How to be a Nomad: Guide
A lifestyle methodology guide on how to become and be a nomad in the modern world – as a professional, civilian, retiree or active operative.
A nomad is a person who deliberately lives a life of dynamic travel and exploration. –Det V Cader
There are many different types of nomads but they all share the same commonality of location independent mobility and persistent wanderlust. Whether you’re a classic nomad, adventure nomad, digital nomad, operative nomad or modern nomad, it’s a lifestyle.
It’s just another way of living. A nomad goes on about their day as if it’s just another workday or weekend. Waking up, going to work, running errands than relaxing or going out until bedtime… With slight variations often and major deviations once in a while.
It’s just living and working like you would in an “ordinary” life. The difference is that this living and working can be done anywhere, everywhere and at anytime. Which is the basis of and the most attracting factors of being a nomad; geographical flexibility, lifestyle mobility and boundless wanderlust engagement.
This is a guide on how to be a nomad :
Location Independence
Most people not only need but want location dependence. That is, they require a type of lifestyle where they have a physically stationary existence. They always go back to the same bed, to the same place of work and play at the same places – like clockwork.
Every time, all the time, all the same places at the same times, day in and day out. They are dependent on a fixed area of living.
Location independence is essential to be a nomad, that is, you don’t have to or want to be in a fixed area of living with limited flexibility.
The Mindset
After you achieve the technicalities location independence for the necessities of living, you’ll also need the right mindset. Your finances and work may be prepped for a nomadic life but so should your way of thinking of a “normal” life.
Nomadic living dates back to almost the beginning of humanity; hunting and gathering then moving on to the next location for resources and land livability.
This mindset is that “home” doesn’t have to be a specific place but wherever and whenever you make it your home. Home is a concept, not a fixed place.
Packing List
One of the worst aspects of travel can be one of the best aspects of being a nomad; your gear. Hauling all your things through the airport, buses, customs, trains, security and just walking with them can seem like a hassle going from point A to B.
But as a nomad, being able to live and thrive with just the contents of your backpack is liberating and a continuous lesson in minimalism. You don’t need a house full of things to live fully, as a nomad you just need what you need and with experience your wants decrease as well as your needs.
Sell Everything
A simple rule to go by is; if you can’t fit it in your backpack then you don’t need it. If you don’t need it, then sell it or give it away.
Have a yard sale, post things on Craigslist and eBay. Like your TV, desktop computer, exercise equipment, furniture, game systems and so on. Anything you can’t possibly use as a nomad and can sell easily. Better to have more cash for your new lifestyle then those things collecting dust in your old lifestyle.
That is of course if your nomad lifestyle is indefinite. If it’s short term, keep your things as is at your place or in a storage facility.
Cancel Everything
One of the reasons why being a nomad typically has a lower cost of living than “regular” living is because of less bills. It seems strange but there’s more things to pay for on a monthly or contract basis when stationary as supposed to being mobile.
Cable, internet, electricity, Amazon Prime, gym memberships, car payments and whatever else that deducts your money every month. That’s potentially many hundreds of dollars you get to keep.
Cancel all that and keep things like your phone service (but use local cell services) and maybe Netflix (which you can use globally with VPN).
The Passport
The single most important item of a nomad packing list. You can’t enter a country without it or leave a country without it. For all intents and purposes, you don’t exist without this book as a foreigner in a country. So guard your passport like your life depends on it, because it does.
Getting a new one while abroad is not impossible but is a cumbersome and timely process, particularly if you’re replacing (lost passport), not renewing.
Before leaving to become a nomad, make sure it has a few years left before expiration and plenty of pages for visa / entry stamps. If getting a new one, opt for the extra pages option.
Visas
Whenever you enter (legally leave the airport) a foreign country, you’ll need a visa or a permit – depending on the country, you’ll need one of these before arrival or on-arrival. A quick search here will tell you each nation’s current procedure.
Unless you have a job lined up, married to a local or have official business, you’ll be getting a “tourist visa” or equivalent. These typically allow stays up to 30 – 90 days. After that time period, you’ll have to renew or do a visa run. You don’t have to go back to your own country but if you can’t or the country doesn’t offer visa renewals, you’ll need to temporarily go to another.
Hotels
The most convenient, fastest and widely available option for nomads to stay pretty much anywhere at a moment’s notice. Ideal stays from a few hours to 1 to 5 nights.
There’s sites like Expedia and Priceline but in my experience, Booking.com almost always has the best rates by far with an easily usable rewards system, not to mention actually useful customer service.
Then there’s Hostel World for those budget or social stays for a bed in a dorm.
Airbnb
These can be booked similarly like hotels but instead you get someone’s homes or modeled as one, actual homes with the comforts, organics and culture of a local home. Ideal stays from 1 to 8 weeks.
If planning on staying for more than a week in a city or if you unexpectedly stay for a while but with a set date to leave, book a comfortable Airbnb that you feel at home with, after figuring out what part of the city suits you or is strategic for your visit.
