For a long time, becoming a digital nomad almost automatically meant becoming a freelancer. <\/p>\n
If you wanted to travel, work from anywhere, and build a life outside the normal 9-5 office routine, the obvious path was to start offering services online.<\/p>\n
Things like freelance writing<\/a>, website design<\/a>, social media management<\/a>, virtual assistance<\/a>, coaching<\/a>, consulting, marketing, SEO<\/a>, video editing\u2026the list goes on!<\/p>\n Whatever skill you had, you packaged it up, found clients, and tried to make enough money to keep the travel dream going. <\/p>\n We started working online back in 2012,<\/a> and for years, our income came from running our own travel blog<\/a>, working with brands, building online businesses, and creating different offers around the skills we had developed along the way.<\/p>\n That lifestyle gave us a level of freedom that I still don\u2019t take for granted.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve worked from beach towns, mountain villages, tiny apartments, caf\u00e9s with spotty Wi-Fi, airports, guesthouses, coworking spaces, and more countries than I can list off the top of my head.<\/p>\n But after more than a decade of doing this, I can also tell you something that doesn\u2019t always get talked about enough in the digital nomad world:<\/p>\n Freelancing is not the only way to live and work internationally.<\/strong><\/p>\n And actually, for a lot of digital nomads, it might not even be the best way.<\/p>\n The classic digital nomad dream usually looks something like this:<\/p>\n Quit your job. On paper, it sounds amazing, and it can be. But there\u2019s another side to freelancing that a lot of people only figure out once they\u2019re already in it.<\/p>\n You\u2019re not just doing<\/strong><\/em> the work. You\u2019re also finding<\/strong><\/em> the work.<\/p>\n You\u2019re pitching, selling, invoicing<\/a>, following up, handling annoying payment conversations, managing contracts, replacing clients who disappear, and constantly trying to keep an income coming in\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026some months are great, while other months are stressful.<\/p>\n One client leaves and suddenly your \u201cfreedom lifestyle\u201d feels a lot less free\u2026this has happened to us more than once during our online journey. <\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say freelancing is bad. It can be an incredible way to build location-independent income. But it\u2019s not the only option anymore.<\/p>\n The remote work world has changed.<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, more international companies are open to hiring people across borders, and more professionals want to live abroad while keeping stable<\/span> employment. <\/p>\n And more businesses are realizing that the best person for the job might not live in the same city, country, or even continent as the company itself. <\/p>\n That creates a great opportunity for digital nomads \u2013 you can be location independent without necessarily becoming a freelancer.<\/p>\n This is where things get interesting. A lot of digital nomads assume there are only two choices:<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a third option:<\/strong> You can be hired as an employee by an international company while living and working abroad.<\/p>\n This means you may be able to have the stability of employment, the structure of a real role, and in many cases, access to proper payroll, benefits, and protections, while still living a location-independent lifestyle.<\/p>\n For a lot of people, that\u2019s the dream!<\/p>\n Not everyone wants to build their own agency. Not everyone wants to sell coaching. Not everyone wants to constantly chase freelance clients.<\/p>\n Some people are really good at what they do and would happily work for one great company, as long as they don\u2019t have to give up the freedom to live internationally.<\/p>\n That could mean a Canadian marketer working for a Dutch company while living in Portugal.<\/p>\n A British developer working for a US startup while based in Thailand.<\/p>\n A South African customer success manager working for a German company while spending part of the year in Spain.<\/p>\n A designer, operations manager, copywriter, sales rep, accountant, project manager, product specialist, or software engineer working for a company that values their skills more than where they live.<\/p>\n Freelancing<\/strong> can be great when you want full independence.<\/p>\n You choose your clients, set your rates, and decide how much work you want to take on. You can build your own brand, create your own offers, and eventually turn it into something bigger.<\/p>\n But freelancing also means you are responsible for pretty much everything<\/em>\u2026and I mean everything. Take it from me! <\/p>\n You\u2019re the marketing department, sales department, finance department, admin department, and delivery team. You do it all.<\/p>\n Employment<\/strong> is different.<\/p>\n With employment, you usually have more structure.<\/p>\n You have a defined role, regular salary, clear set of responsibilities, and potential benefits. Plus, paid time off, local employment protections\u2026and ideally, less time spent constantly trying to sell yourself.<\/p>\n For digital nomads who are tired of the feast-or-famine cycle, this can be a much better fit.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve met a lot of people over the years who love the travel side of the nomad lifestyle, but don\u2019t actually love being self-employed.<\/p>\n They just want meaningful work, stable income, and the ability to live somewhere that fits their lifestyle, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think it\u2019s one of the most underrated paths in the digital nomad world.<\/p>\n The answer is yes, but the setup matters.<\/p>\n This is where an Employer of Record<\/a>, or EOR, can come in. An Employer of Record helps companies hire employees in countries where they do not have their own local entity.<\/p>\n Rivermate<\/a> is an EOR that does this. Instead of the company needing to open a branch, register a business, learn the local employment system, and manage country-specific payroll and compliance, the EOR becomes the legal employer in that country.<\/p>\n The company still directs your day-to-day work. You still work with the same team, do the role you were hired to do, and you still report to the company hiring you.<\/p>\n But the EOR handles the local employment side.<\/p>\n That can include payroll, tax compliance, employment contracts, benefits, workers\u2019 compensation, and making sure the employment relationship follows local laws.