Nicole Kelner
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Ultimate Guide to Being a Lady Nomad

8/20/2015

4 Comments

 
In the past 2.5 years I have been to 47 cities across 3 continents. Some of these tricks apply specifically to women, but a lot are just helpful for anyone who likes to travel. Here’s a massive brain-dump, so let’s do this!
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1. FIND YOUR PEOPLEProblem: I was scared to travel alone as a lady, especially late at night. I heard horror stories of women getting abducted or assaulted while traveling.

Solution: Join communities online and in person and use the buddy system. Cough up the extra bucks to take taxis home late at night. I always do research right before I land to check which taxi cabs are the least sketchy (this is particularly necessary in SE Asia). I also save the emergency numbers for police and ambulance in my contacts.

Join Online Communities

  • #Nomads- a massive community of over 3,000 nomads from around the world. One of my favorite groups is the #ladies channel, where women are actively discussing the highs and lows of wanderlust.
  • Solo Women Travelers- these chatty cathy’s are incredible supportive. If you are having cold feet about a trip, post there and you will have 40 women encouraging you to do it!
  • Digital Nomad Community- not quite as active, but still about 1,000 nomads posting about their travels.
  • Under 30 Nomads- this is for the people under 30 years old, often post about flight deals, and tips.
  • Ladies Storm Hackathons- Join this group. They have meetups at hackathons primarily in the U.S.
  • Hackathon Hackers- If you are a developer, this a great place to post questions or join an extremely active community.
Join Communities (in real life)

  • Hacker Paradise- I may be biased since I worked for them, but we have curated a community of developers and creatives from around the world to travel together.
  • Remote Year- Applications are closed right now, but they are a traveling community that goes around the world for 1 year commitments.
  • Meetup- great way to find hiking, hacking, or fun groups of like minded people.
  • Eventbrite- I love to go to these events alone. I always feel safe because they are in public spaces and the people usually are quite friendly.
  • DNX (Digital Nomad Conference)- I went to the most recent conf in Berlin and it was fantastic. The next one is in Bangkok
  • Sosh- hipstery events in Chicago, NY, SF, Seattle and DC
  • YPlan- tons of events & concerts in Europe, but expanding to the States
  • Hackathons- MLH & AngelHack, Startup Weekend: a fun and free way to meet other technical people around the world
Learn the language: I feel more comfortable instantly when I can say hello and thank you. I google these my first day and memorize them.

  • Duolingo- great app for gamifying new languages
  • Memrise- I personally prefer Memrise to Duolingo, they have mneuomics for every vocab word
  • Quizlet
  • StudyBlue
  • Take a course locally
  • Rosetta Stone- a classic, but much pricier than the free apps available
Volunteer- this is a personal favorite. I love to give back to the city I am staying in, because it gives me so much. I have met many friends through volunteering as I travel.
  • Do research on local nonprofits and cold email them
Try coworking- I always feel safe at coworking spaces. Usually you can make friends there and this is great way to have a local buddy.
  • Copass- a membership service that gives you access to coworking spaces around the world.
  • Sharedesk
  • Coworking Wiki- a list of coworking spaces around the world
  • Coboat- sail around the world 
Find Trustworthy Accommodation- For accommodation, check the reviews diligently. I would recommend staying with families, couples, or female hosts.
  • Airbnb- Having a private room with a family is like having a host family, it is a nice way to feel settled quickly.
  • Wimdu- european version of Airbnb
  • Trusted Housesitters
  • Mind my House
  • Workaway.info- only go to ones that have at least a few positive reviews and stories. I personally do not like to stay with a single man, but rather a couple or female host.
  • Couchsurfing- as a lady, I would recommend only staying with women. I have had some friends have negative experiences with men hosts trying to sleep with them.
  • Craigslist or localized versions
  • Hotel Tonight- last minute deals on hotel rooms
  • Wwoof- free accommidation for local farming exchange


2. PRIORITIZE YOUR HEALTH
Problem: Sometimes I like to cry. But when I travel, I don’t have my best friend or family next door.

