5 Friendly Global Work Spots for Digital Nomads

Are you a remote worker who is dreaming of a true, digital nomad life? If you’re eager to travel the world and make a living at the same time, this is no longer a dream for today’s designer.

Join tens of thousands of digital nomad freelance designers across the globe who travel while they work. As an homage to this new way of working remotely that we love so much, here are our picks for the best places in the world for remote work nomads. Bonus – each city has fast Internet!

Bangkok

If you’re looking to work remotely among millions of other people, Bangkok, Thailand is known by expert digital nomads as one of the best huge cities to work remotely in the world. There’s free, fast Wi-Fi available all over the city, there is plenty of nightlife and entertainment to go around, and foreign remote workers are very welcome. Moreover, the cost of living is good, the city is pretty safe, and there are plenty of places to work from.

Expect to spend about $30 USD per night on a hotel, and about $700-800 a month for a rented apartment. You can rent your own co-working space for about $250 USD per month. A basic meal will run you a few dollars, and a pint of beer is usually under two dollars – very affordable.

South Florida

Miami and West Palm Beach are two great places for remote workers who love sunny, bright, tropical environments. Lined like pearls on the Atlantic Coast of Florida, both cities are known for their great weather, wonderful air quality, fast Internet, and plenty to do (including a raucous nightlife).

With all the glamour of South Florida, expect a high cost of living. It’s expensive to live or travel for a while in both cities, with an apartment running you $3,000+ a month, and a hotel room running you at least $115/day. Thankfully, you can rent a co-working space for under $300, and you can grab a pint of beer after a hard day at work for as low as $3.50. There are plenty of coffee shops and ocean-side work spots available throughout the city, and there is an abundance of co-working spaces like the popular Mindwarehouse and Starthub.

Portugal

Digital nomads like quite a few cities in Portugal, including Aveiro, Braga, Lisbon, and Porto. The Internet in Portugal is fast, and each city has at least a few great places to work that offer free Wi-Fi. However, some more nightlife-loving nomads find Portugal to be a rather “boring” place to work remotely. On the flipside, if you’re looking for a comfortable, safe, relaxing place, and the busy life isn’t really your thing, Portugal may be your best idea for your next trip.

The cost of living is fairly practical; much cheaper to live here than places like Miami. Spend about $50-60/night on a hotel room and around $1,000 for a month in an Airbnb apartment. Your average cup of cappuccino will cost you under $2, and a pint of beer in the evening will cost you less than $3.

Dallas

Work deep in the heart of Texas with fast W-Fi, plenty of places within the city to work from, and a stamp of approval by many professional working nomads. This is big city living in the South, with about 1.6 million inhabitants.

If you plan on staying awhile, the cost of living in Dallas is around $2,000-$2,500 USD per month, and you can rent a co-working space monthly for a few hundred dollars. If you’re planning on traveling for a short time, a lower-end hotel will cost you about $50/night.

Some favorite places to work include Stupid Good Coffee in Skybridge, the Crooked Tree Coffeehouse on Routh Street, and North Co-Working on Preston Road.

New Zealand

Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand, are two favorite remote work spots in the Southern Hemisphere for digital nomads. Both cities are safe, have free Wi-Fi in the city, and are friendly to foreigners, with a great quality of life to boot. They also both have a modest population, with about 200,000 people living in Wellington and 400,000 in Christchurch. Although they’re known more for their work appeal than play, they’re fairly affordable; you’ll spend more on cost of living in Christchurch than Wellington. Set aside at least a grand or two per month USD for an apartment and expect to pay $50-60/night for a lower-end hotel room. Much of the costs of daily life are similar to other cities on this list, so if you’re interested in Tennessee or Dallas, you could definitely make it in New Zealand, too.

The Perc Central in Christchurch is one of the most popular spot for remote workers, and there are plenty of cool places to work near Wellington Harbour, including In Good Company on Cuba Street and The General Practitioner on Willis.

For the adventurer designer, a remote work trip is an intriguing consideration for 2016. With a little planning to ensure that you have the finances to make the trip, and a solid place to work, you may decide that the wanderlust remote work life is for you. If you do – tell us what you think!

Which one of the places above would you like to work remotely for free for a month?