How to Become a Digital Nomad in 3 Simple Steps: Mindset, Money & Mobility
Have you ever dreamed of working from anywhere, making money online, and living a location-independent lifestyle? Whether you’re looking to start an online business, find a remote job, or simply embrace a minimalist, travel-friendly lifestyle, becoming a digital nomad is more achievable than you think.
In this post, I’ll walk you through three essential steps that helped me transition to a remote work lifestyle—from reprogramming your mindset and figuring out your finances to taking actionable steps to make your life and income mobile. Whether you’re working from an Airbnb, a hotel, an RV, or a beachside café, these tips will help you create the freedom-based lifestyle you’ve always wanted.
Let’s dive in!
3 Steps to Become a Digital Nomad: Work from Anywhere & Make Money Online
How to Become a Digital Nomad: Introduction
I can’t tell you how many times people ask me, “What do you do?” Or they’ll say, “I wish I could do what you do.”
That’s why I’m here—to give you three essential steps to help you become a digital nomad, entrepreneur, and work from anywhere.
What Does It Mean to Be a Digital Nomad?
If you’re wondering, what exactly do I do?
I’m a digital nomad and entrepreneur, meaning I can make money online from anywhere working from home or while I roam:
- ✔ An Airbnb
- ✔ A hotel
- ✔ My condo
- ✔ My RV
The beauty of the digital nomad lifestyle is that you don’t have to start your own business to do it. You could work for someone else remotely or find freelance opportunities—it’s all about having the right setup.
The 3 Key Steps to Becoming a Digital Nomad
These are the three critical steps I took to achieve the digital nomad lifestyle, and they can help you too:
- 1️⃣ Reprogram Your Mindset – Shift how you think about work, mobility, and minimalism.
- 2️⃣ Figure Out Your Finances – Understand your income, expenses, and debt to create financial freedom.
- 3️⃣ Make Moves to Go Mobile – Transition your life, work, and essential services to be fully digital and accessible from anywhere.
Let’s dive in!
Meet Blogging Brandi
If we haven’t officially met, I’m Blogging Brandi—an ex-corporate Kool-Aid drinker turned entrepreneur, creator, blogger, and vlogger.
You’ll usually find me traveling in my RV or staying in my condo.
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Step 1: Reprogram Your Mindset
QUESTION: Step one, How do you become a digital nomad, an entrepreneur, and be able to work from home or while you roam? how do you get into this lifestyle?
ANSWER: The first step to becoming a digital nomad is reprogramming your mindset.
Reprogramming Your Mindset
One of my students and clients said that it was like a mindset reboot and having somebody look at their life from the outside was easier to help them take steps and know there’s more things that they could be doing to make the lifestyle that they want happen.
Reprogramming your mind means thinking differently.
- Think Minimalist – Less stuff, more experiences, more adventures.
- Think Mobile – The ability to work from anywhere. To do this, you need to take steps to make your job or income mobile.
Reprogram your mind this isn’t going to nine to five job every day.
Although sometimes when I’m here at the condo it feels like a nine-to-five job but when we’re in the van or in the RV or traveling it doesn’t feel like a nine-to-five job and I almost have to remind myself to keep doing certain things in my life.
Creating Systems for Success
When I left my corporate job, I didn’t have this boss over me all the time when I was working from home or while I roamed, so I had to put systems in place to stay productive!
Some of these systems include:
- Setting up a home office, desk, and/or workspace.
- Establishing routines to maintain productivity.
- Using essential tools and resources to manage work on the go.
The Digital, Minimalist, and Mobile Mindset
A digital mindset means everything is accessible online, at all times.
Ask yourself:
- How can I start selling things to live more minimally?
- How can I have fewer possessions while making my life more mobile?
My entire life fits into a single bag.
My Mobile Office: The Bag That Holds My Life
My life and business — fit in a bag. I use a Vera Bradley bag as my mobile office. It holds everything I need, and I take it everywhere.
Whether I’m in a car, a restaurant, or traveling, my bag stays with me. It’s my lifeline—I never leave it behind.
Funny Story:
No matter where I’m at, I’ll take that bag even if I’m going into a restaurant or Traveling in the car, I’ll take that bag inside with me and people will be like, “Wow, that’s such a big purse” — But, my life’s in there. And so it’s my business. I’m not leaving it in the car or in the RV or somewhere when I’m in, someplace where it’s maybe hot or sketchy. And so I usually will keep it with me. I call it like my lifeline. It stays with me all the time. It keeps everything digital.
Keeping Everything Digital and Backed Up
I try to back everything up and keep all my files online so I can access them from anywhere in case something does happen. I have these things in place so that my life is not chaotic.
To stay organized and avoid chaos:
- Back up everything and store files online.
- Keep all important documents and work digital for easy access anywhere.
