Digital Nomad Jobs – 2023 Guide to Making Money Online While Traveling

Digital nomad jobs are ways to make an income while traveling full-time. Starting off might be confusing, but I guarantee that it’s easier than it seems to escape the rat race.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always slaved away at a job that I hated with the aim to save as much money as possible. Upon reaching the savings goals, I’d finally be able to live a carefree nomadic lifestyle. But of course, this was only temporary and I always knew that the funds would eventually dry up.

Sound familiar? Most people that I meet on the road take a similar approach. However, there is an increasing amount of people that have beaten the system and are now traveling full-time.

In this article, I hope to help those feeling unfulfilled by the high costs and the low rewards of a conventional nine-to-five. I want to spread this wonderful way of life to as many people as possible and in order to do that, I want to share with you my personal account of how I started off with online work and how you can do the same in 2023.

Update 2023: I first published this article in 2019 and I’m very grateful to say that I’m still living the digital nomad lifestyle. I first packed my bags for full-time travel in 2018 and haven’t looked back since. After the 2020 pandemic, remote work has exploded, and travel is back stronger than ever. So, pursuing a digital nomad job is still definitely a viable option and perhaps more attractive than ever!

I’ll continue to update this article every year to ensure it’s still useful for everyone looking to live a digital nomad lifestyle.

First: How Do Digital Nomads Make Money?

In 2023, there are tonnes of ways to make money online. Below are some of the most common approaches, but I will dive a bit deeper into the best methods below.

Active income methods are ways that Digital Nomads can earn an income directly from the hours that they work, much like a conventional job. Popular pathways include:

• Find a remote role - either convince your current employer or find a role that can be done from anywhere
• Freelance work - often a great starting point if you have a unique skill that can be completed remotely
• Side gigs - use tools like Fiverr or similar to do many small 'gig' jobs online like copywriting, spreadsheet work, translations, resumé help etc.
• E-commerce & dropshipping stores - requires a lot of time, commitment, and investment
• Build a brand or app - a very difficult path but can be extremely rewarding
• Online tutoring & teaching - Get an online TEFL certificate and teach English online. This is how I got started with online work.

Passive income methods are ways to earn a long-term, sustainable income from something that you build online. Examples include:

• Build a monetized blog - one of the best ways to make money as a digital nomad
• Start a YouTube channel - requires much more work and time than a monetized blog
• Create an online course - one of the best ways to earn money online, but will require expertise in an industry, as well as a large follower base
• Publish an ebook - write and publish an eBook on Amazon Kindle Direct

How to Become a Digital Nomad by Getting Your First Online Job

In today's economy, getting a reliable online job isn't as hard as you might expect. Even when I first started in 2018, I considered it a distant dream but was shocked at how easy it was even then.

Again, let me reiterate that although it might seem more attractive for many to start off by creating a brand or eCommerce business, this is actually a much more difficult venture.

Trust me, I've been there. I've failed multiple times.

I spent a lot of time and money in these sorts of ventures and I found that to get things running the way I wanted them, it just needed too much money. Money that I wanted to spend traveling. The universe rewards passion and starting a business just to make money is almost never going to work out.

But even with passion, the main problem with starting your own business is that it takes time and money to set up. Although the rewards are greater in the long term, this route definitely won't get you on the road any time soon.

For that reason, if you are like me and just want to fast-track your way to becoming a digital nomad, then I recommend looking for purely remote online work and then chasing any entrepreneurial dreams after that.

Let me tell you how to do that.

Best Websites to Find Online Work

Here is a very comprehensive list of websites that you can use now to find remote positions and fast-track your way to becoming a digital nomad.

