Hi all,
I'm an American living in Brazil. I work in AI at a Brazilian firm on a Brazilian contract.
So here's the thing: Before I accepted this current work contract it was a real struggle for me. I was thinking to myself, "Hey, wouldn't it be great if I was earning in US Dollars down here, that would surely give me an advantage." I tried applying for US jobs but there simply not a lot of firms that want to hire an employee living in Brazil. I tried following a bunch of digital nomads on Instagram and they keep talking about how easy it is to make passive income digital marketing or on PInterest, or some other site, I just can't understand how I could get involved with something like that. I tried freelancing on Upwork in my area and couldn't find many opportunities. I tried looking on remoteok and other digital nomad sites where programmers could get hired. There were barely any postings that went to AI. And most of them went to very senior front end developers with LOTS of years if experience. Finally I applied to local jobs down here and got an offer.
Which brings me to my question, how exactly do you guys make money as digital nomads? It seems like everyone but me has a get rich quick scheme going on or some digitial marketing thing and I just can't get it. Are people lying and just getting some money on the side from their parents or something?
The thing I have learnt about this sub is that for the most part people are Digital Nomads because they CAN and CHOOSE too, not just because they choose too. Most of the successful DNs I see here are people that worked/gained skills are successful in their careers than choose to become DNs.
The advice that is given here and is frankly correct is: Get a job skills/become valuable then work your way to becoming a DN. You clearly are skilled as you are working in AI, now attain value. Maybe go back to the states for a few years, work at reputable companies then go back to DNing in Brazil.