People are always asking about how to find remote work and what does it take to live abroad? There are tons of online resources, which I’ll list in the blog post.

Why work remotely?

Location independence
Set your own hours
Work from where works best for you
- Home
- Coffee Shop
- Co-working space
The ability to be more flexible with salary
Easier to travel
Work without distraction

To succeed in working remotely, you have to have discipline. You know what I'm talking about if you have successfully run your own business. This is why working remotely is not a good fit for some folks. They get distracted or just don’t have the intrinsic motivation to push themselves.

You’ll need a good internet connection, which limits where in the world you can live. You need to know what hours you can work. If you live in Mexico, having a remote job in China may mean getting up at 4 am. You’ll need to be a great communicator, written and verbal. And, of course, you have to have to be competent with technology.

Where to look for remote work?

Your favorite online jobs platform has them, LinkedIn, etc. But this is the best source I know of for where to look for online work. It’s a google doc maintained by its users. In addition, look for Facebook groups in Digital Nomad Hubs, like Medellin and Chiang Mai, or your desired destination.

Your reasons for wanting remote work might be different than mine. I almost always choose to live someplace with a low cost of living. Doing so gives me more freedom to take a wider variety of jobs, and I have a long history of going from being the low man on the totem pole to being the guy running things. But that is not my only criterion. A new home has to have good internet, at least 15 megs, have a great quality of life, friendly people and preferably be near the beach. This year, I live 200 meters from the Pacific Ocean in Puerto Vallarta, MX. Six months before I got here, I was in Medellin, CO.

If you are a native English speaker with a 2 or 4 year degree, the easiest and best-paying job to get started is teaching English to Chinese kids online. It pays around $20 an hour and would be a great way to move to Asia. Countries like Vietnam and Cambodia have very liberal visa policies, good quality of life, and a very low cost of living. The other option is to go to Korea or China and get a full-time job teaching English. These two countries pay about the best and have the best benefits. I did this in Thailand, and it was a great experience. But I’d not recommend teaching in Thailand. Their education system is horrible, and the pay is meh. If you want a job like this, you’ll need to be a native English speaker, have a 4-year degree, and have a TEFL certificate.

Money

I don’t have any debts. If you are going to move overseas, in most cases, you’ll want some savings to fall back on. For me, that’s about $15,000. I use Mint to manage my finances because I want know where I am at any time. Depending on your job situation, you won’t need that much money. For instance, some schools in Asia will send you a plane ticket and give you one to get home, and in the countries I mentioned, if you live frugally, you can save $1000 a month. But If you plan to move somewhere and then look for work or just start teaching English online, you’re going to want some savings to fall back on.

I figure out my savings goals and my monthly living expenses and use that as the lowest salary I can take. I can’t take a job if it doesn’t pay the minimum.

Sure, most Americans seem to live paycheck to paycheck. But that could be a disaster overseas. When I was teaching in Bangkok, nearly all the guys I worked with were living paycheck to paycheck. What happens if they get fired? If you lose your job in Thailand, you lose your visa and have about ten days to leave the country. Not good if you don’t have savings to fall back on.