Remember:
- ✔ Think digital – You can access everything, anytime online.
- ✔ Think minimalist – Reduce clutter.
- ✔ Think mobile – Be ready to live + work from anywhere.
Step 2: Figure Out Your Finances
Managing Money as a Digital Nomad
The second step to becoming a digital nomad is understanding and organizing your finances.
Assessing Your Financial Situation
You’re not making your payments that you should be making, or maybe you’re behind, or maybe you’re like, Oh my God, I’m never going to get out of this. How do I get out of this? Maybe you’re just making the minimum payments on things. You need to figure out a plan for your finances so that you can make the next moves that you need to be making in your life.
To take control of your finances, start by:
- Writing down your expenses.
- Listing all of your income streams.
- Documenting your credit and debt.
If you don’t know how much money you’re making and spending, where it’s going, or who it’s owed to, it’s hard to move forward.
To break free from financial stress, you need a clear plan for paying off debt and managing payments. This won’t happen overnight, but taking small steps will help. — You need to figure out, okay, what’s the next step that I need to take.
I have a spreadsheet that I keep all my finances on, but I’ve also figured out other ways to stay organized with my systems with my finances.
PS: I actually talked about this in a prior video about how to budget and become a digital nomad — some things that you could be doing TODAY!
Using Tools to Stay Organized
If you want to be a digital nomad, no matter what, stage you’re at and you’re feeling like oh my life’s chaotic then you need to make sure that you have Not only just your mindset reprogrammed as in how do I go mobile? But how do I do those things with my finances and figure out those things too?
I use different tools and systems to manage my finances effectively:
- Neat Receipts – Scans and organizes receipts. I can do it on my phone or online via my computer.
- Google Drive / Workspace for important documents, and spreadsheets.
- LastPass – Securely stores passwords for all financial accounts.
It could just be a receipt, a document, a tax document, or even a password that you want to save. But, Having these tools means I can access everything from anywhere, which is essential for a digital nomad lifestyle. So I have systems for everything online, digital, that I can make everything digital.
Budgeting and Financial Planning
How I became a digital nomad is by giving up one thing to have another and that had to do with my finances as well. If you want to get out of the life that you’re in then you need to start making changes towards the lifestyle you want to live. Becoming a digital nomad often requires giving up one thing to gain another. Reprogramming your mindset includes making smart financial choices.
To get started:
- Watch my previous budgeting video. (You can start beginning your budget with the video that I talked about you can watch, start financial planning, create a payment system.)
- Create a financial plan and a payment system.
- Consider ways to reduce debt and save money.
Reducing Debt:
How are you going to repay your debt? What can you start doing now? Can you maybe get a zero percent interest credit card and save money to start paying your debt? Move it over there. Can you get a personal loan? Can you figure out another credit card that has a lower interest rate? Get a side hustle going?
Ideas for paying off debt faster:
- Get a 0% interest credit card to transfer debt and save on interest.
- Look for a personal loan with a lower interest rate.
- Find a side hustle to bring in extra income.
- Identify small expenses to cut back on—small savings add up over time.
Saving Money:
Can you save money some other way? I always say saving money is making money because oftentimes I feel like people don’t realize when they go through a little checklist of all the things that they’re spending money on they don’t realize oh here’s five dollars here and seven dollars there and ten dollars there and before you know it’s an extra fifty bucks or an extra hundred bucks that you’re spending every week or month that you could be saving towards the lifestyle that you want to live or paying down your debt or whatever it is buying the RV that you want.
The Importance of Credit & Minimum Payments
Always make your minimum payments. If you can’t, call the company to discuss options before it impacts your credit score.
It’s important to:
- Understand how credit works.
- Learn how to manage finances effectively.
- Use resources like FancyFinancials.co for financial education.
Fancy Financials
I get asked a lot of questions about how do you make money online or how do I save money and I wanted to put that in a place, in a space, because I don’t feel like I can talk about that 24 7 over here. So, I created FancyFinancials.co to share everything I know about saving, making, investing, and managing money.
My Background in Finance
Also, if you didn’t know, I actually have a degree and I quit my job in finance. Plus, I have a whole bunch of licenses that I got in finance: Series 7, 66, insurance, annuities. So yeah, I actually know a little bit about money.
I have experience in:
- Financial planning
- Investments
- Accounting
- Taxes
- I’ve done everything you can think of that has to do with money.
Knowing how to manage money is key to becoming a digital nomad.
Action Steps to Get Your Finances in Order
These are actionable steps that you can start taking to become a digital nomad and get your finances figured out and at least get them in order…
To take control of your finances:
- ✔ Write down all expenses. You need to know how much money you have going out. And you need to start eliminating those expenses that you do have. Ask yourself: Which expenses do I owe and How can I reduce and or eliminate my expenses?
