What is location freedom? How to choose where you live and work

Location freedom means choosing where you live and work, including the choice to stay. Here's how I built it, what it costs and how to test it.

by Navid Moazzez·Updated 2 oct 2026·4 min read·

What is location freedom? How to choose where you live and work

Location freedom is the third of my 7 freedoms: choosing where you live, work and travel.

It's the one people picture first when they hear "freedom": a laptop on a beach. For me it has never been about running away from something.

I see it as choosing the place that helps you do your best work and live your best life, and that can mean staying exactly where you are.

Navid Moazzez

@thenavidm

Most people are tied to a location because of their job.

I’ve designed my life so I’m free to live where I want, work how I want, and experience life fully.

What is location freedom?

Location freedom means your work doesn't decide where you live.

You choose the environment: the city, the country, the season, the café or the mountain cabin. Your income and your work come with you.

Your version might be moving abroad. It might also be staying in your hometown and working in a way that gives you time for family. Both are location freedom, as long as you chose it.

Why location freedom matters

The place you live shapes your days more than almost anything else: the people you meet, the food you eat, how you move, what things cost.

When you can choose it, you can pick a place that supports the other freedoms. A lower cost of living supports financial freedom. Nature and sunlight support physical freedom. The right community supports social freedom.

My location freedom story

I was born in Oskarshamn, Sweden and grew up in Linköping. My dad worked at hospitals in Norway, so some of my strongest childhood memories are of swimming in fjords, skiing on glaciers and hiking through mountains, all in the same day.

At Christmas 2014, a month after my first virtual summit, I traveled to Phuket with my brother Martin and my mom, and decided to leave Sweden for good.

The first place I lived as a digital nomad was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. That's where I realized I could become a lifestyle entrepreneur and travel the globe while the business kept running.

Since then I've built my business from 50+ countries: Mexico, the US, Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Bali and Lombok, Istanbul, Dubai, Da Nang and many more. Today I have permanent residency in Panama.

[NAVID INPUT: how you choose a place today, and a place that didn't work for you and why.]

How to build location freedom

How to build location freedom0/6

1Make your work portable first. Your income has to travel before you do. Online clients, digital products and remote work all travel.

2Write your place criteria. Cost of living, time zone, internet, safety, nature, community and visas. Rank what matters to you.

3Test before you move. A month somewhere tells you more than a year of reading about it.

4Take your routines with you. Your morning, your workouts and your deep work blocks are what make a new place work.

5Build community on purpose. Coworking spaces, masterminds and events make a place feel like home faster.

6Keep the option to stay. Location freedom includes staying put when that's the best choice.

What location freedom costs

Distance from family and old friends. Every move puts time zones between you and people you love.
Admin. Visas, taxes, residency, banking and health insurance all get more complex.
Loneliness. Starting over socially in each new place is real work.
Routine resets. Every move breaks your habits for a while.

Navid Moazzez

@thenavidm

Freedom is great, but life is better when shared with the right people.

Try this

Your 7-day experiment0/5

1Notice the constraint. Write down the one thing that limits this freedom most right now.

2Name the no. Pick one thing you would stop doing if you safely could.

3Name the yes. Decide what you would do with the room that no gives you.

4Run a small experiment. Test it for 7 days, small enough that you can undo it.

5Check the cost. Look at what it cost your other 6 freedoms, then keep it, change it or drop it.

FAQs about location freedom

The questions I get most about location freedom and living as a digital nomad.

What is location freedom?

Location freedom means your work doesn't decide where you live. You choose where to live, work and travel, and your income comes with you.

Do I have to travel to have location freedom?

No. Location freedom includes the choice to stay. Staying in your hometown and working in a way that gives you time for family is location freedom too, as long as you chose it.

How do I get location freedom?

Make your work portable first, then write down your place criteria and test a place for a month before you move. Take your routines with you and build community on purpose.

What does location freedom cost?

Distance from family and old friends, more admin with visas, taxes and residency, loneliness when you start over socially, and a reset of your routines with every move.

Where did Navid start as a digital nomad?

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, after deciding at Christmas 2014 in Phuket to leave Sweden. He has since built his business from 50+ countries and has permanent residency in Panama.