Being a digital nomad or global citizen, you will have to navigate various tools that will make your stay, travel, productivity, and job successful and secure on the road. In this article, I will discuss my favourite tools that me succeed on the road as a digital nomad.

To start things off, let’s chat about the most obvious tools you need and the best financial software for nomads.

Reliable Internet Connection

Having a reliable internet connection is the most important tool for a digital nomad. I suggest going beyond Wi-Fi hotspots and investing in portable Wi-Fi devices, mobile data plans, or local SIM cards to ensure you always have stable access to the internet. 

Productivity Tools

As a digital nomad, it’s important to ensure your productivity, especially if you are working with clients. I love to project management tools like Trello, Asana, and Todoist to help manage my tasks, deadlines, and projects. 

Cloud Storage

Instead of carrying around hard drives or USBs, you can easily store important files, documents, and photos in cloud storage options like Dropbox, Google Drive, or iCloud (all for an inexpensive fee).

Video Conferencing

As a nomad, you will need to communicate with clients, colleagues, and business partners frequently. Utilize tools like Zoom, Slack, Skype, and Google Meet for your video conferencing, instant messaging, and file-sharing features. 

Travel Apps

Travelling can be stressful, especially when you’re trying to adapt to new cities and cultures. Apps like Booking.com, Airbnb, Skyscanner, and Google Maps can help you find affordable accommodation, flights, and local attractions. 

Cybersecurity Tools

Be sure to protect your online privacy, especially when using public Wi-Fi or unfamiliar websites. Tools like NordVPN and LastPass offer encryption, password management, and other security features that are essential when working from wifi.

Remote Work Communities

I highly recommend joining communities like Nomad List and Remote Year to connect with like-minded individuals, share experiences, and find job opportunities. These are just a few great options, and be sure to check local Facebook groups as well.

Best travel tools to book hotels for digital nomads

Being nomadic, it’s important to have the proper tools to book hotels and accommodations while on the road.

There are several travel tools options to consider when you are choosing your next accommodation… here are a few of my favourites:
Agoda.com

Agoda.com is a travel booking website that can be a helpful tool for digital nomads. The website offers a variety of features that can be useful for people who travel often, such as the ability to book hotels, flights, and rental cars all in one place. 

Additionally, Agoda.com offers a mobile app that can be used to book travel on the go.

Here are a few reasons why I love booking with Agoda.

1. Extensive accommodation options
   Agoda offers an extensive range of accommodation options, from budget-friendly hostels to luxury hotels, which can fit every budget and room preference  
2. User-friendly interface
   Agoda has a user-friendly interface that allows you to navigate through the website and easily search for the best travel deals. 
3. Easy booking process
   The site offers a simple and fast booking process, allowing you to make a reservation quickly and effortlessly while on the road.
4. Reliable customer service
   Agoda provides 24/7 customer service, ensuring you can get assistance and support any time of the day, regardless of your time zone.
5. Cost-effective
   Agoda offers competitive prices and unique discounts, helping nomads to save money on travel expenses. When you book enough stays through Agoda, you also become an insider….
6. Insider deals
   Agoda provides exclusive deals and promotions for members who book a certain number of times per year. Some of these perks include free room upgrades, free breakfast, and many more.
7. Multilingual support
   Agoda supports multiple languages and currencies, making it a convenient travel tool for nomads who travel across different countries and regions.

Hotels.com

As a digital nomad, it can be difficult to find affordable and convenient accommodation options that fit your needs.

Using Hotels.com, I can search for hotels, apartments, and hostels all in one place. I can also filter results by price, location, and amenities, based on what I am looking for in a specific area.  

Not only that, but Hotels.com offers a great rewards program.

If I book ten nights’ stays via Hotels.com, I can earn one free night. That’s a pretty great deal when travelling the world full-time, and when the monthly rent is your hotel bookings!
Trip.com

I also love booking with Trip.com. I find Trip.com is specifically great for finding deals in Asia, as the app is Chinese-based.

You can book hotels, flights, car rentals, and even train tickets in specific countries, all on the Trip.com app.

Xcurrency

Xcurrency is a currency exchange platform that allows travellers to manage and exchange currencies on the go, making it a helpful travel tool for digital nomads.

I love this app for so many reasons, and no other currency exchange app can compare. Here are my thoughts on why it’s so useful:

Instant currency exchange
Xcurrency allows users to exchange currencies at the best exchange rate available in real-time. This means nomads can easily convert their funds into local currency as they travel from one country to another. 

Multiple currencies
When this app is displayed on your screen, you will see 5 or 6 different currencies. Type in an amount in one currency, and it will convert that amount into all the other currencies you have selected. Neat, right?!

