This post was written by Ralph Starks, a blogger and traveler who enjoys exploring the world in the best ways possible.
In the past, leaving all you have and traveling abroad was an act of courage. Even today, it represents a serious departure from your comfort zone, but there are a few things that make it a lot easier. First, you’re still in touch with people back home. Second, if you’re working remotely, you’re taking your work with you. Finally, you have all the benefits of the internet in your pocket. All of this is easier to use to your advantage with the right set of apps. With that in mind, here are ten such apps that can make the life of a digital nomad a lot easier.
1. VPN
The fact that VPNs exist means that digital nomads never actually have to struggle with geo-restricted content. All they have to do is find a proxy server and access the network this way.
Picking the right VPN is far from easy, and one of the best ways to approach this is to check the list containing the summary of the best VPNs and pick one or two from the list. Then, you should do a bit of individual research on the software you’ve picked and download it. While there are a lot of decent free VPNs, a premium one is never a waste of money.
Also, keep in mind that, as a digital nomad, you’ll often access the internet via public networks. The extra layer of protection that a VPN provides you with will really go a long way.
2. Collaboration platforms
Even offline businesses use collaboration platforms like Monday, Trello, or Basecamp these days. It’s just easier to manage boards and to-dos, as well as to share files. It also means that if you are a remote worker (and especially if you’re a digital nomad), you don’t have to worry about bringing your work with you.
These tools are great because you get an account that you can use to access the platform from any device, which means that your phone, your laptop, and your tablet can all work as a terminal. Also, you don’t have to worry about the files that are on your desktop computer and those that are on your work laptop.
3. Instant messaging software
With the help of instant messaging software, regardless if it’s Skype or Slack, you can stay in touch with your team at all times. Messenger and Instagram DMs are also quite helpful, and they allow you to stay in your social circle, even while traveling.
Just think about a few of your closest friends. When was the last time you saw them in person? On the other hand, you probably sent them a meme five minutes ago. This is great because it allows people to travel without relinquishing too much. It’s an amazing opportunity to travel at your own pace while not having to get out of the loop when it comes to things back at home.
4. Banking apps
A chance to control your finances remotely is one of the biggest blessings for digital nomads worldwide. Why? First of all, you should never convert currencies at foreign ATMs, as the exchange rate is abysmal, and you’ll lose a lot of money. Most of these banking apps allow you to exchange currencies at the bank rate, which is usually a bit more favorable.
If you also use it with platforms like WiSe, you’ll have a much easier time sending and receiving money abroad. This is important for people receiving salaries from abroad, as well as those sending remittances back home.
5. Zoom
Zoom is one of the most popular conferencing tools in the world right now. It blew up during the pandemic, and while some might have speculated that Skype would be the platform to explode under such conditions, Zoom surprised everyone. Other than Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meets are serious players in this respect.
Video conferencing is a huge trend, not just for remote teams. Even on-site teams can have quick video calls, seeing how it allows you to avoid all the commotion of people getting away from their workstations and going to the conference room.
6. Meeting apps
How do you meet new people abroad? Well, social media sure helped out quite a bit here. You can find friends on Facebook and Instagram who are from your target country and then already know someone there before arriving.
On the other hand, you can use a more specialized tool like Nomad List to find people who are just like you in the area.
Even dating apps have the option to allow you to set up your travel destination in advance and schedule a few dates before arriving there. This gives you the necessary flexibility and freedom that you might have missed in the past.
7. Airbnb and Uber
Apps like Airbnb and Uber have helped people break away from having to deal with organizations and allowed them to interact with people on a personal level. Now, you can get a ride from a local or rent out a room in a place that’s not a hotel.
First of all, this gives you the flexibility of having more choices, but it also makes the stay more casual. On top of it, by having personal one-on-one interactions with these locals, you get to know the place a lot better and from a completely new perspective. Not to mention that this is a lot cheaper than getting hotel rooms and rent-a-car (or even hailing a cab).
8. Note-taking app
You should never overestimate your memory or underestimate your ideas. What you need to do is figure out how to use the right note-taking app. Now, you don’t have to type, especially since this is not as mobile-friendly, especially when you have modern AI-driven speech-to-text technology.
You see, the NLP has advanced so much that it can spell-check and even perform an occasional grammar-check on your note-taking. These apps are life savers, and they can ensure that no brilliant thought of yours ever goes unrecorded.
9. Google Workplace
Traditional (non-cloud) files are no longer practical, and they’re, therefore, no longer in use. One of the best aspects of modern workplace apps (Google Workplace and Office 365) is the fact that they are fully on the cloud and, therefore, fully collaborative.
This makes sharing files, picking up where you stopped, and collaboration a lot easier than ever before. Most importantly, unlike Office 365, Google Workplace is completely free to use. In other words, there is not a single downside to you actually using it.
10. Entertainment apps
The last thing you need to understand is that while traveling is fun, it’s not fun all the time. Sure, when you get back home, you remember those few moments. When you retell the story, you’ll never describe the two hours you spent watching your phone at an airport terminal or that hour-long Uber drive you took to the target location.
Still, these moments are an essential part of the journey.
This is why having entertainment apps is so important. The right streaming app, mobile game, or just a social media app can make the hours of idling just fly by.
Leveraging technology will help you get more out of any journey
Each of the items on our list is more of an app category than an app. You don’t have to use Zoom but can use Google Meets instead, and the essentials of what we’ve talked about remain the same. Even if you don’t use all of these apps (and there are literally zero reasons not to), knowing your options is always a great thing.
