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16 November 2022 - 7 minutes

Wild Tech: Becoming a Digital Nomad

The definitive guide to taking your tech career on the road

Ellen Merryweather

Senior Content Manager

Articles by Ellen

Remote

Global

All Courses

If you're thinking of starting your new life as a Digital Nomad, we've made a new book for you! In partnership with Tropicfeel (the experts in gearing up for adventure), we're excited to bring you...

Wild Tech: Becoming a Digital Nomad

This is an all-you-need-to-know guide on taking your remote job on the road, finding work-life-adventure balance, and building a life you life.

It's totally free - because we're just that nice - but if you're not ready to hit download, here you'll find the first chapter and a sneak peak of what's inside...

Starting the Digital Nomad Journey

There are two kinds of people who dream of becoming a digital nomad. There are the ones who have all of their backpack options bookmarked months in advance, carefully weighing up the pros and cons of each. They’ve got a shelf (digital or otherwise) full of guidebooks for all of the amazing places they want to see. They’ve already joined online communities and started chatting to locals and other fellow travelers. Theirs is a world of to-do lists, itineraries, and reservations.

Then there are the more ‘by the seat of your pants’ digital nomads. They’ve got nothing but a one-way ticket and a thirst for adventure. (And hopefully, y’know, a job!)

Whichever type of aspiring digital nomad you are, whether you’re someone that has every detail planned to a tee or you’re working with nothing but a hope and a dream, we made this book for you.

Why Digital Nomadism? Why Tech?

At Ironhack, we’re inspired by our community of career changers. People who join us knowing that they want a job they love, and having the ambition and conviction to go out there and get one! So it’s natural that in this community of fearless career changers, we’ve got ourselves a few digital nomads. In fact, the tech industry at large is ripe with them!

Thanks to the great shift to remote in 2020, the working world at large has seen a great reduction in presenteeism. This means that bosses no longer feel like they have to see you physically sitting in your chair at the office to know that you’re getting your work done. From 2020-2021 we the tech industry learned how to work remotely, with those who have been remote work champions from Day 1 leading the way.

In tech, all kinds of roles discovered that they could work from home quite easily. Digital tools and video conferencing recreating the office experience without having to factor in commute times, forgetting your lunch, and not being able to take lunchtime naps. Web developers, designers, data professionals, product managers, tech leads, digital marketers…the whole tech team managed to stay at home whilst getting their jobs done.

Then in 2022, we got the summer of revenge travel. As countries opened their borders to tourists, many remote workers decided to take their jobs abroad, alongside the horde of regular tourists! Some of them took short ‘workations’ as they came to be known. Others launched full digital nomad lives, packing up everything they own for a life on the road. Digital nomads have been a popular topic for years, but now they’re experiencing a kind of renaissance.

Do you want in on it?

Why this book?

You don’t have to fall into the latter camp to be a digital nomad in tech. If you prefer to call yourself location-independent, just taking a trip, or going full DN, we applaud your adventurousness!

This book is for you if you’re…

…just starting to dream about becoming a digital nomad

…planning your first ever workation to test the waters

…looking to take your current remote job to a new country

…looking to apply to a new remote job

….already on your way and looking for something to read on the plane!

What Else is Inside?

🏝 Reaping The Benefits of Remote Work in Tech by Valentina Thörner

At the heart of digital nomadism is a much broader topic…remote work. Before you start your journey, you need to understand the benefits of remote work (to make sure you’re taking advantage of them all!) In this chapter Valentina Thörner, an expert at Remote-How, will take you through the highs and lows of remote work to help you make sure you’re doing it right!

🔧 Web Development on the Road: Traveling While You Work by Dan Parry

Building a digital nomad lifestyle is an amazing adventure, but it does come with a few challenges. And we know from experience that the best way to learn is from people who have been there, done that. For this chapter, we spoke to Dan Parry, a Product Manager and Developer Relations Engineer. Dan has a long history of digital nomadism, and relocating for a remote work life. Now he’s bringing his five year experience of successfully combining work and travel to show you how it’s done.

😱 Tackling The ‘What Ifs’ of Digital Nomad Life by Rowena Hennigan

Rowena Hennigan is an expert in remote work and digital nomadism. A speaker, professor and a globally acclaimed expert in the digital nomadism area, she has recently launched a successful LinkedIn Learning course on “Becoming a Digital Nomad”. Rowena is a long-tested digital nomad, and has lived in over 60 countries over the past 30 years. Her impressive nomadic career (she moves around with family in tow!) provide us with a treasure trove of tried-and-tested tactics!

🎓 Learning On The Go: How to Study as a Digital Nomad

To grow, we need to always be learning. And that’s especially true in tech, as every day seems to bring a new innovation or methodology to learn. With the rise of remote learning, especially remote tech bootcamps, fitting education into a busy schedule is easier than you think. You just need to set yourself up for success.

 “But how do I fit study around work and play?”

This chapter is all about how to throw studying into the mix, and carry on learning as a Digital Nomad.

🎨 Life as a Remote UX/UI Designer by Yasemin Acar

Here’s another take on digital nomad life, from a different perspective. Remember the more you can research the lifestyle, and gain tips and tricks before you start out, the better.

Yasemin Acar is a UX/UI designer (and Ironhack graduate!) working and living as a digital nomad. Currently in Berlin, she was a project manager in the pharmaceutical industry, but during the Covid pandemic she decided to completely change her career. She wisely joined an Ironhack bootcamp and today she is working for an agency in a fully remote position as a UX/UI designer.

🌎 Networking and Finding Communities Abroad by Cassandra Le

Cassandra Le has been working and traveling for five years in countries like the United States, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Spain, where she is at the moment. She’s in the city of Toledo, a historic city outside of Madrid, it is full of culture. However, it’s not necessarily a digital nomad hub. So building a digital nomad life in a city that isn’t a tech hub can be a challenge. After living for three years in Madrid, Cassandra finds Toledo a little more relaxed, and she tends to interact more with the local community as opposed to the tech/digital nomad community.

In this chapter, Cassandra is going to help you re-define what being a Digital Nomad means to you, and help you figure out your own way of making it work.

✈️ Leaping Into Remote Life by Juliana Rabbi

Juliana Rabbi is a recruiter-turned-career coach. After working for over 15 years as a recruiter and part of the human resources teams in multinational corporations all over the world, she has been working remotely for the past 8+ years and now helps professionals to create a career and a lifestyle that makes them happier.

🎁 The Digital Nomad’s Toolkit

In this final chapter, we'll help you understand where to go, where to stay, what to take, and which tools to use.

We'll also give you some top tips straight from Team Ironhack!

So what are you waiting for? Your Digital Nomad life awaits! Grab your free copy right here.

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