Discover the complete checklist to go from 'some day' to a plan on paper, and why an income that travels with you is the first step, even before the moving box.
Max from Remote SkillsWorks from Portugal and builds in public
my-emigration-plan
My emigration plan
Now✈️Soon
Income online
Countries compared
Trial stay planned
Date chosen
Why this guide
Before we start
Max from Remote Skills · works from Portugal
Emigrating almost never starts with a moving box. It starts with the question of whether your income can come along. As long as your work is tied to an office, it stays a dream on a terrace.
Yet you hold more than you think. Everything you have learned in your work and your life simply moves with you. Combine that experience with a valuable AI skill and you build an income that works anywhere, before you even call the removal van.
This checklist puts the most important steps in the right order, with your income first. With a fill-in canvas and a route map, so you have a plan on paper when you are done reading. Want to go all the way, with videos and tools? That is why I made the free Emigration Challenge, the link is at the bottom.
Max
For whomFor anyone who seriously wants to leave and wants to know what to arrange in which order.
At a glance
What you will discover
Four questions this guide answers, plus your route map. Tap a topic to jump there.
Before we start: what are you doing it for? Pick everything that speaks to you, there is no wrong answer. Your choices end up on your canvas later.
What matters to you?
Let us be honest
What is in your way right now?
Everyone runs into something, that is part of it. Pick what applies to you, even if it is more than one thing. It goes on your canvas, so you see what your next step needs to be about.
What is holding you back right now?
Your head start
Why you are further along than you think
Anyone who seriously wants to emigrate has usually done a lot of thinking, reading and saving already. What is often still missing is one thing: work that moves with you. The good news: you already have the base for it.
🔥
Motivation
You really want this. That drive gets you through the hard weeks, including while you learn something new.
🧠
Work experience
What you have done here has value. You know how businesses in your own country work, and they like working with someone who gets that.
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Language and culture
You speak your clients' language. For a business owner it makes no difference whether you are around the corner or in Spain.
🌐
Network
Family, former colleagues and former clients stay within reach. You probably already know your first clients.
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Perseverance
Moving to another country is a big project. Anyone who dares to do that can also set up their own offer.
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AI as your assistant
With AI you do in a few hours what used to take a team. That way work fits the rhythm of your new life.
✦ The formula
📚What you bringWhat you can already do
Everything you have learned in your work and your life. Your diplomas may stay behind, but your experience and your knowledge of people simply move with you.
+plus
🛠️What the skill addsOne online skill
One online skill you deliver anywhere, with AI as your assistant. You build it up while you still live here, so you do not leave empty handed.
=equals
✦What it deliversAn income that moves with you
For your clients it does not matter where you are, as long as you deliver what you promise. For you it is the first step of the staircase: an income that moves with you.
Emigrating is not a leap, it is a staircase. First your income, then a trial stay, only then the moving van. This guide helps you with the first step: linking what you can already do to one skill you deliver anywhere.
Exercise
What can you do, and who benefits?
Grab a cup of coffee. Write down what you can do, from work or life, and next to each line put who benefits from it. Ask yourself for every line: could I deliver this from another country too? Your answers are saved on this device and come along when you save the guide as a PDF.
What I can do, from work or lifeWho benefits from it?
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Your starting cardIncluded when you save the guide as a PDF.
Fill in something above and your starting card appears here. Pick your skillset further down and it is added too.
What I bring
What I am proud of
My skillset
Next step
Pick your skillset, look at the earning models and tick off the route map.
The four skillsets
Which skill suits you?
There are four kinds of work businesses are looking for help with right now, and each one solves something different. You only need to pick one to start. Choose the skill you like the look of most, not the one you think you should choose.
🎨AI CreatorCreative
Brings visibility and attention
Suits
For people who like to write, tell stories, take photos or come up with ideas, and enjoy making something beautiful.
What you mean to others
You make content for business owners who want to be visible. A laptop and AI are enough, wherever you live.
What it brings you
A steady place with a few clients who count on you every week, with work you can put your creativity into.
📈AI ScalerCommercial
Brings clients and revenue
Suits
For people who are results driven, like goals and enjoy it when something actually happens.