<\/p>\n For companies, this makes international hiring much easier, and for digital nomads, it can make global employment feel much more realistic. <\/p>\n Maybe you work for a company in your home country, but you want to spend six months in Spain.<\/p>\n Maybe you\u2019re based in Canada, but you want to live in Portugal.<\/p>\n Maybe you have a remote role in the UK, but you want to move somewhere warmer, cheaper, or just more aligned with the life you actually want to build.<\/p>\n This is where things can get a little tricky. Just because your job is remote does not always mean you can work from anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n A company might be totally fine with you working from home<\/a> in your own country, but that does not automatically mean they can legally employ you while you are living abroad.<\/p>\n The issue usually isn\u2019t whether they trust you \u2013 it\u2019s more about whether they can legally support the arrangement. <\/p>\n If you move to another country, your employer may have to think about local employment laws, payroll, taxes, social security, benefits, insurance, and whether your presence creates any compliance issues for the business.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why some companies say no to international remote work, even though the work itself could easily be done from anywhere.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not always a remote work problem. It\u2019s often a compliance problem.<\/p>\n This is another place where an Employer of Record can help. Instead of your employer having to open a local entity or figure out the employment laws in your new country, an EOR may be able to legally employ you there on the company\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a digital nomad who wants to get hired by an international company without becoming a freelancer, the first step is to shift how you present yourself.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t just position yourself as \u201cremote.\u201d Position yourself as someone who can create a clear business outcome from anywhere.<\/p>\n Companies aren\u2019t hiring you because you want to live in Lisbon<\/a>, Chiang Mai<\/a>, Mexico City<\/a>, Bansko<\/a>, or Bali<\/a>.<\/p>\n They\u2019re hiring you because you can help them solve a problem. So your application, profile, and interviews need to make that obvious.<\/p>\n Instead of leading with the lifestyle, lead with the result you can get them <\/p>\n Not every company is ready to hire internationally. Some still want people in the same city. Others say \u201cremote\u201d but really mean \u201cremote within one country.\u201d Some are open to international talent, but only in specific regions or time zones.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why you want to pay close attention to the language in job descriptions.<\/p>\n Look for phrases like:<\/p>\n \u201cRemote-first\u201d, \u201cGlobally distributed team\u201d, \u201cWork from anywhere\u201d, \u201cInternational hiring\u201d, \u201cEOR-supported employment\u201d, or These are signs that the company may already understand the realities of international hiring. You can also take a look at the team page.<\/p>\n Are employees based in different countries? Does the company talk about remote culture? Do they have people working across time zones?<\/p>\n If yes, your chances are much better than applying to a company that has never hired outside its home market.<\/p>\n One mistake digital nomads make is being vague about where they are. They\u2019ll say, \u201cI\u2019m flexible,\u201d or \u201cI travel around,\u201d which can sound fun to other nomads but stressful to an employer.<\/p>\n Companies need clarity.<\/p>\n They need to know where you\u2019re legally based, where you plan to work from, what time zone you\u2019ll be in, and whether your setup creates any extra complexity.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean you need to have your entire life mapped out forever. But you should be able to explain your situation professionally.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m currently based in Bulgaria and plan to remain tax resident here for the foreseeable future. I travel occasionally, but my main working location and time zone are stable.\u201d<\/p>\n That sounds a lot more hireable than:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in South Africa for 2 months, and then I\u2019m going to check out Tbilisi for a month, and I\u2019m thinking of Bali after that.\u201d<\/p>\n The more stable and clear you can make your setup sound, the easier it is for a company to say yes.<\/p>\n Before accepting an international remote job, you\u2019ll want to understand the employment setup.<\/p>\n Some useful questions include:<\/p>\n A company may be happy for you to work remotely from your home country, but not from ten different countries throughout the year.<\/p>\n Another company may be fine with occasional travel, but need you to be officially employed in one specific location. Another may be able to hire you through an EOR in your country, but not in the country you want to move to next.<\/p>\n The more you know upfront, the better.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a balance here. You don\u2019t need to pretend you\u2019re not location-independent. But you also don\u2019t want your entire professional identity to be \u201cI travel.\u201d<\/p>\n The best international remote employees make companies feel confident.<\/p>\n They communicate well. They are reliable. They understand time zones. They don\u2019t disappear for three days because the Wi-Fi at their beach bungalow stopped working. They know how to work independently without needing constant supervision.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the version of yourself you want to present.<\/p>\n Yes, you may be a digital nomad, but you\u2019re also a professional.<\/p>\n You can meet deadlines. You can show up to calls. You can protect company data. You can work across cultures. You can manage your schedule. You can contribute to the team even if you\u2019re not sitting in the same office.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what makes you valuable.<\/p>\n The early digital nomad movement was heavily tied to entrepreneurship, blogging, freelancing, and online business. And of course, that world still exists.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s no longer the only<\/em> version of the lifestyle.<\/p>\n The next version of digital nomadism is more professional, more structured, and more connected to global employment.<\/p>\n People want freedom, but they also want stability. They want to travel, but they also want a regular paycheck. They want location independence, but they don\u2019t necessarily want to run a business.