Being a digital nomad can be challenging and it can be a nightmare trying to work out what you need and what tools you should get.
This post is a list of the best and most useful digital nomad resources you can find to help you on your journey. By the way, this list is updated every now and then, usually about once a month and I’ll add new things to it then. Bookmark this and keep checking back!
The best digital nomad resources
These are in no particular order by the way. Here are the best resources for becoming a digital nomad. By the way, remember that the first thing you should do is actually create or acquire an income.
That comes before looking at these resources, and it’s the most important thing; how are you going to fund this new lifestyle?
Travel gear and gadgets
- Best travel rucksacks: A ranked list of the best travel rucksacks, compared and reviewed
- Best travel eyemasks: Eyemasks can be an essential if you need to get some sleep on a long flight. This is a detailed list of the best ones and how they compare
- Best hiking boots: A list of the best hiking boots for traveling compared (Only applies if you’re going to hiking destinations)
- List of the best travel gadgets: A complete list of the best travel gadgets you can find, and how/why they work
Books, courses and learning
- Digital nomad bootcamp: A course I created showing you how to take a passion or idea and turn it into a passive income information marketing business within 6 months (Earning $4K a month for you)
- The 4 hour workweek: A MUST read for digital nomads, teaches you how to create a muse and live the life of your dreams
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad: A guide to finance, explained using a series of interesting and relatable stories from a man who grew up with two dads, one rich, and one poor. He shares what he learned from both
- The business of travel blogging: A course on how to make money with a travel blog, in simple steps
Articles and guides
- Passive income ideas: A list of the best passive income ideas and businesses you could try and create in 2019 explained and reviewed
- Digital nomad fitness: A guide to staying fit and strong while on the move. Fitness and health is one of the most common problem areas for digital nomads because it’s so easy to relax and forget to workout or eat right
- Dating as a nomad: A guide to maintaining a good love life while being a digital nomad, another area which nomads find difficult
Accommodation
- Airbnb: A cheap place to find good quality rentals. You can sort by reviews, facilities and search on the map. This is the most reliable way of finding rentals in the places you travel to IMO
- Booking: A hotel and hostel/apartment booking site. Mainly for hotels but it can also
- Hostelworld: A search portal specifically for hostels and finding cheap shared accommodation
- Nestpick
- Homeaway
- Roam
- Trivago
- Expedia
- Couchsurfing
- Agoda
- Hotels.com
- Hostels.com
I have to say from all of the above, I much prefer Airbnb. They have a big market share, lots of trust is behind them at this point and because of the review system, you’re easily able to see which places are the best to stay.
Destination guides
- Wikitravel: A crowdsourced guide to most places in the world, updated regularly
- Atlas Obscura: A guide to the more unusual places and destinations in the world, along with a review and photos from people who have been there
- Lonely planet: Detailed and reliable guides to places almost all around the world
- Nomadic Matt destination guides
- Nomadlist: A site ranking the current best places to stay as a digital nomad, based on various things like internet, safety, fun, things to do and so on
Flights and travel
- Google flights: THE best place to search for and compare flights. They show real prices that don’t fluctuate based on tracking cookies, and you can very easily compare the best deals
- Kayak: A flight search engine. Useful for if you don’t know where you want to go, because you use the explore feature and see where your budget will take you
- Skyscanner: Another flight search engine, probably the least effective of the 3 but useful to always use all 3 to compare and get the best deal. You never know when one of these search engine will have a secret good deal. Other flight comparison engines include:
- Momondo
- Flyzeta
- Omio
Eating and drinking
- Foodpanda: A food ordering and delivery app mainly used in South East Asia, you can get cheap high quality food delivered to you by bike
- Uber eats: Only available in certain places, another food delivery app
- Deliveroo: I think this is only in the UK and parts of Europe but they often get deals with restaurants that other apps don’t, and can deliver fast by pedal bike Other food delivery apps include:
- Justeat
- Doordash
- Postmates
- Delivery.com
- Foodler
With most of the food delivery apps, you’ll have to search for them in the particular country you’re staying in, because they’re very location specific. I know from experience that Foodpanda is available in most of Thailand and Vietnam.
Visas, passports and documents
- VisaHQ: A visa processing and application centre for people all around the world
- Passport index: A ranking of the worlds passports showing the pros and cons for each one
Money and debit cards
- Starling bank: The travel bank card I’ve been using for years. 0% commission on travel spending, easily manage and even lock your card from the app, and it’s super reliable
- Mondo: Another travel bank card (App based)
- Anna: Another travel bank card (App based)
Working and finding jobs
- Freelancer.com: A freelance marketplace for finding jobs and hiring people, not as popular as Upwork however
- Upwork.com: The biggest and IMO best way to get work as a freelancer. Super competitive now but if you’re good, you’ll find work there
- Fiverr.com: A micro job site more useful for finding work than GETTING work, but it’s good for if yo need a logo designed or a YouTube intro created
Health and fitness
- Headspace: A meditation app that can help you clear your mind and think more clearly. Great for stressful days at the office and keeping your mental state positive
Useful articles
I’ve written several detailed articles about becoming a digital nomad, which you should make sure to read before trying to become one:
- How to become a nomad: The definitive guide to becoming a digital nomad, updated for 2019 and including lots of tips and ideas