Life of Digital Nomad Travel Bloggers

Many think digital nomad travel bloggers are living the dream; a life of permanent travel, your job is sitting on the beach, hotels, coffee shops and in airport lounges with your Macbook showing the world what you are up to while an envious planet funds your adventures (well most people wonder how the hell do these guys make money). The reality is very different with its challenges like any job and it is really hard work. Living out of a backpack and sleeping in a different bed every night is not always easy.  Very few out of the thousands of backpackers that start a blog end up making a living as digital nomads.

I was surprised interviewing a couple of full-time wanderers how many are qualified professionals coming from a lot of responsibility; engineers, lawyers, scientists and more. We talked to some of the biggest travel bloggers today; citizens from all over the world; America, Australia, South Africa and more. In these interviews we discuss when they started blogging, what they did before, great countries for work and travel, how many countries have they traveled to, highlights of 2018, plans for 2019.

Katie Diederichs – Two Wandering Soles

Ben and Katie the fun, adventurous, American couple behind Two Wandering Soles have traveled to about 50 countries since quitting their jobs as an engineer and English teacher 5 years ago. Some of the highlights for 2018 included living in a camper van in New Zealand and some amazing liveaboard diving in Asia. Their aim is to travel responsibly.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

This is a somewhat tricky question to answer. Today we make our entire income from our blog, but it wasn’t always that way. We both quit our “career jobs” 5 years ago in early 2014, and have been “on the road” ever since. Along the way, we worked different jobs around the world and also earned money online by doing freelance work and teaching English via video chat. So I suppose you could say we’ve been on and off digital nomads for 5 years, and full time digital nomads for about 2 years.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

Yes, we both had careers and a pretty comfortable lifestyle before we decided to go adventuring around the world. Ben was an engineer with his MBA and had a great job. And I had worked as a high school English teacher in Miami before moving back to my hometown and working in graphic design at a job I loved. Unlike many people who quit their jobs to travel, we didn’t hate our jobs or the place we were living. We just craved adventure and realized that if we didn’t do it then, we probably never would. Even though we started our blog right away, it wasn’t until 4 years later that we actually started considering ourselves “full-time travel bloggers”.

How many countries have you been to?

Neither of us grew up traveling internationally. In fact, we were both 21 years old when we got our first stamps in our passports. But over the last decade, we’ve been privileged to travel quite a bit. Ben has visited 48 countries and Katie has been to 49. (Someday we will have to go to Argentina together so we’re even!)

As  Working Nomads, what was your base for 2018?

Chiang Mai, Thailand and Canggu, Bali were our long-term bases during 2018.

Why is this good Digital Nomad Cities?

Though both cities are very different, we decided to base ourselves there for essentially the same reasons:

1. Strong community of other digital nomads: this means good internet, co-working spaces and networking events
2. Availability of short-term rentals: it is possible to find affordable and furnished apartments for a few months at a time
3. Low cost of living: both places are relatively inexpensive, making them ideal places for people starting to make money online
4. Good food: both Chiang Mai and Canggu have incredible and affordable food (a very important factor for us!).
5. Lifestyle: While both cities are pretty different (beach vs. mountains), they are both incredible places to live with lots to do, opportunities to take part in a community and live a healthy lifestyle.

Countries traveled to in 2018.

Thailand, South Korea, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Indonesia, New Zealand

In 2018 we travelled to 11 countries, 7 of which were places we’ve been to before. This was pretty cool because we keep saying how we want to go back to places, and this year we finally did.

Can you give us some Workation Highlights of 2018

• 2018 brought more good memories than we can count, but here are some of our favourites:
• Taking a boat trip between Panama and Colombia via the San Blas Islands
• Getting to scuba dive a ton on two different liveabaord trips – the Similan Islands in Thailand for 3 days and Komodo National Park in Indonesia for 5 days!
• Having family visit us in Bali and traveling together for 2 weeks
• Living in a campervan and road tripping all around New Zealand
• Being able to visit family and friends at home in the US 4 times in one year
• Reaching (and exceeding) blogging goals we set for ourselves, and creating a business that is a positive voice in the travel industry.

