The 5 Stages of Global Freedom (And Where You Are Now)
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Building companies everywhere showed me success knows no single location or way of thinking.
Right now, you can design life on your terms. Global, smart and intentional.
Digital Citizen guides you to live smarter, work freely, and navigate a borderless world with clarity.
You will learn about residency and visa options around the globe, how to structure your business in a clever way, and how to think big.
Join a community of independent minds shaping a future on their terms 🚀
Freedom Takes Time
Moving across borders is more than getting passport stamps.
It rewires how you see choice, security, and time.
But global freedom does not arrive all at once. It grows in small steps, each one forcing fresh habits around money, location, and risk.
The five stages below show how I see this path.
People can pause, loop back, or sit between two stages for months (or even years). Company setups can take time. Income can dip or disappear. Visas can wait on paperwork. All of that is normal.
Use the map as a guide, and take it with a grain of salt.
Five Stages at a Glance
Before we look at each stage in detail, here is the whole journey in one straight read.
Think of it as an overview you can return to when the details feel too much.
1) Home Explorer
You live where you grew up and hold a local nine-to-five.
Weekends and public holidays turn into short trips to nearby cities. You save a little each month, read travel blogs at night, and practice a few words in another language. Work, friends, and bills still orbit your home address, yet a question hangs in your mind: what if I tried life somewhere else? That question will not go away, so you start planning longer breaks to test yourself.
2) Regional Nomad
You keep your full-time role, yet stop working from the office every day.
Maybe you shift to remote status for a trial period, take a short unpaid leave, or string together saved vacation days. Pay still arrives from the same employer. Savings and the odd freelance task fill any gaps. You move around one region for weeks at a time, living from a carry-on and resetting visas as needed. The test is simple: can you keep job performance solid while living somewhere new?
3) Base Builder
You take the leap and quit the safe office job.
A long-stay visa lets you plant roots in one foreign city for at least six months. You sign a lease, buy a local SIM, and learn basic phrases. Money now arrives online, either from a new remote salary or a small venture you run. You file forms in a second country and watch exchange rates each payday. The main shift is mental: you stop asking if you belong abroad and start learning how to build a routine that lasts.
4) Flag Collector
You add a second residency while keeping the first one active.
Two bank accounts sit in different countries, and you track tax dates on two calendars. Income comes from your own company, contract work, and early investments that pay a few times a year. You plan travel around weather, family events, and business, not visa limits. Countries now feel like assets, each one adding a layer of security and choice.
5) Global Citizen
You plan your year by seasons, not borders.
Spring in a city, summer in the mountains, winter on an island. Money arrives from several ventures, including businesses you own, rental properties, and dividend portfolios. Legal ties span passports, residencies, and holding companies across three or more places. The main currency is time. You choose where to live based on energy, purpose, and the people you want nearby. Place feels like a feature you switch on and off.
Keep these five snapshots in mind as we dive deeper.
They will help you see where you stand and what the next step could look like.
How to Read This Guide
Treat the five stages as a living map, that is dynamic and not static.
Your route can move forward, go back, or pause. Progress is made with money, permits, and life events.
The stages are only one way to look at the journey.
Your own markers may look different.
Swap in other lenses e.g. family ties, health, language skill, and the lines would shift again. Use this version as a starting framework, then adjust it to suit your story.
For each stage I focus on three lenses:
Geography: Where you spend most nights
Income: How you pay the bills
Mindset: The belief that drives the next move
At the close of every stage you will find three quick questions.
If you answer yes to at least two, that stage likely fits. When you straddle two steps, choose the higher one that partly matches you (make memories of things that haven’t happened yet!).
The questions are there to track change and not to grade your worth.
Stage 1: Home Explorer
Story snapshot
You still live where you grew up. The job pays your rent and a small travel fund. Long weekends turn into quick trips to a nearby city. You stand in front of foreign menus and try the one phrase you know. Each journey leaves you hungry for the next.
Geography
Trips stay short. Think two hours on a train or a budget flight across one border. Every return lands at the same apartment and the same tax office.
Income
The paycheck is local. A little freelance cash may come in, though it feels like extra, not essential. Savings rise slowly because living costs stay stable.
Mindset
Curiosity leads everything. The big question is simple: could life in another place really work for me?
Time factor
Home Explorer can be a week or a decade. The stage ends the first time you earn money away from home or spend more than one month abroad (give or take).
Quick self-check
Does every pay slip still come from one local employer?
Are all visas in your passport for tourism only?
Do you plan travel around public holidays to stretch days off?
If you said yes at least twice, Home Explorer is your current spot.
Next Step
Open one small remote income stream that can cover any monthly bill. Sell a digital file, tutor online, or pick up a micro freelance task. Even a few dollars prove you can earn from anywhere.
Stage 2: Regional Nomad
Story snapshot
You leave the office routine yet keep your salary. The company agrees to remote status or you stack vacation days and unpaid leave. A carry-on holds your life while you circle one region for weeks at a time. You learn to balance work calls with visa runs and spotty Wi-Fi.
Geography
Movement becomes a little wider than before. Europeans tour through Schengen. Southeast Asia travellers hop between Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. No single stop lasts longer than three months.
Income
Main pay still comes from the same employer. Savings and a few freelance tasks bridge slow weeks. You watch currency fees each time money lands in your home bank.
Mindset
Proof of concept. The question shifts from “Can I travel?” to “Can I perform my job anywhere and still get paid on time?” You are a little anxious that your employer does not trust you, and you overcompensate (this is very common).
