40: Understanding Digital Nomad Visas with Tim Marting from Citizen Remote

“I definitely prefer slowmadding. It gives you a chance to really understand a bit more cultures, people, how systems operate, the ins and outs, the hidden gems of places like you would do in your own hometown.”

Slomadding while building Citizen Remote

At Digital Nomads Daily, we love connecting with digital nomad-friendly companies. One of the most annoying challenges we face as digital nomads are visas. Anything related to visas is either very frustrating all the way to extremely painful, mostly depending on your passport. Some people need piles of paperwork and go through very stressful moments to just get the visa. You may think, why even bother if you can just enter the country with a tourist visa?
Well, like Tim and Nienke Nina, some digital nomads prefer to travel slow and those nomads are often called slomads. It basically means that instead of hopping countries at a fast pace, you stick around for a couple of months. Some of the benefits of slomadding are:
👉🏽 Get to enjoy the country and culture better
👉🏽 Waste less time on travel arrangements
👉🏽 Higher productivity
👉🏽 Create more meaningful connections
👉🏽 Opportunity to better rental prices

The problem with digital nomad visas

Slomadding isn’t always easy though because of the visa options. The digital nomad visa seems like a great option but as countries are developing and announcing their new visas for digital nomads, we don’t see a clear and positive change. Why is this?
For starters, the digital nomad visa is a very brought term and it depends on the country offering the visa. Secondly, a digital nomad visa isn’t for everyone as there are specific requirements not everyone can meet. Thirdly we see a lack of transparency and practical information that is trustworthy and easily accessible. So the complexity varies from country to country.
Digital nomad visas are also very popular and these days, pretty clickbait. While some websites claim that there are over 60 digital nomad visas, the reality is very different. This leads to confusion and frustration in the digital nomad community. So why is this number so high?
🌟 Some of these visas are announced but haven’t been developed so the digital nomad visa doesn’t exist yet.
🌟 The requirements don’t seem to be very digital nomad friendly. For example, having a rental contract, monthly income above 2.5K, or other paperwork is hard to access.
🌟 Official recourses aren’t correctly updated and people aren’t informed so getting the right information is challenging and frustrating.
So in essence, the digital nomad visa still has a long way to go but luckily the space is moving and governments are responding in some way.

How Citizen Remote helps our community with the digital nomad visas

Okay, so the digital nomad visa isn’t always the best solution but luckily there is light at the end of the tunnel. At Digital Nomads Daily, we team up with companies with the most accurate information so keep an eye out for our content. Tim and his team at Citizen Remote alleviate all the planning that goes behind going to a new destination. They help digital nomads with their visa-related questions and provide helpful recourses for digital nomads. Citizen Remote also works with governments to build competitive digital nomad visas and intelligent digital nomad visas that aren’t set up backward or confusing.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Tim

Find his App: CitizenRemote

Find him through his LinkedIn: Tim Marting

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #33: How Digital Nomad Families Can Live A Boundless Life With Marcos

🎧  Episode #41: The 5 Key Ingredients To Work Remotely Effectively with Anna Maria

🎧  Episode #48How To Set Boundaries and Why You Want to Go Slomad with Kristin 

The 5 misconceptions of the digital nomad lifestyle with Charlie

“It’s very up and down, and I want to highlight this to people because you get into it thinking, “oh my get I get to travel, I get to work from my laptop, and I can work from an island, and I can work anywhere…” You do have times like that but it’s not like that all the time. So to be honest it’s just a snippet of the day.”

The journey of a newbie digital nomad

There are different ways to make money online, and some digital nomads prefer to become a freelancer while others enjoy having a remote job. Each of them comes with its own challenges and newbie digital nomad Charlie experienced these in her first 3 months of nomadding. She started her digital nomad journey with a job and went to Bali. Shortly after she arrived, Charlie quit her job to become a freelancer and while it was a freeing experience, she definitely had to overcome typical challenges.

Misconception #01: Freelancing gives you more freedom than a remote job

One of the reasons Charlie decided to go freelancing was because she struggled a lot with the time zones. Her working hours were not during the day so she had to work at night and early mornings. This not only affected her well-being but she didn’t get to enjoy Bali as much because her hours were really tough. So it seems like she had more freedom and just looking on WHEN she can work, she definitely has more flexibility, but it’s not total freedom.

Many people don’t realize that as a freelancer, you are a business owner, which entails more responsibilities. Think about admin tasks, finding clients, promoting your business, getting work done, and figuring everything out yourself.

