WEBVTT - Become A Digital Nomad

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<v Kia>It  is  Kia,  ever  dream  of  changing  your  surroundings  for 

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<v Kia>something  a  bit  sunnier?  The  rise  of  remote  working,  that 

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<v Kia>dream  is  becoming  more  and  more  of  a  reality  with 

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<v Kia>lots  more  people  embracing  a  digital  nomad  lifestyle.  But  what 

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<v Kia>are  the  financial  implications  of  that?  How  do  you  make 

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<v Kia>a  life- changing  decision  like  this  while  sticking  to  your 

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<v Kia>money  goals?  To  get  into  all  of  this,  I'm  chatting 

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<v Kia>to  Claire  Rhodes,  a  freelance  writer  whose  job  meant  that 

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<v Kia>in  2021  she  was  able  to  make  the  decision  to 

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<v Kia>work  from  abroad.  If  the  way  this  episode  sounds  is 

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<v Kia>a  little  different  to  usual,  it's  because  you  might  have 

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<v Kia>guessed,  Claire  isn't  with  me  today.  She's  currently  on  her 

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<v Kia>travels.  Not  that  I'm  jealous  at  all.  Claire,  thank  you 

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<v Kia>for  coming  on  and  taking  the  time  out  to  speak 

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<v Kia>to  us.  I  want  to  ask  you  to  kick  things 

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<v Kia>off.  Tell  me  a  little  bit  more  about  your  story. 

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<v Kia>How  did  you  become  and  decide  to  become  a  digital  nomad?

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<v Claire>I  don't  think  it's  particularly  dissimilar  to  what I imagine  a  lot 

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<v Claire>of  digital  nomad  stories  are.  I  sort  of  went  to 

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<v Claire>university,  went  straight  into  an  office  job  straight  after  that. 

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<v Claire>I've  worked  as  a  content  writer  for  B2B  tech  companies, 

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<v Claire>so  I  worked  at  PR  agencies  in  London,  content  marketing 

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<v Claire>agencies,  that  sort  of  thing.  And  I've  been  in  that 

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<v Claire>space  for  about  seven  years  now.  But  over  COVID  like 

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<v Claire>a  lot  of  people,  we  were  stuck  inside.  We  were 

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<v Claire>obviously  doing  a  lot  of  remote  working  from  there  anyway, 

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<v Claire>and  I  think  it  just  encouraged  me  and a lot  of  other 

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<v Claire>people  to  sort  of  look  at  our  work- life  balance. 

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<v Claire>I  hadn't  done  a  lot  of  traveling  before,  so  that 

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<v Claire>was  something  that  I  really  wanted  to  go  out  and 

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<v Claire>just  do  a  bit  more  of  do  it  whilst  I 

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<v Claire>was  sort  of  young.
 Find  the  money  side  of  it 

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<v Claire>does  come  after  a  little  bit,  but  yeah,  not  sort 

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<v Claire>of  saving  up  and  doing  it  for  retirement  and  that 

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<v Claire>sort  of  stuff.  So  I  decided  to  go  freelance  in 

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<v Claire>summer  2021,  which  is  when  I  decided  to  give  up 

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<v Claire>my  house  that  I  was  renting  in  Buckinghamshire,  sell  all 

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<v Claire>my  stuff,  my  car,  everything  and  me  and  my  partner 

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<v Claire>just  upped  sticks  and  started  traveling  basically.

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<v Kia>Claire,  that  sounds  like  an  absolute  dream  as  someone  who 

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<v Kia>loves  to  travel  as  well.  I'm  sure  you've  probably  seen 

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<v Kia>some  incredible  things.  And  this  year  I  went  traveling,  one 

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<v Kia>of  my  favorite  places  was  Thailand  and  I  think  that 

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<v Kia>was  when  I  realized  it's  actually  not  as  hard  as 

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<v Kia>people  think.  Obviously  there's  time  differences,  there's  things  to  work 

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<v Kia>out  but  it's  relatively  easy  to  work  abroad and I thought  it  was 

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<v Kia>going  to  be  harder  than  that.