1. Flexjobs - find companies offering remote positions
2. Upwork - huge database of remote job listings
3. Outsourcely - connecting startups with digital nomads
4. DailyRemote - smaller remote job board
5. Remote4U - find remote chat operator positions
6. Remote Ok - another small but good job board for remote positions
7. We Work Remotely - good board for skills like design, programming etc.
8. FindASync - niche job board for companies that use asynchronous communication
9. Pangian - one of the fastest-growing remote work communities
10. Just Remote - good board for customer service, PA, or writing jobs
11. Remotive - tech roles, writing jobs etc.
12. Indeed.com - filter by remote
13. Working Nomads - everything from data-entry to remote managerial positions
14. Crossover - smaller database
15. Talent - search for remote
16. Dynamite Jobs - work from home and remote job board
17. 100Telecommute Jobs - remote job board
18. Remote Jobs - remote job board

This is quite a large list, with tens of thousands of online jobs available. In my experience, the best sources out of these are Flexjobs and Upwork.

What are the Best REAL Digital Nomad Jobs for Beginners?

I guess beginner isn't the right word. We've all had a job before, the only difference with digital nomad jobs is that you are able to work from your computer while traveling.

As you've seen, there are thousands of online opportunities out there. You just have to know where to look. Below I'll introduce some options that got me started as a digital nomad. This is a similar path that many are taking because it's reliable and consistent, and will hopefully get you on the plane quicker, even if you don't have any "remote skills".

1. Teaching English Online

My first online role and probably one of the best digital nomad jobs for beginners is online ESL Teaching.

You've probably met plenty of people backpacking that do this to support their travels. This is because there is such a large demand for native English-speaking online teachers. If you read my story below, this is exactly how I became a digital nomad!

When I started, the best company to work for was DaDa. They were a Chinese company that employs thousands of English-speaking teachers and has over ten thousand students. This company jump-started my digital nomad work and used to offer up to $24 USD per hour to work your own schedule.

We traveled for 2 years solely on English teaching income and in the process hiked in the Himalayas, became a certified dive master, sailed the east coast of Australia, bused around India, lived in a van in New Zealand, drove a Tuk-Tuk around Sri Lanka and had plenty of time for volunteering while backpacking through The Philippines, Borneo and many other places in Asia.

How to get An Online Teaching job in 2023

The truth is, while it's no longer as easy as it used to be, teaching English online is still one of the most common ways people start off with remote work.

Generally speaking, most companies are looking for:

• Identification
• Resume
• Working towards or completed TESOL / TEFL Course*
• Some sort of teaching experience (tutoring is enough)
• At least a high school level education
• Be a native English Speaker
• A laptop

For online English teaching, you will need a 120-hour TESOL/TEFL certificate. One of the best-regarded and cost-effective ways to get your English teaching certificate is to do it online with MyTEFL. I highly recommend this online course because it is cost-effective and recognized everywhere as being high-quality.

The Best Online English Teaching Companies for Digital Nomads in 2023

As mentioned, the company that I used to work for is no longer operating. However, the best place to look for online English teaching and tutoring is now:

• EnglishHunt - Korean students
• EF English First - Russian and Indonesian students
• TwoSigmas - international
• Engoo - Japanese students
• Preply - international

Update: Unfortunately, due to recent regulatory changes in China, teaching English is now not as straightforward as it used to be but still a viable way to secure a relatively easy online job.

What it's like Teaching Online While Traveling Full Time

Teaching English online is one of the easiest digital nomad jobs. It's also really easy to learn and quite fun once you get going.

Because you develop your own fixed timetable, you will receive a fixed income each week. This is essentially the same as a regular job - you just don't need to commute to an office and can work from a hostel, hotel or restaurant.

Teaching online requires nothing more than a laptop and a headset. I used to teach students from 4-14 years old. The in-house teaching application was similar to Skype, with both your and the student's webcam visible. There was no need for extensive lesson planning or creation as all of the teaching material is supplied and tailored to your student.

These days, there are several different options depending on the company. Some require 1-on-1 teaching, while others expect you to teach an entire class. The age groups also vary depending on the company.

2. Freelance Writing Jobs for Digital Nomads

My second job as a digital nomad was to write articles for an SEO company. These are essentially just articles designed to rank highly on search engines. They can range from product reviews to quick DIY guides to basic "mini-essays" on a popular topic.

However, there are also loads of basic copywriting jobs available as well. Having SEO knowledge helps a lot though since most publications are looking for writers who know how to rank on google. The great part is, that almost anyone can learn it over the course of a few weeks.

