Interview with Solo Female Traveler and Digital Nomad, Nina Ragusa

Nina Ragusa is a solo female traveler from Florida who transformed her regular life into a permanent adventure abroad. She began her journeys in Thailand, and has traveled Southeast Asia, plus a few other places since then. Here is an interview with Nina, the girl behind Where in the World is Nina? If you want to see where she has been, goes next, or how she lives and travels abroad, keep reading, then keep in touch.

How long have you been away from home and where have you been?

It has been nearly three years since I left Florida. It’s kind of crazy looking back now. I don’t feel like it has been that long. I started in Thailand and have been living here as a base. During the past three years, I have also visited Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, and Mozambique.

Where are you now? Where are you going next?

I’m currently in the town of Krabi, Thailand, a favorite place of mine. I have many potential next moves, but I’m heavily leaning towards checking Australia out. It will be kind of crazy since I have been in Southeast Asia for three years! I think it will be weird, but very welcomed to eat more familiar foods and to hear my native language on the streets. But I’m of course not looking forward to going from the cheapest area in the world, to the most expensive. It will be interesting, and I’m up for it! I plan on finding work and doing some volunteer exchanges along with my work online.

How did you end up working abroad? What did you do before?

After university, I couldn’t think of an occupation that would be something I would really love doing. I thought I was supposed to get an office job somewhere like most do, and I took the first one that was offered to me. I spent two years not liking my job or my life. I knew I always wanted to travel and the only way I found to make money while traveling, was teaching English. I made that my goal, so I could get myself abroad. I worked three jobs, saved, sold stuff, and flew out to Thailand.

The monotony, the dissatisfaction from work, the everyday stress, and the general feeling of not being 100% happy gave me that push I needed to make a move towards a real goal that I wanted. I didn’t know if it was going to work out, but traveling was my goal, so I found a way to make it happen. The rest is history…

What do you do that allows you to live and travel abroad?

Well at first it was teaching English in Thailand, but around two years ago I found opportunities online. At first it was an online English teacher, which I still do, but I have also picked up many freelancing jobs online. I blog, write travel articles, help create ESL content, and other various projects where I only need my computer and a wifi connection.

So do you move around a lot or tend to chill somewhere for a while?

I like to do both. I often hang around for a few months. I work, travel the area, and enjoy the place for a while. When I have some money saved up and I get the itch, I travel around for a couple of weeks or months. I then find a new base and settle for a bit again. This is the way I like traveling around. It wouldn’t make sense for me to move around every week, plus I do need to work. I’m in no rush, and believe it or not, traveling 24/7 is actually not that fun!

So do you have any funny stories? Crazy stories? How do people find out more about you and how you live?

Yes, I have many travel stories and articles on how I live abroad and other tips. I still have so much information that I want to share, so I try to update my blog as much as I can. Check it out for information on working abroad and online, tips, photos blogs, as well as my all of my travel adventures.