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<v Claire>Yeah,  definitely.  I  completely  agree.  I  think  unless  you  are 

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<v Claire>sort  of  surrounded  by  people  who  have  done  it  or 

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<v Claire>know  someone  who  have  done  it  and  been  successful  at 

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<v Claire>it,  it  seems  like  a  very  farfetched  idea.  But  until 

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<v Claire>you  actually  meet  someone  who's  done  it  and  they  can 

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<v Claire>sort  of  tell  you  a  little  bit  about  it and  the 

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<v Claire>fact  that,  yes,  there's  hurdles  to  go  over  but  it's 

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<v Claire>not.  Like you said, it is  not  as  hard  as  I  think  people  make 

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<v Claire>it  out  to  be.  It's  just  a  very  different  way 

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<v Claire>of  life  that  you  just  have  to  adapt  to  I  think.

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<v Kia>Absolutely.  And  it's  good  that  we've  got  you  here  to 

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<v Kia>hear  about  everything  that  you  are  doing.  So  what  does 

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<v Kia>life  look  like  for  you  now?  So  what  work  do 

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<v Kia>you  do  and  what  does  a  typical  week  look  like 

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<v Kia>for  you?

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<v Claire>I  am  living  in  Bali  in  Indonesia  at  the minute. We  got 

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<v Claire>a  yearlong  lease  there,  so  that's  where  sort  of  home 

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<v Claire>is  I  guess  at  the  moment.  I'm  still  doing  the 

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<v Claire>same  work  that  I  was  doing  when  I  was  full-

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<v Claire>time  employed,  so  I'm  still  doing  B2B  tech  content  writing 

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<v Claire>but  I've  obviously  just  got  my  own  client  base  that 

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<v Claire>I  work  with.  I'm  really  lucky  that  I've  got  a 

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<v Claire>lot  of  flexible  clients.  The  time  difference  for  Bali  and 

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<v Claire>UK  is  seven  hours,  sometimes  eight  hours  when  we  have 

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<v Claire>daylight  savings,  so  it's  a  little  bit  brutal.  But  everyone 

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<v Claire>has  been  fantastic  about  having  early  morning  calls  in  the 

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<v Claire>UK  and  stuff  so  that  I'm  not  joining  calls  at 1:00 

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<v Claire>AM  and  that  kind  of  thing.  But  obviously  when  it 

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<v Claire>needs  to  happen,  that's  absolutely  fine.  In  terms  of  a 

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<v Claire>typical  week,  it  depends  on  if  I'm  actively  traveling  or 

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<v Claire>I'm  back  in  my  place  in  Bali,  but  I  try 

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<v Claire>to only  work  three  days  worth  of  hours  a  week  if 

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<v Claire>you  like.
 I'm  really  trying  to  be  kind  of  strict 

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<v Claire>on  that  because  one  of  the  reasons  I  wanted  to 

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<v Claire>do  obviously  the  whole  digital  nomad  and  remote  working  thing 

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<v Claire>is  to  go  out  and  see  more  of  things.  So it is 

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<v Claire>very  easy  once  you  start  getting  your  clients  in  and 

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<v Claire>getting  your  money  in  and  stuff  to  end  up  being 

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<v Claire>stuck  working  Monday  to  Friday.  And  I  think  I've  just 

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<v Claire>tried  to  be  really,  really  strict  with  myself  about  not 

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<v Claire>going  back  into  that.  Needless  to  say,  sometimes  you  do 

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<v Claire>have  to  do  that.  Sometimes  where  you  are  living  or 

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<v Claire>traveling  to  is  more  expensive  and  flights  and  accommodation  and 

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<v Claire>things  add  up  and  then  you  need  to  get  more 

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<v Claire>money  in  and  that's  fine.  But  one  of  the  really 

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<v Claire>nice  things  is  if  you  need  to  have  a  month 

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<v Claire>or  two  where  you  are  living  a  bit  cheaper,  you 

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<v Claire>need  to  sort  of  not  have  so  many  expenses  and 

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<v Claire>stuff.
 You  can  fly  somewhere  that's  going  to  lend  that 

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<v Claire>to  you,  so Bali's  a  great  example  of  that.  Flights  yes, 

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<v Claire>can  be  expensive  depending  on  where  you  are,  but  the 

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<v Claire>actual  cost  of  living  and  the  quality  of  living  is 

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<v Claire>a  lot  higher  than  in  other  places  in  the  world.