What you mean to others
You build websites, funnels and follow-up that bring businesses new enquiries. Your client sees the result, not your address.
What it brings you
Work with a result your client sees straight away, and therefore clients who like to keep working with you for a long time.
⚙️AI OperatorSupportive
Gives people their time back
Suits
For people who like to help, keep things organised and are happy with a tidy workplace, a digital one included.
What you mean to others
You let AI take over the manual work of business owners, such as customer questions and follow-up. A fixed monthly service that keeps running, even during your move.
What it brings you
Grateful clients and recurring work, because nobody wants to lose a system that saves them time.
💻AI VibecoderAnalytical
Builds custom apps and software
Suits
For people who like puzzles, think logically and enjoy figuring out how things work.
What you mean to others
You build tools and apps for business owners, by telling AI what you want. Custom work you deliver from any country.
What it brings you
The finest custom projects. It is the most advanced profile though: expect a bit more steering, that is part of it.
💡 Max's tip
Torn between two? Start with the skill you feel like doing most. You combine later, once the first one runs well.
Earning models
What you can earn with it
What you earn depends on your offer, your clients and your effort, so I make no promises about that. I will tell you how to set it up smartly. Roughly speaking there are four ways to sell your work.
⏱️
By the hour
You charge for every hour you work.
Pros
Easy to start with
Fair and simple to explain
Cons
You only earn while you work
Work faster with AI and you earn less
📦
Per project
You agree a fixed price for a clearly scoped result.
Pros
Your client knows where they stand
Work smartly with AI and you keep time to spare
Cons
After every project you look for the next job
Your income goes up and down per month
🔁
Subscription
Your client pays monthly for a service that keeps running.
Pros
Predictable, month after month
Every new client stacks on top of the last
Cons
Harder to start with before you have proven results
You keep delivering every month
⭐⭐ Our favourite
Project plus subscription
You build something custom for a fixed price. After that your client pays monthly for use, maintenance and improvements.
Pros
A solid start and an ongoing base
Your client stays helped, you build something up
Cons
Needs an offer that keeps working after delivery
⭐
Why this is our favourite: every client you help, stays. A monthly base brings calm in a new country, where the first months always go differently than planned. That is where the freedom is.
Finding clients
Four routes to your first clients
You do not have to start with strangers. Pick one route, do it well, and add another one later.
🤝01→ Start here
Your network back home
Start with who you already know: former colleagues, former clients, family with a business. Ideally do it before you leave, while meeting up is still easy. That way you move with clients instead of without.
✍️02
Content about one topic
Share what you know and what you build on one channel. Your emigration story can be part of it, but your craftsmanship comes first.
📞03
Contacting businesses directly
Pick a kind of business you understand and approach them personally with one concrete idea. That works just as well by email or video as it does at the table.
📢04⭐ Our favourite
Advertising
Once you have a good product and know who your audience is, advertising is the fastest way to grow. It takes a small investment, but you no longer depend on luck or on your calendar.
Your route map
From 'some day' to a date in your calendar
Ten points, in this order. Tick off what you have sorted: your ticks are saved on this device.
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🚩Start
✓Your departure date
💡 Max's tip
Emigrating is not a leap, it is a staircase. First your income, then a trial stay, only then the moving van.
This is not legal or tax advice. Rules differ per country and per situation, so always check important choices with a specialist.
Your goal, what is in your way, your experience, your skill, your earning model, your client route and your route map in one overview, with a conclusion that writes itself from your choices. Save it as a PDF or stick it on your fridge.
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What next
Which route suits you?
We have several concepts: a training programme, a business in a box, ready-made apps to license, implementation programmes and coaching tracks. Which one suits you depends on your goal, so we would love to talk that through with you.
Want to taste in practice which skillset suits you best and set up a first plan straight away? Then choose the tasting, the AI Starter programme.
Want to build seriously, or do you already have something running that you want to scale? Then the Founder or Builder track probably fits, and it is good to talk briefly about which route helps you most.
Remote SkillsFree · Checklist
Max from Remote SkillsWorks from Portugal and builds in public