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How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad

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

#81

Post by xfour »

personlurking wrote: post #8

Being and having been a digital nomad for the past several years, it can become tiring having to switch up location and work setting so often. While living in Rio de Janeiro, I often wondered how people who are from there work in office buildings in the wealthy neighborhoods (which are a stone's throw from the beach), deal with knowing that fun and sun is literally 5 minutes away at any given moment, that people are…

I built one for Wordpress, as I like you couldn't find it anywhere. Also I just checked my blog, where I have it running, and it looks much better on iPad

https://github.com/seanvoss/medium-clone

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

#82

Post by Vivtek »

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.

Well, we kind of have that planned. You don't have to be super rich, just have to know your places pretty well and buy smart, maybe something that needs a little work.

We bought a house in Richmond, Indiana (more or less where I'm from) for $8000 - that was actually a mistake because it needed too much work, but the principle was sound.

Now we're looking for foreclosures in reasonable neighborhoods in Puerto Rico, we're probably going to build a house here in Budapest, and maybe we'll find something in Indiana in a few years. If you have modest houses in your places instead of putting all your real estate money into a new garage and a pool, it's totally doable.

A lot of not-so-wealthy people have a house in the North and one in Florida, after all.

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

#83

Post by epsylon »

virtualwhys wrote: post #67
_delirium wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The successful travel/work people I know do it in that style, moving between cities on a monthly or bimonthly basis, not daily. They'll typically spend 1-3 months in a city, renting a place on AirBnB or a local rental site, then move to another city. That removes a lot of the problems discussed in this blog post, like not knowing if you'll have internet access tomorrow, and not being able to guarantee you can spend 8…

The most cost effective way I've managed to pull off the expat existence is to find the equivalent of Craigslist in the country you'd like to visit; then arrange a 3 month rental (the usual visa limit, on an American passport at any rate), sorting out high-speed internet in advance (i.e. if no connection in place already, contact local ISP and get technician visit/installation for day after you arrive). Next, get a l…

I'm curious, where are you exactly in the South West of France?

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

#84

Post by doorhammer »

seiji wrote: post #44
RyanZAG wrote: post #3

Far as I can tell, the argument here boils down to "can't concentrate on coding while traveling". When put in a simple statement like that it becomes very obvious that the statement depends entirely on the person. Many people have little difficulty opening up their laptop and forgetting the rest of the world for an 8 hour stretch, and this would be the type of person who would do well as a digital nomad. If you need…

How do you do an eight hour stretch? At best I can work for two hours without needing food or a bathroom break. Imagine you're working in public space. To take a break you have to pack up your laptop, power adapter, water bottle, phone, headphones, go put them in a locker (or just carry them), visit a wc, eat, take a break, go get bag out of locker, find another place to sit with power, set up computer, power adapter…

I've never traveled overseas and worked, but I've done a bunch of work remotely in the US while travelling for business, and I've recreational spent a few months in places like ireland and thailand.

I hate working out of hotels when I'm traveling for business, so I usually post up in a library, or coffee shop. I also end up doing spending a lot of time in airports where I have to be able to get up really quickly and stow everything. After a little optimizing, I never had a problem getting up in a few seconds, walking off to use the bathroom and grab a soda, and coming back. You just can't splay your stuff out everywhere like you might at an office. It also helps a ton to have a laptop that's got a solid battery life.

Getting up to go to the bathroom for me usually mean: close laptop and slide into bag > Put bag on shoulder > holster drink bottle in side pocket while walking wherever.

It's kind of fun figuring out efficient and quick ways to unplug quickly, but it really doesn't add that much overhead, especially once it's a rote thing. I also just don't plug in the majority of the time, if I can help it.

ymmv, and that doesn't counter all the other myriads of problems you would encounter being abroad working, but at least for that little part, I think it's a pretty solvable problem

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

#85

Post by raverbashing »

personlurking wrote: post #8

Being and having been a digital nomad for the past several years, it can become tiring having to switch up location and work setting so often. While living in Rio de Janeiro, I often wondered how people who are from there work in office buildings in the wealthy neighborhoods (which are a stone's throw from the beach), deal with knowing that fun and sun is literally 5 minutes away at any given moment, that people are…

"In Brazil, I was going out 4-5x per week! My average night out in Rio I'd spend about US$5, maybe $10"

That is certainly not nowadays... Even though yes, this may be doable in some places still (if you keep yourself to drinks and maybe some food for sharing)

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

#86

Post by pwpwp »

I've just travelled through Europe for three months as a location-independent consultant and what worked well for me was to stay at least a week in any place, and travel only on weekends.

This got me into a nice rhythm where I could be as productive as at home.

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

#87

Post by devgutt »

toumhi wrote: post #77
joonix wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I always wonder if there is a website to organize this. I have my own house but would like to stay here only 3 months a year and move for other 3 places elsewhere (fixed places). It would be a good idea for a startup.

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

#88

Post by kimar »

Very interesting discussion as I am just starting my digital nomad life. Like the author suggests, I strongly believe in staying at least a couple months at every destination (where you'd like to get some work done).

One thing I'm curious about is if some of you have tried finding local clients in destinations you visit?

This is obviously easier in big cities than in Kho Phi Phi, and will most likely pay less than a US-based client. Nevertheless, I'd imagine it to be a great way to get immersed in the local lifestyle and solves some of the issues mentioned in the post (eg: timezone, workplace).

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

#89

Post by jfb_1973 »

My wife and I were talking about a property we found in Central America that was pretty amazing. Having been a backpacker when I was younger (in the 90s) I always wanted to set up a small hostel/hotel type thing somewhere beautiful.

I wonder if you could build a business serving the Digital Nomad. Basically offer a place to live + a coworking space. The traveling hacker gets the benefit of having a good place to work, plus the benefit of hanging out with other hackers whom you can chat with, maybe even pick up new work.

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

#90

Post by kaybe »

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.

I know someone who runs a hostel in New Zealand in the southern summer and travels in southern winter. Totally doable on a budget.
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