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<v Kia>Claire,  you  are  really  selling  this  to  myself  and  everyone 

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<v Kia>listening,  three- day  work  week,  get  to  see  the  sites. 

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<v Kia>And  like  you  said,  if  things  need  to  kind  of 

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<v Kia>cut  back  on  money,  you'd  make  that  move.  You  are 

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<v Kia>really  selling  it.  So  let's  go  into that  a  bit  more. 

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<v Kia>What  have  some  of  your  high  points  been  then  and 

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<v Kia>what  has  surprised  you  on  your  journey  into  this  digital 

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<v Kia>nomad  life?

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<v Claire>I  would  say  some  of  my  high  points  is  some 

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<v Claire>of  the  weird  and  wonderful  places  I've  traveled  to.  I've 

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<v Claire>been  to  Mauritania  and  West  Africa.  I  spent  a  month 

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<v Claire>in  Pakistan.  Places  that  you  wouldn't  necessarily  think  to  go 

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<v Claire>on  vacation,  but  because  you're  traveling it  is  obviously  more  of 

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<v Claire>an  interesting  place  to  go  to  and  are  far  less 

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<v Claire>traveled  if  you  like.  And  it  was  amazing.  But  also 

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<v Claire>the  fact  that  on  either  side  of  that  trip  I 

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<v Claire>was  just  able  to  kind  of  just  lock  in  and 

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<v Claire>get  my  work  done.  And  then  I  could  take  that 

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<v Claire>month  off  and  it  was  fine  and  I  knew  everything 

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<v Claire>was  going  to  be  fine.  And  all  my  clients  knew 

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<v Claire>I  was  going  to  be  off  for  a  bit  and 

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<v Claire>I  could  just  come  back  and  get  straight  back  into 

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<v Claire>it.  But  yeah,  I  think  that's  something  that  I  would 

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<v Claire>perhaps  elaborate  on,  find  your  nice  easy  clients  and  make 

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<v Claire>sure  that  you  build  a  connection  with  them.
 I  think 

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<v Claire>a  lot  of  people  are  worried  with  remote  work  that 

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<v Claire>it's  all  kind  of  email  based  and  you  don't  really 

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<v Claire>get  to  know  anybody,  especially  as  a  freelancer  I  find 

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<v Claire>that  people  are  sometimes  a  little  bit  standoffish  about  that. 

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<v Claire>And  it's  very  different  meeting  someone  in  the  office  and 

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<v Claire>doing  that  kind  of  thing,  but  just  make  sure  you 

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<v Claire>have  kind  of  regular  phone  calls  with  people.  And  just 

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<v Claire>have  that  personal  element  as  well  so  that  you  are 

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<v Claire>both  seen  as  human,  you're  not  just  business  entities  doing 

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<v Claire>a  business  transaction.  I  think  that's  really,  really  important.  In 

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<v Claire>terms  of  things  that  surprised  me,  I  would  say  from 

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<v Claire>a,  it's  kind  of  a  digital  nomad  point  of  view 

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<v Claire>but  also  a  self- employed  point  of  view,  taxes  to 

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<v Claire>be  honest.  When  I  first  went  freelance  I  didn't  earn 

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<v Claire>as  much  in  my  first  year.  I  didn't  work  for 

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<v Claire>kind  of  six  months.
 I  saved  up  a  lot  and 

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<v Claire>just  wanted  to  solely  travel  so  I  only  worked  for 

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<v Claire>the  latter  six  months  of  it,  whereas  my  second  year 

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<v Claire>was  very  much  traveling  and  working  continuously.  I  did  my 

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<v Claire>tax  bill  a  couple  of  months  ago  and  was  a 

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<v Claire>little  bit  surprised  by  that.  So  I'm  having  the  fun 