Travel plans for 2019.

This upcoming year is very much still in the works, but we will be ringing in 2019 with family and friends in our home state of Minnesota. And after lots of exciting travel plans in the end of 2018, we plan to return to Chiang Mai for some much-needed time to delve back into work. We are still sorting out the rest of the year, but it’s sure to include some exciting ventures!

Will Hatton – The Broke Backpacker

Will, originally from the UK, is living the dream of  penniless world wanderer, starting a blog about his weird and wonderful adventures, visiting countries many don’t even know exist, working odd jobs to stay on the road, becoming famous and have the financial freedom to do whatever you want. This frugal travel master is today one of the most successful working travelers out there. It is going to be a big year for The Broke Backpacker opening his own hostel in Bali and teaching others to become digital nomads through his Ditch Your Desk project.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

Four years

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

Before starting my travel blog, I was traveling the world on $10 a day working odd jobs in farms, bars, hostels and wherever I could find them! I have worked dozens of shit jobs but have never had any career other than working online for myself.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

I’m not sure – more than eighty, less than a hundred.

As  a Working Nomad, what was your base for 2018?

For 2018, I spent four months in Chiang Mai and four months in Bali.

Why is this a good base for digital nomads?

Both of these places are AWESOME for digital nomads – Chiang Mai is by the far the best place to bootstrap if you’re getting something off the ground and have limited funds. Food is cheap, people are nice, WiFi is good and there’s lots of other digital nomads starting out there too. Bali has a more advanced entrepreneurial crowd – people who have already made progress online and can afford the higher living cost. I really love both these destinations but I’ll based in Bali for the foreseeable future as I prefer the lifestyle there – and I’ve just bought land where I’ll be opening a hostel.

Countries traveled to in 2018

Turkey, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Iran.

Highlights of 2018

Growing my traffic my 1200%. Growing one income stream by 5500%. Getting to a point where I no longer need to work my ass off and can focus on passion projects in 2019. Launching Ditch Your Desk – a free resource on how to make money online. Swimming with manta rays in the Komodo islands. New best on my Split Jerk. Meeting many awesome people, and going into business with some of them. Being able to spoil my family.

Plans for 2019.

2019 is shaping up to be an awesome year… I’ll be opening my first hostel in Bali, unleashing a top secret project aimed to turning plastic waste into profit and spending time with those I love in Bali, whilst focussing on my fitness. For the first three months, I’m traveling around South America – Colombia, Ecuador and Peru – before heading to Bali to work and live for 8 months (with trips in between). I plan to round off the year exploring New Zealand by Campervan – that’s the plan!

• We took such a long time to start earning money from our blog, I will recommend you read a guide or two and plan how you are going to make money from the start, having a strategy will definitely help – Campbell

Kristin Addis – Be my Travel Muse

Kristin writes be my travel muse a travel blog for the adventurous, cultural experience-seeking, off the beaten path-loving traveler.  She does a lot of hiking, diving and recently started freediving, in 2018 she dived the incredible Raja Ampat and freedived with humpback whales in Tonga! She puts a lot of focus on solo female travel to help solo ladies to follow her intrepid journeys.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

6 years

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

I previously worked in mergers and acquisitions for four years working my way up from an analyst to an associate position.

How many countries have you been to?

I don’t keep an exact count but somewhere in the mid-50s.

As  a Working Nomad, what was your base for 2018?

My base has been Berlin for the past 5 years (I’m originally from Southern California). However I’ve recently decided to give it up and go nomadic again after only being in my apartment for a few months out of the whole year. Seems silly to hold onto it.

Why is this a good Digital Nomad City?

It’s organized, things work in a timely manner, the internet is fast enough, the rent isn’t too expensive, it’s an international city with great food, and the culture is fantastic too. There’s not much downside, except for the weather and lack of beach or mountains!

