Digital nomads /

How to Find a Remote Job and Travel More

If you’ve ever wondered how you can find a remote job so you can be like the digital nomads who travel the world full-time, or spend a lot of time living in a different country, city or state than what they call home, read on.

The concept of remote work became more popular during the pandemic, but many have been working remotely for years.

Coming from a tradition 9-5 office job, I never really knew much about remote jobs or digital nomads. I kept jumping from job to job, waiting to find something that I was satisfied with. I finally left my 9-5 marketing job to travel and teach English. Then I went freelance and co-founded a company because I learned the hard way that life is short, and you shouldn’t spend time on things that you don’t enjoy, especially a job because that’s what you spend most of time doing.

I hear a lot of stories of people who aren’t satisfied with their jobs or feel “stuck” or not valued. I always encourage everyone to find jobs that allow them to have some freedom or at least a peace of mind. Why should you put yourself through things you don’t enjoy? I’ve worked in very toxic environments, but I’ve also worked in office that value their employees, and trust me, it makes such a big difference! It may seem hard to break out of going into an office every day, but it’s not impossible.

Some advantages of having a remote job while traveling:

  • Flexible – you can work from wherever you want
  • If you want to work from a different country, you don’t need a work visa from that country
  • You can control your work-life balance

Some disadvantages of having a remote job while traveling:

  • If your workplace allows you to travel, they may still require that you work during their hours/time zone
  • Communication may take more time, especially if you are in a different time zone and have to email back and forth
  • You may have to Zoom often, which could result in longer work hours or Zoom fatigue
  • You may potentially get distracted
  • Tech problems…you’re on your own!
  • If you go the digital nomad route, you may have to move every few months. Each country has a limit as to how long you’re able to stay there. If you want to stay in a certain country for longer than they allow you to, you may want to see if your workplace has an office in that location. If not, check if that country offers a digital nomad visa, or if you’re under 30 years old (in some cases, under 35), look into a working holiday visa. Would you want me to write more about these visas? Comment below!

How to Find a Remote Job or Freelance Work

Start by asking your current job what they would allow.

More and more companies are allowing their employees to work from home. Some may allow you to work from anywhere in the world, while some prefer that you work from the same city or time zone as their office. Some companies allow their employees to work from anywhere in the world, but only for a certain amount of time, and some companies are open to negotiation because they want to make their employees happy. You never know until you ask.

Use the ‘net!

  • Google “companies with flexible work options in [city/country]” 
  • Use job search sites like Indeed and search “remote job in [city/country]”
  • Use LinkedIn! You can job search and set filters and alerts for “remote” “hybrid” “freelance” in the country or city of your choice.

Search these sites for worldwide remote work

Companies that hire people worldwide

Facebook groups in which people sometime post remote work opportunities

Sites to find freelance work

  • Contra (community for freelancers – make a profile/portfolio and join their Slack channel!)
  • WFH Freelancer
  • Toptal (Freelance jobs for developers, designers, finance experts, project and product managers)

Where can Canadians find remote jobs?

Canadians, rejoice – many US and international companies will not hire Canadians unless we have a permit to work in the country they are based in, however, more and more Canadian companies are hiring for remote and hybrid positions.

Facebook groups where people post calls for freelancers / remote workers in Canada

Some companies that hire for remote positions in Canada

I found some of these thanks to Google and thanks to a LinkedIn search filter that I had set. I also thank Kaitlyn Boudreault, a freelance social media manager based near Toronto, Ontario for sharing many of these with me. We met in a Facebook group, which goes to show that help is sometimes right at your fingertips. Kaitlyn has put together a Google Doc with over 500 companies that offer flexible / remote work options in Canada. If you’ve got any more tips on how to find a remote job, or any remote job search sites or company sites that you’d like to share, contact me!

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