Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#561

Post by willemh » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:34 AM UTC

stephenr wrote: post #525

dwd wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Highly recommend Warrnambool as far as regional Victorian towns go, but the lack of humidity, constant wind and freezing water would take getting used to after Thailand. The Sunshine Coast or Cairns have a similar vibe but warmer weather.

I'd been considering Portland actually, and maybe it'd still get a look-in, but it may be too small. Definitely will not miss the humidity/heat. I'll miss the weather being fairly constant though. Also, no to Qld. We want to move back to Australia, not move back to the 1920s.

Torquay/Ocean Grove may be more your style. The weather isn't as consistent as QLD but beats Warrnambool by being a couple of degrees warmer. It's near Geelong but you still get the ocean. And it's only about 1.5hrs to Melbourne if you avoid peak hour.

I get your point about Queensland. Maroochydore might be slowly modernising. They're building a new city centre from scratch on what used to be the golf course. They've recently connected to the Japan-Guam-Australia South submarine fibre cable and the council are marketing that pretty hard. Saying that, it's still largely seen as a place to retire; evidenced by one of the largest contributors to the local economy being healthcare (which includes nursing homes).

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#562

Post by spectralflux » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:40 AM UTC

travisgriggs wrote: post #388

I would repatriate to a quiet fjord in northern Norway, code outdoors in the summer with Grieg echoing through the fjord. In the winter I'd code in the sun room while the northern lights swirled overhead. That would be my dream at least. For those that have been to northern Norway, you'll get this. For those that haven't, you'll just scratch your head.

I think in summer you might find the mosquitoes too annoying to be outside with, and in winter -- you have to keep in mind its not just a shorter day, its also permanently sunrise/sunset on sunny days (depending on your latitude, it could also be just really dark) and mostly slate grey skies anyway so the concept of a "sun room" doesn't really make sense. I quite like Scandinavian winter (I'm in Sweden), but its not for everyone.

It is very beautiful up in Norway though, and the Norwegians are nice people.

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#563

Post by Stevvo » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:41 AM UTC

kabacha wrote: post #543

I've been working remotely and I feel that the best option is: moving around every few years. I found that 2-3 years is the sweetspot where you can absorb the culture, learn the language and start to get kinda bored of your surroundings - so that's exactly what I've been doing. I feel that digital nomad doesn't really work as you can't really get to know the place you're living at in few weeks or even months and stay…

I've done this for the past 10 years and had a great ride, but I'm getting tired of it; after leaving one place, I start to missing the friends made in the last place.

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#564

Post by hthtegr » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:50 AM UTC

pier25 wrote: post #41

My wife and I live in Mexico. She works remotely, I did that for 10+ years, now I'm building my thing and taking some occasional freelance projects. I won't deny there are some horror stories coming from Mexico, but I'm a European and have been living here since 2009. I've never seen or experienced anything even remotely violent. I paid for a mordida once, that's it. I've lived in Mexico City, Estado de México, Verac…

I'm from New Zealand and lived there for 4 years. Same experience. Never saw anything crazy, didn't even know anyone who had. I used to fly up to LA and SF often, and saw crazy shit up there often.

Mexico is safer than the US - some will find that unpaletable. Get over it.

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#565

Post by TaylorAlexander » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:51 AM UTC

ralusek wrote: post #508

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well if we built housing for those people they wouldn’t have to live in tents. And if we provided mental health services to all people there would be fewer people who slip to homelessness in the first place.

Yes but do we have to build houses for them in one of the most physically constrained places (partly geographic, partly zoning) on Earth? There seems to be this strange idea that people put forth that your options are simply between living in the most expensive city in the country or being homeless in the most expensive city in the country. How about Modesto? I think you would find plenty of support from people who g…

Modesto is not San Francisco. I believe it is reasonable for someone to want to live in San Francisco even if they do not earn many tens of thousands of dollars a year minimum. While there are many units grandfathered in or rent controlled in SF, it seems all new tenants are selected based on wealth. Why should SF be a city exclusive to the wealthy?

The city of Vienna Austria has a fantastic social housing program. The city owns and manages 220,000 units of housing and indirectly controls another 200,000 units of private properties developed under a city-regulated process [1].

This could be done in SF. And then even people who are not very wealthy could potentially move to and live in the city. I reject the notion that individual wealth should be the sole or primary way that we allot housing to people.

Instead of complaining about tents, we could (through our taxes) build these people homes. Instead of stepping over people sleeping on the ground we could make sure every person has a roof over their head. San Francisco is a very wealthy city. We could certainly afford to build this kind of housing.

[1] https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_featd_articl...

