Michelle Checchi, 29, has been traveling the world while working remotely since 2019. She says her lifestyle is “much more affordable” than she would expect to be in the US in 2021, more than 15 million of Americans described themselves as digital nomads, up 112% from 2019. Charging Something is charging.
When 29-year-old Michelle Checchi left the US in 2019, she planned to only be gone for a few months, as long as it took to empty her savings account.
Today, she’s still touring the world, working remotely as a freelance video writer and producer and earning $4,000 in a typical month while working 15 to 30 hours per week, bank documents reviewed by Mr. Insider.
“Instead of feeling trapped in my only place in life, I live in an international environment that is international to me, where I remain a traveler and a visitor,” she said.
A growing number of digital nomads or remote workers who travel for weeks, months or, in Checchi’s case, “for the foreseeable future.” More than 15 million Americans describe themselves as digital nomads, 42% more than in 2020 and 112% more than in 2019, according to the 2021 State of Independence study by MBO Partners. Driving this trend is the growing flexibility of remote work, the yearning to see the world, and the desire to cut costs.
As of June, more than 25 countries had introduced digital nomad visa programs aimed at attracting remote workers and their wallets. The World Population Review said that only two countries, Bermuda and Switzerland, have a higher cost of living than New York City, where Checchi grew up. For her, living abroad has been a budget saver.
Earn more money than ever
After graduating in 2015, Checchi enjoyed her job as a local news producer for four years, but had a lingering desire to “travel and experience freedom,” she said. In September 2019, she sold most of her possessions, crossed the cross and took a one-way flight to Tel Aviv, Israel.
In his first few months abroad, Checchi traveled to Cyprus, India and Nepal, where he tried to stretch his savings as long as possible, he said. But after about three months, when it seemed like his fun was coming to an end, Checchi had a “spark of an idea”: What if he found a way to make money working remotely? He started looking for freelance writing jobs on Upwork and other platforms.
“I was thinking, ‘If I’m going to get a full-time job, it’s going to root me in one place,'” he said. “I really wanted to create a lifestyle where I could maintain independence from my location.”
While he did find some work, the money was “not good” from the start: a few hundred dollars here and there, not enough to put off his return to the US for long. But slowly, her workflow began to grow. After about six months, Checchi was earning the same as he was earning at his news job, which paid him around $50,000 per year, while working about half the hours, not to mention traveling the world while I did.
He topped his previous salary a few months later, topping $10,000 in income some months, including $17,000 last June when he did a video production on the site for a convention. Checchi also has more than 68,000 followers on TikTok, where he posts his highlights and travel tips, though he said he only recently started making “a little money” through social media. Checchi said that he used to wonder how digital nomads could afford his lifestyle.
“I was really surprised,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, okay. So this can be sustainable.'”
While he continues to write content independently (“ghostwriting blogs, articles, and web copy”), he has begun to lean more towards his video production roots. Although her clients vary, she often films and produces content for companies in the tourism industry, projects that typically pay for her travels.
Checchi said it’s strange looking back on her time as a local news producer, when she felt her skills weren’t transferable anywhere else.
“Now I’m like, ‘Wow, there are so many things I can do with my skills when you think outside the box a little bit,'” he said.
The challenges of a nomadic life
When not traveling, Checchi makes his home base in Tel Aviv, which he chose in part for its accessibility to both Europe and Asia. While Tel Aviv can be quite an expensive place to live, Checchi pays $871 a month to rent an apartment with a partner. He usually sublets his room when he travels for an extended period. She tends to stay in hostels and Airbnbs, which helps her maintain a monthly housing budget of around $900. That’s a huge savings compared to the median June rent of $3,100 for a studio apartment in New York, where she previously lived.
Airfare is her biggest expense, but since she doesn’t cross the Atlantic Ocean often to see her family, she can travel from one place to another relatively cheaply. There is also more competition in the airline industry from Europe compared to the US, which helps keep your flight prices lower.
But not everything has been roses. During the pandemic, she had to return to the United States and stay with her family in Staten Island, New York, for a while. Other than that, she said, she doesn’t see her family very often, although now she is making an effort to return to the US every three to four months. These flight costs add up, but she said they were worth it and, if necessary, she could find additional work to offset them. While her best friends are in the US, Checchi has friends “all over the place,” she said, adding that traveling alone has been a “great way to meet new people.”
While he doesn’t think a nomadic lifestyle is for everyone, he has no plans to give it up any time soon: “I’m living for myself at this point in my life.”
Source: www.businessinsider.com