- ✔ List all income streams. You need to know how much money you have coming in. Ask yourself: how can I raise my income.
- ✔ Document credit and debt. Start demolishing debt! Ask yourself: How can I reduce my debt?
- ✔ Identify ways to increase income and reduce expenses + debt.
The goal is to find your magic number—the balance between what you need to make and what you want to make to sustain your ideal lifestyle.
PS watch the video that I made: My Digital Nomad Budget Advice for Beginners: 3 Steps to Create a Budget & Prepare for RV Life!
Step 3: Make Your Life and Business Mobile
Transitioning to a Fully Mobile Lifestyle
The third essential step to becoming a digital nomad and entrepreneur is making both your life and business mobile.
Turning Mobility into Action
Mobility is not just a mindset—it requires deliberate action.
Ask yourself:
- ✔ What steps will I take to go mobile?
- ✔ How will I transition my work and lifestyle into a digital format?
To truly embrace mobility, everything in your life needs to be digital and accessible from anywhere.
COMMENT BELOW: So start taking action at this point. Tell me what are you going to take action on? What are you going to start taking action on for the things that I’m mentioning?
Essential Areas to Make Mobile
You’ve got to figure out ways to start making your life mobile in more than just physical and income. Think about there’s a whole lot of other things you got to make mobile, in this process.
Your entire workflow and daily life should be mobile-friendly:
- Banking – Online banking, mobile payment options.
- Mail – Use virtual mailbox services.
- Office & Files – Store everything in the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox).
- Calendars & Tasks – Sync across all devices.
- Contacts – Hubspot CRM
- Calls – Use VoIP services like Google Voice, Zoom,
- Passwords – Secure with password managers like LastPass.
Healthcare on the Go
Things like your insurance, your doctors, your hospitals, your pharmacies. How can you get to these people? How can you either make an order online or how can you talk to your doctor online? Maybe you can do a visit online. Maybe they can call in the prescriptions for you while you’re mobile.
- Insurance – Choose a plan with nationwide or international coverage.
- Doctors & Pharmacies – Explore telehealth options, online prescriptions, and mobile-friendly pharmacies.
- Emergency Planning (Hospitals) – Know how to access care while traveling.
Health & Insurance Considerations
A major lesson I learned was ensuring my health insurance covered me anywhere—nationwide and internationally — whether in the U.S. or abroad.
- Do you have nationwide coverage (outside of your state / local area network)
- Does your policy include international health coverage? Will your plan cover you in places like Puerto Rico, Jamaica, or Cuba?
- What is your backup plan for emergencies?
The same applies to:
- ✔ Auto insurance – Does it cover you across state lines or internationally?
- ✔ Life insurance – Does it provide coverage while traveling?
Making sure these aspects are mobile-friendly is crucial to sustaining a nomadic lifestyle.
Decluttering & Downsizing for Mobility
Decluttering and downsizing are not just mindset shifts—they require real action (it’s actually a mobile, movement, physical thing).
- Physically reduce your possessions.
- Transition to cloud storage instead of paper files.
- Consider what physical items are truly necessary for travel.
By simplifying your life, you create more freedom and flexibility to live and work from anywhere.
Outro: Your Digital Nomad Journey Starts Now!
These are the three essential steps I took to create a mobile lifestyle and become a digital nomad—and you can too!
Whether you want to work from home or while you roam, these steps helped me transition into entrepreneurship, travel full-time, and make money online:
- ✔ Step 1: Reprogram Your Mindset
- ✔ Step 2: Figure Out Your Finances
- ✔ Step 3: Make Moves to Go Mobile
Minimalism & Mobility Go Hand in Hand
Going mobile isn’t just about working remotely—it’s also about downsizing, decluttering, and simplifying.
You can’t fully embrace mobility if you’re weighed down by too much stuff. Minimizing your belongings will make it easier to adapt, move freely, and enjoy the digital nomad lifestyle.
Simplicity is key!
Want More Tips? Let Me Know!
These are just three steps—there’s so much more to explore!
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🙋♀️ ABOUT ME:
If we haven’t officially met Hi, I’m Blogging Brandi, an EX-Corporate Kool-Aid Drinker, born to be blogger, Female Entrepreneur, and Digital Nomad who LOVES RV Living, since it keeps me close to Nature! All though you can catch me from time to time on an airplane, in a hotel, Airbnb, as I can WORK FROM ANYWHERE not just my RV. I’m also an all-natural, introverted, God Fearing, Rescue Dog Mom, but most importantly a Writer and Creator! Plus, you might not know I have a Finance Degree and am licensed in Master Cosmetology! I believe you can have many passions, create multiple streams of income, and don’t have to conform to the norm! Learn more ABOUT ME!
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