Countries traveled to in 2018.

Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Peru, Germany, USA, Tonga, Japan, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, will finish with Aruba.

Can you give us some Workation Highlights of 2018

Definitely Raja Ampat in Indonesia and Tonga. I love the ocean and scuba diving in Raja Ampat was incredible, as was freediving with Humpback whales in Tonga. Those will be hard to top.

Travel plans for 2019.

New Zealand’s south island, some more USA exploration, back to Tonga for sure, and I’ll be taking a group of 16 women hiking in Patagonia in March. Beyond that, it’s all a mystery.

Anna Faustino – Adventure in You

Anna, a teacher from the Philippines, met Tom Rogers a British engineering in the sand dunes of Mune in Vietnam while they were both backpacking in South East Asia in 2015. Like many digital nomads they started an adventure travel blog to keep traveling and fund their vagabonding lifestyle. Today Adventure in You is one of the biggest travel blogs in the world with over 500 000 monthly readers. In 2018 they walked to Everest Base Camp, enjoyed a lot of tapas and wine in Spain and guided many other bloggers to follow in their workation footsteps.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

Coming up to 4 years now.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

I worked as a teacher in the Philippines, Tom studied aerospace engineering and worked for an internet start up.

How many countries have you been to?

Anna has been to 36 countries and Tom 40.

As  a Working Nomad, what was your base for 2018?

We were traveling for most of 2018, but briefly set up base in Las Palmas and Barcelona in Spain.

Why is this a good working station for Digital Nomads?

We loved the food scene in Spain and enjoyed the whole tapas and wine culture…maybe a little bit too much 🙂

Countries traveled to in 2018.

Can you give us some Highlights of 2018

Climbing Everest Base Camp was probably one of the best things we’ve done this year. We also launched a blogging course, (The Blogging Fast Lane) which so far has helped hundreds of people start making money from their blogs which is a big goal for us. We are aiming to help at least 300 people start earning a full-time income from their blogs this year through funnels and email marketing.

Travel plans for 2019.

Megan Starr – Megan Starr.com

Megan, creator of the eponymous blog meganstarr.com is a long-standing-globetrotter that has traveled to about 100 countries (90 something and counting). A hardcore traveler that loves history, architecture, craft beer and coffee, this US citizen was born to wander the globe.’ I write about what I know.’ ‘I write about places that remind me why I love traveling.’ I count more than 20 countries visited in 2018, want to know more about this interesting location independent blogger?

How long have you been a digital nomad?

 While I don’t really consider myself a digital nomad but more a ‘location independent’ worker, I guess by definition I am a digital nomad. I would say the last 2 or 3 years although I’ve had a location independent job for nearly 6 years at this point.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

Did you have another career before becoming a  blogger. Yep! I am a digital marketer by profession.

How many countries have you been to?

Just shy of 100. Maybe about 96 or 97?  I don’t really keep track but I tend to return to places and not go anywhere new these days so the number isn’t really increasing.  My only new country this year was Azerbaijan.

What was your base for 2018?

Germany, technically… but I have only spent a month there all year. I spent around three months in Central Asia and two or so months in Armenia. – Absolutearmenia.com her new project in Armenia

Why is this a good base for digital nomads?

Germany isn’t…. I have it as a base for other reasons.  But since I will be partially based in Armenia in 2019, I definitely can recommend it as a good base for digital nomads.  Wifi is accessible from everywhere and fairly fast, the cost of living is affordable for foreigners, and the people are out of this world.  The wine and food is also exceptional.

Countries traveled to in 2018.

I’m likely going to forget some but I’ll do my best! Germany, Finland, Åland Islands, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Portugal, USA, Ireland, United Kingdom, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Italy, Romania, and I’m sure there are a few more I can’t recall.

