Whatever variation of remote work, work from home, digital nomad you do can offer a number of benefits to your career. The benefit of the extra time to not have to travel to work, work without being micromanaged, and get back time for yourself fosters an amazing environment for personal growth. In this guide I touch on my experience transitioning from remote work to becoming a digital nomad in South America with the hope that my journey provides a new perspective in your career aspirations.
So I have had the fortune of doing both and in fact remote work can be a great stepping stone to being a digital nomad. Remote work is where you are generally tied to one location and the company limits your ability to change locations. It can also be a personal decision to work at home for your business such as an artist. In my case a number of my contract positions fell under remote work because I was provided a desktop company computer, headset, & equipment that forced me to stay at home. For a period of time I also resold products on eBay and although I was driving around during the day finding products to flip I had a home base and couldn't take that work elsewhere.
A digital nomad on the other hand is when you can decide where you work and allows for the travel element. I primarily reside in Buenos Aires, Argentina but recently have travelled through Santiago, Chile & through Brazil visiting cities like Belo Horizonte & Sao Pãulo. From my experience remote work was a necessary foundation before finally getting to become a digital nomad. In fact my remote work job for a website company transitioned into a digital nomad job all by showing a period of work ethic followed by asking to travel a year later.
While traveling South America I know a lot of individuals that have become digital nomads in a variety of ways. While there is nothing wrong with how you choose to travel I want to touch on two categories to avoid if you are looking to ensure your long-term professional growth.
The Extended Vacationer - These are the individuals that have work abroad but rather than using the extra freedom to pursue productive activities instead choose to have fun over work. To some degree when I first arrived to Argentina rather than using the time to my advantage I spent time socializing, eating at a ton of restaurants, doing activities with friends, & being a tourist. There is definitely a balance but my point is that it is really easy to want to be a tourist when you are in a new place and potentially get distracted with other priorities.
The Transactional Guru - These are the individuals that work just for the money to continue living abroad. It makes the lifestyle work but it doesn't ensure your professional growth. For a period of time I did jobs like food delivery for Uber Eats, dog walking for Wag & Rover, & grocery shopping for Shipt, and while beneficial to provide a flexible lifestyle it didn't really provide me new skills beyond making more creative with how I earn money. My point here is to ensure the work you are doing daily is benefiting your future and if you are currently in a job that doesn't benefit your future and is just a paycheck I recommend working hard to transition out of that role.
Don't let the world make the decisions for you, look to be proactive with your work, and treasure your time.
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