How To Become A Digital Nomad Without Chasing “Paid To Travel”
So, you want to become a digital nomad… but you are not sure if you need to get paid to travel to make it real?
Great question. Because here is the truth I wish more people knew: getting paid to travel and becoming a digital nomad are not the same thing. Not even close.
In this post, I am going to show you why chasing “paid to travel” often leads you down the wrong road, and what to focus on instead if you want the freedom to earn well while you explore the world. We will keep it simple, honest, and very doable.
Hi, I am Christa, founder of the Digital Nomad Life Academy, and a career coach specialising in helping people create passion-led, location-independent remote businesses. I have been travelling since 2013, have visited 60 countries, and I have coached hundreds of beginners who had no idea where to start. If that is you, you are in the right place.
And if you want to go deeper, you can watch my free 90-minute masterclass on how to get started as a digital nomad at www.digitalnomadlifeacademy.com/masterclass. I made it for you!
Why “digital nomad” is not the same as “paid to travel” 🙅♀️
A digital nomad is someone who earns money from a laptop and chooses to travel while working. That is it.
You can be a digital nomad without your job having anything to do with travel. In fact, most successful nomads do exactly that.
“Paid to travel” is a very specific type of work. Think travel influencer, airline crew, cruise staff, tourism PR, or press trips for journalists. Those paths can be cool, but they are not required, and they are not always the best path to freedom.
Here is the thing. Your goal is not to get paid to be on a plane. Your goal is to get paid - period - while living where you want.
And honestly? That changes everything.
What “paid to travel” really looks like behind the scenes 🪞
I get it. The fantasy is tempting. Free flights. Hotel breakfasts. Ocean views that match your screensaver.
But the reality is very different for most people.
Flight attendants often sleep in tiny rooms on odd schedules. Cruise workers live below deck and rarely step off the ship. Tourism PR can place you in a chilly office while other people get the beach days. Influencing can become a never-ending content grind.
None of that is bad if you love it. It is just not the promised land many people imagine.
More importantly, it ties your freedom to one industry. If that industry slows down, so does your income.
Here is the reframe. You do not need a travel job to travel. You need a portable skill that pays you well and a simple plan to take that work on the road.
How to think like a digital nomad instead of a travel employee 👩💻
Focus on decoupling your income from your location. 🌎
When you separate work from place, you get the freedom you actually want. You can be in Lisbon in spring, Cape Town in summer, Mexico City for tacos, or Bali when you want coconuts and co-working. Your job does not change. Your backdrop does.
This is the mindset that unlocks everything.
How to choose your first portable skill in four steps 📋
You do not need to reinvent yourself. You need to translate what you already have into something that works online. Here is a simple process to start today.
Step 1. List your existing assets 📝
Write down your skills, experiences, interests, and tools you already know how to use. Be generous. Editing videos, writing emails, speaking two languages, organising projects, training people, reading data, and being the thoughtful friend who explains things clearly all count.
Step 2. Find the online version 💻
Ask, “How does this show up online for a small business or creator?” If you write, that could be email marketing or blog writing. If you are visual, that could be brand design or simple video editing. If you are analytical, that could be dashboards, CRM cleanups, or paid ads. If you love interiors, that could be remote room plans and shopping lists.
Step 3. Package one clear offer 🎁
Keep it simple. One problem. One process. One price. For example, “I set up your email newsletter and wrote your first four emails in two weeks.” Or “I refresh your brand kit and deliver Canva templates in ten days.” Simple sells.
Step 4. Get your first three clients 💃
You do not need a website to start. You need conversations. Offer a starter package to a warm circle first. Past colleagues, friends with side projects, a Pilates instructor, a cafe owner who posts on Instagram but has no strategy. Three quick wins create proof, confidence, and referrals.
That is the game. Learn, package, deliver, repeat.
What kinds of work actually travel well 🔎
You have options. Many options. Here are categories that move beautifully with you.
🎨 Creative services like copywriting, brand design, podcast editing, Pinterest management, and user-generated content production for small brands.
⚙️ Technical services such as front-end development, WordPress builds, Shopify setups, SEO audits, and data cleanup.
🧠 Strategy and operations, including project management, CRM implementation, launch coordination, and specialised virtual assistance.