Can you give us some Highlights of 2018

Planning and setting up a tourism business in Armenia (launching soon!), witnessing the revolution in Armenia in April, heading back to the Faroe Islands with an amazing friend who is also a travel blogger, speaking at a tourism conference in Kazakhstan, and making a lot of new friends in some of my favourite travel destinations.

Travel plans for 2019.

 So far, nothing!  Well, I am going to be based part time in Armenia and will be working hard on a business there with a good friend… so I am going to dedicate myself to that fully.  Otherwise, I hope to see more of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and my usual haunts.  I also hope to get a Russia 3 year visa so I can drop in and out of the country quite often.  I also love the Azores and will likely end up back there exploring deeper.

NOMADasaurus – Jarryd Salem

Alesha Bradford and Jarryd Salem are the married Australian couple behind the popular adventure travel blog Nomadasaurus. They have been travelling the world together since meeting in a hostel bar in Vancouver in 2008. The ultimate slow travelers Alesha and Jarryd have been keeping up a nomadic existence, exploring ‘off the beaten track’ destinations for over a decade, creating the number one adventure travel blog in Australia. In 2018 they spent a lot of time traveling around South America and Kyrgyzstan and are looking forward to running their own tours to Kyrgyzstan this year.

How long have you been a digital nomad.

Been a digital nomad for 5 years now, travelling for nearly 11.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger.

We’ve had plenty of jobs, but never a career. We have always just done any job that we could find to keep us on the road. From construction to bar work, hostels to door-knocking sales, our priority was always travel over a career.

How many countries have you been to.

No idea, we’ve never counted.

What was your base for 2018.

We spent about 5 months using Sydney, Australia as a base, and the other 7 months travelling full-time.

Why is this a good country to work from as a digital nomad.

The standard of living in Australia is amazing, and there’s a lot of great things to do, but it’s not great to use as a base for digital nomads. It’s expensive, the internet sucks and there isn’t a huge community. That being said we still loved it, and our goal was to have fun, hang out with friends, get fit and work on the business, not necessarily spend all our time in co-working spaces trying to live as cheap as possible.

Countries traveled to in 2018. Australia, New Zealand, Kyrgyzstan, Canada, US, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands.

Highlights of 2018. Running our first ever Kyrgyzstan tours, re-visiting our old home in Canada, and exploring South Georgia in the subantarctic.

Plans for 2019. We’re going back to Canada in February for a winter campaign, and we’ll be based around Sydney again working with a few Australian clients. Other than that we’re heading back to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to run more photography and adventure tours. We also have a few other surprises lined up.

Megan Jerrard – Mapping Megan

Meg started her popular blog Mapping Megan about 12 years ago to document her travels. People loved following her adventures and along the way her blog turned into a full time career. She preferred working location independent to an office desk, not using her law degree as of yet. With her husband, photographer Mike, they lived a nomadic lifestyle for a couple of years, but are currently based in Australia doing more short trips. They are planning some more trips around Australia and South East Asia for 2019!

How long have you been a digital nomad

Making a full time income through blogging since 2015.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger

I was a university student before becoming a blogger, and completed a double bachelors degree in both Journalism and Laws. The intended plan was to complete my Graduate diploma in legal practice and become a family lawyer (I had been working as a paralegal in a family law firm throughout university), though the month after graduation I moved to the United States (married an American). My Australian law degree wasn’t recognized in Florida, so I began cocktail waitressing, and working on building a blog. By the time we returned to Australia 3 years later, the blog had became my full time income, so there was no longer any desire to pursue a career in law. Instead of a corner office, my office now changes monthly; it might be in the Galapagos Islands one month, or Antarctica the next!

 How many countries have you been to?

I say 50+ as I stopped counting around that mark. As I continued to travel it became less important to me to keep count, and more about focusing on quality experiences in the countries and destinations I did visit, even if I only visited 1 per year instead of 50.