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#566

Post by hthtegr » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:54 AM UTC

suyash wrote: post #445

pier25 wrote: post #41

My wife and I live in Mexico. She works remotely, I did that for 10+ years, now I'm building my thing and taking some occasional freelance projects. I won't deny there are some horror stories coming from Mexico, but I'm a European and have been living here since 2009. I've never seen or experienced anything even remotely violent. I paid for a mordida once, that's it. I've lived in Mexico City, Estado de México, Verac…

I've heard great things about Guadalajara, anyone in tech has experience to share?

I lived an hour away (as a foreigner). Absolutely loved it, and would still be there if I didn't have to return home for sick family.

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#567

Post by ikeyany » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:55 AM UTC

2019-nCoV wrote: post #374

spicyramen wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds as if you visited SF for the first time...very good speech for tourism.I have been in Bay Area for 13 years, single, with GF, and now with kids. Good luck with the high real state prices and if you can afford it, is probably overvalued, homeless, drug addicts, lack of good public transportation and Infrastructure (no high speed trains). My take i would live in London.

London is dirtier and just as inflicted with "undesirables", unless you're willing to continue paying SF rent prices, or live in zone 3 or beyond.

> London is dirtier and just as inflicted with "undesirables"

Are we talking about the same London and the same SF? I went a whole week in London riding the subway several times a day without seeing anything gross.

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#568

Post by travisgriggs » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:55 AM UTC

spectralflux wrote: post #562

travisgriggs wrote: post #388

I would repatriate to a quiet fjord in northern Norway, code outdoors in the summer with Grieg echoing through the fjord. In the winter I'd code in the sun room while the northern lights swirled overhead. That would be my dream at least. For those that have been to northern Norway, you'll get this. For those that haven't, you'll just scratch your head.

I think in summer you might find the mosquitoes too annoying to be outside with, and in winter -- you have to keep in mind its not just a shorter day, its also permanently sunrise/sunset on sunny days (depending on your latitude, it could also be just really dark) and mostly slate grey skies anyway so the concept of a "sun room" doesn't really make sense. I quite like Scandinavian winter (I'm in Sweden), but its not…

Yup. Somewhere in or above the lofotens. I lived in Norway for 2 years; 7 of the months in or above Narvik/Harstad. I don't recall the mosquitos being problematic. And yes, pretty much night from late October to February.

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#569

Post by dzhiurgis » Mon, May 25, 2020, 6:56 AM UTC

nigel_bree wrote: post #439

iandanforth wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I'm in NZ can I come visit? Looks lovely. How's the cheese shop?

Anyone from HN who wants to can drop by on the way to a more traditional tourist spot like Mangawhai or further north (although over summer I'm often away at the weekends racing stockcars). The phone number for the library redirects to our house if it's not open. The cheese shop is fine! I know Keith and Marita who have owned it for many years, they are good people - Ad Clarijs who founded it still occasionally runs…

Aaah that cheese shop. I've stop there briefly this summer, on way to Waipu. Finally got to taste cultured butter for the first time (unimpressed).

Utopia cafe looked dystopian as it was closed :D

Re: Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?

#570

Post by Markoff » Mon, May 25, 2020, 7:00 AM UTC

I work remote and it all comes down if you are single, with girlfriend or with children.

If you have children then obviously you can't be nomad and cheap places like southeast asia are out of question, because you want your children to have best education, healthcare, enviroment etc. (which is reason why I moved from China ASAP after my first child was born)

If i were single young and healthy I would consider Southeast Asia - still externely cheap, good or reasonable internet, good cuisine, pleasant weather, you can find private hospitals with travel insurance, though you can get fed up with locals long term because of different culture (if you are from west)

Since I have children and I am EU citizen obvious choice was return to EU, my original intention was Vienna regularly winning surveys as one of most livable cities in Europe/world, though my budget didn't allow me to buy apartment without mortgage plus it's not that easy to find English speaking jobs there and I am not strong on my German (the one company I interviewed there offered me instead job in US, which I politely declined) and I have to consider also my wife's employment options in future, so I went for poor man's Vienna - Prague. Still extremely safe, quite reasonable prices.

My other options would be Bratislava, which is basically nontouristy small town suburb of Vienna less than hour way, Budapest is quite OK, but since Orban is at power that's not an option and we already see for years which direction they are hading, maybe Berlin (very cheap real estate to buy) although Germans are for my taste already too brainwashed with leftist/eco stuff and way too many non-adaptable migrants from different cultures.

Other EU countries have way too different culture for my taste with too many illegal migrants, not so safe and also not affordable or too socialist (micromanaging your life) for my taste.