👩🏫 Teaching and tutoring, like language lessons, math tutoring, or niche skill intensives delivered over Zoom.
⭐️ Niche expertise delivered as a service. Think travel nurse turned resume specialist. Chef turned menu consultant. Interior designer turned remote room service.
Notice how none of these jobs require you to talk about travel. They pay because they solve problems businesses already have.
You bring the laptop. You choose the city. You get your life back.
How to turn a portable skill into a real income 💸
Let us make it practical. This is the path I guide my students through when they are just starting out.
How to design a beginner-friendly offer 🫶
Keep it time-bound and outcome-based. A two-week brand kit. A ten-day site refresh. A one-month Pinterest setup. Add a short onboarding form, one kickoff call, and one delivery call. That is it.
How to price your first packages 🏷️
Use a simple tier. Starter, Standard, Premium. The Starter is your exact process at a fair price. Standard adds value, such as one content round. Premium adds a retainer or extra support. You will learn fast, then raise your rates.
How to sell without being salesy 🗝️
Share process posts and tiny wins. Show before and afters. Explain what you did and why it worked in clear, simple language. Invite people to DM you for a quick audit or a two-sentence consult. You are teaching while you are selling, which builds trust.
How to stay consistent while you travel 📈
Pick a work window, not a work day. For example, noon to six your time. Communicate your window clearly and stick to it. Protect deep work with calendar blocks. Batch client calls on two days. Leave three days for creative delivery and adventures.
How to keep your pipeline full 🔥
Ask every happy client for a referral. Share one teachable moment per week online. Keep a simple spreadsheet of warm leads. Set two follow-ups per week. Momentum comes from small, consistent touches.
How to travel while you work without burning out 🥱
You are not trying to be on a permanent vacation. You are building a sustainable life. Here is how to keep it sane and fun.
🙏 Choose slower travel. Four to twelve weeks per stop beats four nights in five cities. You earn better and you enjoy more.
🗺️ Work with the time zone, not against it. If your clients are in New York and you are in Europe, afternoons are gold. If you are in Asia, mornings may be your sweet spot.
🏡 Book work-first housing. Fast Wi-Fi, a table you can sit at comfortably, and quiet hours matter. A cute couch is not a desk.
🌿 Keep one familiar ritual. Same morning coffee. Same Thursday deep clean. Same Friday call with a friend. Routine grounds you in new places.
💻 Join a co-working space or a daily cafe club. Community is a productivity hack. Humans move when other humans are moving.
What about money, visas, and reality 📑
You do not need a fortune to start. You need a plan. Begin with a modest runway if you can, even one or two months of expenses. Get your first clients before you hop on a plane. Build from there.
Visas are simple when you travel as a tourist and work from your laptop for clients who are not local. Each country has its own rules, so do your homework before you go. Many nomads choose friendly hubs where community, Wi-Fi, and cost of living make life easy. Lisbon, Mexico City, Chiang Mai, Cape Town, and Medellin are popular for a reason.
Reality check time. Yes, there will be days when the Wi-Fi drops or the Airbnb desk is a tiny vanity. You will learn. You will adapt. And you will be shocked by how quickly it becomes normal to run your business from a sunny table with a view.
A personal story to anchor this for you 🙂
When I first started, I thought the only respectable way to travel and work was to get paid to travel. So I tried paths that sounded glamorous. I flirted with airline work. I explored cruise contracts. I even worked in tourism PR.
Guess where I spent most of my time. In an air-conditioned office, watching other people’s vacations get promoted. I was “in travel” but I was not free.
The shift happened when I stopped chasing travel jobs and started building portable skills that the market already needed. I took what I knew, packaged it, and learned how to deliver it remotely. I built from there.
That single decision gave me everything I wanted. Income. Freedom. Choice.
You can do the same.
Key takeaways for the action-taker 😎
Your goal is not to get paid to travel. Your goal is to get paid wherever you are.
Most digital nomads earn through portable skills that have nothing to do with travel.
Start with one clear offer that solves a real problem in two weeks or less.
Sell by teaching and showing the process, not by begging.
Travel slower, set a work window, and protect your energy.
Build a simple remote business that pays you well, then let your passport follow your calendar.
What to do next if you are serious 💫
If you are ready to stop scrolling and start building, here is your simple next step plan.
