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I am currently in a strange situation where my rent has increased a lot in the past year and my job has become completely remote. I am having trouble finding a comfortable living situation in London and had the idea to travel and work abroad.

I have a British and EU passport so could travel to any of the EU countries. I am also open to travelling to beautiful parts of the UK, although that might get too remote once winter sets in. For a home base, I intend to use my parent's address for all correspondence.

I have the budget for rent and bills and was wondering whether I can instead use it to travel and work abroad, this is around £2500 per month. I am wondering whether I will need to get a digital nomad visa if I am staying less than 3 months in each place. I am also curious to see whether anyone with experience can give me tips and trick or advice on whether it was worth it or not.

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  • Have you tried researching eg ‘digital nomad’? As it stands your question is pretty broad travel.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic and likely to get closed unless you can narrow it down. Eg where exactly ‘abroad’? What about moving to a cheaper area of the UK?
    – Traveller
    Jul 28 at 12:09
  • What will you do for a home base? You need a physical address for official correspondence such as HMRC, bank etc.
    – Weather Vane
    Jul 28 at 12:49
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    This is probably slightly more suitable for expatriates.stackexchange.com though this is really on the edge. Note that in many countries, even remote work either explicitly counts as work (and is thus not allowed without a proper visa or permit) or is in a gray area. You may also have issues with taxation, medical insurance, etc. Also make sure your employer is actually OK with it, especially with the disruption involved in moving every 3 months. Finally, remember that short lets are usually quite a bit more expensive than regular rent and/or may involve deposits etc.
    – jcaron
    Jul 28 at 13:31
  • @jcaron for most employers "don't ask, don't tell" works in practice. Do your job on schedule and no one cares. Just don't discuss your travels openly.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Jul 28 at 18:46
  • Might be worth checking out the advice here gov.uk/browse/abroad/living-abroad
    – Traveller
    Jul 28 at 19:32

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Having an EU passport will help you with not needing a work permit in the EU. But in many EU countries you will need to have a health insurance if you live there and travel insurance will likely not work for you.
Maybe you can get insured in the UK for medical cover abroad.

The countries more to the east of the EU will often have a lower cost of living but housing is often not cheap. And English is not as often spoken making day to day communication with the locals more of a challenge. By contrast, in Scandinavia and the Benelux English is very common and most people will understand the basics and many will be fluent. But cost of living in holiday accommodation will be closer to your London rent.

I have just seen a tv program where they interviewed people living in Sweden, making use of the right to overnight almost everywhere for one or two nights. Working odd jobs they could live well, as long as they did not need to spend on a place to stay.

You will find more cheaper options if you can stay outside the local holiday season(s). Which will involve doing your homework.

An other thing to be aware of, even as an EU citizen you may have to register when in a country for three months, often certainly when staying in one place for 3 months. And if you get to stay in one country longer or return within the year you might need to pay taxes in that country.

Staying in the UK will likely be easier, as you will still be under your current health insurance and tax rules, you know the language although dialects and local accents can make it more challenging.
The price differences are not as big as with the rural east of Europe but still a lot better than London.

There might be more problems which I am not familiar with, so do more research and do not go on my say so.

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If you're looking for a true bargain, it's best to travel outside the EU altogether. Your British passport is enough to get you 3-6 months of visa-free (or e-visa) travel in most countries in the world. Numbeo provides a good rule-of-thumb ranking of individual countries that you can supplement with additional research on specific cities:

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If you'd like to stay within the EU, Bulgaria and Romania are your best bet. Outside the EU going to Colombia or India or Egypt is a good option. On paper you might need a visa to work remotely from a given country but in practice no one cares about such formalities, especially in developing nations.

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    Cost of living index by country is a bit misleading here. London rents are outstanding compared to the rest of the country (and Europe), and Numbeo places London as the most expensive city rent-wise in Europe. Realistically, you can live almost anywhere in Europe on a London rent.
    – Omegastick
    Jul 29 at 15:57
  • @Omegastick yes, that's why you need to do extra research for specific cities. But Colombia is going to be cheaper than any city in the EU.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Jul 29 at 16:02

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