Solution: Joining communities like I spoke about above or Skyping my family/friends. There are also options such as talking to active listeners or even therapists that will Skype you.

Mental health or therapy: Traveling alone is not easy. It may look glamorous on Instagram, but sometimes you just want a big hug from your best friend or mom. Some people think traveling is therapy, but sometimes that is not the case.
  • Lemonaid- a project I am working on to create a Slack group for women talking openly about the sweet & sour parts of life.
  • 7 Cups of Tea- get connected with an active listener for free
  • Talkspace- remote therapy
Keep in touch with friends from home
  • Calendly: Because time zones are hard.
  • TimeZone.io

Mindfulness/Meditation: I get anxious, medidation and yoga and my ways of calming my crazy inner voice that may tell me to stop
  • Headspace: First 10 days are free
  • Podcasts: The Meditation Podcast, Do Yoga With Me , Fragrant Heart,UCLA Guided Meditations
Routines
  • Healthy Habits for Nomads
  • Read the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
  • Set weekly goals
Value Ergonomics
  • Nomad Ergonomics
  • Roost: still on pre-order through kickstarter.
  • Old-school high school locker shelf: a makeshift portable laptop stand- save $40 bucks and available at Staples
  • Logitech mouse: It may look old fashioned, but it’s pretty light and makes a big difference.
  • Bluetooth keyboard: I use a Zagg bluetooth keyboard that has a phone stand built in
Insurance
  • Worldnomads — Travel insurance made for nomads
  • Geoblue- good for shorter term travel if you are American
Treat yo’self
  • Get massages or manicures every once in a while. Particularly if you are going to Asia since they will be less than $5.


3. MANAGE YOUR MONEY
Problem: Traveling costs money.

Solution: Find a remote job, creating a travel blog or service, and tracking my expenses diligently.

How to find a remote job
  • Remote ok
  • Rework remote
  • Remotive
  • Angelist
  • Jobbatical- shorter term contracts in ideal locations.
  • Toptal
  • Elance
  • Dave’s ESL Cafe: find a job teaching english abroad.
Tracking your expenses
  • Trail Wallet
  • Mint-my personal favorite. Great for setting budgets and alerts.


4. TRAVEL SMART
Problem: Planning takes a lot of logistics and time. It also stresses me out when I don’t have my flights or next locations booked (aka right now). I also don’t know which countries are safe for women.

Solution: Have travel goals for the next month, create a budget, and travel hack. Most of the resources below are non-gender specific so I also do research on safety indexes and the perception of women in local cultures before booking flights. Another way I feel safe is by being super aware. My personal rule is I don’t drink when I am alone.

Learn How to Travel Hack
  • Secret Flying- absurdly cheap flight deals from around the world
  • The Flight Deal- subscribe to this. You will not regret it
  • Oyster Chat- slack community to talk about flight hacks
  • How to fly for free every 3 months
  • Nomadic Matt
  • Paradise Pack
  • Nomadlist- scope out potential living locations and see cost of living
  • Teleport- compare cost and quality of living

Booking flights
  • Google flights- my personal favorite, you can see when the cheapest days are in a graph form for every search.
  • Hipmunk: They have a great visualizer for flight options
  • Skyscanner
  • Adioso- better than Google Flights for Asian airlines
Eurail Pass/Train/bus

  • Rome2Rio- This site is a life saver. It can pull information from flights, buses, trains, ridesharing and more to compare the best route.
  • Seat61-train travel advice
  • Sign in to Google Maps and star your favorite places before you leave wifi. I usually look up local restaurants, attractions and bars right when I arrive. This is by far my best travel hack, especially if you don’t have a phone with a global data plan.



5. STAY INSPIRED
Problem: Travel can be exhausting. No one really talks about the downsides, but they do exist, I swear.

Solution: I keep my wanderlust alive by following beautiful Instagram accounts and blogs to inspire my next travels.