 What was your base for 2018

Australia

 Why is this a good country to work from as a digital nomad

Well, internet speeds aren’t exactly the best! But there are so many incredible travel opportunities within Australia, and you could easily spend a lifetime based here and still not have seen anything. In terms of ease of movement, it’s an incredibly safe country, and very easy to navigate yourself, whether that’s via roadtrip, catching a flight. Infrastructure is fantastic, and cities feel like communities; the attitude throughout Australia is very laid back and friendly.

Countries travelled to in 2018

New Zealand and Australia

 Highlights of 2018

A 3 week road trip throughout Central Australia; we drove into some fairly remote regions and camped out which was a fabulous opportunity to disconnect and spend time in the outdoors.

 Plans for 2019

Explore more of Australia; we’re looking at 4 weeks in each of Perth, Cairns, and Darwin. And might start some island hopping to start discovering some of Australia’s many, many islands! There’s a trip to Tokyo in January, Morocco in March, and Vietnam and Cambodia right now scheduled for June.

Nathan Hake – Travel Lemming

Nate Hake writes at TravelLemming.com, a travel site focused on exploring emerging destinations around the world. A graduate of Yale Law School, Nate has been traveling the world full time since 2016 and in that time has visited over 40 countries across 6 continents.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

Over two years, though I had a transition from long-term traveller to digital nomad during that first year.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

Yep, I was an attorney who worked as a trial litigator in a large corporate law firm in Denver, Colorado. Which meant I actually got to argue in court, which was awesome, but also meant a lot of very long hours!

How many countries have you been to?

67 and counting. Gotta catch ’em all!

As  Working Nomads, what was your base for 2018?

I spent the bulk of the year in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, mostly in Playa del Carmen.

Why is this a good Digital Nomad Base?

Mexico is an awesome place for so many reasons. First, Americans and many nationalities get a 180 day visa upon entry, which makes it easy to stay for longer periods. Second, it’s a pretty affordable place but still offers the benefits of a developed country like quality housing, a good transportation network, and solid Wi-Fi. Plus, there are so many awesome things to do in Mexico: from gorgeous beaches, to enjoying the rich culture, to ancient archaeological sites, and bustling cities. It’s one of my favorite places on the planet!

Countries traveled to in 2018.

Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam

Can you give us some Workation Highlights of 2018

I think the highlight for sure had to be attending a 1,000 person traditional Yoruba wedding in Lagos, Nigeria. It was for a Nigerian friend of mine from law school, and we all dressed up in the beautiful traditional grab. At on point in the wedding all the friends of the groom even had to join him in prostrating before the mother of the bride, and asking for her hand on his behalf, as part of the ceremony. What an awesome experience!

Travel plans for 2019.

I put out an annual list of the best emerging travel destinations over at my blog and then hold an online poll of readers to select a winner on each of the 6 populated continents. I’m thinking about doing something a little crazy this year and just going to all the winners (I don’t even know where that will be yet!).

Jules Hatfield – Don’t Forget To Move

Jules Hatfield from Melbourne, Australia and his American partner Christine write the Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism blog – Don’t Forget To Move they have been traveling the world since 2012. They both have Masters degrees, have been to over 40 countries and spent a lot of time working and surfing in Bali in 2018!

Country of residence.

As of 2018 I have residency in the United States, as my partner Christine is from California, but we spend a lot of the year traveling. We split our time between California, Australia, Bali and the road.

How long have you been a digital nomad.

I first started traveling full-time in 2010, long before I transitioned to being a digital nomad. After years of backpacking South America my girlfriend and I figured it was time to start learning how to make travel financially sustainable, so we started a blog. We started our blog mid-2013 and have since been able to make it our full-time job.

Did you have another career before becoming a  blogger.

After graduating with a degree in International Relations and a post-grad in education I became a high-school English and History teacher in Melbourne for four years. I loved teaching and the rewarding challenges it presented, but my love for traveling and exploring led me back to finding a long-term solution for making travel a career.

Over the last fie years I’ve also been involved in a lot of non-profit work, as both Christine and I are passionate about international development. We both completed our Master in International Development in 2017 and have spent a lot of time volunteering with grassroots non-profits throughout our travels.

