6 Essential Tools for Digital Nomads

NomadList

Nomadlist is the number one website for digital nomads to find their next destination. At NomadList, all popular cities are ranked according to their suitability for digital nomads. This includes cost of living, average internet speed, safety and visa requirements.

But it doesn’t stop there. By now, the website contains so much information, that you can even filter by air quality, nightlife, prevalence of racism, hospital quality, obesity rates, type of climate, religious freedom, legal status of marijuana and the average height of men in your desired destination.

You can view the top destinations for free, but as a member you get access to all results and an active community of more than 15,000 travel-minded members. Who knows, you might find your next travel buddy here!

LeaveMyDesk

LeaveMyDesk helps you find places to work from around the world. Discover the best cafes, libraries and co-working spaces with fast Wi-Fi, power outlets and the best coffee in town. This way, you’ll never again sit down at a cafe only to find that the Wi-Fi sucks or that there are no outlets to charge your devices.

You can add your own favorite places to work from and meet other people that like to work from the same cafes. Or get inspired by other remote workers and see where they go to be productive.

HoodMaps

Another incredibly helpful website built by Pieter Levels (from NomadList) is HoodMaps.

When you first visit a city, it is hard to figure out where to book your accommodation. If you are not paying attention, you quickly end up in the middle of the tourist center. These tourist centers are often more expensive, more crowded and less authentic. Not really desirable if you also want to enjoy a bit of the local culture the country has to offer.

Hoodmaps is a crowdsourced map that helps you pick the best neighborhoods to stay in. Each corner of a city is colored to distinguish areas for tourists, hipsters, normies, the rich, students and business people.

Locals and visitors can also add tags on the map with their opinions about specific streets and neighborhoods. That way you know how to avoid the annoying street vendors, scammers, drug addicts and prostitutes the next time you visit Barcelona, Los Angeles or Chiang Mai.

Meetup

It’s usually easy to meet new people while traveling, but especially in the big city, it can take some effort. Then it is convenient to know what is happening in the city.

Meetup makes it easy to find social events around the world. Members can set up their own event and invite people. The events attract not only digital nomads, but often locals as well, which obviously adds to the fun.

The events are incredibly diverse, ranging from language exchanges, salsa lessons, networking drinks, board game nights, sports activities to hiking trips.

OnwardTicket

Digital nomads love freedom and flexibility, but sometimes this causes a problem: upon entering a new country you have to prove that you leave the country again, usually by showing a return flight ticket. But often digital nomads do not yet know when they are going to leave again or even where they are going next.

That is why there are services like OnwardTicket. This service provide you with a real flight ticket, which is valid for 48 hours and serves as proof for leaving the country again. Problem solved!

Nestpick

Planning to stay in one place for longer? You might want to move out of your 12-bed dorm room and into a long-term private apartment. Of course you can browse AirBnB, but it might be worth checking out Nestpick as well.

Nestpick is a search engine to find furnished apartments for rent in over 3000 cities around the world. You can compare apartments by rental price, location, type of apartment and what kind of furniture is inside.

Once you have found the ideal apartment, you will be directed to the listing provider to schedule a viewing.