Here's How to Figure Out if You Can Afford to Be a Digital Nomad

It takes more than getting remote work to start somewhere new.

Editor's Note: We know COVID-19 is continuing to impact your travel plans. Should you travel now, be sure to familiarize yourself with the CDC's latest guidance on domestic and international travel as well as local requirements, protocols, and restrictions for both your destination upon your arrival and your home city upon your return. Be safe out there.

When it comes to packing up my bags and working remotely from another country, it isn't an issue of if I want to, it's an issue of "Can I afford to?" As someone who has lived in other countries before, so many of those online budgets of how you can live for $2 a day are bull. Just because you are in a different country, that doesn't mean you are going to not want to use shampoo and conditioner or go out to eat. Life, no matter where or how you live it, costs money.

But if you have been looking around at all of these countries offering digital nomad visas and have been feeling tempted, you can figure out how to make it happen. Goats on the Road created its own Digital Nomad Visa Calculator, where you can input your salary and figure out which countries you can afford to live in based on the visa requirements of that country.

Goats on the Road found that Portugal, Germany and Colombia have the lowest monthly earning requirements for visa applicants. In those three countries, you can make less than $1,000 a month and still qualify for a digital nomad visa. Other countries don't have specific income requirements, while other countries require applicants to make at least $100,000 a year.

You can check out the digital calculator on Goats on the Road's website, and see where you can qualify to live. You'll still need to figure out your shampoo budget on your own though.

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Opheli Garcia Lawler is a Staff Writer on the News team at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @opheligarcia and Instagram @opheligarcia.