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Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

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Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#181

Post by jamal-kumar »

olladecarne wrote: post #173
jamal-kumar wrote: post #18

I've been pretty happy with spending most of my time in Costa Rica for nearly a decade or so. The pandemic numbers here have been really low, partly because people are fairly health-conscious here. Anti maskers are basically just gringos nobody likes or want anything to do with here instead of crazy people yelling vitriol in grocery stores. I don't live at the beach, because frankly it's kind of distracting having pe…

Quick disclaimer as someone who lived in Costa Rica for many years: Costa Rica's prices for many things are comparable to the US. If it's imported stuff like cars or tech, then expect to pay 2-3x as much. The internet can be fast, but it's also expensive. Basically, expect costs to be closer to vacationing in the US than SE Asia. Other than that, it is a very nice country although driving there can be like an extreme…

I think the really low prices for food and rent have been offsetting my costs related to electronics by a long shot (Avoiding overpriced supermarkets goes a long way to that end), but that's definitely true otherwise. Bringing in stuff from cheaper places for that is highly recommended. And yeah the roads are nuts haha

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#182

Post by jamal-kumar »

randomopining wrote: post #175
olladecarne wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quick disclaimer as someone who lived in Costa Rica for many years: Costa Rica's prices for many things are comparable to the US. If it's imported stuff like cars or tech, then expect to pay 2-3x as much. The internet can be fast, but it's also expensive. Basically, expect costs to be closer to vacationing in the US than SE Asia. Other than that, it is a very nice country although driving there can be like an extreme…

Hah yeah I just got back from 3 weeks there. Driving was quite the experience. Pedestrians literally care 0%, some biker didn’t even look crossing the street and hit us while we were going 15mph. Other drivers go for super risky single lane passes on the reg, etc. Ridiculous.

yeah i just cross the street by standing on the yellow line as cars go zooming past me like it's nothing now, it's fun! try it sometime people do it every day to purify the vida

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#183

Post by jamal-kumar »

randomopining wrote: post #178
jamal-kumar wrote: post #18

I've been pretty happy with spending most of my time in Costa Rica for nearly a decade or so. The pandemic numbers here have been really low, partly because people are fairly health-conscious here. Anti maskers are basically just gringos nobody likes or want anything to do with here instead of crazy people yelling vitriol in grocery stores. I don't live at the beach, because frankly it's kind of distracting having pe…

Just got back from 3 weeks there, which was awesome. I found my spot so far that I would definitely chill at for at least a month or two. I find Tamarindo to have all the amenities, but also crowded and basic. Santa Theresa super overrated imo. Pretty sure they keep the roads dusty and rocky there to cultivate a certain vibe. Manuel Antonio mad touristy. Want to hit more Osa and Pavones next time. My favorite spot wa…

It's all pretty sweet everywhere I've been so far, I just don't really prefer the beach for work/heat/distraction reasons, but I do visit whenever I can take a day or two off. There isn't really anywhere I wouldn't recommend outside of the Limon/Moin port area (I don't know any good port towns in the caribe, to be honest, too much drug traffic drama)... just keep in mind the further from the city you stray the further from good internet you're getting with the exception of certain places... Puerto Viejo, it's pretty far off for example but they're well connected enough

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#184

Post by gtdawg »

diarmuid wrote: post #138
diarmuid wrote: post #137

I mostly stay at airbnb - and I make sure that it has wifi and that there are positive comments re wifi and no negitive comments - I will also ask the host before booking I bring a 27' 1440p monitor and a monitor arm to use in conjunction with my laptop to have a good dual screen setup - I also tend to bring a 50' ethernet cable to connect to the router to avoid wifi trouble I use google fi for my phone - it works al…

I guess I should clarify that I have spent almost 3 years living in airbnbs and working remotely - usually staying about 2 months in each place

Since you are a long term nomad, I'm wondering what your solution is for Government documents (IRS, Driver License, Car Registration, Jury Duty notification, absentee voting, etc), bank statements (KYC regulations), and other things that need a real address, and not an personal mailbox service? I've had issues with using PO Boxes even with Street Addressing, but I'm not sure a UPS store box would fix those issues.

