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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

#131

Post by VLM »

timmaah wrote: post #61
VLM wrote: post #18

My father did something like this in his later years and I never heard any of the complaints in the article; then again he had an RV instead of a 44 liter backpack and mostly stayed in the USA rather than crossing the world. Connectivity was the main problem I heard about. I guess its much better now. Also its not a binary decision. Its a big planet and you can select whatever tradeoff you'd prefer in a nearly pure a…

Was your father working at the time? My wife and I live, work and travel from a 25' Airstream and can definitely relate to a lot of the point the post has made as well as the "decision fatigue" mentioned in other comments. It is tough to keep focus for 8 hours when your scenery is changing from week to week and there are so many new awesome places to explore. That said.. We are currently loving it with no plans to st…

Consulting, sort of working, yes. Very limited hours basically retired, but still helping out here and there. In an earlier era, to say the least. He never went quite to the level of parking his RV in the clients parking lot, but he came close a couple times. For one client I think he visited every office in the country over the course of one fall for an upgrade project. I don't think he ran a net profit, but he probably paid quite a few expenses. He said something once about 3piece business suits and RVs don't mix very well.

All I remember of his advice on this topic was private parks are completely deserted during the week during the school year, and there are public parks in the middle of nowhere for the weekends.

I have been to private campgrounds (as a tent camper) and even in season during the summer, the difference between 3pm Thursday and 3pm Saturday is spectacular.

The airstream sounds like fun, have a good time! As an adult child I had to drive to my parents house many a time to take care of the mail, check the place out, etc. In fact I watched the 9/11 attack reports on their TV, I happened to be there that day. I would imagine snail mail and stuff like that (vehicle registration?) is quite a challenge for a true nomad.

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

#132

Post by malandrew »

mooreds wrote: post #129
malandrew wrote: post #125

The best way to do meaningful work while living as a digital nomad is to contribute to open source. IRC, mailing lists and Github issues provide all the conversation and decision making infrastructure necessary to make the same architectural choices needed to build something with the same level of substance and depth as any project being tackled in an office environment.

My takeaway from the article was that the cognitive overload of being in a new environment was at least as big a factor in not being able to handle meaningful work (that is to say, challenging work that forces you to grow) as the logistics. But what you suggest has merit and I'd be interested to hear what the nomads' take on it is.

Totes. The one big difference though with open source projects versus client work is that the logistics of collaboration in open source never changes. It's always somewhat async and almost always communicated in writing, with various tools to help (JSBin, Gists, Diffs, IRC, email, etc.). With clients, the biggest complicator is negotiating how to communicate with them, which can occur for every new project and on every move. Time zone differences compound these negotiations because so many people expect phone or video calls to sync up.

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

#134

Post by ledge »

dageshi wrote: post #93
alexp wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely agree. The thing is, that having been to most of those locations (except Sihanoukville and generally China), I just didn't feel that those places would be fun to stay in for a longer period of time. It all comes down to personal preferences of course. I was on the hunt for a good spot for myself and failed so far.

Yeah for me they're ideal, they've got lots of guesthouses so there's plenty of competition and finding rooms for a month should be easy and pretty damned cheap. Tons of restaurants meaning you can more or less walk out the front door and find somewhere new to eat everyday cheaply. I kinda suspect you're looking on the wrong continent or as you say you're just not suited to it.

I've been in Phnom Penh for the last 3 weeks. It may not be as relaxing as Sihanoukville or somewhere else smaller but for me it's been the perfect place to work and focus.

I found a nice (enough) apartment for 120$/month that is extremely close to the largest market in PP and Olympic stadium, where I exercise daily. Right outside my front door I can find excellent meals cooked by my friendly neighbors for less than a dollar. I'm here for at least a year, but probably longer; I love this place.

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

#135

Post by sliverstorm »

chetanahuja wrote: post #114
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…

Pretty much agree with most of what you say above but this: "Many people have little difficulty opening up their laptop and forgetting the rest of the world for an 8 hour stretch" I haven't come across anybody who can in-the-zone code a straight 8 hour stretch during the daytime (nights are obviously very different). I'd love to hear from people who've managed to do this.

I'd love to hear from people who've managed to do this

Anecdotes about how "hardcore" people are in this regard usually wind up being worthless. 9 times out of 10, when I ask someone about an "all-nighter" they just pulled, it turns out they actually stayed up until 4:30 and slept until 9.

I expect most people who talk about how they can stay locked in the zone for 8 hours, in reality take breaks for coffee, browse the internet, and break for lunch.

(There's nothing wrong with taking breaks!)

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

#136

Post by ido »

trumbitta2 wrote: post #122
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.

Cagliari, on the southern coast of Sardinia, a southern big island in Italy, is the perfect place: startups, astonishing sea, tens of beaches, hot summers, max 2 winter days at near zero (Celsius). I live there, I know how it is ;)

Italy is corrupt and has serious economic issues. It's probably a nice place to live otherwise though, I guess they "just" need to completely replace their government.

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

#138

Post by __--__ »

virtualwhys wrote: post #111
toumhi wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My home region! I'm from Pau, 100 km in the southeast direction :-) Don't stay there in the winter though, the lack of people and activity can be a bit depressing.

Spent a winter here once, not easy, but quiet, and the waves keep coming despite the brrrrrrrr, cold water. I tend to come here in the autumn and spring now, weather is beautiful and the living is nice.

Do a lot of people continue to surf during the winter there, in wetsuits?

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

#139

Post by khuey »

sobri wrote: post #120
cmccabe wrote: post #115

Excessive travel is terrible for the environment. You can easily generate many times the amount of carbon dioxide you would emit by driving for a year, simply by taking a long plane flight or two. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-... Travel is nice, but not when you do it just to brag about having gone to X countries in Y days. Then it just becomes a status thing, and is, as the author note…

Always take trains overland. Flying should be reserved only for trips that cross water. Besides, travelling by train is much more fun.

Unfortunately not always a realistic option (exhibit A: North America).

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

#140

Post by chetanahuja »

sliverstorm wrote: post #135
chetanahuja wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much agree with most of what you say above but this: "Many people have little difficulty opening up their laptop and forgetting the rest of the world for an 8 hour stretch" I haven't come across anybody who can in-the-zone code a straight 8 hour stretch during the daytime (nights are obviously very different). I'd love to hear from people who've managed to do this.

I'd love to hear from people who've managed to do this Anecdotes about how "hardcore" people are in this regard usually wind up being worthless. 9 times out of 10, when I ask someone about an "all-nighter" they just pulled, it turns out they actually stayed up until 4:30 and slept until 9. I expect most people who talk about how they can stay locked in the zone for 8 hours, in reality take breaks for coffee, browse t…

Well fwiw, I personally have pulled honest-to-goodness all-nighters in exceptional circumstances (debugging production problem, team (including management) expecting my code the next morning to start release-testing, etc. Of course it includes things like bio-breaks, snacks/coffee etc. But since "The night is a programmer's best friend for it is silent and expects nothing"(1), it's not that hard to get back into the zone after a break especially with a sword hanging over your head.

(1) Me. Just now.

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