How many countries have you been to.

I stopped counting a longtime ago, but it’s probably somewhere in the 40s. As a traveler I like to spend longer amounts of time in fewer countries, to really get a feel for the culture and people.

What was your base for 2018.

I started the year visiting family in Australia before making a base in Bali, Indonesia for 4 months. By mid-2018 we came back to California to semi-base ourselves out of San Francisco for the remainder of the year. In the last half of 2018 we’ve also been out of the country for at least two months on work trips.

Why are these good digital nomad locations?

 Over the last five years my favorite place to be a digital nomad has been Bali, Indonesia. Sure it’s crammed full of other expats and digital nomads doing the same thing, but you can’t beat the combination of good weather, delicious food, having a community and, most importantly, awesome waves! I’m a surfer, so for me that can’t be beat! There are so many awesome spots to surf around Bali and neighboring island Nusa Lembongan. Bali has also been great to network with other digital nomads, specifically travel content creators and influencers like ourselves. This networking has led to great discussions and ideas on future projects.

Countries traveled to in 2018.

Australia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia, United States, Mexico, Guyana and Dominican Republic.

Can you give us some Workation Highlights of 2018

From a work perspective we had a killer year, almost tripling our 2017 income. Our travel media brand continues to grow and we’re getting recognized as a real authority in the sustainable tourism / giving back space. In Q4 2018 we worked with some really big companies on travel giving back initiatives (JetBlue and LifeStraw) and have already secured year long partnerships for 2019. Personally, I loved having more of a home base in 2018 after years of moving every couple of weeks. Being in Bali for four months gave me time to enjoy the things that I love in life, like surfing, riding motorbikes and building a community. I got time to work on my personal development, as well as physical fitness and personal well being. It was a great year!

Plans for 2019.

Kind of similar to 2018. We’ll start the year in Australia, before retuning to Bali for a few months. Around mid-year we’ll return to the United States for a wedding, before sticking around for a few more months to see how work pans out. Or maybe not, that’s the beauty of our job, we’re only ever an email away from an awesome adventure! In November 2019 Christine and I are getting married in Mexico, so that’ll be rad. We’ll probably throw in a few other trips here and there and let the road take us to our next adventure!

Work wise we’ve got some exciting projects coming up, like the launch of our podcast series in early 2019, so be on the look out for that!

Kate & Jeremy Storm – Our Escape Clause

Jeremy & Kate have been full-time travelers since May 2016 and are on a mission to find as many adventures as possible around the globe. Writing Our Escape Clause this young American couple has traveled 49 countries and some of their adventures in 2018 include Scuba diving in Mozambique and hiking in the Italian Dolomites.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

2.5 years

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

Yep–I was an insurance adjuster, and am now a full-time blogger. My husband was (and still is) a software developer by trade in addition to partnering on the blog with me.

How many countries have you been to?

39

As  Working Nomads, what was your base for 2018?

No base! We have spent the year as full-time nomads, but we did spent a month each in Bologna, Istanbul, Rome, and Cape Town!

Why are these good Digital Nomad Cities?

All of the cities we chose to settle down in briefly this year had their benefits–the most important ones being delicious food, great weather, and–most importantly–excellent available wifi.

Countries traveled to in 2018.

We spent time in 15 countries this year, some of them more than once: the USA, Colombia, Portugal, France, Germany, Turkey, Italy, San Marino, Bulgaria, Egypt, South Africa, Mozambique, Hungary, Czechia, and Austria.

Can you give us some Workation Highlights of 2018

Highlights of the year included going scuba diving in Mozambique, spending a month “living” in Rome, hiking in the Italian Dolomites, visiting the penguins of Boulders Beach in South Africa, revisiting some of our all-time favorite cities like Paris, Budapest, and Florence, exploring Istanbul for weeks on end, and taking a Christmas-market-themed trip through Austria.

