The cost of living for the digital nomad lifestyle

By Benjamin Harper


If you've ever had the dream of trading in a life of abject slavery and 40-hour work weeks for one of continual travel where the world is your home, there is no time like the present to explore the lifestyle of the digital nomad. While most people will only ever see or experience the world through the television or a copy of National Geographic, location independent expats are out there in the world, using their Western salaries to enjoy a life of continual travel and adventure that sees them actually living the excitement that most people only ever watch on The Travel Channel.

The expat lifestyle is not anything new; it has existed for thousands of years in the form of people choosing to live in other countries. However, it is easier now in the 21st century than it has ever been before simply because the Internet has allowed for globalization on a level that was never previously available. When you can work via the Internet you can take your job anywhere you want to go, which means you can very literally be working while sipping mojitos on the beach in Mexico just as easily as you can be stuffed into a tiny cubicle while wearing a restrictive suit in a New York City office.

One of the best parts about living as a digital nomad is how accessible it is to everyone. You don't need a million dollars to enjoy a life of continual travel and early retirement. All you need is the tenacity to trade in your life of wage slavery for one of absolute freedom. Forget spending 40 years of your life in a cubicle environment where you are working for someone else's benefit. Instead, realize that the entire world is ripe with possibilities, and by choosing to explore them through a life of continual travel you will obtain the greatest levels of freedom available.

Consider the fact that the cost of living in New York City is around $30,000 a year for the median way of life. If you want an upper middle-class existence you can expect to pay upwards of $50,000 a year. On $30,000 a year you could have a minimum amount of creature comforts and amenities while living in NYC, but you won't have any extra money to spend. If you look at Mexico City, on the other hand, digital nomads there only need to spend around $10,000 a year for access to an upper middle-class lifestyle which gives them more creature comforts than they would ever had in New York City, not to mention plenty of spending money.

The power of the digital nomad lifestyle is in the simple math. The median salary for American citizens is $36,000 a year before taxes, or around $30,000 a year after tax. If you live in a median cost of living city in the United States of America you can expect to spend your full $30,000 a year on the cost of living, which means you are never getting ahead and never putting any money in the savings. But when you choose to live in another city such as Mexico City like other expats around the world, you can actually put the lion's share of profit back into your bank account and see returns that are a minimum of $15,000 a year.




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