Choose one skill you can offer online. Write a one-sentence offer.
Price it at three levels. Starter, Standard, Premium.
Message three people you already know who could use it. Offer your Starter package.
Deliver it well. Collect a testimonial.
Repeat twice more. Now you have a portfolio and momentum.
You do not need permission. You need a plan and the courage to execute.
And if you want help deciding your exact skill, packaging it, and turning it into real income, that is exactly what I do inside the Digital Nomad Life Academy. I am a career coach specialising in helping people create passion-led, location-independent remote businesses, and I would love to support you.
Your invitation to learn the full blueprint 🧭
If this clicked, do not let the energy fade. Momentum loves a clear next step.
Watch my free 90-minute masterclass: www.digitalnomadlifeacademy.com/masterclass.
Inside, I walk you through the beginner path in detail, from picking your first offer to landing your first clients to setting up a sane travel rhythm. You will leave with clarity and real steps to take this week.
Because it is not just about freedom. It is about alignment. It is about building a life that feels like you.
You do not have to chase hotels for a paycheck to live your dream.
You can build your dream and take it anywhere.
I am cheering you on. Always.
You don’t have to do this alone, and you definitely don’t have to prove yourself to anyone.
and take your first step toward freedom today.
Because the truth is, the world doesn’t need more people following the rules.
It needs more people like you - brave enough to rewrite them.
-
(8) Why You Shouldn't Aspire to Get Paid to Travel & what to do instead to become a digital Nomad.
[Christa] (0:00 - 17:03): Hi and welcome to the Digital Nomad Life podcast. I'm your host Christa from Christabellatravels and I am excited to share with you my perspective today on why you should not aspire to get paid to travel if you want to be a digital nomad. The reason why I wanted to make this podcast is because I have seen as a digital nomad coach and also someone who's been I guess a digital nomad influencer for several years and someone who's been a digital nomad for eight years, I just get so many questions from people every single day about how they can become a digital nomad. And I've seen that a lot of people assume that if they want to become a digital nomad, they should aspire to get paid to travel. But I really want to separate what being a digital nomad is from getting paid to travel. The two things are not at all the same. They're actually completely different. So I want to distinguish those two things and also guide you in a direction that will help you accomplish what I believe is your actual goal, which is to make money while you travel the world. And you don't have to work in anything related to the travel industry or hospitality or anything at all if you want to get paid while traveling.
So that's what I'm going to break down. So just a fair warning, I'm going to be making quite a bit of assumptions in this podcast. I'm going to assume that you, the person that I'm speaking to, is someone who dreams of traveling the world, of having ultimate freedom, and of course, feeling financially secure while you do it. And I also assume that you are pretty early on in your journey of figuring out how to accomplish that goal. I assume that you are considering a career transition and that you maybe haven't thought so deeply about your relationship to money. And finally, that you probably don't know anybody else that is making money while traveling the world. And maybe you don't know anybody also who is getting paid to travel. So it is my honor to be that person that you will get to know. You get to know me really, really well in this podcast.
I'm such an open book. So yeah, I actually, if you don't know anybody that's doing what you want to be doing, I do recommend listening to my first two episodes of this podcast where I really go into my story and talk about how anybody can become a digital nomad. But yeah, just a brief intro. If you don't know who I am, like I said, my name is Christa from Christabellatravels. You can find me on Instagrams and TikTok with that handle. And yeah, I've been a digital nomad since 2013. I have had a dream of traveling since I could walk basically. So I've just always, always, always been really super interested in traveling the world and was highly motivated to travel the world after suffering a freak accident that almost took my life back in 2009. Ever since then, I realized life is way too fragile to not take advantage of big opportunities or to seize the day or follow my dreams.
So I'm super proud to say that I've traveled to 60 countries already and I was making a full time income the entire time. Because yeah, it's important to know that I was just like you. I was just like you before I got started as a digital nomad and yeah, I wanted to make this podcast to just help you understand what I wish that I had understood back when I first was getting started pursuing this lifestyle. So yeah, back in the day when I got started, this accident was in 2009. And basically at that time when I had that accident, when I knew that I was going to get better, I spent a whole day still bedridden but making a bucket list of all the things that I ever wanted to do once I got better and just told myself that God forbid I ever get into another serious accident again, I never want to regret not taking advantage of an opportunity if it's on the bucket list. So this bucket list kind of became my guiding force in life and I had so many travel things on it that yeah, I think that's what really, really motivated me to travel the way that I have, like lived out of a suitcase for several years, etc.
