What is a 'Digital Nomad'?
I define it as someone who is location independent: they have some form of income (e.g. online freelancing or passive investments) and the flexibility to live where they want. They have perhaps a low salary for a rich country (e.g. $1000 or $2000 per month) but can choose move to a country where you can live well for much less ('location arbitrage').
Why is South America a great place for a Digital Nomad?
Before giving this answer, I can only speak from my experience - living mainly in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
Lots of online freelancers are attracted to Asia, and in the past places like Thailand were the top choice. Amazing food, very low cost of living and a party atmosphere. However in recent years visa laws have tightened and it is becoming harder to live long term in these countries without a traditional job like teaching english or enrolling in an educational course.
I think the South of South America is a great place for a location independent worker because:
The people are incredibly friendly.
From my experience in East Asia I found it hard to make genuine friendships with locals. I had a few bad experiences where people became rude and/or aggressive at me for no reason. Perhaps I broke a cultural rule or maybe they just felt bitter about rich foreign tourists. In South America once you learn a reasonable amount of Spanish (or Portuguese) you can fit in with local people in their environment: spending time with their friends at a bar or restaurant in the local tongue. The culture is much more similar to Europe. Learning these languages is much easier for Europeans or Americans than many of the languages spoken in Asia. I've had times where I've missed my friends in a bar, and locals will just come up to me and make a big effort to include me in their party. English people are not particularly liked in Argentina after the 1982 war (just read the comments on any Argentine news story about the UK), but for me I've only experienced great warmth from local people.
Less Strict Visa Laws
In many South American countries you can get a 3 months visa on arrival, and sometimes increase that to 6 months for a small fee. I've met loads of long term foreigners here and many stay for years on multiple tourist visas.
Cost of Living
South America is much cheaper than places like New York or London. Buenos Aires is probably the most expensive place I've lived in South America, but still here my rent is around a fifth of what I pay in London and in a far better location. Governments tend to have things like free health care and subsidised travel. For me living in Buenos Aires, the subway is around an eighth of the price in London and buses are much cheaper too. Once I took a day-trip to a tourist city and it was just 1.1 pesos ($0.07 USD) each way on the train. A similar thing from London to Brighton would be perhaps £25 ($32 USD) return. Taxis are really cheap, rarely more than $100 pesos ($6.14 USD) for small city-hops. That said, depending on the country some things are surprisingly expensive where the state has been messing with importation taxes to promote local industry. In Argentina electronics and food in the supermarket is much more expensive than the UK.
Great Lifestyle
People are really happy. Family relationships are closer with families often meeting every week. It's incredibly easy to make new friends and have a good social life. Because things are cheaper you can afford to go out more often. When I first got here I was spending a lot of money on frivolous things as it was so much cheaper. I like it when I see old people everywhere, being cared for by their younger family members.
Healthcare
Perhaps a surprising one, but in my experience private healthcare is of very high quality, at least in Buenos Aires. There are public hospitals that are free, but if you pay about $2800 pesos per month (around $170 USD) you can get top quality health insurance. If you are sick the doctor will come to your house, you can get in depth medical checkups where they spend hours doing different tests and you can get all your dental work (fillings etc) paid for by the insurance. I had a few fillings from the UK, the material they used is actually banned in all of South America for health reasons. British people love the NHS (National Health Service) but once you experience private medical care like this it will be impossible to go back!
Safety
Sometimes when people speak about South America, they talk about it like it is a really dangerous place full of drug dealers, guns and smugglers. While you have to be careful not to go to bad areas, if you are careful it can reasonably safe. The dangers are generally from people that are very poor or that have drug problems. In the UK there are more dangers from stupid things, like drunken fights. I've never seen a drunken fight here.
Pace of Life
Everything is more chilled. This is probably worth a separate post of its own because I have too many anecdotes to fit in here.
Questions for Discussing in the Comments
- Are you a 'digital nomad', or considering becoming one?
- Where is the perfect place to be a 'digital nomad'/location independent worker?
- Can you live a digital nomad lifestyle from Steemit rewards alone?
- Do you agree with my comments on why South America is the best place to be a digital nomad?
It's quite a challenge to live a low expense lifestyle in somewhere like Buenos Aires where inflation is often above 2% or 3%.. per month. A new experience for most people from the United States or Europe! Transport and other goods prices are rising faster as government subsidies are removed.
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i like you brother you my best best frined
teaching english in one of those places would be a cool experience
Yeah, it's quite easy to find work teaching english (for native speakers). There are some facebook groups where English teachers share contacts - perhaps they are going on a trip for a few weeks or moving away and need someone to take over their students.
I've heard about a couple of mobile apps too, you teach people English and get paid by the hour.
I've met some foreigners doing things like Yoga classes or guided tours in their native language too.
I first experimented with being a digital nomad in 2009 when I booked a flight to the Philippines and left everything behind, with only a laptop and two change of clothes in my backpack.
Wow, impressive! I bet I took some courage to quit your former life just like that :) Respect! I myself was thinking about Thailand, just because of the fruits available and price of food in general. Few more posts like this and you will talk me into it! ;)
I often think about switching to this lifestyle and yes it is not easy! Maybe we need some inspiration? Thanks for sharing!
I will try to post some photos over the coming weeks ;-)
I read quite a few blogs etc about people doing a similar thing online before I did it. I probably spent about a year thinking about it before I actually left.
Ah so it was premeditated, nice! They say the ones who fail to plan, plan to fail, so good job for following your dreams! ;)
Thanks for the Resteem Ana!! :-D
No problem, good content will always get resteemed as far as you ask me ;)
I backpacked across South America for 7 weeks back in 2005 and agree with you about the warmth and friendliness of the people. It would be a great place to live as a Digital Nomad, once the expensive flights (from the UK) are paid living costs are very low.
Yeah, I agree the flight prices are a killer! The good news is a couple of low-cost airlines are starting to do routes: Norwegian Air and Sky Airline (from Chile), which could be around 150 EUR one way from Barcelona once the initial demand dies down.
Not the super cheap £10 to mainland Europe flights but definitely affordable. I'll have to keep my eye on those. It was over £600 when I went.
Nice post, I would like to do that but the non consistent earning of a freelancer scares me.
Its difficult, I'd recommend a saving pot of a few thousand at least to get you through rough patches.
That's quite a lifestyle. I sweat too easily , though.
nice experience, i live in central america and have visited south america as well, people is so friendly as you say, also its cheaper, my country u can live as a big rich with 3k per month lol , i have dreamed to become a digital nomad too doing steem and forex, cheers mate
Thanks, hoping to go up to Central America in the not too distant future! Good luck with your plans :-D
This is Simply AMAZING!
Thanks @bitbrothers!
Love it! Great story and deserves upvote.
Found you on facebook. . .
Thanks @susieisms!
Hey man i invited you to living a little of time in El Salvador in central america may be you like our little and beautiful country we hope man.
HI @digimad, think everyone wants to be earning passive income hence the reason why we are in Steemit. But nevertheless it isn't always easy to be a full time as we are so used to have this "safety-net" with a normal day job. So takes lots of effort and courage to break through the barrier. Nice post.
That view is nice. At this moment in time it is very difficult to live on steemit rewards, maybe in the future. Are you on a tourist visa?
I would have a private discussion if we could here.
I am on the PAL group in discord under the same name if you want to ask something in particular!