User-friendly interface
Xcurrency‘s user-friendly interface makes it easy for you to manage funds and transactions, even if you’re not familiar with digital wallets. Overall, Xcurrency is a helpful travel tool for digital nomads, as it offers a convenient and secure way to manage and exchange funds while on the move.

TripIt

TripIt is a free app that helps manage all your travel plans, in one place.

It’s useful for keeping track of flights, hotels, car rentals, and more. For digital nomads, TripIt can be a helpful tool for keeping track of your many travel plans, all through one simple app.

Anytime a new reservation is secured and comes into your email inbox, the reservation will automatically be sent to the TripIt app. If it’s not automatically sent to the app, you can forward the email to TripIt, and the app will automatically add it to your booking.

While it can be difficult to keep track of all your different bookings and reservations, TripIt helps to stay organized.

You can also use the app to share your itinerary with your friends and family, so they can follow your travels and ensure your safety from afar. This is one of our favourite financial software for nomads and global citizens.

E-Sim Options

RedteaGo and Airalo eSIM are my two favourite e-sim apps.

If your phone is e-sim compatible, make sure you grab the least a bit of data before touching down in a new country, so you can avoid purchasing a SIM card at the airport out of desperation (and spending much more than needed on your new data plan).

Here are some reasons I love using an eSIM:

Cost-effective
RedteaGo and Airalo eSIM offer cost-effective eSIM data plans for travellers. With these apps, you can choose from a variety of plans that offer different prices and gigabits, saving you more money than the roaming charges from your home phone plan.

Convenience
You can purchase an eSIM data plan via the app before your trip, allowing you to stay connected to the internet as soon as you arrive in a new country, without needing to find a local SIM card.

Simplicity
eSIMs are easy to set up and use, so you don’t need to worry about changing SIM cards and possibly misplacing your old SIM card in the process.  

Security
eSIMs offer secure and reliable connections, that connect to the internet as soon as you touch down in a new country. This is especially important for digital nomads who rely heavily on the Internet for their work.

Overall, RedteaGo and Airalo eSIM’s can provide digital nomads with a simple, cost-effective, and secure way to stay connected while travelling.

Time Buddy 

Digital nomads are a special breed of worker. They are location independent and often en route to different places to work.

This can be a great lifestyle, but it can also be tough to keep track of time zones when constantly on the move. Time Buddy is a helpful travel tool to help mitigate this. 

Time Buddy is an app that easily keeps track of multiple time zones at once, and allows easy time zone conversions. This is helpful when coordinating meetings and schedules across different time zones.

Google Maps

When you are looking for somewhere to stay or eat while you are on the road, one of the best tools at your disposal is Google Maps.

Checking reviews on Google Maps can give you a good idea of what to expect from a place, and it can help you avoid potential pitfalls. 

Of course, you should take the reviews you read on Google Maps with a grain of salt. Sometimes people leave fake reviews, and sometimes people’s opinions just don’t line up with your own.

Overall, checking Google Maps for reviews is a good way to get a sense of what a place is like before you visit.

SafetyWing Health Insurance

SafetyWing is a health insurance provider that offers a variety of plans for those who are self-employed, work remotely, or are full-time digital nomads.

The company is headquartered in San Francisco, but its nomad health and travel insurance plans are available to residents of almost every country in the world.

SafetyWing’s plans are designed to cover a wide range of needs, as the plans are specifically curated for digital nomads and the adventurous lifestyles we live.

I highly recommend checking out SafetyWing if you are looking for a nomad insurance plan that is made by and made for digital nomads.

Recommended Business Tools

While on the hunt for the best business tools, I am sure to always have a business mentor, or I am levelling up in a course with an entrepreneur I look up to. This keeps me updated, motivated, highly determined, and energetic to set new business goals and achieve them.

However, there are specific business tools that are important to help me run my day-to-day business. Here are the go-to tools I use:

Honeybook

Honeybook is a CRM, also known as a client relationship manager. This is an online business tool that helps keep everything from my clients in one place. Some of the tools offered within Honeybook are: 

⦁ Contact list to keep track of clients
⦁ Task manager for your to-do lists
⦁ Calendar that helps you schedule appointments and meetings, and create custom booking links
⦁ Document storage, helping to keep track of important client documents

Canva 

Canva is a helpful business tool for digital nomads who want to save time on creating visuals for their business. Canva is a great alternative to programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.

Canva is an online design platform that provides templates for everything from social media posts to business cards, to flyers. With a Canva Pro subscription, you can even save your branding templates so that you can quickly create new designs with your business’s branding. 

Whether you are a freelance graphic designer or running a social media account for your clients, using Canva will help you save time on creating anything visual, and help grow your business. Canva is a game-changing software for nomads.

Clickup and Notion 

There is no question that as a digital nomad, you need to be organized and efficient to be successful.