Misconception #02: When you start working for yourself, you make more money than in a remote job and it will flow

Freelancers are business owners who exchange their time for services. Some freelancers are very successful and have built a career with high-paying clients. That sounds dream and it’s definitely within reach, but it requires hard work, discipline and time. So when Charlie quit her job, she got more flexibility but she also had to get used to not having a steady income anymore.

Also her freelance career that she had just started didn’t find clients on day one so bear in mind that whenever you decide to quit your job or start a freelance business, you have a financial buffer to avoid financial stress.

Misconception #03: balancing productivity and travel isn’t easy

When we describe some of the important skills to become a successful digital nomad discipline is on top of the list. With so many distractions around us and fun to do, you cannot forget that you still need to work. So finding the balance between productive days and taking time for adventures is not easy at all.

It’s not all about working hard though. Many freelancers and entrepreneurs actually work way more than remote workers so it’s also important to have the discipline to take time off and not think about work. Charlie is still mastering this and it will take time before you get the hang of things.

In our book Digital Nomads With Confidence, we give helpful tips shared by experienced digital nomads about productivity and creating me-time. The book answers 101 questions so if you want to learn more, make sure to get a copy. Click here to buy Digital Nomads With Confidence.

Misconception #04: everything takes time and there is no abundance of time

One of the biggest challenges of the digital nomad lifestyle is the time spent traveling and preparing for your travels. So Charlie noticed that everything took more time than expected after she left Bali and continued her travels. Her desire to explore while she also had to be responsible at work showed her that everything takes time and it’s something to consider when you want to travel a lot.

For this reason, many digital nomads prefer to slowmad and stay longer in places. Digital nomad entrepreneur Kristina shares her tips in the episode exactly about this. Click here to check out the episode.

Misconception #05: Wi-Fi is still a luxury

‘”You can work from anywhere as long as you have a decent internet connection”

That sounds easy right?! Charlie went to the Gili islands which are 3 closely-knit islands north of Lombok in Indonesia. You can find accommodation with Wi-Fi on the island but the bandwidth is very low so hopping on meetings with colleagues was hard due to the bad connection. On top of that, she dealt with cultural differences, and the prayers were pretty loud and often during her meetings.

So the statement that you can work isn’t the reality as long as you have an internet connection. It sounds sexy, and we get it, but if you wanna get work done, you need to have more than a little bit of Wi-Fi.

The digital nomad lifestyle knows more misconceptions, and it’s good to be aware of this before you start your journey so you feel more prepared when stuff happens. The key to a successful digital nomad life is to be open-minded, have a lot of patience, and take things step by step.

Charlie isn’t thrown off at all by these misconceptions but recognizes that it’s part of the lifestyle. She sees it as a learning curve and with the right mindset, taking small risks, and taking good care of herself she will get there.

We absolutely love the realness of this episode and wish Charlie an amazing digital nomad journey! And suppose you’re reading this and struggling with making money online or finding a remote job. In that case, our team at DND is creating an exclusive group program. It’s only for 15 people and together, we will create your action plan and work on building your dream career with podcast host and founder Nienke Nina.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Charlie

Find her on Instagram @_travelaffair

Find her on her Youtube channel: Char Johnson

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #02 : From a Stolen Passport to Almost Being Deported. Horror Nomad Stories with Saurav

🎧  Episode #07: Overcoming Fears and Building Community with Digital Nomad Magali 

🎧  Episode #11 : Overcoming The First Obstacles In The Digital Nomad Lifestyle With MS

How Leaders Can Strengthen Remote Company Culture With Jürgen

“Many of the things that you shouldd be doing if you are leading a remote team are things that should be already doing anyway even in an office team.”

Digital nomad startup founder

Creating a digital nomad-friendly work environment

Tips for remote workers and digital nomads

🌟 Respect the trust your company has in you and don’t just go remote without letting them know. It’s bad for the organization, for yourself and puts a bad label on other digital nomads in the community.
🌟 With so many changes, habits are a powerful tool to nurture your well-being. Find out things that work for you and make them part of your day-to-day life.
🌟 Mirco-management can happen anywhere and also in work environments. So if you feel uncomfortable with the management style ask questions about why this is and what they want to get out of this. Perhaps there is a reason or they are not noticing it. If you cannot communicate this, then it’s probably best to find another job.