Services like EarthClassMail sound like it would fit the bill, but I'm wondering if whatever API's these SaaS services use to validate "true residential address" will eventually blocklist these services addresses.

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#185

Post by taurath »

randomopining wrote: post #178
jamal-kumar wrote: post #18

I've been pretty happy with spending most of my time in Costa Rica for nearly a decade or so. The pandemic numbers here have been really low, partly because people are fairly health-conscious here. Anti maskers are basically just gringos nobody likes or want anything to do with here instead of crazy people yelling vitriol in grocery stores. I don't live at the beach, because frankly it's kind of distracting having pe…

Just got back from 3 weeks there, which was awesome. I found my spot so far that I would definitely chill at for at least a month or two. I find Tamarindo to have all the amenities, but also crowded and basic. Santa Theresa super overrated imo. Pretty sure they keep the roads dusty and rocky there to cultivate a certain vibe. Manuel Antonio mad touristy. Want to hit more Osa and Pavones next time. My favorite spot wa…

Tamarindo was sooo tourist oriented, you feel a bit like you’re a walking wallet - the vibe outside of town couldn’t be more different and it felt very manufactured and didn’t have much culture. Good place for people who like cruises. Very pretty though.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#186

Post by lh7777 »

deanmoriarty wrote: post #156
culopatin wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UPS PO Box and call it a “suite”.

Thanks. That doesn’t work with most financial institutions (or the ones I use). No matter what you type, they normalize the address in a USPS-mandated format, and automatically find out it’s an issue. “suite” is not going to trick anyone.

I have a mailbox at an independent mail & package storefront in my neighborhood. I just use their address and my box number, e.g. "123 Main St. #111" and have never had an issue with financial institutions, etc. accepting it. They receive my UPS, FedEx, and USPS packages as well.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#187

Post by deanmoriarty »

lh7777 wrote: post #186
deanmoriarty wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. That doesn’t work with most financial institutions (or the ones I use). No matter what you type, they normalize the address in a USPS-mandated format, and automatically find out it’s an issue. “suite” is not going to trick anyone.

I have a mailbox at an independent mail & package storefront in my neighborhood. I just use their address and my box number, e.g. "123 Main St. #111" and have never had an issue with financial institutions, etc. accepting it. They receive my UPS, FedEx, and USPS packages as well.

Even for your state issued driving license?

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#188

Post by zikzak »

packetlost wrote: post #171
meheleventyone wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your lifestyle and work may just be five or ten years ahead of it being worthwhile for businesses to provide what you need. I think it’s also the whole telecoms situation in the US puts it ten years behind everywhere else. The data caps and bandwidth issues are mostly not a technical or business cost issue. Ubiquitous fast and cheap 4G is quite normal elsewhere.

Both wireless and wired infrastructure is so much more expensive in the US than basically everywhere else because of just how freaking HUGE the US is.

Come to Canada if you think it is bad in the US!

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#189

Post by benhurmarcel »

ttoinou wrote: post #180
benhurmarcel wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically, if you use it mainly outside France, they can legally charge you roaming. It just happens that until now Free Mobile doesn't seem to control that.

Interesting, so spending a few months per year in France avoids that theoretically ?

I think the roaming law says that less than half the use must be roaming (not clear if it's time or data). That being said, if this operator doesn't check it, it's fine. But they could.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#190

Post by mod »

qorrect wrote: post #91
jrwoodruff wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Truth. I thought I'd be able to cut out more than I've been able to - we downloaded movies before leaving, I have over-the-air TV, etc. But, it turns out my habits rely on a lot of data - streaming spotify, streaming security cameras to check back home, streaming tools at work... it's kind of eye opening honestly.

I had a similar experience these last 3 months, I bought an RV thought I would toot around the country in, use a cell modem. But I also want to work on my AI projects , which require bunches of nasdaq data. Or I want to work on a side project, but conda wants to download every dependency for every new environment I make. I thought downloading TBs worth of media would be enough to make it work but I'm hitting my month…

Just a heads up, some reports I read about starlink says it only works in one zone. So you potentially can't travel and maintain service. Someone did say they thought that was just during the trial phase, though.
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