SEO knowledge is a great tool to have for those looking for how to become a digital nomad since it's nowhere near as technical as coding or other software jobs!

There are several companies out there that require content writers. The company I worked for is quite small and no longer exists.

How to Get a Writing, SEO, or Copywriting job

With the increasing cost of your clicks, well-optimized content is getting more and more valuable. As a result, there are loads of companies looking for people to write content for them. Even with tools like ChatGPT out there, companies still prefer real, human-written content to connect with their customers.

The only thing you need to get one of these digital nomad jobs is a knack for writing and a basic understanding of SEO. If you've written articles for university or school, these are great for a starting portfolio.

I also recommend finding and completing online courses on Udemy. I always check this site for new courses since sometimes there are crazy deals to up-skill your remote employability. I've even found some free ones that have helped me out massively with this blog!

3. Blogging

Blogging isn't exactly a job that you're hired for, but a really good avenue to building a reliable, passive income. I started this blog in 2019 and now make a multiple six-figure income passively from this site.

I've written a comprehensive guide to starting a travel blog, which will also be helpful for other niches as well.

4. Other Digital Nomad Jobs & "Remote Skils"

Of course, there are tonnes of other remote jobs out there. However, some skills tend to be more "remote-friendly" than others. Here are some great skills that you can pursue if you are looking to build a remote work lifestyle.

• Recruiting
• Web Development
• SEO
• Marketing
• Business Development
• Remote Customer Service
• Accounting & Finance
• Data Analytics
• Web and Graphic Design
• Engineer
• Data entry/spreadsheet work

Even if you don't have any of the skills for the jobs that I have mentioned, there's no time like today to put in the work to become a digital nomad. Again, online courses are more highly-regarded than ever.

How to Deal with Money, Pay, and Taxes as a Digital Nomad

When first starting off with an online or remote job, it might be confusing as to how you deal with money. Rest assured, this is not much more complicated than a regular income in your home country.

However, one of the most important things is avoiding transaction costs. These are fees and conversation rates that quickly diminish your already stretched income.

So, get rid of your expensive phone plan. Cancel your unnecessary monthly subscriptions and combine your insurances under a single "travel cover".

Internet for Digital Nomads

Internet connectivity largely dictates where you can go as a digital nomad. In saying that, you'd be surprised at just how easy it is to get a decent connection anywhere in the world.

I always just buy a local sim card wherever I go and use the 4G (LTE) hotspot from my phone to my laptop. I always buy prepaid plans with a decent amount of data. I've been doing this for five years now and when I was teaching, I never missed a class, even in the desert of India and remote islands in The Philippines.

However, I always use the Speedtest app when planning a place to stay. You can also check LTE coverage maps for the telecom provider you've chosen to see the area to look for when you need to book a room to work.

I then use Booking.com and search the location for hotels and hostels using their map feature, cross-referenced with the telecom provider's coverage map. This has yet to fail me but there were a few times when cafes were the only option to work in some regions.

Digital nomad jobs and taxes

The tax situation will vary from country to country. Even though I don't live there, Australia still expects me to pay income tax on any remote or foreign income. Most digital nomad jobs consider you to be a freelancer, even those with fixed schedules and working hours.

Due to this fact, you will most likely need to keep track of your income and declare it in your home country. I can't advise too much on taxes as it just varies too greatly. But, if you're just starting out on becoming a digital nomad, then I wouldn't worry too much. That's because most of your earnings are going to be reduced greatly, often falling below taxation thresholds.

The beauty of it is that your costs and outgoings will also reduce dramatically since you won't be paying off a mortgage, car, insurances, phone bills etc.

Financial freedom is easier than you think.

What It's Like Living as a Digital Nomad

Update 2023: This section was written well over four years ago but I've left it here as a good insight into what life on the road was like when first starting out. It's sure been a journey, and it's just getting better. For all of you looking for how to become a digital nomad to embrace the world of travel and freedom.

For me, it's coming up to a year of full-time travel. So far it definitely feels like the kind of lifestyle that I want to pursue for a long time.

Evidently, when first starting out with digital nomad jobs, you don't earn a lot of money. However, it definitely is doable in areas where your dollar goes further like in South East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or Central/South America.