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<v Claire>thing  of  making  sure  I've  got  enough  money  to  pay 

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<v Claire>for  that  in  January.  So  I  think  that's  something  to 

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<v Claire>bear  in  mind  whether  you  are  digital  nomading  or  kind 

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<v Claire>of  doing  self- employed,  that  kind  of  thing,  just  do 

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<v Claire>your  homework  on  where  you're  working  and  your  tax  situation 

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<v Claire>and  who  you  need  to  pay  for  what  would  be I think 

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<v Claire>a  solid  piece  of  advice  that  I  wish  I'd  taken 

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<v Claire>a  little  bit  more  notice  of.  But  I've  done  that 

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<v Claire>now,  so  hopefully  the  hard  work's  done  for  anyone  else 

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<v Claire>thinking  about  it  and  listening,

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<v Kia>I  think  what  you've  mentioned  there is  really  good.  You've  managed 

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<v Kia>to  do  some  incredible  travels,  that  sounds  like  a  dream, 

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<v Kia>the  places  you've  been  and  what  you've  done.  But  when 

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<v Kia>it  comes  to  the  finance  element  and  you  mentioned  taxes, 

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<v Kia>we've  spoken  about  it  before  in  this  podcast,  but  that 

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<v Kia>is  something  that  really  does  almost  stump  people  especially  when 

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<v Kia>you're  self- employed.  And  it's  great  to  see  that  obviously 

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<v Kia>now  you've got  a  bit  more  understanding.  But  I  think  a 

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<v Kia>lot  of  self- employed  people,  myself  included,  have  had  a 

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<v Kia>similar  journey  where  you  go  into  it,  everything's  great  and 

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<v Kia>then  the  tax  bill  comes  and  then  you're  having  to 

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<v Kia>kind  of  work  that  one  out.  And  just  a  reminder 

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<v Kia>for  our  listeners,  make  sure  that  you're  checking  the  tax 

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<v Kia>and  employment  regulations  in  the  countries  that  you're  planning  to 

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<v Kia>travel  to,  because  each  country  has  their  own  rules  and 

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<v Kia>restrictions  on  this  and  it's  always  good  to  double  check 

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<v Kia>and  see  what's  going  on  with  those  countries.
 It's  also 

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<v Kia>worth  noting  that  with  national  insurance,  you  may  have  to 

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<v Kia>pay  this  if  you  think that  there's  any  chance  you  may 

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<v Kia>be  returning  back  to  the  UK  in  the  future.  When 

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<v Kia>it  comes  to  your  financial  goals,  Claire,  how  does  working 

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<v Kia>abroad  actually  fit  into  those  goals  that  you  have?

0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.720
<v Claire>I  think  it  kind  of  fits  in,  so  for  example, 

0:08:12.780 --> 0:08:14.130
<v Claire>I  want  to  buy  a  house  at  some  point.  I'm 

0:08:14.130 --> 0:08:16.469
<v Claire>30,  I've  not  quite  got  there  yet.  I'm  not  sort 

0:08:16.469 --> 0:08:18.120
<v Claire>of  at  the  stage  in  life  where  I  want  to 

0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.309
<v Claire>get  married  and  have  kids  and  stuff,  but  yes,  I 

0:08:20.309 --> 0:08:23.039
<v Claire>would  like  to  have  a  house in  a  few  years.  And 

0:08:23.039 --> 0:08:26.310
<v Claire>I  think  sort  of  working  abroad  like  I  mentioned  earlier, 

0:08:26.310 --> 0:08:29.190
<v Claire>if  you  have  a  kind  of  financial  goal  like  that 

0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:32.309
<v Claire>for  a  house  deposit  for  example  in  your  mind  and 

0:08:32.309 --> 0:08:35.009
<v Claire>you  want  to  do  that,  it's  very  easy  to  live 

0:08:35.010 --> 0:08:36.838
<v Claire>where  it's  a  lot  cheaper  and  you  can  save  a 

0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:37.560
<v Claire>lot  more  money.

