Essentials
Essentials for a long stay
A long stay runs on a short kit: a safe connection for work and banking, a sane way to book flights and rooms, a cheap way to move money, and medical cover that actually pays abroad. This page lists what we point readers to, and it labels every partner link. The full rules sit on the affiliate disclosure page.
Connectivity
A VPN for work and banking abroad
Remote work visas assume you can reach your employer, your bank, and your payroll platform from another country. Public wifi in airports, cafes, and short term rentals is the weak point in that chain, and some work and banking services block or flag foreign logins. A reputable VPN fixes the first problem and softens the second by routing your traffic through a server in a country you choose.
Our partner for this is NordVPN: apps for every major platform, servers in 100 plus countries, and a strict no logs policy with independent audits behind it. Plans run from one month to two years, and longer plans cost less per month.
See NordVPN plans and current pricing Affiliate link
Disclosure: we earn a commission if you buy through that link, at no extra cost to you. The commission never changes which routes, numbers, or countries this site publishes.
Bookings
Flights and hotels
Flight and hotel links on this site run through Travelpayouts, a travel affiliate platform. When a reader books through one of those links, the site may earn a commission from the booking platform, at no extra cost to the reader. Prices you see come from the booking platform itself, never from us, and the country pages and calculators on this site work the same whether or not anyone books.
Money
Moving money between countries
The math that matters on a transfer is the total cost: the fee plus the gap between the exchange rate you get and the mid market rate. A transfer with no fee and a rate marked up 3 percent costs more than a transfer with a visible fee at the real rate. Before you send rent money or a visa deposit, compare at least two services on the amount received at the other end, in the destination currency, on the same day. Partner links for the transfer services we recommend will appear in this section, labeled, as they are approved.
Insurance
Travel medical insurance
Several routes on this site require proof of medical insurance by law: the South Korea F-1-D workcation visa sets a floor of KRW 100,000,000 of cover, and Japan's digital nomad route sets its own floor. Even where no rule forces the issue, a hospital stay abroad without cover can erase a year of careful budgeting. Check any policy for three things before you buy: the medical limit, whether it covers the full length of your stay rather than a 30 or 45 day trip cap, and whether claims require you to pay first and claim later.
Our insurance partner is SafetyWing, built for nomads and long stay travelers: cover runs month to month for as long as you stay abroad, and you can start a policy after you have already left home, which most travel insurers refuse.
See SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Affiliate link
Disclosure: we earn a commission if you buy through that link, at no extra cost to you. This is general information about a product category, not personal financial or insurance advice; read the policy wording for limits and exclusions before you buy.