Photography and writing are my passions. Digital nomad jobs and the overall backpacker lifestyle allow me to pursue this without the stress of diminishing travel funds.

In my opinion, working digital nomad jobs is a more rewarding and balanced life. I spend most of my days exploring jungles, temples, beaches, and waterfalls. I consider work as a necessary side component of life, rather than the be-all and end-all that is the 9-5.

In the meantime, I now have time to focus on my own project; We Seek Travel, and get as many travel and landscape photography opportunities as possible. Ultimately, I'd love to fully support myself on a digital nomad lifestyle without the need for an occupation (more on this later). However, for now, sticking to digital nomad jobs and remote work is essential in keeping me on the road.

Time breakdown: In total, I'd say that I currently spend about 15% of my time awake working, 15% on my blog, and the rest on enjoying travel and taking photos. In contrast, when I was working a full-time job, the split was more like 65% working, 10% commuting, and 25% for enjoying life.

Tips for Saving Money While Traveling

With online digital nomad jobs, It's entirely possible to not only fund your travel but save money at the same time. When I first started remote work, I was sure to limit my work hours to fund my needs.

I didn't want to find myself working all day every day. But, sometimes it was necessary to save a little bit more for flights, cameras, or a broken laptop.

Volunteer

There are thousands of opportunities to volunteer your time while traveling. Not only will you be giving back to the countries that have given you so much, but you will also often be rewarded with free food and accommodation for your time.

Since these are the biggest, and sometimes only costs when it comes to travel, you will essentially be able to save all of your online income while volunteering.

The goal is to volunteer in the morning or day and work digital nomad jobs in the afternoon or night. The beauty of this is that it benefits everybody. The communities you are helping get much-needed support while you can have a rewarding experience and save money at the same time.

A great volunteering organization with projects around the world is All Hands and Hearts. Check them out.

House & Pet Sitting

One of the best ways to cut costs and actually earn some extra money while traveling and first starting off as a digital nomad is to sign up for house & pet sitting.

Basically, loads of people all over the world are looking to travel but first need someone to take care of their house or pets while they are away. For those looking to become digital nomads, this is a perfect niche to fill, especially when first getting started.

The best globally recognized service is Trusted House Sitters. They get loads of requests and you are able to publish an account whereby people in your area can request you to sit for them! You will need to sign up and pay a yearly fee to become a registered sitter. However, you will easily reclaim this money within a week of paid house sitting (not to mention the free accommodation).

The best part about this is that you basically get free accommodation and continue to work online as a digital nomad to save and earn loads more money!

Increase your working hours

Whether you're teaching online, writing, or coding, it's usually pretty easy to pick up some extra workloads. The companies and jobs I've listed above are usually pretty happy to have you working more hours.

The great thing about this is that it acts as a pause from travel. Take a couple of weeks on a tropical beach or among the rice paddies to stop moving around and just work. You'll be surprised at how much you can save when you're not spending money.

Budget

This goes without saying. Full-time travel can be extremely cheap. It can also drain your funds fast. Typically, I spend under $10 a day on food and always try to sleep for under $15 a night.

Sometimes, adventures, transport, and other things will cost more. However, these are essential for the travel experience and can't be avoided.

What can be avoided, or put better, limited, are nights out. This is probably one of the biggest money drainers there is for backpackers. Although I'm not a stranger to a beer or two, I do this as a lifestyle rather than an escape from real life. Therefore I try to limit big nights out and definitely don't party every day.

In saying this, if you find yourself in Myanmar (Burma), you can find bars that sell pints for 850 kyats ($0.56 USD).

Escaping Occupation and Starting Entrepreneurship

For many, the digital nomad dream means escaping a job completely and running things on your own time. While remote freelancing gives you way more freedom than a conventional job, it's still working for someone else.

That's why many decide to take the dropshipping or eCommerce route to begin with. Like I said earlier, this is fantastic if you have the time and money to set things up. Usually, however, it takes months (or years) before you see your first dollar come through.

While running your own business is definitely the most rewarding way to live, it definitely isn't easy to get there. That's why in this guide I've detailed ways to quickly and easily get you living on the road.

