You’ve always been a digital nomad at heart, but you haven’t been able to take that leap. Well, now that you’ve been stuck at home for over a year, you’re finally ready to pull the trigger. You know you don’t want to pay for long term rentals so you want an alternative. Home swapping is an interesting alternative to you because you know one day you’ll want to return home. Now, where do you start?

1. Set a date. Slap that date right in front of your work from home office and stare at it every day. Trust us, if you don’t hold yourself to a date, you just won’t pull the trigger.

2. Tell your friends and family. Sharing your plans is the best way to start building up support for your life decisions. So go ahead, sing it from the roof top. They will probably be a little jealous, but they will give you great tips and things to think about.

3. Resist planning every destination. Just pick the first place you want to land and let the spirit of adventure take it from there. The best part of being a digital nomad is being free and going where you want. On your journey, things will most certainly change, so let them!

4. Start your home swap process. Sign up for a membership on the 48 dots. Home swapping is a much better alternative to long term rentals. So, let us know where you want to go first and when you want to do it. It’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about.

5. Make a list of how to care for your home. Have plants? Let fellow home swappers know how often to water them. Is your stove hard to use? Leave instructions.

6. Start packing, throwing things away, and organizing your things. You’ll want to travel light so get your suitcase ready. Now is also the time to throw away things you don’t need. Maybe you want to sell them on OfferUp or Ebay. Do it! The nomad lifestyle is light and you probably don’t need all the things you have anyways. Got some extra special stuff? Lock it all up in storage to keep it safe.

Is it that easy? Really? It certainly is. The hardest part about jumping into a new lifestyle is really that: jumping in. But, if you do the steps we recommended, you’ll be that much more ready to make the transition.