0:08:38.009 --> 0:08:41.219
<v Kia>I  think  everything  that  you  shared  in  this  episode  has 

0:08:41.219 --> 0:08:46.080
<v Kia>been  really  good  at  almost  dispelling  anyone,  including  myself,  who might've 

0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.050
<v Kia>had  reservations  about  moving  abroad,  what am  I  going  to  do 

0:08:49.050 --> 0:08:50.849
<v Kia>for  money?  Where  am  I  going  to  live?  It's  going 

0:08:50.849 --> 0:08:53.160
<v Kia>to  cost  so  much.  I  think  there  is  that  perception, 

0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:54.838
<v Kia>that  idea  that  it  will  cost  an  arm  and  a 

0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.690
<v Kia>leg  when  in  reality  you've  shared  of  your  journey  that 

0:08:57.690 --> 0:09:00.570
<v Kia>you're  earning  more,  working  less  and  paying  less  so  you 

0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.780
<v Kia>can  reach  some  of  your  financial  goals.  And  Claire,  you might've 

0:09:04.020 --> 0:09:05.490
<v Kia>had  me  sold.  I  know  that  wasn't  your  aim,  but 

0:09:05.490 --> 0:09:08.400
<v Kia>you might've  had  me  sold.  Don't  be  surprised  if  the  next 

0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.710
<v Kia>episode  I'm  going  to  be  on  a  sunny  beach  somewhere. 

0:09:10.860 --> 0:09:14.099
<v Kia>Everyone,  don't  be  surprised.  What  do  you  wish  you'd  known 

0:09:14.099 --> 0:09:15.419
<v Kia>before  you  made  this  change?

0:09:15.450 --> 0:09:17.250
<v Claire>I  think  there's  three  things  that  kind  of  jump  out 

0:09:17.250 --> 0:09:20.250
<v Claire>for  me  here.  The  first  being  just  do  your  homework. 

0:09:20.309 --> 0:09:22.260
<v Claire>So  look  at  where  you're  going,  look  at  where  you 

0:09:22.260 --> 0:09:24.718
<v Claire>want  to  travel,  look  at  where  you  want  to  work 

0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:26.340
<v Claire>and  just  make  sure  you  have  the  right  things  in 

0:09:26.340 --> 0:09:28.410
<v Claire>place  to  be  able  to  kind  of  do  that  properly. 

0:09:28.410 --> 0:09:30.900
<v Claire>So  look  at  things  like  where  you  need  to  pay 

0:09:30.900 --> 0:09:34.348
<v Claire>taxes,  so  that  obviously  depends  on  your  clientele  and  where 

0:09:34.350 --> 0:09:37.170
<v Claire>you're  working.  And  look  at  things  like  visas  as  well. 

0:09:37.830 --> 0:09:40.500
<v Claire>Obviously  if  you're  going  somewhere  where  you're  going  to  work 

0:09:40.500 --> 0:09:42.750
<v Claire>online  and  you  need  a  business  visa  for  example,  just 

0:09:42.750 --> 0:09:44.820
<v Claire>make  sure  you've  done  the  right  sort  of  research  to 

0:09:44.820 --> 0:09:47.790
<v Claire>make  sure  that you  are  ticking  all  the  boxes.  The  second 

0:09:47.790 --> 0:09:50.189
<v Claire>thing  I  would  say  would  be  to  have  a  safety 

0:09:50.190 --> 0:09:54.240
<v Claire>net.  Traveling  is  great  but  unexpected  things  do  happen,  so 

0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:58.230
<v Claire>expect  them  to  happen  and  just  be  prepared.
 So  if 

0:09:58.230 --> 0:10:01.679
<v Claire>you  need  to  have  a  last  minute  flight  home  or 

0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:03.958
<v Claire>you  need  to  change  your  travel  plans  and  that  kind 

0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:05.399
<v Claire>of  thing,  just  make  sure  you've  got  a  bit  of 

0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:08.610
<v Claire>money  set  aside  to  do  that.  If  you  don't,  it's 

0:10:08.759 --> 0:10:10.980
<v Claire>going  to  get  very  overwhelming  very  quickly.  You  don't  want 

0:10:10.980 --> 0:10:14.040
<v Claire>to  be  putting  things  on  your  credit  card  and  it's 

