Episode 7 - Jules Costa - A Full Time Digital Nomad!
Jules Costa has been a full time digital nomad for three years. Born in Brazil but raised in America Jules has traveled throughout the United States, Brazil and Europe. She started her own business with a business partner during the Covid lockdown. Before that she worked AND traveled, affirming that it's possible to find work while on the road and do whatever it takes to make your dreams come true. Jules offers some amazing pearls of wisdom from travel hacking to minimalism to an overall positive life attitude. When I asked her how she coped with the challenges, she explained that the challenges are WHAT she loves about full-time travel! I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did!
Find Jules on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/julesontap/
Tandem groups (tandem language exchange)
Join a tandem language group (living outside of US) where you trade 1/2 an hour of your language for 1/2 an hour of their language.
Website/app - https://www.tandem.net/
FB - https://www.facebook.com/groups/tandemexchange
The au pair site Jules used to find her job in Germany: aupairworld.com
Meetup Groups:
meetup.com
Couchsurfing:
couchsurfing.com
Workaway (finding jobs on the road):
https://www.workaway.info/
Travel hacks:
trading something you’re good at for airbnb stays (if you notice they could use better photos for example)
reach out to them and ask for 1/2 off or a free night
Using a credit card that offers air miles.
I looked up the best card (for me) according to https://thepointsguy.com/ which is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card — I put all my expenses on the card and pay it off monthly and since opening the card six months ago I already have enough points for two round trip flights within the US.
https://thepointsguy.com/guide/top-travel-rewards-credit-cards/
Woofing (working on organic farms)
https://wwoof.net/
https://wwoofusa.org/
Facebook hitchhiking groups
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hitchhiketribe
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hitchhikerswithoutborder
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hkeurope
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sailboatyacht
Facebook travel hacking groups (I haven't researched these!)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1104897999615268
https://www.facebook.com/groups/travelhackingstudyhall
https://www.facebook.com/groups/travelhacks
Other au pair sites I found through google:
https://www.greataupair.com/
Review: https://wehavekids.com/childcare/A-Review-of-the-Au-Pair-and-Nanny-Agency-GreatAuPaircom
https://www.aupairquest.com/
https://www.aupairquest.com/au-pair-jobs/Germany
Questions that Jules recommend you ask a potential employer before accepting the au pair job:
Below are Jules' Responses to the Questions:
Dreams:
Unconventional Travel:
Find Jules on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/julesontap/
Tandem groups (tandem language exchange)
Join a tandem language group (living outside of US) where you trade 1/2 an hour of your language for 1/2 an hour of their language.
Website/app - https://www.tandem.net/
FB - https://www.facebook.com/groups/tandemexchange
The au pair site Jules used to find her job in Germany: aupairworld.com
Meetup Groups:
meetup.com
Couchsurfing:
couchsurfing.com
Workaway (finding jobs on the road):
https://www.workaway.info/
Travel hacks:
trading something you’re good at for airbnb stays (if you notice they could use better photos for example)
reach out to them and ask for 1/2 off or a free night
Using a credit card that offers air miles.
I looked up the best card (for me) according to https://thepointsguy.com/ which is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card — I put all my expenses on the card and pay it off monthly and since opening the card six months ago I already have enough points for two round trip flights within the US.
https://thepointsguy.com/guide/top-travel-rewards-credit-cards/
Woofing (working on organic farms)
https://wwoof.net/
https://wwoofusa.org/
Facebook hitchhiking groups
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hitchhiketribe
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hitchhikerswithoutborder
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hkeurope
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sailboatyacht
Facebook travel hacking groups (I haven't researched these!)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1104897999615268
https://www.facebook.com/groups/travelhackingstudyhall
https://www.facebook.com/groups/travelhacks
Other au pair sites I found through google:
https://www.greataupair.com/
Review: https://wehavekids.com/childcare/A-Review-of-the-Au-Pair-and-Nanny-Agency-GreatAuPaircom
https://www.aupairquest.com/
https://www.aupairquest.com/au-pair-jobs/Germany
Questions that Jules recommend you ask a potential employer before accepting the au pair job:
- ask to speak to a previous aupair
- what are their expectations?
- what type of personalities do they get along with?
- what are their ground rules?
Below are Jules' Responses to the Questions:
- achieving your dream/s, which are opening my own agency and earning money 100% remotely!
- unconventional travel which is...using Couchsurfing, Housesitting and credit card hacking to travel the world
Dreams:
- What were your dreams and how long did it take you to go after them? My dream was to take vacation whenever I wanted. I’m doing this by copywriting and have just launched a full-service digital agency with my business partner Anna (who I meet online!).
- what was the deciding factor? Was there a major shift or incident in your life to make you change what you were doing or were you always moving forward in the dream achievement department? I graduated college and just wasn’t sure what I wanted out of life...I felt purposeless. I went to Germany for a year as an Au Pair and ended up meeting and editor who worked for an online publication. I learned everything about digital marketing and decided to start my own thing!
- what responses do you get from other people when they find out? My family is still very confused and thinks I don’t work (lol). Friends are very supportive and people I meet tend to think it’s pretty cool.
- What would you tell others who aspire to…Get a mentor!!! Before you do anything else, make sure there’s someone who can answer your questions and look out for you. I have a wonderful mentor named Brooke who really has my back.
- Anything else you want to tell people? Working online looks so different now than it looked even 5 years ago. Don’t fall for the myth that you have to be paid pennies or that everything is a scam. There’s really wonderful people with great projects and I’m so happy to be a part of it!
Unconventional Travel:
- what type of unconventional traveler are you? I’m a travel hacker and couchsurfer. I’ve also done Workaway and was an au pair
- when did you start? January 2017
- what do you like about it? All the people I meet!
- what don’t you like about it/what are your challenges? It can be hard to pivot when things don’t go as planned.
- what do you see as your future? I hope to embrace slow travel (2 months in each spot) and keep meeting new people. I also hope to buy a house somewhere so that I have a home base.
- what responses do you get from other people when they find out? I’m very privileged to have two passports, one of them being American. I don’t take it for granted!
- What would you tell others who aspire to…Always have enough money to buy a last-minute ticket back home. About $5k is a good place to start.
- what made you decide to become a minimalist or move toward minimalism? I couldn’t travel with all the stuff
- what has it done for you? how has your life changed because of it? I don’t worry as much. I don’t have a lot of liabilities or things to pay for, so I feel in control of my finances.
- where do you see yourself in the future in regards to minimalism and “stuff" I want to sell my car asap and keep living with minimal liabilities.
- what responses do you get from other people when they find out? Ranges anywhere from “I could never do that” to “show me how”
- What would you tell others who aspire to…Make a list of things you can’t live without...before looking at everything you have. You’ll be surprised about how much stuff you think you love, but don’t even think about when it’s not in front of you.
- Anything else you want to tell people? It’s the best!