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How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

alexp.github.io

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Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#71

Post by SyneRyder »

personlurking wrote: post #12
SyneRyder wrote: post #6

"Stay in one place for a while" is fantastic advice. One week is barely enough time to get settled - every time you move you need to find stores, amenities, cafes etc. Two weeks is much better (and you'll appreciate the place more), but even longer is better if you really want to get work done. A nice room is great advice too - makes a huge difference to your happiness if you can wake up each morning to an amazing vi…

Even staying in one place for 2-3 months means having to continuously find those stores, amenities, etc. Sure, it's more stable to stay a few months but having to constantly settle in new places is tiring...I can't imagine having to do it every week or two!

Yup, didn't mean to suggest every two weeks was in any way optimal... I'd had in mind people who skip to a new city / country every few days when I typed that. (ie folks who are trying to tick off countries from their list, while only traveling 3-6 months or so).

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#72

Post by alexp »

dennybritz wrote: post #59

Your blog should have comments. I've done this as well, I've lived in Thailand for 6 months and Japan for a year, and other countries for longer period of time, mostly doing remote freelancing work. I somewhat disagree with your first point (I've been getting good and big projects), but I completely agree with the second one. There is a lot of mental baggage when you have not "settled" down and don't have established…

I absolutely didn't plan for this kind of 'publicity' for the post, to be honest. Comments will be added.

Regarding the first point - I guess it's a matter of commitment. From day one this was mainly a travel project first and remote working project second. I believe that if I found a place I really would love to stay at for longer than a month, my view would be slightly different. But still, I tried to describe honestly what I thought about the past two months.

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#73

Post by danielharan »

johncampbelljr wrote: post #15

I hope to try the digital nomad route in a few years but I have a different take on it. I'm not looking to sustain a working vacation--I'm interesting in experiencing day-to-day lifestyle in different cultures/suroundings. I'm thinking of staying around in terms of months or years, not weeks. Also, I probably will only try it if I have my own enterprise I can run on the road. I'm currently working as a freelancer but…

"airbnb for digital nomads"

This.

While staying in Krabi last year, I wanted to go back during the cheaper off-season, when the SCUBA diving is less awesome than normal. Beaches and climbing are still spectacular though.

It made me dream of having a listing of such places that are guaranteed to have a great internet connection, chair, desk and secondary monitor.

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#74

Post by beachstartup »

spaboleo wrote: post #57

I am really wondering how you communicate with your customers? Do they know that you are living in places where most of them might even can only dream of going to for vacation? Or do you just simply "not tell them"? How do you handle call requests then? Or situations where the customers just invites you over to discuss the project in detail in person? And what are their reactions like when you tell them that you curr…

if you're working with people who "can't even dream" of going on a vacation to another part of the world you might want to set your sights a bit higher.

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#75

Post by SyneRyder »

_delirium wrote: post #30
personlurking wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even staying in one place for 2-3 months means having to continuously find those stores, amenities, etc. Sure, it's more stable to stay a few months but having to constantly settle in new places is tiring...I can't imagine having to do it every week or two!

I wouldn't do it every week or two, but every few months is doable if you travel slowly, since you can reuse a lot of your knowledge in other cities. Once I got reasonably comfortable with Copenhagen, for example, getting comfortable with Malmö or Helsingør was a quick incremental adjustment, since many things are similar.

Loved Malmö, think I liked it even more than Copenhagen.

Visa hassles come into play if you're travelling more than 3 months though. Country hopping on a 3-month Visa Waiver with automated income is one thing... I'd love to stay longer overseas (especially Berlin), but I never really got my head around the visas that would be required. Maybe I'd need to line up contract work in Berlin first & then apply for a longer duration business visa... but I never really got that figured out.

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#76

Post by vpdn »

kalleboo wrote: post #65
config_yml wrote: post #7

"And to be completely honest, it’s just not enough. I believe that working with a team of people that are more experienced and smarter than yourself is crucial for your development, and as a freelancer, doing minor gigs involving some MVC/CRUD application programming, you just miss out on a world of possibilities to grow and learn." I've experienced this as well, it was my main grief with working by myself and on the…

Working on a team doesn't have to be incompatible with working while traveling. I work on a global team on a single product and get challenged by my workmates all the time. We meet once a year at WWDC.

Wish more companies are like that. Scott Berkun maintains a list of companies with distributed teams, if anyone looks for a new job :-)

http://scottberkun.com/2013/how-many-companies-are-100-distr...

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#77

Post by toumhi »

joonix wrote: post #50
wslh wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like there is no perfect place. New Zealand or Australia? they are in a difficult time zone. One alternative is having two fixed locations and moving on winter.

This is really how it's done. But requires wealth. It's what super rich people do. Homes in multiple locations and chase the sun.

Or you could sub-rent your place for a few months in winter and rent a place in a warm country. No wealth required.

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#78

Post by skizm »

Has anyone tried this working only in the United States? I feel like this would be easier as internet access isn't at a premium (you can always tether on your smart phone worst comes to worst). The United States also has lots of large clients and if you want a larger technical challenge you can always set up camp near their offices for a few weeks and work in house. On the non-technical side of things you can find any kind of environment you want in the US. Mountains, beaches, cites, etc. I know you won't get the rewards of traveling abroad but you get 90% of what the ideal is and you can always take some time off big projects and travel abroad if you feel like it.

This is coming from a US citizen who loves his country despite all the fucked up shit that it's government does sometimes, so maybe I'm bias, but I definitely think the life is possible.

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#79

Post by spaboleo »

beachstartup wrote: post #74
spaboleo wrote: post #57

I am really wondering how you communicate with your customers? Do they know that you are living in places where most of them might even can only dream of going to for vacation? Or do you just simply "not tell them"? How do you handle call requests then? Or situations where the customers just invites you over to discuss the project in detail in person? And what are their reactions like when you tell them that you curr…

if you're working with people who "can't even dream" of going on a vacation to another part of the world you might want to set your sights a bit higher.

I totally disagree with this! There are obligations, such as young children that clearly might keep one from jumping onto a plane for 20h (from Europe) to get to south-east asia.

Re: How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

#80

Post by spaboleo »

alexp wrote: post #69
spaboleo wrote: post #57

I am really wondering how you communicate with your customers? Do they know that you are living in places where most of them might even can only dream of going to for vacation? Or do you just simply "not tell them"? How do you handle call requests then? Or situations where the customers just invites you over to discuss the project in detail in person? And what are their reactions like when you tell them that you curr…

My clients always know exactly where I am, what's the time zone difference and all. During the two month period of the 'experiment' I didn't actively hunt for new leads, so I can't relate to the lost deals part. Call requests are done via Skype if needed. Regarding my girlfriend, during this two months, she's on vacation, although she actively helps with prototyping and concepts. We both had savings from day one of t…

Thanks for your reply. I would love to hear from you in an update-post, when those customer relations actually end and you have to establish new ones. Especially given the situation that you both, can't profit from the company's relations and are working remotely.

Awesome travel blog as well...went straight to my feedly! Cheers

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