All You Need To Think About Before Starting To Travel Full-Time
By: Cristina Miceli
Tags: Digital Nomads, Travel Tips, Travel, Travelling, Adventure

Everything I’m going through at the moment: before starting my full-time traveller life

Photo by Mantas Hesthaven on Unsplash

So, you decided that travelling full-time is for you. Great! We have something in common! But even though you know that’s what you want, you have no idea how to get there. No problem, I was in the same situation not too long ago. But now, here I am! In a month and a week, I will leave my country to start travelling full-time! These are all the steps I had to go through in the last six months (plus a few I still have to figure out).

Finding an income

Obviously, if you want to travel full-time you will need some sort of income. I always see people suggesting the weirdest options. Websites on which it will take you years before making a decent income or jobs that pay you two euros per hour. Yeah, that makes no sense! My method is simple and consists of two main points:

Make money while travelling Save money while travelling

As simple as that. For point one, I have two main suggestions. Number one is to work for a call centre/ client service. You can easily do it from home and earn good money. Moreover, companies are always looking for people working in these fields so you won’t have problems finding a job. Sure, it’s not the best job ever and you will need a lot of patience, but is the price to pay if you want to travel full-time. My second option, the one on which I’m relying on for my travels, is Upwork. This is a platform that connects freelancers to people who need them. I know this is the type of option that never works but I’ve been working on it for two months and I’m now making more than enough money to travel the world full-time. Just try it out and see if it works for you! (If you want to know more about my experience on this platform, read my article about it!).

For point two, save money while travelling, I would suggest checking websites such as WWOOF and Workaway. These websites put you in contact with people from all over the world who will give you food and accommodation in exchange for a few hours of work a day. In this way, you will obviously save a lot of money, as your only expenses will be travel costs and occasional parties. There’s also plenty of super cheap Airbnbs if instead of big cities, you’re looking for a quiet house in the middle of nature.

Visas & Passports

Obviously, you will have to figure out whether you will need any visa or passport to travel. Luckily, I’m a European citizen travelling within Europe, so I don’t have to apply for any visa! But you may have to! You don’t need to know exactly where you will be in six months, but it may be helpful to have a vague idea of the countries you want to visit. Some countries also require you to get vaccinated against certain viruses, so the earlier you know, the better!

SIM card

That’s a big one! Again, lucky me! In Europe, there are a few mobile providers that work in all EU countries but this is not always the case. If you’ll be travelling full-time remember to get the right phone contract as internet access and phone calls abroad can sometimes cost you lots of money!

Are you a freelancer? Then you have a lot to think about!

You will have to figure out whether you can keep your company while travelling full-time. For instance, I now live in the Netherlands and here most of the people, myself included, need to register their company at a given address in the country. The norm is to simply register your company at your home address but… I will no longer live there! What worked for me, was to simply subscribe to an ‘online office’. Basically, you pay money to a company that in return allows you to use their address and legally keep your company in the Netherlands. You can imagine, that this is not ideal. This is why I’m thinking of opening a business in Italy, my country of origin, and close my Dutch business. This is just an example to show you which problems you may have to face with your freelance business. Talk with someone who has done it before leaving!

Backpacks

Picking up the right backpack is a must! I will write another article on how to choose the perfect one but trust me, you will have to spend a few weeks talking with people who have been travelling and doing some research on the topic. Nothing is able to ruin your trip, as well as your back and feet, as a cheap backpack.

Contraceptives

Yep, I know you haven’t thought about it but that’s an important one! Either you’ll be able to buy tons of pills in bulk or you will have to find a new method. I have to say, I hadn’t thought about contraceptives till a few weeks ago. I currently use Nuvaring, a type of contraceptive that needs to be kept in the fridge. Not ideal while travelling full-time. Moreover, how am I supposed to find a prescription in every country I will have to travel to? My solution? Getting an IUD, it lasts for years and you don’t have to do anything about it!