Blogs
  • The Blonde Abroad
  • Nomadic Matt
  • Adventurous Kate
  • Suitcase Entrepreneur
  • Almost Fearless
  • Workfrom
  • Nomad Spirit
  • A Life a Blue
  • NYT 36 hours in …



Instagrams to follow

  • C’est Christine
  • Airbnb
  • Cole Rise
  • Murad Ossman
  • Young Adventuress
  • Legal Nomads
  • Alex in Wanderland
  • The Blond Abroad
  • Paris in 4 Months


6. PACKING 101

Problem: I can’t lift my suitcase…

Solution: Pack half of what you think you need. You’re going to want to buy stuff when you’re there. I carry a backpack and a carry-on suitcase now. I always test if I can carry my suitcase up the stairs in my house before I leave for the airport.

Gear: cute gear is often hard to find. I am still on the hunt for the perfect backpack, but I like the Thule one I have for now.

  • Tortuga bags
  • Elephant Wallet- for the minimalists
  • SmartPurse- I design these myself so I make them to my own needs. The most recent one I made fits my passport, cash, and has coin pockets.
  • Thule Backpack- I have beat up this backpack for 2 years and you cannot even tell. It can be small or it can fit an absurd amount of things. I love it dearly.


7. DON’T GIVE UP ON DATING
Problem: I still want to date, but I don’t trust strangers.

Solution: Do things you like. Those are where the people you may like are hiding. Go to events, play sports, go dancing, just do your thang.

Dating
  • Single Digital Nomads
  • Tinder- a great way to see a new town is ask locals on Tinder for tips, even if you don’t meet them
  • OkCupid
  • Date A Nomad
  • Networking events/parties at coworking spaces


8. UPDATE YOUR TOOLKIT
Problem: I want to stay productive while traveling. Distractions are very easy.

Solution: Track your time, get in consistent routines, and iterate.

Tools
  • Toggl- time tracking software
  • Evernote- I organize my itineraries here
  • Week cal- I’ve been using this app for years to have a more visual display of my calendar
  • Flux- your computer adjusts the brightness by the time of day. great for your biological clock and eyes
  • Rescuetime- get a weekly productivity report
  • Spotify premium- offline mode is super great for long flights
  • Elly- record a 1 second video everyday
  • Viber, Whatsapp and Facebook- for making calls and texts
  • Moo.do- like Trello but syncs with Google Drive
  • Foursquare & Yelp
  • Audible- First month is free. This is my favorite way to wander around a city, accompanied by a fantastic book. It also comes with a NTY audio digest that I listen to daily to keep informed while I travel.
  • IFTTT- you can do nIFTTTy things like get a text with the weather each morning. It’s totally customizable and free.
  • Feedly- personalize a news source
  • Hola- a VPN that is a Google Chrome plugin. Go ahead, binge on Netflix.
  • Tripadvisor app- normally I just use the mobile browser version, but the app has a “near me now” setting which is wonderful. Tripadvisor is consistent around the world, where some countries may not use Foursquare or Yelp.
  • Wifi Map- lists of local wifi cafes and their password info

4 Comments
Flystein link
9/17/2015 07:30:20 pm

Great list!

Please add http://flystein.com - nomad friendly flight hacking services. Partner of http://www.hackerparadise.org/

Reply
Cebu Tours link
5/30/2017 07:03:28 pm

Hello Nicole! Great Article! You visit Philippines too.
And speaking of Philippines, you try Bohol or Cebu.
It's so nice there. If you need help.
Just check out our website at https://www.cebutours.ph/. Thank you!

Reply
Cebu Tours link
5/30/2017 07:04:24 pm

Just check out our website at https://www.cebutours.ph/

Reply
Gimnasios Valencia Precios link
2/17/2018 10:24:24 am

Very nice post, thanks for sharing.

Reply



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