5 tips for becoming a productive and profitable digital nomad from a software developer who’s visited 83 countries over 10 years

• Paul Hunkin is a 36-year-old software developer who has visited 83 countries while working remotely.
• Remote work overall is on the rise, with professionals increasingly able to log on from anywhere.
• Hunkin shared five tips for juggling work and international travel.

In 2021, Paul Hunkin had just finished a master’s in computer science and was itching to travel.

Hunkin, now 36, had some time to kill before his thesis on wireless sensor networks was reviewed. He impulsively jumped on the next flight to India — 7,000 miles from his home in the coastal town of Katikati on New Zealand’s North Island.

What Hunkin called an “ill-advised” backpacking trip became a permanent lifestyle once he realized how the glamour of expat life stacked up against the travails that awaited at home.