Key Highlights
- Davide left corporate life in 2019 and started traveling, since then he is a digital nomad.
- Davide is a certified yoga instructor as well.
- Davide suggests being very diligent and disciplined to keep a routine and stay productive for working remotely.
Can you please introduce yourself?
I'm Davide. I left my corporate life in September 2019 and started traveling. I always wanted to do it but attending Burning Man is what totally blew my mind and made me decide that I have to live this one life on my terms, not by society's standards.
What’s your profession, what do you do?
I am a mini creative and marketing agency! I have always been passionate about photography and started coding and designing at the age of 14. My corporate job was all about business and digital marketing, so I put all of this together and I now offer branding + web development, and photo shooting for brands and other businesses.
I met my girlfriend on the road and we are slowly working on launching 1 home decor brand and 1 Jewellery brand. Plenty on the plate as you can see!
We've also been (happily) stuck in India for a while and dedicated a lot of time to learning yoga and became certified instructors. The idea is to one day have a little organic farm + coworking space for digital nomads that blend in yoga and well being to offer stay and retreats.
What company do you work for? Are you a freelancer or Digital Nomad?
I am a Digital Nomad, working for myself.
How did you start with a remote work journey?
I went on a solo trip with barely any money at the age of 25. I lasted 2 months and traveled all over Europe! Once back in London I focused on working and on my career but I've spent every single day in the office longing to get back on the road. I was afraid to lose a great job, its perks, and all the financial stability it came with. Then I attended Burning Man and it totally changed my perspective on life. I took a 1 year sabbatical and started traveling. In India, I got stuck with a bunch of (Non-digital) nomads who mostly worked as crafters selling handmade goods around the world at markets at festivals and made me realise how achievable this lifestyle is. That's when I met my partner who had just come to the same realisation and we decided to keep traveling the world together.
What do you think are the main benefits of working remotely?
The flexibility to choose where you will be working from, blending holiday and traveling with work.
You can also be smart with where you earn the money from and what the cost of living is where you are. (i.e. work for companies in the EU or US but living in countries with a way lower cost of living)
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Do you think there are disadvantages or that you’re missing something by working remotely?
You have to be very diligent and disciplined to keep a routine and stay productive. No fixed hours and no boss also means that you can easily get distracted and lose focus.
From what cities or countries have you worked since you have become remote? What are your favourite countries or cities to work from?
I started this journey post-pandemic after being stuck in India and I'm still here (although moving to Serbia in a couple of weeks!). India is just a magical place. I was lucky to spend most of my time in a small town, where I built many close friendships and it became my home. For someone like me who's into photography and landscape India has everything you can wish for: Ocean, mountains, hills, deserts, glaciers, jungles. It's a mini-Earth :)
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From what type of places do you prefer to work? Home, co-working spaces, coffee shops, or others?
I love coffee shops. Here's your Italian dude stereotype: Whenever I get to a new town or city I immediately look for a place that has great coffee and a fast internet connection to turn it into my office.
What places would you like to travel to while working remotely?
More of South East Asia, South America, and Africa.
What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them? Share your remote productivity, communication, management, etc. tips based on your experience!
When you're in a low cost of living country the motivation to earn is a bit lower, especially if you have savings and they don't go down too fast. Having a routine and being productive without incentives or risking getting fired is also a challenge.
What tools do you use to improve productivity and manage work efficiently?
Lots of reminders on my calendar, I set smaller S.M.A.R.T. goals and the Pomodoro technique.
How do you manage your business and taxes as a remote working professional?
I have mostly worked with local businesses here in India so far and it was all handled by them. Before launching our eCommerce in Europe we will register a company. We're looking at the excellent eResidency Estonian scheme and opening a Ltd in the UK. We will choose either of them based on our needs.
What advice would you give to people looking to work remotely?
If you aren't yet, go for it! There's plenty of opportunities. 9 to 5 office and face to face is something the pandemic has shown us to be not so necessary. Make sure you are really good at what you do, that will make you way more competitive without having to slash your rates.
Would you like to share any interesting stories while you worked remotely? Please share if you can.
Not one story in particular. I'd like to tell people not to focus or worry too much about the money aspect, one thing that the road teaches you is that if you are truly committed to following your dream and go for it 100% money will come afterward automatically. Just make sure you're doing your best all the time and don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate results, opportunities will start popping up like magic!
Visit Website: www.davidelucifora.com
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