If you are lucky enough and you can work remotely (and I mean fully remotely – not being restricted to work from the country where your job/client is based), when your children are not an objection to travel and you always had a passion for traveling – then this post is for You!
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I invited nomad life into my life from scratch, without knowing what this lifestyle is called and without doing any research. My job circumstances offered an opportunity and approached this as a chance to attain freedom. I have lived four years as a nomad and it was the best period in my life so far! I settled down now for a while and there is no day passing without reminiscing about this period in our life.
You may feel like me; your taxes are not spent wisely by the government, you want to save more in a short amount of time and you always loved traveling. During the recent years as soon as you returned home from your annual holiday, you counted back the days to the next one. You have a bucket list with many destination you wish to travel. Living a settled life prevents you to explore the World and you miss the adventure of your life. You may have seen online some “lucky” people working from idillic beaches or from small huts surrounded by green nature. Did these videos make you think about giving a go living this lifestyle? “Is this life possible even for me? Even at this stage and age in my life?” You may ask yourself. Absolutely!
How I started
As a senior software engineer I have worked in every possible way during my career: full-time office, hybrid, remote (with geographical restrictions) and remote (with no restrictions). During my first contract that made me a nomad, made me questioning why should I live in the country where my client reside? How can I avoid changing my tax residency every time I get a contract in a new country? How can I avoid the hassle of registering as a resident and how can I become a global citizen? At that time, I had no information about digital nomads, I did not even know how to start. The most obvious option was to move to the country where my client is based, change my residency and register as a tax resident there. But I had a strong desire for simplicity and to become free. So, I decided rather I would live “nowhere and everywhere” to avoid bureaucracy.
In the beginning, I worked 2 days from the office, 2 days remotely. I read about the general taxation rule of 183 days, which means, you become liable to pay your tax in a given country when you spend more than 183 days in a year. I decided this can be eliminated easily, as I needed to be present only 8 – 12 days a month in the office. The country I supposed to move in has nine(!) neighbouring countries, so the remaining days I could work from either from one of the neighbouring country or from my home country. This was rather enjoyable, especially that I worked only 4 days a week. We had every week “long weekend” when we visited castles, hiked, explored beautiful European cities, town or villages. Later, – thanks to Mr Covid- I could work fully remotely, I was so happy! Globally, more remote positions became available.
Working remotely changed my life; I could bring together my passion about my work with the desire to see the planet. I did not have to do the weekly commute any more to the office. I could choose a destination more far away and could stay anywhere until I wanted and of course until the tourist Visa let us to stay. If you are settled while your employer/client do not mind where you live, is an unexploited opportunity.
What I needed
If you work as a permanent employee for a company, you don’t need this step. If you work or willing to work as a freelancer, you must form a company for invoicing purposes, ideally what you can manage remotely and located in a country or continent where your client is based. As my client was in the EU, I found the most cheapest, remotely available way of forming a consultancy company, in Estonia. My investment was less than a 1000 Euros. Within a few weeks, I became the owner of a fully insured, VAT registered company. Using my company I am now able to work and can have a business in 27 European Union countries.
The picture was not perfect, because my tax residency became questionable as I no longer stayed in any countries more than 183 days a year. To be honest, I did not want to pay tax to the country where my passport origin from. I needed a new home country which do not care about how much time I spend there annually and very generous about taxing my worldwide income. After consulting with Tucanoprod.com, I got some options; there are few countries who fulfil these requirements of mine! My chosen country was Paraguay. You can read more about my first trip to Paraguay here. Along with attaining a permament residency permit and an ID card in Paraguay, I got a self-employed status. I can now submit invoices using my Paraguaian details and can freely travel in the Mercosur countries as well!
Summary
Apart from becoming free, paying less tax, I received huge benefits by stepping out of my comfort zone and by not moving to a country where I had a temporary contract. Countless memories I collected with my wife during these years. We explored places we never imagined we will have time and money to visit. Do you know the fear of missing out when you arrive to a booked holiday? You have only one week to see everything and you must choose between sightseeing or lying on the beach. With becoming a nomad, you can see everything you want as your life turned into a never ending vacation.
If you want to learn more about establishing a remote company in the EU, or you are interested about how to become a highly skilled and best paid IT professional (in the UK or in the EU), reach me out. I can also share experiences about the nomad life, attaining a residency in Paraguay. Schedule a call with me here.
In July, I will come with a new post detailing the advantages and disadvantages of living as a digital nomad. I would appreciate any feedback below in the comment section if you liked this post.
If you feel, this post gave you a value, please buy me a coffee, this donation goes 100% to Sri Lankan families. The inflation raised in Sri Lanka to 70% and many families now must live in hardship.
