Hey, Gnomies!

Greetings from warm and sunny Medellin!

We both hate to be cold so being able to head south for the winter is one of my favorite things about being a digital nomad.

Why Colombia? You might be wondering.

Well, for a couple of reasons.

First of all, we love Colombia, especially Medellin. It's my fourth time here, Sasha's third. We came together for the first time in 2017, then I came back solo for a digital nomad conference in 2018. Then we came together again at the beginning of 2020...

And then the world shut down and we got locked down here. In the end, we had to take a humanitarian flight (fortunately covered by SafetyWing) to get back to the US as Colombia had closed its borders and airports. It felt like we were making a bizarre escape after being kidnapped.

So we wanted Colombia to get the redemption it deserves. Plus we have friends here, some even came on our advice. We found a great deal on a flight with United from Asheville to Bogota with a stop in Newark.

Thanks to being United credit card holders, we get free checked bags and lounge passes as part of our perks and we took full advantage of both on the way here.

It's all part of our travel hacking efforts. Travel hacking is a big part of how we're able to do what we do. It helps us save a significant amount on our travel costs.

We want to help you do the same! So we've updated our travel hacking blog post which you can find at the bottom of this newsletter. Our YouTube video is also linked at the bottom in case you prefer watching to reading.

If you do decide to sign up for one of the cards we recommend, it would be awesome if you considered doing it through our referral links. They're all in the blog post. It helps us a ton.

We'll be in Medellin for two months, then spending a week in Jerico, and finally a few more days in Bogota before heading to Austin for the Texas Eclipse festival. Oh, and we also saved about $200 on our flights back to the US thanks to our Chase points.

As you can see, travel hacking is a major part of our travel strategy as digital nomads.

Our mission is to help digital nomads create a fulfilling and sustainable location-independent lifestyle. That's what motivates us to create helpful content that will help you do just that.

But creating content is a time-consuming process. If you've found our content helpful or entertaining, consider buying us a street food snack or a beer by donating to our tip jar. Every little bit helps but it's totally cool if you're not in a position to donate. We're happy you're here either way :)

Keep reading to see where we worked and our digital nomad tip of the month plus what's coming up!

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Where we worked in January: Asheville, NC - Johnson City, TN - Bogota, Colombia - Medellin, Colombia

Digital Nomad Tip of the Month: Ready to give the digital nomad lifestyle a try but unsure where to even start? My friend and fellow digital nomad Kayla of Writing From Nowhere literally wrote the book on how to be a digital nomad.

And guess what? We're in it! She was kind enough to feature our story along with our advice for becoming a digital nomad. It was released yesterday and you can snag your copy right here.

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What's Coming Up

Considering a path to becoming a digital nomad? Here's a fantastic opportunity: becoming a virtual assistant! It's a tried-and-true route to a location-independent lifestyle.

Our friend Hannah Dixon, with over 30,000 VA trainees under her belt, knows the ropes like no other.

She's hosting a webinar you won't want to miss, titled 'Become a Virtual Assistant and Land Your First (Paying) Client in a Week.' Join us this Friday, February 2nd, at 7 pm EST, and let Hannah guide you towards a rewarding digital nomad journey.

​Register now and take that first step towards the lifestyle you've been dreaming of.

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Well, that's it for this newsletter. Thanks for opening and reading it to the end! We appreciate it more than you know.

Feel free to write back! We love hearing from you :-D

Cheers,
Rachel (& Sasha) | gratefulgnomads.com

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Resources for Digital Nomads:

Ready to start your location-independent lifestyle but overwhelmed by it all? Rachel can coach you through the prep and mindset to get you started on your journey. Get more info here.

Need help planning a trip? That's Sasha's superpower. Hit him up for more info here.

​SafetyWing - Travel insurance for digital nomads. Make sure you're covered! Sign up for just $42 for 4 weeks.

​Teachable - Easily create and sell your online course.

​BridgeTEFL - Get certified to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and continue your professional development as an ESL teacher.

​21-Day Teacher Entrepreneur Challenge - Learn how to start your own business as an online English teacher. It starts on the 1st of every month. Learn more in this video.

​TrustedHousesitters - save money on accommodation by caring for someone's home and fur babies or find someone to take care of yours while you travel!

​Xero Shoes - the best shoes for travelers! They're lightweight and fit very nicely into your bag. They have lots of different styles. Click the link to check them out!

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Some links may be affiliate links, earning us a commission if you purchase at no extra cost to you! We're super grateful for the support as it helps us keep the lights on ;)

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In case you missed it, our latest blog posts and videos...

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Around the World in (Less Than) 80 Days This is our recap of the second half of 2023. With Sasha's brother's wedding in South Korea on the calendar, we decided to spice up the journey. We used our travel points to go from Chicago to Seoul via Istanbul and turned that layover into a month-long Turkish delight! Oh, and we squeezed in a few days in Japan on the way back to the USA. Want to know more? Click here to read it

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New Video - Travel Hacking 101 This is actually an oldie but a goodie. Travel hacking is a big part of how we do what we do. By using points, we significantly cut down our travel costs. If you love watching videos, this is for you! More of a reader? Our blog post is down below. Click here to watch it!

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Travel Hacking 101: How to Travel for Cheap (or Free!) This is our blog post all about travel hacking. If you’re wondering how to get free flight tickets, read on for a little crash course we like to call Travel Hacking 101. We’ve been travel hacking for years now and have scored tons of free flights (and even a free iPhone!) in the process. We’ll show you some of the best travel hacking credit cards and help you get started. Click here to read it

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