Booking a week specifically is important as there’s often deep discounts when booking this many days. Even deeper discounts for 30 day bookings.
Rentals
An actual lease on an apartment, house, villa or room. A place that’s effectively your “property” to make it your real home. Ideal stays from 3 – 12 months to years.
Airbnb works great for a couple of months max, and is nice to not deal with a contract / lease that you’ll be penalized for breaking. But if you’re really gonna live in a city as an expat, a long term lease is the way to go.
It’s not hard finding a place regardless of where you go. It’s typically universal, you just need to pay first months rent and a deposit and sign some papers.
*This guide on how to be a nomad will be continuously updated over time with new intel – updated on 12/20.
![“Survival in any form for any environment is an act of prevention and or recovery, best enacted by preparation.” -Det V Cader The problem with survival prepping is the assumption that you’ll be home when the SHTF, if not then it was all for nothing. This is the solution: Standard “prepping” is the practice of stockpiling pertinent supplies and the training of survival techniques to be used for a possible lifestyle altering, large-scale catastrophe or SHTF event. The typical process is simple; slowly but consistently acquire food, water, weapons and other relevant equipment and store them in a singular central location such as a home or private “bomb” shelter. Just as important but far less utilized is the ongoing learning and practice of survival, defense and use of the prepped equipment. Having everything in one location has one fatal flaw, however. It assumes that you will be at that very location at all times or it will always be easily accessible and nearby to your present location. There’s no way of knowing when or where an “event” will take place. Meaning getting to your home base where all your survival prepping is stored may be impossible due to the nature of an “event”; mass gridlock traffic, land / infrastructure destruction, social panic and violence, restrictive martial law, vicinity containment, active combat / hot zones and public transportation collapse. The average person commutes to work or school 5 days a week far enough that they need to take motorized transportation, public or private. Then there’s leisure, recreation and errands time at other homes and facilities as well as being away on vacation. So all that survival prepping, across town or half way around the world can be lost or seized by another. For more than a decade I’ve been doing the “vagabond survival prepping method” of which evolved from stashing small city-specific go-bags around the world as part of my former operative profession. It wasn’t about survival back then but about professional utility and function. Equipment that wasn’t ideal to equip on my person at all times because of unnecessary baggage or non-permissive locales. As time went by and the more I returned to some of these “prepped cities”, the go-bags that were already stashed became better equipped and for more dynamic use such as urban / wilderness survival. To this day, I manage these hidden go-bags whenever I happen to be in their respective countries. That’s my way of survival prepping while vagabonding. These are located in a growing number of the cities I frequently visit in secure but relatively easily accessible spots such as; under a boulder access in New York’s Central Park, inside a tree stump in the Amazon Jungle and a derelict manhole in Bangkok – all of which have been my active stash spots for years. Unlike typical at-home-preppers, I don’t have the luxury of a long term address so I can’t hand pick the exact items I want off the internet to ship to. But this works out for me just fine as I build / upgrade my kits with readily available materials from the city I’m in. So if an “event” does take place (which will often affect major cities first and most), I’ll have my prep kit close by no matter where I am in the world. Instead of having to rely on a singular base a continent away. Due to the limited opportunity but unlimited variety of goods available while constantly traveling, each go-bag is completely different. Some by design and others by necessity. All are sealed to protect from the elements and hidden but easily “accessible”. Various Kit Items List: Backpack, Duffle Bag or Dry Bag MRE’s, Canned Foods and Vitamins Bottled Water and Energy Shot Water Treatment Tablets Prescription Contact Lenses Kevlar Vest or Shield Climbing Rope and Gear Euros and US Dollars Gold and Platinum Bullion Urban / SERE Kit Wilderness Kit First Aid / Trauma Kit SD Card w/ Data Smartphone Gas Mask Knife, Machete and other Weapons CB and Two-Way Radio Full Change of Clothes Multi Tool and Pry Bar Flashlight and Chemlights Sleeping Bag or Parka Solar Charger Some may consider renting a locker in a facility like train stations or self storage units. It’s not easy to maintain them for years at a time when you’re not even in the country for years at a time. Also, when considering an “event”, it’s logical to expect the loss of power grid and the mayhem in busy public areas. It’s best to stash them where no one will look in an area that won’t be too hectic but not where it will be too difficult to reach with limited transportation options. The vagabond survival prepping method isn’t limited to location independents and nomads, however. Consider your travel requirements of daily life and stash a go-bag in strategic spots accordingly; in your car, near your job, somewhere between your home and work, a friend’s place and near a hangout you frequent. Survival prepping doesn’t end with the acquisition of supplies and equipment, it only begins there and continues on with honing skills to survive and thrive. [OPTICS : Triple Aught Design Pack]](https://myhealthynews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/Vagabond-Survival-Prepping-FAST-Pack-Litespeed-1-490x550.jpeg)
