

We do everything digitally - all Whatsapp based/ Whatsapp groups for projects. We have a Dropbox plan, and highly organized folders. We do Zooms/ Teams with clients. And as he is in the UK he attends meetings and I do everything by email/ zoom or Skype-Phone plan also.

My rate increased yearly from 175-190-skipped a year- then this year I agreed £220 a day. I work about 3-4 full days each week, varies a lot. Invoice bi-weekly £1300 to 1500.

I use a Florida Registered LLC so as a NRA I pay no tax. I don’t make more than £35k per year, and it’s expensive everywhere except Asia and Argentina. Hot Spots in Mexico are so expensive these days with Peso getting stronger.

Seek to limit your Expenses & Taxes and live cheaply. Always live like the locals. Make friends with locals not nomads. Learn the local language. Talk to taxi drivers everyday. Become friends with Cafe an restaurant owners. Befriend your airbnb hosts. Your network is critical.

I spend a lot as I have special diet requirements also - Carnivore/ Keto. That also makes it hard to travel. I also don’t drink or smoke. This means lack of “partying”, but that used to make me lonely & depressed even surrounded by a crowd.

This is the best life I could imagine for myself right now and I’m always grateful.

Just this year - Thailand, India, Indonesia (too far actually timezone killed me), Argentina and Colombia. I’m writing this from a $30 USD a night studio in Bariloche. Will be hiking in a few days once I’ve finished my tasks and opened up some free space.

I used to do a lot of manifestation/ The Secret stuff but now I just set my mind to what I want and then I go for it. IDK who or what is helping me but without a doubt I’m always looked after and I find that things take care of themselves. Osho & Zen Buddhism helped me a lot.

The world is getting much more expensive, but third world countries are getting more developed… there’s always a new amazing spot the hippies have found - just gotta find them.

If you can speak english, you can do phone sales. Selling to people in the USA. Get paid in USD. A lot of these gigs can be freelance, independent contractor. BUT, it is hard work, definitely not a “get rich quick” scheme.

Lucked out during COVID…

My US-based company went fully remote, and I started traveling LATAM. Never really looked back.

Affiliate marketing.

I wrote a couple of guides on how to get started. They’re pinned on my Reddit profile.

Pro tip: don’t buy any courses. 99.9% of “educators” make money by selling courses instead of doing actual affiliate marketing 😉

Get a remote job, don’t tell employer

Get really good at something valuable.

Freelance or charge a company royally to do it.

I prepared for hard times while I was working in tech before moving abroad - managed to save just shy of £150k.

I spent 2 further years in Thailand but working full time for a UK company earning ok money.

Lost my job in September and haven’t earned a penny since. I know I will never find a real DN job again, so in an effort to remain abroad I’m trying to become a WordPress website designer.

No luck so far in finding paying clients, but I’m at the beginning. At least I’ve got my savings to help me out.

Hope it will improve.

Just sell feet pics /s 😎

One of the best threads on this topic with many realistic replies. Thanks everyone that contributed, this was helpful.

Work for a usa company and secretly leave the usa with a setup that lets them think you’re still in the usa… there’s two general ways to do this and both work pretty well. You’ll make enough that when/if caught and fired you can easily coast until you get a new job. It’s a cat and mouse game

The thing I have learnt about this sub is that for the most part people are Digital Nomads because they CAN and CHOOSE too, not just because they choose too. Most of the successful DNs I see here are people that worked/gained skills are successful in their careers than choose to become DNs.

The advice that is given here and is frankly correct is: Get a job skills/become valuable then work your way to becoming a DN. You clearly are skilled as you are working in AI, now attain value. Maybe go back to the states for a few years, work at reputable companies then go back to DNing in Brazil.

going to school for nursing. after I have some experience under my belt the plan is to work 6-9 months a year as a travel nurse then spend my time off exploring different countries with my camera.

Many of us have residency in our home country and travel/work a few months of the year. Others do jobs like teaching English to travel full time on a low budget. A third option is to create your own business, grind it out and find a market.

This year I have been trying to get out of my job here in Thailand and to get myself plugged into some remote gig with a US company.

I have found it very challenging to seek gigs through the mainstream resume mills.
Maybe somewhat similar to you. Will keep trying though. It’ll definitely be worth the effort when my portfolio lands on the right desk.

Have a remote job at home and just started traveling. No one ever really asked where I am and when they do I just say at home. If someone new asks, I say “I am based in {city}” so basically a lot of people are just lying to their employers. But employers don’t have your best interest in mind so I’m not going to have theirs.