Finding “home” as a Digital Nomad
My go to guide on how to find a homebase as a digital nomad
While working as a digital nomad, it's often difficult to feel like you have a place to call home. I'm still unsure how to navigate the question, "Where are you from?" Usually, it goes something like I just moved to this town, but I'm originally from Chicago. But, home is where you find it, and I am lucky enough to call some truly incredible places to have called home over the last year.
Picking a place to live for a month, sight unseen, can be extremely difficult and stressful. This is my approach to selecting a home base while on the road.
Selecting a location
I worked from the road primarily to hike, camp, and explore. I spent a LOT of time staring at google maps identifying places that I wanted to visit and then identifying towns nearby. I typically looked for towns within under three hours of driving distance to the weekend locations I wanted to explore. Often it wasn't easy not to get too hung up on living in a town like Moab, an explorer's mecca and under an hour to two epic National Parks. While it would have been a dream to live in, it was too expensive to rent a monthly Airbnb there. Most often, my tradeoffs were proximity for price. Driving a few hours extra on the weekend, I found it worth having a cheaper and nicer property than living in a tiny place with less driving.
Finding a Place:
Airbnb: I solely used Airbnb for my housing. I love Airbnb so much because of its filters, and it's straightforward to find monthly options. My non-negotiables required having a kitchen, wifi, washer, and dryer. I also needed parking and looked for outdoor space when possible. After a long day of work, it was delightful to get outside when I didn't want to take a big hike.
VRBO: VRBO is a great place to look for homes, but I've found their monthly rentals to be higher priced and have fewer listings. Sometimes people list on both VRBO and Airbnb, so cross-reference prices and reviews when able.
Furnished Finder: Later on, I found out about Furnished Finder from word of mouth, but it's mainly for traveling nurses. If you need something for at least 30 days, it's a great option, but bookings tend to be last minute.
Local home finders: Some towns are pretty transient or offer month-to-month furnished rentals. Lookup Facebook groups in the area for these options - this is also a great way to meet people as you'll probably have roommates.
Pricing
Living out of month-long Airbnb rentals is not cheap. Depending on where you live, the cost can be up to two to three times as much as your current rent. However, you aren't paying for any utilities, and most home products are provided. I find it best to immediately filter to your price range so you don't fall in love with a place you can't afford. However, it never hurts to ask a host if they're willing to work with you on price. If you have a lot of reviews on how clean you leave properties, you may get cleaning fees waived. Or, if you're visiting during the off-season, you may get a special offer discount. The moral of the story is that it never hurts to ask, and the worst they can say is no.
If you've decided you absolutely need to live in one location, be willing to look into other options. Month-to-month furnished rentals or hostels are great options if you aren't ready to flex on location and can't afford solo rentals. There is always an option to make it work!
Safety
Especially traveling as a solo woman, I like to look into the safety of an area looking to live in. I like to look at crime report maps before booking to ensure I feel comfortable. There's crime everywhere, so I suggest looking at a crime map of where you live now and comparing it to where you're looking to go. If you look at a crime report of a new place with no basis, you may not realize that where you currently live may have more crime in comparison.
People
Something I found funny while renting Airbnb was that I enjoyed having an above garage apartment or annex building on someone's property instead of being solo in a large apartment building. It was nice to meet many of my owners, and interacting with them made me feel much more at home. At one place I stayed, I could let their dogs in to visit me any time (I'm a dog person, so this was wonderful). On another property, their cherry trees were blooming, and they had more than they could eat, so I got fresh cherries daily, and I got farm fresh eggs from another property. Not every host or person you rent from may not want to be your friend or be around, but in my experience, courteous and present hosts made me feel more at home.
Wifi
Ask hosts to run a report of their wifi speed and send it to you before booking. This is especially important if you will require video calls for work. That said, things will happen, and the wifi will not always be perfect. Assuming you're working from home, create a backup plan ahead of time. Have a hotspot you can use, or find a local coffee shop where you can work if something happens.
Luckily I only had severe wifi issues in one of my locations because I essentially lived in their converted concrete garage.
Additional Items to Consider:
Proximity to a major airport: I had a last-minute wedding to attend at one point. Luckily I was near a major airport, but if the timing had been different, I would have driven four hours to a major airport or paid a lot of money to fly out of the small local airport.
Hospitals and doctors: Should anything happen, I'd recommend looking into access to urgent care, doctors, and hospitals. Ideally, you'll avoid needing them, but just in case. Additionally, if you'll be out of the country, look into how you'll get access to your medication or get it ahead of time (if you're able to do so).
Grocery stores: Look into the distance to grocery stores and sign up for their loyalty program. I have probably seven different grocery loyalty programs, but if you're somewhere for at least a month and going at least once a week, it will save you money in the long run.
Mechanics: I try to get oil changes frequently while on the road. Either get an oil change if there's one where you are before going to your next spot, or look into mechanics in the area if something is to go wrong. Additionally, look into car dealers of your car nearby if you tend to have frequent car troubles.
So much thought goes into picking where to live in general, but picking a place to call home sight unseen can be overwhelming. These are just some of my approaches when selecting where to live and work while on the road. Not every place will be perfect, but you may also find a place you can call home for a month or even long term.