Starting Out as a Digital Nomad: My Story

When first looking to chase online work, it can inevitably be a little hard trying to find a place to start.

For most, it's not exactly as easy as having a digital nomad job fall onto your lap. For me, it took several years of ultra-low-budget travel, nervously watching my dwindling funds until I realized I needed to pursue online work to sustain my travels.

Cementing My Passion for Travel

I started off as a naive backpacker on my first year-long trip around Europe in 2015.

To save up for this trip, I worked tirelessly, saving every single penny and locking myself into an obsessive money-saving mindset. I consider myself very lucky to have an Australian passport, which allowed me to earn decent money for unskilled manual labor work.

I managed to secure 50-hour weeks digging trenches for a large-scale Australian telecommunications project called the "NBN". On the weekends I'd also do some childminding for extra cash.

Safe to say, the hard work paid off and that first trip ignited in me an undying passion for travel. But, I knew that dedicating years of my youth to working and saving money for short-lived moments of freedom was not going to be sustainable in the long term.

But still, I didn't see any other way. I returned to Australia, and finished my degree while working several jobs full-time in the hopes of saving more money for future trips. I refused to buy a car and cycled everywhere, non-essential spending was reduced to zero and I picked up extra work wherever an opportunity lay, from babysitting to teaching Muay Thai classes to cleaning gyms to trying my hand at start-up ventures.

Escaping The Cycle of Saving and Landing My First Digital Nomad Job

During the period following my first big backpacking trip in Europe to the moment I packed my bags for good, I still managed to fit in several short ultra-low-budget trips to The Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand. It felt great to be back on the road in those fleeting moments. However, all they really achieved was cementing my longing for a raw, minimalist, and nomadic way of life.

Then, in 2018, after reading books like The Alchemist and The Celestine Prophecy, I began to question what the end goal really was for me. I needed a purpose that aligned with my passion for raw travel, minimalist living, and photography. What was my personal legend? I knew that I didn't fit into the conventional framework of life and western ideals didn't resonate with me.

I began furiously googling things like "how to make money online", "how to become a digital nomad" and "how to get digital nomad jobs".

Most of the answers then just confirmed the little I already knew. To work online you need to either convince your current employer or start an online business or eCommerce store. I had already tried starting an online dropshipping business and an online anti-piracy service but they ultimately failed because I wasn't prepared to dedicate thousands of dollars to something that I wasn't passionate about.

Then, I found an ad looking for remote online English Teachers. My partner Haylea and I applied immediately and within a week we were offered a contract paying $20 USD per hour to work 12 hours a week on Sunday and Monday afternoons. This seemed too good to be true for us. $20 was easily enough to get us through a day backpacking in South East Asia. We were each being paid that per hour!

And, when you want something, all the universe conspires to helping you achieve it.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Seeing how easy this was shifted my mentality instantly. I quit my stable desk job and bought a one-way ticket to Thailand. A few weeks later I found myself training full-time and even fulfilling my bucket list dream of fighting Muay Thai in Thailand.

Update 2023: Looking back now I guess I always knew that the digital nomad lifestyle was the only real answer for me. I'm still living full-time on the road and have since worked several digital nomad jobs. This blog was the answer to my calling for purpose and it continues to fuel my passion for travel.

My strategy

My goal was always to fund continuous travel. When I achieved it in about a month of searching, I was shocked at how easy it was to achieve. Moving forward, I'd love to be able to be fully independent of external sources of income and completely focus on this blog.

I consider digital nomad jobs an essential step, and entrepreneurship and ventures to be next.

As I mentioned earlier, travel, photography, and writing are my passions. It seems natural then to understand why I started a travel blog. While I definitely didn't start WeSeekTravel to make money, it's a project that I'm personally passionate about and if it can allow me to fulfill my dreams of full-time independent travel then I'm going to give it my all.

Update 2023: My dreams of traveling full-time from photography and blogging are now a reality. This blog is now my largest source of income and it continues to grow every month. I still have the same passion for raw, budget, and adventure travel and still typically still live off less than $50 per day, no longer by necessity but by choice.

---