Plan your first Slow Travel by Digital Nomad

How do you face your first trip as a digital nomad?

How do you get out of your comfort zone? But most importantly, where do you start?

These are probably the first questions you will ask yourself when planning your first digital nomad trip.

In this article, I will answer these and many other questions, focusing on the type of approach to the trip.

If you are a beginner and looking for advice, this is the right place!

If, on the other hand, you are already a veteran, you may discover new things (or you will make us discover them by leaving a comment).

The philosophy of travel

Before getting into the details of how to organize your first trip, it’s necessary to start from the basics.

How do you approach a trip as a digital nomad?

Slow Travel

Embracing the philosophy of slow travel, in my opinion, is the first step to take to approach this type of journey.

Slow travel is a philosophy that prioritizes oneself and the place you are visiting, slowing down the pace to be able to focus on people and places rather than an endless list of spots.

The fundamental principles can be summed up in:

1. Slowing down the pace to focus on a few things but live them fully.
2. Plan the essentials and let yourself be carried away by events and your desires.
3. Connect as much as possible with the local community by trying to get close to their culture.
4. Respect the environment by trying to be as eco-friendly as possible.
5. Discover new places by focusing on small towns and/or immersing yourself in nature.

My approach to slow travel

For me, travel is a moment of inner and outer discovery so I try to face them with an adaptive spirit, experimenting and trying things I have never done before.

My approach is quite simple, nothing complicated, I just try to:

1. Choose destinations that I think I might like but at the same time allow me to explore (aka less touristy).
2. Try not to see photos of the places to visit. I may seem crazy but I love the element of surprise. And if it’s awful, you might ask? It doesn’t matter, everything can’t be beautiful! This also applies to musical and/or artistic evenings. I often ask people or find online (or on posters) and if I like the mood, I go to the evening without first listening or seeing anything.
3. I prefer to move on foot or by bike to better enjoy the city or nature. This not only benefits the body but also the environment.
4. Accommodation varies from city to city but when I can I prefer hotels or hostels (personally not in single dormitories) that have a flow of people with whom you can interact.
5. Talk to the locals! One of the most effective ways is to limit the use of the internet (yes, I enjoy navigating without tech aids) so you have to ask people on the street for information and maybe ask for tips on typical places to eat or have fun, etc…
6. Going to a coworking space to work allows you to experience the city and meet people. Look for suitable bars or co-working spaces because traveling as digital nomads also means working so don’t do it alone in your hotel room!
7. Don’t be a slave to time. Don’t be in a hurry to see everything while following an endless list of things to do. Enjoy your time.

The philosophy of slow travel allows you to reduce the stress of frenetic travel, made up of a thousand places to visit and a thousand programs, having to fit everything perfectly. It allows you to be more flexible and face unexpected events more easily. It also allows you to get to know new cultures by fully immersing yourself in them.

Don’t just visit the things you like but also try new and unknown things

Organizing the (first) trip

The first trip is always the most difficult because it will take you out of your comfort zone for the first time, so it’s normal to be afraid.

My advice to face it is simple:

Choose a destination or destinations where you have already been or where you know someone

It may seem trivial and silly but it’s not! You’re not leaving for the usual 5, 7, or 10-day vacation. You are going to a place for a long period away from everything and everyone, and yes, it can be scary and make you feel homesick, turning the trip into a more stressful experience than necessary.

For this reason, for the first trip, I recommend something that can take you out of your comfort zone but at the same time not be too demanding and counterproductive.

I made my first trip as a digital nomad exactly a year ago and it was fantastic. I left alone on an interrail from Latina to Munich in a month of travel. Yes, I know, I said to start slowly.

But let me explain.

Specifically, I went to Bologna, Modena, Milan, Zurich, and Munich.

Apart from Munich, in the other destinations, I had already been or had friends that I could meet or host and this allowed me to face a new trip outside the usual patterns but at the same time live it in peace even knowing I had to face new challenges: organization and movements, reservations, distance from home, and a thousand other things.

Not everything went well on that first trip and I didn’t give much weight to many things. I arrived in Bologna (first stop) thinking of finding coworking spaces day by day but they were either full or too expensive. The moral of the story, I worked from the hotel, and one day I was invited by a developer who responded to a request of mine on a tech group: “If you want you can come to the offices of the company where I work”.