After all, you are often working in unfamiliar surroundings with many distractions. That’s why Clickup and Notion can be such helpful business tools.

Both Clickup and Notion offer a variety of features that can help digital nomads to stay organized and productive.

As an example, Clickup offers task management, file sharing, and real-time collaboration features that can be extremely helpful when working on projects with team members who are in different locations.

Notion, on the other hand, offers a powerful note-taking feature that can help digital nomads keep track of their thoughts and ideas. 

Notion is so powerful that you can design absolutely anything to be a Notion template. However, because Notion is so powerful, it can be difficult to use Notion as a daily CRM or project management tool.

NordVPN

If you are a nomad or starting out on your nomadic journey, you will know one of the top priorities before you take off on your next adventure is a reliable VPN. NordVPN is the go-to VPN that I have been using for years.  

Using a VPN will ensure you keep your data and privacy safe while browsing the internet, especially in public places such as the café or co-working space.

NordVPN will also help you access websites from other countries, that you may need to access while on the road. Quite a few government websites are blocked unless you are physically in that country, so NordVPN is a great way around this if you are looking for specific information.

Stan Store 

Stan Store is my go-to app for anything sales. With Stan Store, I can sell any digital product, host a masterclass or webinar, collect emails, create funnels, add hyperlinks, and so much more.

Think of Stan Store as your new Linktree, but optimized for conversions and completely mobile-friendly.

If you have never heard of Stan Store, be sure to click here to learn more. This is a tool I seriously cannot get enough of, and I highly recommend checking it out to drive conversions to your social media pages.

Flodesk

Flodesk is an email marketing platform that beats out all the others.

While there are many other email marketing competitors out there, Flodesk makes it easy to design beautiful emails (it’s basically the Canva of email marketing).

Flodesk also has an amazing pricing plan… no more paying based on how many email subscribers you have! Flodesk has a no-BS pricing plan of a monthly flat fee, regardless of how many subscribers are on your mailing list. This software is one of my top favourites for financial software for nomads.

Best Finance Tools for Digital Nomads

After having been on the road for some time, I’ve tested out all the finance apps out there.

Below are some of my favourite apps to use for the financial side of your business or side hustle:

Xero
Xero is a cloud-based accounting software that simplifies invoicing, bank reconciliation, and expense tracking. 

Wise
Wise, formerly called TransferWise, is a money transfer app that allows international money transfers with minimal fees. 

Wise was created as an alternative to high wire transfer fees across the world. They now offer bank accounts and accept currencies in 50+ different countries.

If you don’t already utilize Wise as a digital nomad, I highly recommend you set up your account today.

Revolut
A digital banking app that provides international bank accounts, debit cards, currency exchange, and low-cost money transfers. 

Revolut also now allows the purchasing and holding of cryptocurrencies, directly within the app!

Expensify
Expensify is a receipt and expense management software that helps to streamline expense tracking by scanning receipts and automatically categorizing expenses. 

Mint
Mint is a popular financial management app that tracks income and expenses, providing personalized budgeting and investment advice. 

QuickBooks
Quickbooks is a popular accounting software that helps small business owners to manage their finances. 

Quickbooks is used by businesses all over the world and offers every possible accounting feature both you and your bookkeeper could ever need.

PayPal
Paypal is a global online payment platform that allows secure online payments and money transfers. 

Trello
Trello is a project management app that helps to keep track of tasks, deadlines, and budgets. Trello is great for keeping ideas organized when starting a business, or for collaborating with your team and keeping track of ongoing projects, all from directly within the software app.

Ledger Live
Ledger Live, also known as Ledger, is a hardware wallet for keeping your cryptocurrency safe and secure.

With Ledger, you are able to simplify the process of keeping track of your cryptocurrency assets, allowing you to effectively handle your funds from your own hardware wallet, anywhere in the world.

Ledger also enables you to track real-time market prices and the value of your assets, making it simple to make decisions when trading cryptocurrencies.

If you are nomadic and invest in cryptocurrency, trust me, you need a Ledger device. While it can be tricky to ensure you always know where your Ledger is when travelling, this is a much better option than keeping your crypto on a centralized exchange where your coins can easily be at risk.

Conclusion

Being a digital nomad, it’s important to plan ahead of time and ensure you have all the tools you need to thrive during your travels. These best financial software for nomads will help you to travel longer and smarter.

While this certainly requires some pre-planning, especially at the beginning of your digital nomad journey, with time and practice, utilizing the right tools for your travels and your business will become second nature.
And if you ever have any questions, I’m here to help. Reach out to me here and let’s chat about how to get you started as a digital nomad on the right foot.

Learn More

If you want to learn more about becoming a digital nomad, creating a business you are passionate about, global taxes, and entrepreneurship, check out the links below:

The Work, Wealth and Travel Podcast

Discover More On The Blog

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