Given that I make my living entirely remotely, I’m always looking for places where I can travel and work. A job just feels better when you have a different view outside your window. For many nomadic workers, there are some barriers to complete geographical freedom like financial considerations and visa restrictions. But many countries have put their best foot forward to welcome the global legion of digital nomads, and few have done it quite as well as Georgia.
The perks of being a digital nomad in Georgia
One of the best things about Georgia is that you can stay there relatively long-term without a visa. Where many countries require you to obtain tourist visas before arrival or have periods of anywhere from one to three months of visa-free travel, Georgia offers a visa-free stay for a full year to passport holders from 98 countries. Provided that your passport is valid for the intended duration of your stay, you can live and work or study in Georgia for 365 days without having to worry about the hassle or cost of obtaining a visa.
To sweeten the deal, the notoriously welcoming Georgians have also established a way to allow digital nomads to work for free in local offices across many of their major cities including Tbilisi and Gori. The website, workfromgeorgia, matches up local companies who have an available desk in their office with digital nomads from around the world. Visitors are allowed to stay up to one month at any one office without having to pay a cent for the space. The workspaces range from creative agencies to tech companies, offering perks like personal computers, office equipment, and meeting rooms.
Being a digital nomad can be very isolating, but in Georgia, you can get yourself temporary coworkers who will never pester you for anything, but who will take you to have a beer after work. Ultimately, the experience encourages travelers to bond with Georgians and learn more about their culture and establish friendships locally.
Cost of living in Georgia
Another one of the benefits of temporarily relocating to Georgia is the low cost of living. An apartment in Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi is around $300 on average, which is not a bad deal considering it would put you in the nexus between Europe and Asia. Getting around the capital city costs less than 20 cents per trip and weekly groceries cost less than the cost of a meal in most major cities of the world. It’s easy to see why Georgia has one of the lowest cost of living in the world.
When you’re not working, Georgia is full of exciting places to visit like medieval fortresses, villages in the Caucasus Mountains, wine-growing regions, and even beaches on the Black Sea. It’s certainly not a bad way to enjoy a visa-free year abroad. The only downside is that you constantly have to tell people you live in the country, not the state.
Leave a Reply