And again, I was making money the whole time because also things on that bucket list were to have a professional career that I was proud of and to achieve certain income goals. So I had all these really big dreams that I was highly motivated to achieve and back when I was trying to figure it all out, let's say like 2012, I had graduated in 2010 and then I started off just only focusing on having a career of getting professional experience. So I worked at a marketing agency and then after two years of that, I was like, okay, it's time. Like I want to get paid to travel. Like I want to travel the world but I also care about my career so therefore I must figure out a way that I can get paid to travel. There was nobody, I had never heard of the term digital nomad at the time, I don't even know if anybody was using it back in 2012. So yeah, I guess I just thought that the only thing that I could do to travel the world while making money was to get paid to travel. So I narrowed it down to a bunch of options and I thought, okay, maybe I'll be a flight attendant. But then someone was like, yeah, but do you really want to be a waitress in the sky?
And I was like, okay, no, I guess I don't want to do that. And then I was like, okay, what if I work on a cruise ship? And that seemed like a cool idea but then upon further investigation, I realized that if you work on a cruise ship, you end up having to live in a dark, small cabin and you don't get to get off the boat that often and that didn't really seem to check the boxes. So then I thought about being a travel blogger or someone who is a content creator because even though Instagrams wasn't really a thing back then, content creation still was because you could be a travel blogger. But I had graduated with a journalism degree and had spoken to just a few too many people that were like, no, there's no money in travel blogging.
Now I know that that's actually not true but at the time I believed it and just felt like this was not going to be for me because I cared about making money. Another thing that I tried, I went to go teach English abroad and that was cool and I would say that's actually a really good option. I went to teach English in Thailand and I did get to travel a lot but I wasn't totally free because I still had to be in a school setting for the majority of the year. So still I wasn't really like having the level of freedom that I really wanted and the job that I had that I actually felt like that it felt like the closest to me accomplishing both my professional objectives and my travel goals was to work in travel public relations. If you don't know what that is, public relations aka PR, that is when the PR person develops a relationship with journalists, people who work at newspapers or magazines and the PR person is like, hey, my client who is a department of tourism in Bermuda has a new sauna at their hotel and you should totally come down and check out the sauna and maybe write an article about it. So the PR person is responsible for getting their client press. So I got a job in travel PR and I was like, this is amazing.
I'm going to be able to escort journalists down to the destinations that I work for and we're going to have so much fun. It's going to be amazing. And actually I ended up just being in a cold air conditioned office the entire time that I was in Bermuda. So that was so sad because working in travel PR for me was like the ultimate. I was like, this literally checks all the boxes. This is how I'm going to get paid to travel while also having a career that I feel is a respectable professional white collar career, which is what I wanted for myself. So then once I became kind of disillusioned with travel public relations, I was like, damn it. Like now what am I going to do? How am I going to accomplish my goal? And that brings me to me sharing with you what I have learned up to this point. So basically, yeah, anybody that's getting paid to travel, either they are like they could be a content creator and to be fair, that is a way to get paid to travel, but it's a grind. And definitely not everybody is cut out to be a travel content creator.
And I personally know a lot of travel content creators and I can tell you that the vast majority of them are not making a full time income from their influencing. Okay. It's like if you're going to be a content creator, you actually really should have another business underneath what it is that you're doing. Either you're a professional photographer or videographer or whatever. So yeah, if you want to be a content creator, I hope that you really focus more on developing amazing content creation skills. Like you should be a cinematic videographer or like a stellar photographer. And that's how you can start getting jobs that hopefully will allow you to get paid to travel. But if you're not the content creator type, then what can you do? Is it hopeless for you?
Hell no. It's just that you're not going to get paid to travel. What I recommend is that you find a career that you can do from anywhere so that you take your laptop, you take your career and go where you want to travel. And essentially your travel and your work have nothing to do with each other. They just happen to be in a relationship, if you will. Take my situation for example. I had a remote job for years and with that job, basically wherever I was in the world, if it was 9 a.m. in New York City, I would open my laptop. So sometimes if I was in South Africa, I would open my laptop at 4 PM. and I would close it at midnight because those were the hours that my colleagues in New York were working. So I was still making a full-time income from that job and I was still traveling in South Africa and I went to Turkey on that trip and Israel and Jordan and all these amazing places in Europe.