Well, this is an example to make you understand how inevitably, in the first trip, there will be events that you will not have thought of or that will go wrong, but it’s normal. The important thing is to be able to adapt and live the adventure.

Tips to get started

1. Choose the destinations, my advice:

   Find places to explore. Yes, the metropolises and big cities are beautiful, but try to break the mold. Don’t think of only going to places where you’re sure you’ll find things you like. Travel is for discovery and if you have nothing to discover because you already know everything then what kind of journey is it? The questions you need to ask yourself are “What am I looking for? What do I want to know?” when you have an answer move on to point two.

2. Collect information, my advice:

   Once the destinations have been chosen, read the advice of other digital nomads who have been in those places so you already have some feedback and collect a list of things you know for sure work or don’t. For example, find out about the necessary documents, and how the internet connection works in that country and start looking for some co-working spaces.

3. Organize accommodations, my advice:

   It should be in a quiet place that allows you to experience the city and neighborhoods but most importantly it’s a great point to reach any areas of interest (coworking, clubs, museums, etc.). Try to be close to daytime and nighttime public transportation. Finally, evaluate using more booking platforms and always read the reviews carefully (the more it has, the better).

   The location of the accommodation is of crucial importance to fully live the experience

4. Organize transportation, my advice:

   The certainty of how to get there and how to return from your chosen destination is mandatory. You also need to know how to get around the city (or between cities). No, I’m not saying to understand the feasibility of every single move but to know the main modes of transportation. Finding apps to buy public transportation tickets or apps to rent sharing vehicles can make a difference.

5. Things to do during the trip, my advice:

   Look for places to visit, clubs to go to, museums or events is something you’ll have to do beforehand. Make a list and prioritize activities but don’t let yourself get carried away, it should be an indicative list. Don’t let yourself get dragged into the stress of FoMO.

6. Book the trip, my advice:

   Personally, after seeing prices and availability, I always book the accommodation first with an early cancellation option (free when possible) and then book the round-trip ticket. If necessary, I purchase subscriptions or tickets for activities that require a lot of advance notice. Finally, I activate insurance for digital nomads (we’ll look at this in detail in a future article).

7. Other essential things, my advice:

   • Bring a photocopy of your documents, useful in case of loss of the originals
   • Save the emergency numbers and make sure you have health coverage
   • Be careful of the customs and traditions of the place to avoid misadventures
   • Find out what are the payment methods (not everyone loves digital payments)
   • Pay with prepaid cards but always carry a credit card and cash
   • Choose accommodations with a kitchenette (for long stays)
   • Travel light and pay attention to the climate of the place you visit to be prepared for what awaits you
   • If you have intolerances or allergies, I recommend making a list of restaurants that are prepared to accommodate them

Legal Aspects

We’ve come to the end but especially to the boring part, albeit necessary. As digital nomads, we also have to deal with the bureaucratic and legal aspects that our actions require. Specifically, there are obligations or precautions that it’s good to take.

1. Make sure you have the full-remote contract to be able to work anywhere. The contract states where you can work and usually, it’s your domicile and the company’s headquarters. This means you can’t work anywhere else. So be careful to ask for the inclusion of clauses in the contract that allow you to work in other places as long as they are suitable and safe to carry out the work.
2. Make sure the time zone is compatible with that of your company and contract. Sometimes there may be constraints on the time zone to respect with a maximum number of hours more or less than those of the time zone where your company is located.
3. You must guarantee your work performance which means respecting hours, connection, and efficiency in carrying out activities.
4. You must guarantee your total safety in physical and communication terms (use secure networks and VPNs for internet access). Also, in many contexts, confidentiality is required, so you won’t be able to have meetings in public places where everyone can hear or even worse look at your monitor.
5. A precaution that I think is right is to communicate to your employer the trip you intend to take, this is because in Italy the full-remote contract does not exist legislatively speaking so it’s a protection for both parties.
6. A possibility in many states has ad-hoc visas for digital nomads that allow a longer stay than the ordinary one.

Useful apps for organizing and living the trip

Many useful apps and tools can help in planning and organizing the entire trip.

But we’ll look at them in the next article in detail.

Thanks for getting here, see you soon 💚

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