3 Long-Term & Digital Nomad Traveler Hacks I Wish I Knew Earlier

It is easy to plan for good things. But to thrive, first you must survive. So be ready for the not-so-good part.

This year was full of surprises. So were 2001, 2007, and before that, years like 1968, 1945, 1938 or 1929. More will come.

I am telling you this to exemplify why you should never leave your guard off. For those familiar with the Lindy Effect, specified by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in this brilliant article, one thing is clear: to achieve a certain level of success, the first step is to survive. Sidenote: That would not be the first time that Taleb wrote something that helped my life.

Maybe this is even the most important step at all.

Below I list 3 hacks. All of them easy to be executed, but extremely helpful for unexpected situations. Hacks that will add speed during the escape of a collapsing environment, reduce costs of this same escape or just avoid potential conflicts in your new land.

This was originally part of my second book, the best-selling Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide, published after years travelling across more than 50 countries.

Have an escape plan always ready

You need to leave. Now.

This is a sensible point. Most expats and digital nomads prefer to not even think about it. Eventually, it happens and they try to solve it ad hoc, even though this can cost a few times more than if they planned.

I am talking about those moments when an emergency happens and you need to leave the country immediately, in a matter of hours.

It could be because of a beloved relative passing away in your fatherland.

It could be the fault of a quick change in the sociopolitical environment.

Or even because of a chaotic sanitary state like the Covid19 pandemic in 2020.

Independent of the reason, you should know how to fly (or move) away as quick as possible, if needed.

In my case, I know that if a major situation arises, before 14:00 every day, I can buy a flight in the later afternoon to Amsterdam and from there to Brazil. There is also an alternative via Paris, and both would allow arriving on the other side of the planet in the next morning.

Designing an escape plan have a positive collateral effect: You also notice prices to buy last-minute tickets. It is great to reveal interesting promotions. For example, I discovered weeks ago that last-minute tickets to my country are at promotional prices during specific periods.

Establish your escape route and have it in mind for when an emergency materializes. And if you need, here are some additional airport hacks and here some ways to pay less for your flight tickets.

Have a “Next Visit to Home” Basket

If you already live abroad, probably there is in your room a pile of random items useless where you live, but essential for your next trip home:

● The keys to your parent’s house

● Energy-plug adaptors

● Cash from your home country

● Public transport passes

● Chargers and cables.

● Local documents like health insurance card or driver licence.

While not being useful right now, better not to lose them. You will need them next time you visit your family and friends. To avoid losing it, the best way is to create a small basket or box with everything necessary when travelling back home (or the place that was your home).

This goes in the same line as the previous tip, but with an extra benefit. In a situation where you need to do an emergency trip, those documents, keys and cash are already together and easy to take to the airport.

The first word that you should learn in any country

There are two types of long-term travellers. The first are those that never learn a single word from the new language that surrounds them. They rely exclusively on the fact that people will speak English and, in their minds, there is no need to at least say Thank You in the local language.

The second type are those that learn a few words (or, for some brave and daring, more than a few). Frequently they begin with the equivalents of Hello, Bye and Thank You. While the importance of those terms is clear, they are far from being the most important thing to learn at first.

To be able to say “Hello” in Russian (Privet) possibly will not help to dodge a problem in Russia. Learning how to say Buenos Días (“Good Morning”) is nice but unlikely to avoid a confrontation in the public transport of Mexico.

There is one expression that can save your skin if you step on someone’s foot, or accidentally grab luggage that is not yours in the airport. It is:

I am sorry.

It is beyond belief the number of troubles avoided when you learn how to say that in your new country. I witnessed people enraged in the metro because a passerby accidentally hit them with a bag, realized it and left without saying sorry. Probably he even didn’t know how to say it, but still…

Learn how to say I am sorry first. It can be useful already at the immigration when the border guard asks about your room reservation and you realize you forgot to print it.

Author: Levi Borba, founder of Colligere Expat Consultancy, former RM specialist for the world´s greatest airline, writer of the books Moving Out, Living Abroad and Keeping Your Sanity and Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide. You can check some of his articles here.

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