It’s a question that pops up time and time again.
Occasionally, the people I meet on the road will ask me how long I usually stay in each place.
Often I see this question asked in nomadism-, or travel-related communities.
No wonder! It’s an important question, if you are just starting out as a nomad and want to plan your first few months of travel.
First, let me give you the tried and true answer that I mostly use to plan my nomadic life:
As a general rule, digital nomads should stay between eight and eleven weeks in one country. This allows them to maximize the benefits they gain from living location-independently. When following this advice, they take full advantage of their tourist status, while avoiding most of the bureaucracy.
Now, let us explore this topic a little more in detail to find out how I’ve arrived at the aforementioned answer.
Time frames
When you plan your trips, in most places you are free to stay for how long you want.
However, depending on the time frame you settle on, you will have to satisfy different requirements.
As such, different time frames come with different pros and cons.
Living on a short-term time frame
Personally, I define short-term travel as any type of travel arranged for durations of less than one month per country.
Most commonly, this time frame appeals to the adventurous crowd.
If you are the adventurous type, and you have the financial means to keep this fast-paced life going, then have at it.
You will certainly make great memories, meet numerous new and exciting people, and experience all sorts of wacky situations.
For everyone else, I would not recommend this schedule. It is very stressful.
Sure, you will visit at least 12 countries in a year.
But – unless you are the backpacking type or a VanLifer – this will also most likely mean somewhere close to 11 flights per year.
Even when picking the cheapest (and most likely crappy) flight connections, you will still have to spend a pretty penny on those.
And don’t forget about the time you will be spending at the airports. Depending on the connection, you might even have to spend the night there.
And then there is the time you will spend inside the airplanes, with that terrible, headache-inducing, recycled air…
I think you can already tell, this is not my favorite way to live as a nomad.
Besides all the stress from traveling, you will also have to step up your planning and scheduling game.
You only have a limited time in each place. So it’s best, if you are already clear on what you want to see, and what you want to do, before you get there.
And somewhere in between all the traveling, sightseeing, and planning ahead for the next location, you probably also want to get some work done. Don’t forget!
Just like I initially said, this schedule is a stressful one. But it seems, some people can actually make it work. I’m not one of them.
Living on a medium-term time frame
I think, this should be the optimal time frame for most digital nomads.
At least, I know it is the optimal time frame for me.
You are living on this time frame when you spend more than one month, but less than three months, in a single country.
With this time frame, you will usually visit between five and ten countries per year.
Changing your location frequently, especially when focusing on new and unfamiliar places, can still be a rather challenging experience.
However, this schedule is nowhere near as stressful as the short-term time frame.
Actually, this is not the only benefit the medium-term time frame has to offer. There are a lot more advantages to it.
Most countries will allow their tourists to stay for up to 90 days.
In consequence, this time frame allows you to take full advantage of your tourist visa or visa-free stay.
This fact alone will help you cut down on annoying bureaucracy in your life.
For most places, you just won’t need to get a special visa (which involves paying visa fees and meeting the program’s requirements).
At the same time, you also won’t fall in any country’s tax liability trap.
I am referring to the common rule that most countries will view you as tax liable, once you’ve spent more than 183 days on their soil.
Following the medium-term time frame, you will never have to worry about this happening.
Consequently, you will save even more time and nerves, you otherwise might would have had to spend on understanding the bureaucracy of a foreign tax authority.
Living on a long-term time frame
This time frame encompasses more than three months, but less than one year.
To be honest, I think this is probably the most difficult time frame to live on.
The greatest benefit I can see is the fact, that you have to change your location even less than on the medium-term time frame. So, you will be able to get to know the country even more deeply
and save a few bucks on transportation in the process.
However, this hardly compensates for the stress and hardship this time frame potentially generates.
First of all, you will have to find a country that allows tourists to stay for longer than the regular three months.
There are some popular options, like Mexico (180 days), Panama (180 days), or Georgia (360 days). However, your options will be far more limited than on the previously mentioned time frames.
Of course, in most countries, there is also the option to get a visa for stays longer than three months.
This will, however, necessitate that you navigate through a lot more bureaucracy, than if you had simply stayed on a regular tourist visa / visa-free stay.
It also means, you will have to satisfy the requirements of a specific visa program to even qualify.
And you will have to plan weeks or even months ahead. Getting a visa issued takes time.
Some countries and/or visa types only take a few weeks, but it can also quite literally take months to get your visa approved.
And finally, we don’t want to forget about the moderate or sometimes even relatively high administrative fees one might encounter when applying for a visa.
Just writing about the drag of all of this, zaps my energy.
When selecting this time frame, you also want to keep in mind that this is the time frame where most nomads will fall into the tax liability trap.
You should be fully aware that in most countries, if you stay any longer than 183 days, you will have to file your taxes with the local tax authority. This can be a huge headache. And a boatload of bureaucracy coming your way.
Please do not forget that the 183-day rule is just a relatively good rule of thumb.
If you really want to take this path, you will have to check the tax law and requirements of the specific country you have in mind.
Living on the expat time frame
You are living life according to this time frame, when you spend more than one year in a single country.
At this point, you are no longer a digital nomad. You are an expat.
Per definition, nomads need to move around and frequently change their location.
When you are staying for one, two, three years, or even longer in the same country, you simply don’t meet this most basic of requirements to call yourself a nomad anymore.
That’s not a bad thing, though. You are free to live your life however you like.
If you prefer to stay in a place which is not your home country, feel free to do so.
But at this point, I don’t think you should consider yourself a digital nomad anymore. You have settled down.
Settling down will allow you to grow much deeper roots. You will come to a much better understanding of the place you picked and of the people inhabiting it.
Being an expat will enable you to become part of the local society.
You will make more meaningful friendships, and maybe even find a partner.
If you are interested in picking up the local language, this will also give you a better chance at learning terms and phrases that are particular to the region.
In short, settling down is not bad. But it is also not digital nomadism.
Finding your own travel-style
A lot of the nomadic life is about finding the things that work for you.
The preferred duration of your stays per country is no exception to this.
New nomads will want to try out different routines.
If you lean towards the adventurous short-term time frame, just try it! That’s the best way to find out, if it is a good fit for you.
If you think, you don’t really want to travel, and prefer a steady home base, try the long-term time-frame. Or maybe even the expat time-frame, if you have fallen deeply in love with a place.
For me, I like to keep things simple and get the best value for my money. And I know, the medium-term time frame is the perfect option to achieve exactly this.