So I was getting paid and I was traveling, but I wasn't getting paid to travel. I was getting paid to do my job, which happened to be digital marketing for a tech startup. So this is really my main message for you. Focus on finding a career that allows you to do something that you're going to be good at and if it's not content creation, it's something else. You could be a developer, like if you're really math or tech savvy and you have a lot of patience of looking at a screen for long periods of time, then you could totally get so many remote jobs as a developer. And then you're a developer and you just go sit in a coffee shop or your Airbnbs in the Caribbean or Southeast Asia, wherever you want. And then once you're done with your workday, you close that laptop and then you go enjoy your destination. Or maybe if you're more of a creative type, you could go into design. You could be a website designer, you could be a graphic designer, you could be a Pinterest designer, a social media designer. There's so many different kinds of design you could do. I actually currently have a client who is a remote interior designer. That's an option, right?
If you're like my client and you have experience in interior design, you can still do that thing that you are good at that has nothing to do with travel, but just make it remote so that you can go wherever you want with that job, with that career that you're good at. If you're a great writer or you know a lot about social media, if you know how to edit videos or you know the inside out of a specific platform, all of these are skills that you can leverage to create a remote business. And when you have a remote business, you're remote. You can just go wherever you want, therefore you can travel. And your business, fundamentally, it's a business because it's making money. If you're not making money with it, then it's a hobby. So if you've got something that you can do that you can make money from your laptop, you just do that, take your laptop wherever you want and boom. That's how you become a digital nomad and that is a much better way for you to make a full time income while traveling, which has nothing to do with getting paid to travel.
I hope that that concept makes sense and I hope that this has saved at least one person out there from going down a rabbit hole of like researching how to get paid to travel because the content that you're going to see is not going to give you good advice. So yeah, I think I give great advice. If you liked this podcast, I have a lot more where this came from. And do you know what, if you have any personal questions about how you could create a location independent lifestyle for yourself while making money, I would love to have a conversation with you actually on my private secret Instagrams account, which is Christabellatravels coaching. That is a place for us to connect where I can actually listen to your personal story and I can tell you if it's a good fit for us to work together if you're open to receiving coaching and guidance on how to make this lifestyle happen. I am currently running a program called the Digital Nomad Life Academy in which there are about 100 students in there. People are coming in at slightly different times.
But yeah, basically the kind of people that I work with in the Digital Nomad Life Academy, they're people that would be interested in listening to this podcast. They're people that know they really want the lifestyle. They know that they want to become a digital nomad. They want to travel the world. They care about having a career. They're highly motivated individuals. They are open minded. They're really interested in personal development. They're pretty spiritually connected These people are who I work with. And the thing about these people though is that they know they have all these qualities. They know they want to become a digital nomad, but they just don't know what is the right career for them. So yeah, if you've been listening to this podcast and you're like, oh no, my dreams are dashed. Now I can't be a flight attendant or I don't want to be a flight attendant. Then if you're like, but what can I do to work online?
How can I make money? That's exactly what the Digital Nomad Life Academy helps you figure out. So if you join, I actually will be able to work with you personally to help you uncover the best career path for you. And it's a very intuitive process. I really tune into you and your energy. And I also learn a lot about your experience, your background, your personality, your interests, your likes, your dislikes. And because I've been traveling the world for eight plus years, I know a lot about the different kind of remote career options that are out there. And I also personally have a lot of experience doing different things. So yeah, I would say 90% of the time, anytime I work with a client in figuring out how they can become a digital nomad, I suggest something to them within 40 minutes of the conversation that they're like, oh my God, how come I never thought about this? This is perfect for me. So yeah, if you want to fast track the decision making process of how to become a digital nomad or what would be the right thing for you to do, I definitely encourage you to message me again on Christabellatravels coaching. And I will walk you through the whole process of how you personally can get started.
So I hope to hear from you soon. I hope that you learn something from this. Feel free to share this podcast. I would love to see that and tag me if you do. And yeah, thank you for listening and we will talk soon.