Tips for organizations who have (aspiring) digital nomads on their team

🌟 Stop talking about your people but focus on having conversations with your employees and co-create a remote work environment. Ask your people how remote looks and feels to them and see how your company can reshape its culture.
🌟 Adapt a startup mentality where you experiment with different ideas. If your organization is new to remote work, get tools and recourses to help you become successful so your organization and people can thrive.
🌟 Focus on the results and what people deliver instead of controlling how many hours someone is online. Controlling work environments isn’t pleasant and by giving people autonomy, they become more engaged and committed to giving their best work.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Jürgen

Find him on LinkedIn: Jürgen Pretsch

Find his App: www.shap.market.com

Instagram: @shapmarketplace

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #16: The Future Of The Digital Nomads With Pat 

🎧  Episode #41: The 5 Key Ingredients To Work Remotely Effectively with Anna Maria

🎧  Episode #54: What Makes a Remote-First Company Culture with Chase

How To Find A Remote Job And Take Ownership Of Your Career With Juliana

“Remote work for me is about making better choices in general.”

From recruiter to remote career coach

Juliana has been working fully remotely since 2019 and is tuning in from Tirana in Albania. While this isn’t a digital nomad hub yet, the city is working on this to facilitate more digital nomads in the future. She has a long career as a recruiter, where she helped companies to find talent. Her work experience helped her understand what companies are looking for and how candidates can present themselves better online and during interviews. Her goal is to help individuals get more clarity about their careers and land jobs faster. She follows a six-step process and works 1:1 with people.

Searching for a remote job feels like a job

Looking for any job, remote or in an office, takes a lot of time and often feels like a job in itself. Juliana shares some common mistakes job seekers make when searching for a remote job. By changing the way you look for a job, you can increase your chances of landing the desired job. Let’s look at the common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Looking for ANY remote job

Remote work is popular and many job seekers look for any job as long as it’s remote. Juliana shares that this is a mistake because you will not find the right job if you haven’t clearly defined what type of job or company interests you. So stop looking for any remote job.

Lack of research

This may sound boring but research is part of the job hunt. When you apply for just anything and everything, you may waste your time, energy and perhaps even money on things that aren’t a good fit. You can research company values, previous employees’ work experiences, etc.

Unclear message

A clear message always sells better and this starts by creating clarity for yourself about the type of job you’re looking to land. Make sure that this message is shown on all the necessary places like LinkedIn, your resume and other content interesting for companies to check out.

Creating an action plan

Randomly looking for jobs sounds like hoping to find the right job. Hope is not a strategy in business and the same goes for landing your ideal job. So creating an action plan that specifies how you’re going to get this job and the different tasks help you land a job faster.

Losing confidence

Well, first of all, this makes sense because not everyone deals well with receiving a cold, harsh NO. Rejection is part of the process; if you’re being rejected repeatedly, this could put a dent in your confidence.

While it makes sense, it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it. Taking care of the previous common mistakes is the first step and accepting that you can get rejected is the other important step in the job-hunting process.

Losing confidence

Juliana often says that not the best candidate will get the job but the candidate who sells her/himself best lands the job. So while you’re busy job hunting don’t forget to pay attention to how you sell yourself. Presenting yourself in the best way already starts with how you present yourself online. So make sure your online resume and LinkedIn have a clear message and show your important skills and interests.

You are never to old to switch careers

These tips are super helpful; we hope they will help you find your job faster. Juliana also shares that many people are looking for a remote job or thinking about switching careers.

For the career switchers among us, the first thing to remember is that you’re never too old to switch careers. These days it’s pretty normal but somehow the “feeling of being too old” always pops up. The truth is that you are never too old to change careers and she even hears people in their early thirties saying they are too old. This mindset isn’t very positive and thinking this way will hold you back from actually shifting careers. So please don’t think you are too old to do anything. Make your peace with it and whenever you think it’s time to have a career change, it’s probably the best time to act.

Secondly, always take into consideration what you already know. Skills and experiences gained in previous jobs are often transferable skills and relevant for your next job. Try to find companies that are open to hiring people who don’t have direct experience in that area to increase your chances. You don’t need to start from scratch or take up a junior position when you have skills. Of course, also here, it’s important to learn how to sell yourself.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Juliana

Follow Juliana on LinkedIn

Check out her Instagram @juliana.rabbi

Watch helpful videos on YouTube

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #12: The Secret Of Finding A Remote Job With Jordan Carroll 

🎧  Episode #41: The 5 Key Ingredients To Work Remotely Effectively with Anna Maria

🎧  Episode #53: Must-Know Resume Tips To Land A Remote Job with Michelle

How To Become A Digital Nomad Couple Sailing The World With Ryan and Sophie

“Embrace all the challenges and embrace falling on your face. It will evolve and that’s the beauty of this lifestyle.”