<\/p>\n And companies want access to the best talent, but they need ways to hire that talent legally and compliantly.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where the opportunity is.<\/strong><\/p>\n A digital nomad doesn\u2019t have to be a freelancer.<\/p>\n They can be a full-time employee. They can work for an international company. They can have a stable role. They can be paid through compliant payroll. They can receive benefits. They can build a serious career while living abroad.<\/p>\n But the setup matters.<\/p>\n After years of working online and living internationally, I still believe location independence is one of the best ways to design a life with more freedom.<\/p>\n But I also think the conversation needs to evolve \u2013 maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019m older now than when I first started this lifestyle?! <\/p>\n It\u2019s not just about quitting your job and figuring it out as you go, and it\u2019s not just about freelancing from a laptop. <\/p>\n And it\u2019s definitely not just about sitting on a beach with a coconut while pretending that running a business from the road is always easy.<\/p>\n For some people, freelancing will be the right path. For others, building a business will be the dream.<\/p>\n But for a lot of digital nomads, the best path might be getting hired by an international company in a way that gives them both freedom and stability.<\/p>\n That is the real opportunity.<\/p>\n And today, with global hiring, remote-first companies, and Employer of Record solutions, there are more ways than ever to do just that.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For a long time, becoming a digital nomad almost automatically meant becoming a freelancer. If you wanted to travel, work from anywhere, and build a life outside the normal 9-5 office routine, the obvious path was to start offering services online. Things like freelance writing, website design, social media management, virtual assistance, coaching, consulting, marketing, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":354206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97533],"tags":[5639,824,47073,25735,20662,21458],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-354205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-nomad-lifestyle","tag-career","tag-digital","tag-employed","tag-freelancing","tag-nomads","tag-paths"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"nick](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/nick-and-dariece-Goats-On-The-Road-blogging-825x1100.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Typical Digital Nomad Path<\/h2>\n
Start freelancing.
Get a few clients.
Book a one-way ticket.
Work from wherever you want.<\/p>\n![\"learning](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dariece-studying-preply.jpg\"\/)
![\"learning](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dariece-studying-preply.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe New Path: Become Globally Employed<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"working](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/nick-laptop-chania-825x1100.jpg\"\/)
![\"working](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/nick-laptop-chania-825x1100.jpg\")
Freelancing vs. Employment<\/h2>\n
![\"Goats](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Goats-On-The-Road-Coaching-825x1100.jpg\"\/)
![\"Goats](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Goats-On-The-Road-Coaching-825x1100.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nCan You Be Legally Employed While Living Abroad?<\/h2>\n
![\"Dariece](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dariece-Laptop-Beach-Working-821x1100.jpg\"\/)
![\"Dariece](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dariece-Laptop-Beach-Working-821x1100.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWhat if You Already Have a Job, but Want to Work Abroad?<\/h2>\n
![\"Goats](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Alex-Tiffany-remote-working-from-cafe-digital-nomad-lifestyle-807x1100.jpg\"\/)
![\"Goats](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Alex-Tiffany-remote-working-from-cafe-digital-nomad-lifestyle-807x1100.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHow to Position Yourself for International Employment<\/h2>\n
![\"poolside](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/poolside-in-candidasa-bali-825x1100.jpg\"\/)
![\"poolside](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/poolside-in-candidasa-bali-825x1100.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nLook for companies that are already comfortable with remote teams<\/h3>\n
\u201cHiring globally\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"On](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/remote-goats-community-call-may-2025-1100x1063.jpg\"\/)
![\"On](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/remote-goats-community-call-may-2025-1100x1063.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBe ready to talk about your location clearly<\/h3>\n
![\"living](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dariece-and-nick-new-house-bansko.heic.jpg\"\/)
![\"living](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dariece-and-nick-new-house-bansko.heic.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAsk the right questions before accepting a role<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Alex-Tiffany-remote-working-location-digital-nomad-blogger-1100x825.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Alex-Tiffany-remote-working-location-digital-nomad-blogger-1100x825.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDon\u2019t hide your digital nomad lifestyle, but don\u2019t make it the whole pitch<\/h3>\n
![\"working](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dariece-laptop-outside.heic.jpg\"\/)
![\"working](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dariece-laptop-outside.heic.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Future of Digital Nomad Work is More Professional<\/h2>\n
![\"working](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/working-from-a-campervan-on-the-computer-825x1100.jpg\"\/)
![\"working](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/working-from-a-campervan-on-the-computer-825x1100.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFinal Thoughts<\/h2>\n
![\"legit](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/blogging-from-computer-in-lagos.jpg\"\/)
![\"legit](\"https:\/\/www.goatsontheroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/blogging-from-computer-in-lagos.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n