What Means to Be an Expat or a Digital Nomad?

Knowing Yourself, to Know Where to Go

When I published my first book, later turned into a best-seller about expatriates and digital nomads, some readers questioned: what is the difference between the two? How do both differ from a long-term traveler?

To clarify the difference between the three terms, let’s first define them:

● Travelers

People spending time far from their homes. For example, backpackers taking sabbatical periods from their universities or work to make international trips. Sometimes they survive with their economies, sometimes doing volunteer jobs in exchange for accommodation, but rarely they perform remunerated work (otherwise they would fit in the two next categories).

There is a discussion if tourists are also travelers or not, especially among backpackers, who boast themselves for getting off the beaten path (as if this was a medal-worthy achievement). In my view, anyone keen to explore a land they are not familiar with can be called a traveler. That includes some tourists.

● Digital Nomads

The Digital Nomads (or DNs), just like the backpackers, usually stay for months or even years away from their origins. The biggest difference here is that they perform remunerated work. Nowadays there is a growing variety of jobs done remotely and online: digital marketing, ghost-writing, language teaching, online commerce and software development are just some examples. So while building their reputation, those modern nomads also travel from one place to another, favouring locations with good connectivity, network possibilities, and the most important: a low cost of living.

Their greatest advantage? Imagine a person providing digital marketing for an Australian company and earns an Australian salary but lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, paying just a fraction of the living costs of Melbourne. You can check some cities with low living costs that I experienced first hand in this article:

● Expats

Just like digital nomads, expatriates live abroad and perform paid work. Unlike the DNs, however, they have less of visitors and more of residents. The lower living costs or good networking are not their main reason to choose a place, but rather something unique the country offers to them.

This unique factor can be a great career opportunity, a move to build a family in a more favorable environment, among a myriad of other reasons. The range of jobs executed by expats is also wider than those of digital nomads, not restricted to online services but extending to areas like hospitality, commerce and industry. On the downside, the complications experienced by expatriates are less acute and more chronicle, like a cultural shock.

How Do Digital Nomads and Expatriates Make Money?

Digital nomads take gigs (assignments) from online portals where companies across the world offer remote jobs. Some examples of online portals are Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer. Meanwhile, expats work for companies like airlines (like our founder did), construction companies, financial institutions and other global sectors.

How to Become an Expatriate?

You will see plenty of hints on the Internet about how to find work overseas. After reading all of them, you will have the sensation of not having any practical tip. So here I will give you one:

Use Linkedin.

Contact executives from companies that are located in your targeted country. Look for job vacancies that match your qualifications (and language skills). Apply for multiple positions suiting your experience, in a matter of minutes. All that can be done in Linkedin.

I tell you this because that is how I found jobs abroad. Two times. It cannot be more practical than that.

Can I Be a Digital Nomad?

Any tech-savvy with an entrepreneurial mindset has the potential to become a digital nomad. The question of how to become a digital nomad, however, have ample ways to be answered. The best one is to visit some of the websites that offer gigs (jobs) for digital nomads ( like the previously mentioned Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer) and see if you are able to perform any of the remote jobs listed. If yes, the road is open for you.

Where Do Digital Nomads Pay Tax? Are Expatriate Benefits Taxable?

Questions about taxes are dependent on where you are traveling, how long you will be there and where are you from originally. Many countries have international agreements to avoid dual taxation, therefore you just pay taxes in the place where you have income (or where your company is registered).

As an example, a Brazilian or Argentinian citizen living in the UK will not need to pay taxes in both his original country and where he lives. The US is one of the few exceptions since they require its citizens to pay taxes no matter where they are living.

You Will Change Between The 3 Types

Have in mind each of the types listed above has specific objectives and dreams. Each of them have also specific advantages and disadvantages. It is normal that at some point you will change between long-term traveler, digital nomad and expatriate. I was once a traveler, now an expat. I know people that lived like digital nomads until they had something motivating them to put roots in the country where they planned to stay for only a few months. Those classifications are not static, but they are important. By knowing what you are, you get closer to understand your goals.

Author: Levi Borba, founder of Colligere Expat Consultancy, former RM specialist for the world´s greatest airline, and author 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.