The boating life looks glamorous but doing it full time also means…

Work-life balance for sailing digital nomads

Expectations s reality

‘‘It’s getting painful. Embrace all the challenges, embrace falling on your face and embrace the fact that it’s going to be hard because there’s always going to be good stuff.’’

Your spouse becomes your life partner.

One of the hardest things, aside from managing the boat, is maintaining a healthy relationship. Their reality is so much more than just a romantic love story. Both Sophie and Ryan had to redesign some of their communication styles and habits and really work on themselves to keep up with their lifestyle.

Digital nomads Julia and Gidi also speak about their digital nomad couple’s life and how important it is to spend time apart. Since they are limited to the boat, this doesn’t go for Ryan and Sophie. So the couple isn’t full-time on the boat simply because it’s healthy for their relationship and personal well-being.

Seeing a couples counselor helped them a lot and here some other tips (which are also super helpful for any digital nomad couple are)

The most important key is communication, which means you want to create a space where you can talk openly.

🌟 Find space for yourself and disconnect from your partner. This could be a workout routine, reading a book, or another hobby in your own space.
🌟 Take breaks from this lifestyle if that’s what you need. Both Ryan and Sophie share that they learned it’s not healthy to live on the boat full-time. They need to go home and be with family and friends. In fact, during the episode, they both tuned in from different locations.

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomads Ryan & Sophie

Find them on Instagram @ryanandsophie

See them on their Youtube channel: Ryan and Sophie sailing

See their website 

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #01: How to Thrive in your Digital Nomad Relationship with Anat & Orr

🎧  Episode #10: Working Remotely From A Van With Digital Nomad Chelsea

🎧  Episode #42: The Entrepreneur Story Of The Nomad Soulmates Community With Aline 

Building A Successful Creative Freelance Career With Suzanne

“There’s no bright time to pursue a nomadic lifestyle, so just do it but have a bit of a plan!”

Starting her freelance career as a creative

Suzanne didn’t start her journey as a digital nomad. In fact, she only found out while she was doing it that she was actually living the digital nomad lifestyle. During her first years of traveling, she worked in exchange for food and accommodations. It’s a popular way for low-budget traveling.
Over time she offered her creative services through freelancing. While many people believe in finding a niche, Suzanne enjoys doing more than one thing like entrepreneurs and podcast guests Chels and Micaela.
So Suzanne mostly does concept development for boutique hotels and restaurants and offers various creative services like photography, branding, and design. She loves both, so she decided to combine her passions, giving her creative and financial freedom.

How to find clients as a creative freelancer?

Just like any freelancer and business owner, you need to find clients. Suzanne has different marketing strategies but also shares that this isn’t always easy. One of the challenges she is facing is wearing many hats so she doesn’t always find the time to work on promoting her services. To tackle this Suzanne plans and creates content for a month and this is how she’s been able to market herself.

Another challenge he faces as a creative freelancer is coping with client feedback. Especially at the start of her journey, she would take feedback very personally, which would affect her well-being. Over time she started to understand that it’s never about her but feedback about the work. So Suzanne was able to distance herself emotionally from the feedback, treat her as clients’ needs, and adapt her designs according to their values without feeling offended or upset. This is an important lesson for anyone who is doing creative work.

‘‘Know what they want. Know which direction you want to go and it’s never the same.’’

Suzanne identifies herself as an introvert like Marcel, who also joined the Digital Nomads Daily Podcast. Both Suzanne and Marcel share on the podcast that this lifestyle taught her how to network better. Here are 3 things that helped her feel more confident:
🔎 Join co-working spaces because it’s easy to meet other people
🔎 Go to networking events and set small goals for yourself. For example, talk with 3 people about my work.
🔎 Schedule social/networking nights in your calendar and stick to it. It may feel uncomfortable but if you stick to it soon, it will feel more natural.

Combining work and travel

Final takeaways

Connect with our Nienke Nina and our guests

Your host Nienke Nina

More digital nomad tips and life advice via instagram @digitalnomadsdaily

Connect with Nienke Nina on LinkedIn @Nienke Nina Keizer

Find Nienke Nina on Instagram @nienkeninatravels

Meet digital nomad Suzanne

Find her on Instagram @suzannesomewhere

On her website www.suzannesomewhere.com

Check out her LinkedIn Suzanne Schuringa

Other episodes you might like:

🎧  Episode #28: How Digital Nomads Can Become Successful Entrepreneurs With John

🎧  Episode #48: How To Set Boundaries and Why You Want to Go Slomad with Kristin

🎧  Episode #51: How To Live A Balanced And Joyful Remote Life With Ali