How to forward your mail if you're a Digital Nomad

To spend the days roaming the planet, with nothing but a backpack by your side is every digital nomad’s dream. With no office to go to, no boring commute to work and living the life on a 9-to-5 schedule, the world is yours for the taking.



Naturally, digital nomads are also human, and they have obligations just like anyone else, including bills and taxes that have to get paid. Still, what happens if you do not have a regular address where all the mail can go to? Are there any services available that can bridge the gap for you? Allow us to tackle this question and explain all the important details you need to know, so that you can get back on the road as soon as possible.

Let us first explain how mail forwarding services function

As we have already mentioned, if you’re constantly traveling, it’s not really convenient to switch your location accordingly, every couple of weeks. Luckily, there are more than a few services that are fairly quick and effective. Relatively cheap as well, if we might add. What you need to do is sign up, change your address so that they can get your mails, and well, the rest is up to them.

You can choose to have your mail received as scanned PDFs, which is a good way to stay on top of things, even while being all the way across the globe. Furthermore, if some of those documents are classified, they can be destroyed immediately after being scanned and sent out to you.

Of course, if you prefer to receive your mail the old-fashioned way, you can always choose the option to have the letters redirected to your current address, but this service is not that immediate, and the mail may get lost somewhere along the way, so we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

What are some of the best services around?

These days, it’s tough to put a trust in unknown agencies that don’t have a proven track record of service, so we chose to stay with some of the better-known ones. There’s always that balance between finding the cheapest possible option and the one that is guaranteed never to let you down, but might leave a sizable hole in your wallet. Judging from our own experiences and listening to others from out little nomadic community, we found that several services stand out from the rest, including:

• Traveling Mailbox - scanning, forwarding and shredding with no questions asked. All you have to do is choose the option that works out best for your specific needs.
• Earth Class Mail - another service that’s been around for quite some time, with a ton of satisfied clients around the world, redirecting mail right to your desktop.
• VirtualPostMail - They are famous for their great customer service, which can mean a lot in the moments of need.

Are there any delays?

Here’s the important question that everyone needs to pay attention to. While the services have improved over the years, and the automation has taken its course, there is a noticeable increase in the speed of mail processing. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly perfect just yet. Depending on the service you choose, you may be forced to wait up to a couple of days to have your mail sorted and shipped out. In case you select the option to receive PDF’s, the situation improves slightly, but there’s still that inconvenient two-day waiting period. To some, that might not sound like much, but if you’re faced with a short deadline, this period seems like eternity.

What is the alternative to these agencies?

Well, the good old family and friends always come to the rescue. Still, it’s quite understandable why some people choose to skip this route altogether, as receiving and forwarding someone else’s mail may become very tedious after a while. On the other hand, if you lack the trust in these agencies, and want to be on the safe side as much as possible, it’s definitely an option worth considering.