Finally took the plunge...Digital Nomadding during covid19

[kasher9]

Hey everyone

So me and my partner had planned to travel around the world and do full on digital nomadding for 17 months. We intended to go earlier but we got out of UK only 2 weeks ago.

Currently we are in Estonia, beautiful country.

I'm setting up this thread to share our experiences travelling and how the digital scene is like during covid 19, to allow others who are considering to take the plunge.

I think the world is going to shit, no point delaying. Also other economies have suffered far greater so we will be doing what we can to support local economies.

We are both vaccinated, before anyone makes this political.

Not sure what this thread will develop into as we move around, but I would love to meet some of you, and get networking going in all countries we go to.

As I said we are currently in Estonia, the scene here is still picking up. Restaurants have discounts, and Estonia has a relatively low infection rate. Everything's open, and they are allowing certain countries to come in without quarantining/PCR tests.

If any of you are currently in Estonia, would love to meet up

Additionally, would love to open up a discussion of countries you guys are currently in and how your experiences have been.

 

[Topiano]

Would love em beautiful nature pictures flying in. Stay safe and enjoy your adventure.

 

[TheVigilante]

So you are doing the unthinkable

Happy journey and be safe

 

[Panther28]

Would love em beautiful nature pictures flying in. Stay safe and enjoy your adventure.

Yes, come one! at least 1 pic with a laptop logged into bhw at a new european city landmark!

Hope you have a good time though.

 

[msyaz]

What business are you running?

 

[notNewB]

Yes, come one! at least 1 pic with a laptop logged into bhw at a new european city landmark!

Hope you have a good time though.

It sounds like a thread where bhw users would post pictures of their laptops logged in with some beautiful background. Easy reaction earning. I remember @davids355 has just a wonderful view to take amazing pics.

 

[kasher9]

Would love em beautiful nature pictures flying in. Stay safe and enjoy your adventure.

Thanks!

So you are doing the unthinkable

Happy journey and be safe

Thanks!

Yes, come one! at least 1 pic with a laptop logged into bhw at a new european city landmark!

Hope you have a good time though.

Haha thanks!

What business are you running?

I run a media buying company, my partner has taken a sabbatical, I think she will try and setup something for herself however.

With regards to pics etc, I was actually thinking of writing up a detailed step by step of how we got out, including pics, pricing, where we are staying, cool things we saw, whether we got harassed at airports etc. And sharing wonderful pics ofcourse (as well as the bad pics). I'm not a fan of vlogging, but I'm happy to share with my BHW family

What does everyone think about that?

 

[davids355]

Following mate, looking forward to hearing the updates and seeing some photos from around the world

Obviously, there is lots of trauma in the world right now and lots of suffering as a result of COVID - I am always mindful of that fact, but at the same time it is very nice to hear about people such as yourself who are managing to thrive during difficult times - that shows the world has hope! Enjoy your travels bud and keep us all updated.

 

[Heiko]

What does everyone think about that?

Go for it. Would love to see it.

 

[Ninja Trading Services]

I travel alot and the very best website for a digital nomad is www[DOT]nomadlist[DOT]com

Hopefully I am not breaking a rule there as a newbie, I didn't post a link, I think I did it in the correct format?

 

[Ket12]

With regards to pics etc, I was actually thinking of writing up a detailed step by step of how we got out, including pics, pricing, where we are staying, cool things we saw, whether we got harassed at airports etc. And sharing wonderful pics ofcourse (as well as the bad pics). I'm not a fan of vlogging, but I'm happy to share with my BHW family

What does everyone think about that?

Go ahead, I'll be following!

 

[TheVigilante]

I travel alot and the very best website for a digital nomad is www[DOT]nomadlist[DOT]com

Hopefully I am not breaking a rule there as a newbie, I didn't post a link, I think I did it in the correct format?

As long as it's not yours it is fine

 

[kasher9]

Following mate, looking forward to hearing the updates and seeing some photos from around the world

Obviously, there is lots of trauma in the world right now and lots of suffering as a result of COVID - I am always mindful of that fact, but at the same time it is very nice to hear about people such as yourself who are managing to thrive during difficult times - that shows the world has hope! Enjoy your travels bud and keep us all updated.

Thanks. Yeah we thought about it a lot and realised it was now or never

My productivity had been slipping a lot after being grounded in UK for over a year. I know that sounds like a snowflake bs excuse but what I do requires me to travel and meet different cultures otherwise I can't develop new ideas for the team.

Regarding ; updates, later on today I'll post our story thus far and some pics

 

[thescrrr]

, I was actually thinking of writing up a detailed step by step of how we got out

I'd love to read it!

 

[nahid133]

would love to see some great pictures from that place.
good to see you got vaccinated & got out of the country.

