Deriving Income While You Travel 101
By Ricardo
The newfound ability to derive a steady income from your home base as you travel is what inspired our Nu Nomad community in the first place. Using technology to keep (what was once a stationary) business thriving while you trot the globe is what we are passionate about. Here’s why. By creating a mobile business, or modifying an existing business to be mobile, you are able to travel on your schedule, with the ability to move from country to country as you desire—with no need for any special permits or visas.
Fundamentals:
Because your income is generated from your home base (place of legal residency), and all money transactions occur in your home country, you are, therefore, not “working in the country that you are visiting.” Hence, you are not pulling revenue from the economy of your host location. Furthermore, you should not owe any taxes to that economy. In fact, since you are spending in that economy as you rent, eat, et cetera, you are actually a benefit to said host location. However, the taxes you may owe will be to your home country just as if you were working in your brick and mortar office on the other side of your home town. It’s important to note that the Nu Nomad business model is reflective to that of the “telecommuter” or “at home business operator.” (For more on taxes, please visit our Knowledge Base) So, in many ways Nu Nomads are like the traveling executive for a corporation, except that the corporation is a home business and the Nu Nomad is his/her own boss.
Practicalities:
You may be asking yourself, “How long could one maintain such a business style?” Indefinitely, if you so desire. You’ll just need to maintain your current client base, while bringing in new business as part of your overall business plan. So, you see, if some of your worries were that you’d drop off the face of the earth professionally with a Nu Nomad lifestyle—well, that just isn’t the case. However, for those who desire to set-up a business abroad, using local employees and/or operating a business similar to the brick-and-mortar operation like in their home country, they should seek legal advice with respects to tax and visa obligations.
Expectations:
As for your income, expect it to be somewhat comparable to what it is working from home. Moreover, if you choose to travel to countries where the cost of living is lower, you may enjoy the added benefit of greater spending power and live more luxuriously, than if you were residing in such prime spots as San Francisco, London, Paris. Are you currently struggling to keep your one-bedroom walk up flat in New York City? How would you like a three-room bungalow on the beach of Bali for about one-quarter of your current cost?
Having more spending power in your destination can be used in other ways as well. Instead of affording yourself more luxuries, consider the possibility of working only ten hours a week rather than 40. After all, you will be in new and interesting places. Take advantage of the time to see great things, take classes, learn to cook native foods, go scuba diving—whatever excites you and moves your hero through those parts of your story. Or, maybe your body and soul just needs to lie in a hammock for a few months and a work-hard-then-play-hard formula is best. Listen to yourself.
So what are the cons? We want to be even handed here. This isn’t an infommercial. When you compare a Nu Nomad scenario to the alternative ways to travel (that as traveler or expatriate working in-country) the biggest challenge is probably in the vocational preparation needed to pull it off. The difference between these lifestyles is very similar to the difference between working for someone else and working for yourself. It’s about maintaining focus on your business. Even if you are freelancing for a larger entity (such as many writers do), you will still need to be very disciplined and consistent in your work ethic. Additionally, you’ll need to keep yourself current on business trends and requirements related to your product or service (which can be done through on-line courses, web-based trade magazines, et cetera). You, as a Nu Nomad, will face the same challenges as the entrepreneur. You, and only you, will be responsible for your success or failure.
More information on this and other topics is available in “the Nu Nomad”.
Photo by: Amalthya