0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:15.838
<v Claire>going  to  be  a  lot.  So  just  make  sure  you've 

0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:17.880
<v Claire>got  that  sort  of  capital  set  aside  for  that  I 

0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:22.679
<v Claire>think  is  really  important.  And  thirdly,  I  would  say  choose 

0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:24.240
<v Claire>a  place  where  you're  going  to  have  a  bit  of 

0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:27.389
<v Claire>a  community.  There's  some  really,  really  great  cities  that  I've 

0:10:27.389 --> 0:10:31.110
<v Claire>been  to  that  have  got  really,  really,  really  good  digital 

0:10:31.110 --> 0:10:34.740
<v Claire>nomad  communities  in  there  and  that's  obviously  why  people  go.


0:10:35.190 --> 0:10:37.410
<v Claire>Off  the  top of  my  head,  Canggu  in  Bali  which  is 

0:10:37.410 --> 0:10:40.230
<v Claire>where  I  live is  a  great  example  of  that.  Other  places 

0:10:40.230 --> 0:10:44.399
<v Claire>as  well,  Lisbon,  and  there  was  also  Tulum  in  Mexico 

0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.080
<v Claire>is  another  place  that  I've  been  to  that's  got  really 

0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:49.439
<v Claire>good  digital  nomad  communities.  And  I  think  it's  really  important 

0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.380
<v Claire>to  surround  yourself  with  like- minded  people,  especially  if  you 

0:10:52.380 --> 0:10:55.410
<v Claire>want  to  go  down  the  digital  nomad  route.  So  a 

0:10:55.410 --> 0:10:58.230
<v Claire>really,  really  good  example  of  that,  there's  a  pub  where 

0:10:58.230 --> 0:11:01.799
<v Claire>I  live  in  Bali  and  on  a  Friday  night  everyone 

0:11:01.799 --> 0:11:04.469
<v Claire>goes  down  there.  But  it's  always  really  interesting  because  it's 

0:11:04.469 --> 0:11:07.740
<v Claire>always  people  who  are  kind  of  starting  their  own  businesses, 

0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.010
<v Claire>looking  for  inspiration,  where  they  want  to  travel  to  next. 

0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:13.500
<v Claire>You'll  probably  find  someone  who  is  in  the  same  field 

0:11:13.500 --> 0:11:15.870
<v Claire>as  you  or  someone  who  you  would  see  yourself  as 

0:11:15.870 --> 0:11:18.120
<v Claire>having  a  client  in  that  space  and  you  can  end 

0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.839
<v Claire>up  working  together.
 Everyone's  really  willing  to  help  each  other 

0:11:21.839 --> 0:11:24.900
<v Claire>out  and  sort  of  provide  that  inspiration  that  you  may 

0:11:24.900 --> 0:11:27.600
<v Claire>need  at  that  certain  point.  And if you  are  lucky  enough  that you are in 

0:11:27.990 --> 0:11:30.090
<v Claire>the  right  place  at  the  right  time,  you  can  give 

0:11:30.090 --> 0:11:32.189
<v Claire>inspiration  to  other  people  who  may  need  it  at  the 

0:11:32.190 --> 0:11:32.910
<v Claire>time  as  well.

0:11:33.090 --> 0:11:35.879
<v Kia>To  run  off  this  episode,  I  ask  every  guest  the 

0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.660
<v Kia>same  question  and  I'm  going  to ask you,  what  three  tips  do 

0:11:39.660 --> 0:11:42.328
<v Kia>you  have  in  terms  of  being  a  digital  nomad  that 

0:11:42.330 --> 0:11:44.370
<v Kia>will  help  our  listeners  get  a  little  bit  richer?

0:11:44.580 --> 0:11:47.250
<v Claire>The  first  thing  I  would  say  is  just  do  it. 

0:11:47.309 --> 0:11:50.070
<v Claire>Just  give  it  a  go.  Don't  wait  until  retirement  to 

0:11:50.070 --> 0:11:52.439
<v Claire>do  all  your  travel  dreams  and  that  kind  of  stuff. 