Nomad travel plans for 2019.

In 2019 we plan to spend lots of time in Europe, hopefully visiting the rest of the Balkan countries that we haven’t had a chance to visit and checking out the Baltic states! We also hope to visit the Middle East at least once (Oman is on our minds at the moment), and make it to Central Asia (possibly to Kazakhstan).

Like every year of being a digital nomad, though, we’re sure our plans will completely shift in surprising ways throughout the year!

Pilar Noriega – The Lifestyle Hunter

Pilar, the creator of The Lifestyle Hunter, is a Mexican expat currently living in South Africa. She has a degree in Actuarial Science and worked as a strategy consultant before turning to a nomadic lifestyle. She has participated in volunteer projects in several countries and aim to encourage others to travel the world through her lifestyle blog. Based in Cape Town she traveled all over South Africa and Europe in 2018.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

2 years

How many countries have you been to?

25

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

Management Consultant (I studied Actuarial Science and then worked at Bain & Company, one of the top 3 management consulting firms in the world, then worked on a consulting project in Zimbabwe and then become a blogger, travelled and got to South Africa)

As  a Working Nomad, what was your base for 2018?

I was based in Cape Town in 2018, but traveled a lot.

Why is Cape Town a good Digital Nomad City?

There is a lot to do with many of tourist activities in South Africa

Countries traveled to in 2018.

Europe (Austria, Belgium, Check Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Spain), Africa (Egypt, Tanzania, and South Africa)

Can you give us some Workation Highlights of 2018

Established in Cape Town and grew a lot my blog going to a lot of tours, staying in luxury resorts, eating in nice restaurants and going to fashion shows. Got my first article published in FlySafair inflight magazine.

Nomad travel plans for 2019.

Make more trips and discover Africa

Alan Cuthbertson – Frequent Traveller

Ros and Alan Cuthbertson are Australian travel bloggers in their late 50’s. With many years of travel experience in  Frequent Traveller they record their travel adventures to help others of a similar age with the time and available resources to get more out of travel. Visiting 13 countries on 3 continents from their base in Thailand in 2018 they certainly gave many younger nomadic bloggers a run for their money.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

We have been digital nomads for 4 years.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

Yes, Alan was an IT Manager and Ros was a Disability Support Worker.

How many countries have you been to?

We have been to 42 countries and counting. There is so much more of the world to explore.

As  Working Nomads, what was your base for 2018?

We base ourselves in Chiang Mai Thailand a popular destination for digital nomads.

Why is this a good Digital Nomad City?

Thailand is a great country to work as a digital nomad, the internet is cheap and fast, we love the culture and the coffee is pretty good too.

Countries traveled to in 2018.

We had a busy year visiting Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, The United Arab Emirates, Finland, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, The Czech Republic and the United States of America and we loved every minute of it.

Can you give us some Workation Highlights of 2018

Some of the highlights of 2018 were visiting picturesque mountain villages and relaxing with spectacular views of Lake Geneva from the town of Evian in France. Discovering the Spa towns and historical castles of the Czech Republic. Spending time in New York City as a solo female traveller while Alan captured the beauty of the Catskills and the Hudson Valley in New York State.

Travel plans for 2019.

Our 2019 plans are to explore more of South East Asia, visit Eastern Europe before heading to the USA for a road trip.

Upload a photo of you in one of the destinations 2018

Lexi Forest – A Scenic Find

Lexi Forest writes A Scenic Find, a travel blog that focuses on scenic travel; predominantly vivid landscapes and impressive cityscapes. Lexi is Australian, she mostly traveled around Asia in 2018 from her base in Malaysia. Seeing 100s of elephants driving around in tuc tucs in Sri Lanka and Scuba diving with thresher sharks in the Phillipines were some of her highlights this year.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

I started three sites 4-5 years ago, but it’s only been in the past year that I’ve been able to support myself with them. By the time my teaching contract ended in December last year I was able to cover all of my living expenses from the sites alone.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

Yes, I taught English in Asia for two years. Before that I was at university. I was blogging for most of that time, but didn’t earn enough to go full time.

