Being a digital nomad opens up the possibility of working and travelling all over the world.
I was very lucky to be given the opportunity of a lifetime, to go and live in Morocco for three months. I packed my bags, grabbed my computer and off I went. The only thing I needed to enable me to work when I got there was a decent internet connection.
Arriving in Marrakesh a vibrant bustling city, it was easy to connect to WiFi in cafes and my hotel. As a woman travelling on her own I chose a well-known hotel that was right next door to the coach station.
Image Source – By Tak
I happily walked around Marrakesh on my own and felt safe, as there were many tourists and friendly locals, and like anywhere in the world if you keep your belongs safe and don’t go too quiet out of the way places on your own, you should be just fine.
I’ve not been to Casablanca the commercial capital, or Rabat the actual Capital city of Morocco where the King of Morocco lives, but from what I’ve been told Marrakesh is more popular anyway, and for good reason! Visit the media and you will be blessed with so much character and a true Moroccan experience.
Personally, my favourite place in Morocco is Essaouira, so I headed West to the beautiful seaside town. As well as blogging I love working with animals and have visited Essaouira a number of times with the charity Help The Street Animals Of Morocco (HSAM).
Unfortunately, in many countries all over the world, people do not have the money or resources to care for and sterilise animals, so HSAM is essential to the street animals wellbeing.
Image Source – By Goggins World
Tourists love the character of the port and love the street animals too. Over the years it has become a very popular tourist destination and if like me you only speak English it’s not a problem at all, as so many people not only speak Moroccan Arabic, they also speak French and English.
As a digital nomad having access to the internet is essential. A few of the places I stayed in Morocco had great WiFi, but I encountered a number of problems.
Although some places advertised as having WiFi the signal did not reach very far, and working in the lobby area of a hotel or B&B is not a fun experience. Especially if the sun is out and you’re stuck inside – not exactly living the dream!!
The other issue I encountered was charging my laptop, as it’s getting old now and doesn’t work if it’s not plugged into a power supply, so an extension lead and an easily accessible plug socket were very important for me on this visit (must buy a new lighter laptop).
My extension lead made a huge difference a number of times between sitting indoors or sitting outside with a beautiful view and glorious sunshine, although as many digital nomads will find, screen glare can be a nightmare so grab a beach umbrella or you’ll find you can’t see your screen.
Once I left Essaouira for El Henchane I had to purchase a Moroc Telecom dongle and sim to receive an internet signal, as it’s in the middle of nowhere and very few people have a phone line or satellite.
This did make things harder at times, as I often need to download large files for work and this was made nearly impossible, but I got round the problem by contacting my partner back home. He uploaded all the files I needed to the blog and it worked perfectly, well, as long as the weather wasn’t too bad that is. During a few crazy storms, I couldn’t get any work done.
The other unfortunate issue I came across at the time was the lack of Skype and Whatsapp, as Maroc Telecom doesn’t allow you to use these applications. The solution to this was to purchase a Moroc Telecom sim card for my phone which allowed me to place cheap international calls.
At times working on my computer abroad was a lot harder than I imagined it would be, but meeting amazing people and animals, seeing beautiful scenery, architecture, and interior design has made it all worthwhile.
Image Source
I intend to go to Thailand next after researching online for the best places to be a digital nomad, especially as I would love to visit the elephant sanctuaries.
I came across a number of useful sites when researching Thailand, one of them being NomadList.com. This is a great site as you can enter in the details that are important to you for example fast internet, safe for women, cost of living and many more.
The Nomad Forum is great too, as you can learn from others experiences and access a great deal of help from people already living the digital nomad lifestyle.
From all my research I’ve found that there are many ways digital nomads can make money online whilst living and travelling abroad.
Here are a few examples:
- Some people blog about their travels – this is a great blog regarding Thailand that I’ve enjoyed reading. It gives a realistic view of the issues the couple experienced whilst finding suitable accommodation and includes the costs – though remember prices do change.
- Many blog about the food they eat, and what they feel would be of interest to others.
- One guy in Thailand talks a lot about dropshipping, again like many options available it is best to research each option thoroughly.
- There are also a number of people who are programmers, web designers, and often owners of their own companies, where they outsource areas of the business that they cannot manage to do themselves whilst abroad.
If you have tried or are living the digital nomad life I would love to hear from you, be it a success story or even times when it has been hard, as each has a great learning potential for others and myself.