 

[HoNeYBiRD]

There are quite a few IRL streamers on Twitch, who travel for a living and stream whatever they do. It's definitely not the easiest time to travel. Depending on the virus situation, touristy places can be deserted, if they're open at all. If you don't like the crowd and want a whole beach to yourself, it's the best time to travel. Some countries can be easier, but the situation can change fast and restrictions can emerge. You need to follow local news to be prepared, which is probably not the easiest, if you happen to be in a country, where you don't speak the language.

Traveling requires a lot more time now than before. There's a chance that you need to stay quarantined for a month, if you're unlucky with your destination. Two weeks when you enter the country and two weeks, when you return home or to another country. This can get expensive. For instance there's this chick i follow on Twitch, she visited Thailand back in February, when the situation was much better there than it is now. When she entered the country, she needed to stay quarantined in an accredited hotel for two weeks, which was pretty expensive and it required a lot of preparing, paperwork. People usually go to Thailand, because it's cheap, now it is not, if you need to spend two weeks in an expensive hotel before you can actually go explore.

It will get better eventually. It already did in places, where the vaccination level is high enough.

 

[Deleted Member 112605]

Hey Kasher! Long time no talk.

Congrats on your digital nomad journey. I look forward to starting my digital nomad life at the end of 2021. Hopefully we can meet up somewhere - any interest in going to Medellin?

Anyways, safe travels brother!

 

[dante9]

come to Russia. full freedom here and so many places to discover

 

[polecat]

come to Russia. full freedom here and so many places to discover

I would agree Russia great plus has the world prettiest women overall.

 

[kasher9]

Apologies everyone, drinking got out of hand last night and so I was occupied.

Here's the update;

Episode 1: Getting Out Of UK

So we had planned to leave UK earlier but we managed to get out 2 weeks ago. We got rid of our flat in London, put all our shit in storage, and got out.

What we had to do to get out:

1. Find a country that doesn't require us to quarantine/PCR (we are vaccinated)
2. Find a direct flight (these days its not so simple)
3. Get digital nomad insurance
4. Pack and get out


Nomad Insurance - it's harder than before

So one of the issues with digital nomadding now is travel insurance. A lot of insurance companies (they won't admit but this is the case) won't cover you in a country where your residential country has advised against. After a lot of research we ended up going with True Traveller (find them on google as I don't want to be endorsing anything on this thread)

True traveller was happy to cover us in countries that UK had advised against, and the pricing wasnt so bad. For 16 months we paid $1500 (as a couple). We decided to get the upgraded package just in case.


Vaccinations - Some tips

If you're in europe and you're still waiting on getting vaccinated, you can go to Estonia or Bulgaria - they are actually allowing foreign citizens to get vaccinated. It is first come first serve, but you can get vaccinated there.

In UK, I was lucky enough to receive my vaccines.

Finding The First Country

We picked based on what each country had to offer. I've travelled a lot, so I wanted to go to a destination that offered a vibrant nature as well as a good nightlife. We went with estonia as Estonia has untouched beaches, and the camping scene here is amazing.

Getting Here

So I can tell you now, a lot of the media is bullshitting about people flaunting the rules by travelling all the time (at least that's the case in UK). When we were at the airport, it was absolutely empty. Once we got to estonia, we weren't harassed, we weren't told to do x x x.

Keep in mind, for those that decide to travel to Estonia, you must complete a travel locator form (online) before arriving. It saves you time. However, even this wasn't asked of us.


What We've Done So Far (Pics To Be Added Over Coming Days)

- Tallinn Old Town
- Haapsalu - beautiful beach town
- Hikes
- The harbour we shall be visiting over the weekend
- Abandoned jail walking.
- Next week we are going to a spa hotel for 3 days - will definitely share pics of that.

People are quite friendly here, although many would say Estonians are cold people. Unfortunately, since the country has just started to open up, there arent' many networking events happening. We went to a few co-working spaces, they weren't really many people there. I presume this is down to things finally opening up and currently having amazing weather. Most people are opting to work from beaches etc.


Pricing

So far, we've spent:

- ~$180 on tickets
- $1400 on travel insurance
- $300 on food
- $100 on transport (bulk of this was the bloody taxi ride from london to the airport)
- Accomodation - so currently we're staying at a friends. But the accomodation in Tallinn is very cheap, around $30-40/night for a 1 bedroom apartment on Airbnb.
- $40 on shoes - I broke my trainers

Luckily my UK simcard works all across EU with no extra charges.

Let me know what you guys would like to hear about/if I've missed anything out

Here's one pic of the beaches here (I took this on Sunday at 3pm, should be packed but its' not since they have so many beaches like this...):