How many countries have you been to?

25

What was your base for 2018?

I used Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as my base in 2018. I spent 5 months there in total, in between trips.

Why is this a good Country for Digital Nomads?

Malaysia may not be as popular as Thailand for digital nomads, but it’s great for a number of reasons.

Cost of living is relatively cheap, internet is fast and since Kuala Lumpur is a flight hub its easy to fly to multiple destinations in Asia quite cheaply.

Also it’s very easy to get around Malaysia with the use of Grab (similar to Uber) and groceries are quite cheap (although so is eating out).

Countries traveled to in 2018.

China, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Australia

Highlights of 2018.

My highlights of 2018 mostly revolve around diving in the Philippines. I got to dive with thresher sharks, inside wrecks and do the sardine run.

Apart from that I went safari crazy in Sri Lanka and easily saw over one hundred elephants.

Plans for 2019.

I’m planning to take 2019 a lot slower.

I went back to Australia to visit family as it had been over 2.5 years since I’ve been home (I taught English in China prior to being able to support myself online).

I’m most likely going to move back here permanently, as while I loved living in Asia for the past few years, I’ve really missed home.

I started a new blog late this year and I’m hoping to replicate some of the success I’ve had with my other sites. So 2019 will be a mix of working hard online, and catching up with friends and family.

and then there is us..

Campbell Louw – Stingy Nomads

I am from South Africa and have been traveling most of the time since 2012, at the end of each year I say ‘next year I am going to get a grown up job again’. My partner in crime Alya used to travel about 3 months a year to escape winter in her home country Russia. We met while surfing in The Philippines, 5 years later we are married and still traveling. We started the blog to share how to travel on a budget, now we mostly travel chasing activities and write about specific hikes, dives and other adventures.

How long have you been a digital nomad?

We have been traveling together for 5 years, while traveling Alya did some English teaching online and I worked as a Scuba instructor. We decided to start the blog and bought the domain name 2.5 years ago. During a 2 week boat trip going down the Amazon river, we came up with this blogging plan and bought the domain when we arrived somewhere with internet access. Back then we were traveling on a very low budget, trying to hike, climb and dive amazing places without spending money, we camped a lot and thought the tongue in the cheek name ‘stingy nomads’ suit us. We knew nothing about blogging or web design and even after a year of blogging how people make money from this was still a mystery. We learnt through Google and Facebook groups, nomads for a couple of years but I would only classify us as real digital nomads for a little more than a year now.

Did you have another career before becoming a blogger?

I used to work as a research scientist with a PhD in biotechnology. Alya had a career as a linguist, she has a Masters degree in linguistics and speaks a couple of languages, this is very handy when traveling!

How many countries have you been to?

About 55 countries each and round 40 together.

As  Working Nomads, what was your base for 2018?

We spent about 4 months working between trips in our home countries in Cape Town and St Petersburg. We also tried to do some work while walking through Spain.

Why are these good Digital Nomad Cities?

Both are affordable, with good internet and many coffee shops. In Cape Town we love going to the beach, surfing, running on Table Mountain or Blouberg Beach when not working, in St Petersburg there are many amazing parks and museums to explore.

Countries traveled to in 2018.

Spain, Portugal, Thailand, Russia, South Africa

Can you give us some Workation Highlights of 2018

We walked 4 different Camino de Santiago routes through Portugal and Spain this year walking over 2000km and sleeping in more than a 100 beds. We also did some nice Scuba diving in Thailand.

Travel plans for 2019.

We are still planning 2019, but it we will be back in Spain to walk another Camino de Santiago route, do some hiking in Nepal and Canada, and plan to use Bali as a work base for a while from where we will do some diving and surfing around South East Asia, hoping to finally make it around to Raja Ampat. We want to make more videos in 2019, please follow our Youtube channel!

About Stingy Nomads