Time factor
Many linger here. Bosses test productivity. Clients test reliability. Cash flow must stay solid before you anchor in one place.
Quick self-check
Do you exit a country every one to three months to reset a visa?
Does most income still arrive in a single home-country account?
Do late payments or weak Wi-Fi raise your stress more than flight delays?
If you answered yes at least twice, Regional Nomad fits your current life.
Next Step
Pick one country in this region that offers a long-stay permit for remote workers. Check the income proof and paperwork. Set a ninety-day goal to start the application. Work on your income that does not come from one employer. Check if this lifestyle is what you want, or if the 9-5 felt better.
Stage 3: Base Builder
Story snapshot
You quit the safe job and plant yourself in one foreign city. A long-stay visa lets you stay at least six months. You sign a lease, buy a local SIM, learn greetings in the local language, and set your daily routine around a new neighbourhood. This is the scariest phase.
Geography
Most nights you sleep in the same apartment. Short trips still happen, yet you always return to your own keys and a meter that tracks local utilities.
Income
Money now arrives online. Maybe you found a fully remote role, or you run a small venture that pays you a steady draw. Payments land in your home account or a new one you just opened in town.
Mindset
Commitment takes over. You stop asking if you belong abroad. You focus on building habits that will last through winters, bureaucracy, and slow weeks at work. You get more confident.
Time factor
Paperwork can stretch this stage. Renewing a visa, starting a company, or meeting tax deadlines often adds months. Learning the language also slows the pace but pays off later.
Quick self-check
Do you hold a residence card or digital nomad visa that lasts half a year or more?
Is rent higher than the total value of everything that fits in your backpack?
Can you name three local rules that affect your day-to-day life?
If you answered yes at least twice, Base Builder is your current stage.
Next Step
Draw a simple money map. List every place you now spend at least a month a year, plus each bank where income lands. Mark any tax or reporting duties in each location. Work. This is the time to build and keep your head down for things, that will pay off in the future. Sit with the anxiety, it will make you stronger. Trust me.
Stage 4: Flag Collector
Story snapshot
You add a second residency while keeping the first one active. Two bank accounts sit in different countries. You juggle contract work, income from your own company, and small investments that pay a few times a year. You read up on citizenship rules and start an application for a second passport. Your flight dates follow project deadlines or weather, not visa clocks. Each new flag feels like another spare key on your chain.
Geography
You split the year between two places. Both feel like home. Flights get booked weeks ahead. Carry-on luggage stays light.
Income
Most earnings flow from your own business. Contract work fills any gaps. Investment payouts add a bonus. You think of countries like assets, where each one adds stability and options.
Mindset
Portfolio thinking. Each new residency lowers risk and widens choice. You treat flags like insurance, not trophies.
Time factor
Paperwork and applications can take a year or more. Second-residency renewals and passport processing add months. Investment returns need time too.
Quick self-check
Can you stay long term under law in two countries?
Do you manage money in more than one bank?
Does your travel plan follow work or weather, not visa dates?
If you said yes to at least two, Flag Collector fits your life now.
Next Step
Pick the weakest flag on your chain and try to optimise it. Think long-term. Which new flag will benefit you in a decade from now? You are playing long-term games.
Stage 5: Global Citizen
Story snapshot
You plan each season by choice, not by visa rules.
Spring in a vibrant city, summer by the mountains, autumn on an island, winter where you can ski. You hold two passports and several legal ties. Income flows from businesses you own, rental properties, and investments that pay without daily effort. Flights and leases are part of your life plan.
Geography
You sleep in four or more places each year. Each spot has a long-term lease or owned home. Moving feels as easy as changing rooms.
Income
Money arrives from multiple ventures and assets. Rental checks, dividends, and business revenue all land in different accounts. Daily work is optional, not required.
Mindset
Design mode. You shape your life, not react to it.
Time factor
Building passports, companies, and investments can take years. Citizenship processes and asset growth move slowly. Progress compounds over time.
Quick self-check
Can you live a full year in three countries without new permits?
Does more than half your income come from sources you do not work on daily?
Do you pick locations based on life goals, not legal limits?
If you answered yes to at least two, Global Citizen is your stage.
Next Step
Audit every flag and asset you hold then upgrade the weakest. Start helping people who want to evolve. You become a mentor to others, and enjoy the life you built.
Putting It All Together
Life is messy. This is why this is only a framework.
You might jump from Regional Nomad to Base Builder in one move. You might fall back from Flag Collector to Base Builder if a permit stalls. You might not fit 100% in a category, and that is totally fine.
You can sit between two stages and still make progress. Opening a bank account in a new country is a win, even if you stay home most nights.
Track your changes over months.
Celebrate each “yes” you earn. Global freedom grows when you link geography, income, and mindset into a single plan.
Keep moving at your own pace.
Tools and Resources
Here are a few tools and references to help you move through these stages:
This one would be to enter the stage “Base Builder”
Those are digital tools I highly recommend
Those are things that I would buy
Those are some books that give you great insights
Final Thought
Freedom is not a destination.
It is a series of small moves that add up. You build it by linking where you live, how you earn, and what you believe. Each step teaches you something new about choice and risk.
Start where you are today. Take one action toward the next stage. Create your own definition of the stages, if mine do not resonate with you. You do not need to rush blindly, but at the same time feel a sense of urgency.
Where do you fit right now? What will your next step be? Share your stage and your plan in the comments.
I would love to hear where you stand and how you will move forward.
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Thanks for reading and see you soon! ❤️
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love all the characters here
i live abroad but am not quite a nomad
good to explore these options as it could be something i want to do in the future