0:11:52.469 --> 0:11:53.939
<v Claire>Give  it  a  go.  If  it  doesn't  work,  it  doesn't 

0:11:53.940 --> 0:11:55.620
<v Claire>work.  If  it  does,  it's  going  to  be  the  best 

0:11:55.620 --> 0:11:59.160
<v Claire>decision  you  ever  make.  Secondly,  I  would  say  look  at 

0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:02.340
<v Claire>what  you  can  actually  do  feasibly,  sort  of  working  remotely. 

0:12:02.550 --> 0:12:05.130
<v Claire>You  need  to  remember  that  you're  traveling  around,  you've  only 

0:12:05.130 --> 0:12:08.610
<v Claire>got  so  much  space  in  a  backpack.  So  picking  something 

0:12:08.639 --> 0:12:11.578
<v Claire>that  is  laptop  based  is  great.  Obviously  I'm  a  content 

0:12:11.580 --> 0:12:13.708
<v Claire>writer,  I  need  a  laptop.  I  don't  need  to  have 

0:12:14.759 --> 0:12:17.098
<v Claire>cameras  and  all  that  kind  of  stuff  that  might  make 

0:12:17.100 --> 0:12:18.900
<v Claire>it  a  bit  harder  perhaps  to  travel  around  for  some 

0:12:18.900 --> 0:12:23.010
<v Claire>people.
 And  thirdly,  I  would  say  save  up  a  bit 

0:12:23.010 --> 0:12:26.370
<v Claire>first.  When  I  left  to  go  traveling  a  few  years 

0:12:26.370 --> 0:12:30.030
<v Claire>ago,  I  sold  everything  in  my  house  and  downsized  everything 

0:12:30.030 --> 0:12:31.769
<v Claire>to  a  couple  of  boxes  that  are  at  my  mom's 

0:12:31.770 --> 0:12:35.069
<v Claire>garage  now.  So  that  money  really  helped  me.  It  made 

0:12:35.070 --> 0:12:37.920
<v Claire>me  feel  a  lot  more  secure.  Moving  to  another  country 

0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.590
<v Claire>and  traveling  around  is  quite  a  scary  thing  to  do. 

0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.370
<v Claire>So  having  that  money  set  aside  was  really  nice  for 

0:12:44.370 --> 0:12:45.689
<v Claire>me  to  know  that  I  have  it  and  if  I 

0:12:45.690 --> 0:12:47.578
<v Claire>need  to  dip  into  it,  I  can.  And  if  I 

0:12:47.580 --> 0:12:49.950
<v Claire>don't,  great,  I  can  just  continue  saving.

0:12:50.759 --> 0:12:53.250
<v Kia>Claire,  thank  you  so  much.  I'm  excited  to  see  where 

0:12:53.250 --> 0:12:55.710
<v Kia>you're  off  to  next.  Somewhere  hot  and  sunny  I'm  sure 

0:12:56.100 --> 0:12:59.880
<v Kia>compared  to  where  I  am,  chilly  UK.  But  thank  you 

0:12:59.880 --> 0:13:01.110
<v Kia>so  much,  it's  been  a  great  episode.

0:13:01.290 --> 0:13:02.879
<v Claire>Thanks  a  lot,  Kia.  It  was  nice  to  meet  to  you.

0:13:03.510 --> 0:13:07.259
<v Kia>Great  to  hear  about  Claire's  incredible  lifestyle.  The  podcast  has 

0:13:07.259 --> 0:13:09.660
<v Kia>taken  a  break  for  a  couple  of  weeks  for  Christmas. 

0:13:09.780 --> 0:13:12.270
<v Kia>But  then a little  bit  richer  we'll  be  back  in  the  new 

0:13:12.270 --> 0:13:14.490
<v Kia>year,  where  we'll  look  at  how  to  create  good  money 

0:13:14.490 --> 0:13:18.179
<v Kia>habits  for  2024.  In  the  meantime,  if  you're  enjoying  the 

0:13:18.179 --> 0:13:21.840
<v Kia>pod,  hit  follow  and  tell  your  friends.  See  you  in  January.