What it takes to become a digital nomad
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 796 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2025
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The digital nomad lifestyle sounds like a dream - working from a beach in Bali or a café in Barcelona. But how do you actually make it happen?
In this episode, we meet the people who’ve taken the plunge and hear about the ups and downs of life on the move. Hear from employers managing a remote global workforce and investigate why the lifestyle isn’t always what you see on social media.
Plus - we also look at the tax implications.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
(Picture: Woman sitting by a beach, looking at her laptop. Credit: Getty Images)
Presented and produced by Sam Gruet
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Imagine a life where you can work from anywhere in the world, from the beaches of Brazil to the cobbled streets of Copenhagen. |
| 0:08.0 | For some, that lifestyle isn't just a dream, it's a reality. |
| 0:11.7 | We were able to wake up in the morning, do a couple of hours, work, then go dive in and swim with whale sharks. |
| 0:17.9 | I'm Sam Gruet, and on today's episode of Business Daily, we're getting to know a global |
| 0:22.8 | community of digital nomads. |
| 0:25.1 | We left for Peru in December of 2012 and I started traveling full-time pretty much ever since. |
| 0:34.6 | Traveling full-time whilst working remotely and earning an income from anywhere through the internet. |
| 0:41.4 | The number of these laptop-wielding nomads is expected to reach 60 million by 2030. |
| 0:47.7 | But I want to find out how do you become a digital nomad? |
| 0:51.6 | What do you need to know about paying tax? |
| 0:53.9 | I make sure that I can work, |
| 0:56.6 | but I have met many people that potentially won't have done that. Why are some turning their |
| 1:02.9 | backs on a lifestyle of travel and adventure? Kind of got to the point that we decided, okay, |
| 1:07.9 | we've had enough of travelling now. Your guide to life as a digital nomad coming up on today's business daily on the BBC World |
| 1:15.7 | Service. |
| 1:18.3 | It's a cool 28 degrees on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. |
| 1:23.3 | Four kilometres of white sand is packed with sunbavers and people juggling footballs, while |
| 1:28.9 | swimmers and surfers cool off in the South Atlantic Ocean. But in the cafes lining the beachfront, |
| 1:36.6 | others are hard at work, typing away on laptops or speaking on headsets. These aren't tourists |
| 1:42.9 | in Brazil's capital, |
| 1:46.6 | but they're definitely not locals. |
| 1:49.8 | The term digital nomad is first attributed to a 1997 book of the same title. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in -37 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.