Digital nomad life: The HONEST reality 👽

Hi, it’s Aakanksha 👋

OH MY GOD. You guys FLOODED my inbox asking for Part 2 😭 I genuinely did not expect that many “PART 2!!” replies, and it made me so happy.

Time to decode that alien lifestyle even further 👽

And honestly? My ultimate dream with this is that one day I’ll meet some of you out there, in a co-working space in Cape Town, on a trail somewhere, at a tiny café in Bangkok, and you’ll come up to me and go “I read your newsletter and it’s the reason I’m here.” That. That is the whole goal. More fellow aliens roaming the planet, living life on their own terms 🩷

Okay. Let’s lock in and go 👇🏽

This was genuinely my biggest fear when I started. Oh my god, how will I figure out visas, flights, all of it? And honestly? It’s still my biggest challenge, because let’s be real, the Indian passport isn’t the strongest 😅

But here’s the good news: even on an Indian passport, you can travel to so many countries visa-free now, and a lot of them let you extend. Indonesia, for example, you can enter on a tourist visa and keep extending it for almost a year. Easy 🌴

One big hack: get yourself a US visa. Having one opens up SO many more countries you can enter without a separate visa, and it genuinely makes your life easier as an Indian traveller 👀

The catch I mentioned in Part 1: don’t stay in one country longer than about six months, or tax gets messy. The loophole? Digital nomad visas. So many countries have introduced them now, Thailand, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Hungary, Indonesia. These let you legally stay long-term and work remotely with zero issues. The Thailand one is a FIVE-year visa, and you pay no tax there as long as you’re not earning from a Thai company 👽

Basically: the paperwork looks scary from far away. Up close, it’s just a puzzle you learn to solve.

Before I touch down anywhere, I run every place through the same checklist. Here’s what an alien actually scans for before settling on a base 👽

1. Visa 🛂 Can I legally stay around 60 to 90 days without getting into trouble? Non-negotiable. First scan, every time.

2. Wifi + a workspace 📶 Patchy wifi = mission aborted. I also need good co-working spaces nearby, somewhere I can plug in, focus, eat, and not have to rebuild my whole routine from scratch the second I land. Because every new country already takes energy to figure out. Some things HAVE to be sorted before you arrive.

3. Cost of living 💸 I’m not about to set up base in, like, Los Angeles where a coffee costs a small fortune 😭 I look at my budget first, then pick a planet that fits it.

4. Community 👽 This is a BIG one. When you’re constantly moving, making friends is hard, in a regular city, everyone already has their group and barely anyone works online. But in a digital nomad town, you’re surrounded by creators, founders, freelancers, fellow aliens who GET the lifestyle. That’s what makes it fun. And honestly? This is why I don’t just pick the prettiest dot on the map. I could go live in some gorgeous tiny Swiss town…but with no co-working spaces, no gym, no community? I’d be a very beautiful, very lonely alien 😅 Doing this collectively, with other people who live this way, is the whole magic.

5. Safety 🛡️ Huge for me as a woman. I left Delhi partly because I never felt fully safe or free there, so I’m definitely not going to move somewhere I’d feel even MORE restricted. I check this before booking a place, sometimes before even booking a single stay.

Bonus, health & gym 🏋🏽‍♀️ Every single apartment I book is within a 5-minute radius of a gym. Sounds extra, but it’s about reducing friction, the moment working out gets inconvenient, you stop. And as a nomad my health is already under pressure (new food, new water, constant movement), so staying fit is something I genuinely cannot skip.

So when I recommend places, it’s not random.

These next spots tick every single one of these boxes 👇🏽

If you’re sold on this life (or even just curious), here are the places I’d point you to first. Tried, tested, alien-approved 👽

These are the spots where the wifi works, the community exists, the cost of living makes sense, and you actually feel safe and inspired. Basically, the easiest places to land if you’re just starting out 😌

Where do I keep all my stuff?

The answer: my entire life fits into ONE suitcase and a backpack. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s it 😭

My old clothes, shoes, souvenirs from different trips, they live in trunks at my family’s house, and I barely ever see them. A lot of it we’ve just donated or given away.

When I started travelling I went full carry-on only. Over time I’ve added a few non-negotiables: protein powder, hiking boots, one packing cube of basic winter wear (just in case I land somewhere high-altitude). And I stick to clothes that mix and match easily so I never need much.

The unexpected part? Living like this has stripped away ALL my materialism. I genuinely don’t care anymore about how many outfits or bags or shoes I have. When your whole life fits in a suitcase, you realise how little you actually need to be happy and comfortable. I only buy what’s necessary, and that’s strangely freeing 🤍

Time to be a real alien with you, because this life is SO far from perfect, and it’s not for everyone. Two of my own best friends would never want it 😅 So here’s the other side:

Decision fatigue is real 🧠 Every couple of months: where next, which Airbnb, what visa, how do I get there? Again and again. It genuinely wears you down. Even I struggle with it.

Relationships take effort 💛 YOU’RE the one who keeps leaving, so it’s on you to make the calls and carve out time. In my first two years, my relationships all suffered because I’d get so engrossed in a new place I’d forget the people who matter most. I had to actively work on it.

Loneliness can creep in 🌍 If you don’t build community in each new place, it gets lonely fast. My fix: I always join the local Facebook groups (yes, Facebook), every nomad town has one, and go to the meetups. Making friends as an adult is hard, so you have to put yourself out there.

Discipline is a daily test 📅 When you’re surrounded by beaches and hikes and events, getting work done is HARD. You need to be more disciplined than you ever were back home, because there are way more temptations.

So yeah, as dreamy as it looks on Instagram, this life needs real discipline, mental strength, and genuine passion. Without those, it’ll burn you out. I tell you this not to scare you off, but because I’d rather be honest than sell you a fantasy 😌

And that’s the alien lifestyle, fully decoded 👽 From “wait, where do you even LIVE” to a whole two-part breakdown of how this actually works.

If this lit something up in you, if some part of you is going “maybe I could do this too”…that’s your sign. Start with one remote skill, pick a place that fits your budget, and just go. I promise it’ll change your life 🩷

And remember the dream: one day, somewhere out there, I want you to tap me on the shoulder and tell me this newsletter is the reason you’re standing there. Go be an alien with me 👽

That’s it for this week’s Unpacked…see you next Wednesday with something new to unpack 👋🏽

Lots of love & sunshine,

Aakanksha

P.S. If a friend keeps saying “I wish I could travel and work”…forward this to them. Consider it a recruitment flyer for planet nomad 👽