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150 days of living and coding in a van

ruby-on-wheels.github.io

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Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#101

Post by petercooper »

mmahemoff wrote: post #94

I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? I've done a fair amount of coding on laptops while travelling and it's okay, but I feel like a big monitor is optimal for most work and wouldn't want a permanent situation with just laptop. I like to have logs, command line, and editor all visible, and ideally a browser too. The editor alone is much more useful in a big window where you can see a f…

If I'm in full-on development mode, I like to have at least one separate screen, though for more casual maintenance stuff I'm happy on a laptop.

I seem to recall DHH (Basecamp/Rails) said in the past he frequently developed on an 11" MacBook at some point, only using a monitor when sat at a desk, so I guess it's doable.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#102

Post by earlybike »

pdimitar wrote: post #51
earlybike wrote: post #9

Slightly OT: Living in a capital/big city is tough: - High rents, even in Berlin nowadays - There are more options but also much more competition for finding the right accommodation, job and spouse - In particular, finding your long-term partner can be a huge struggle in a big city in times of Tinder where nobody is committed anymore For some the solution is just to escape, avoid the challenge and call it nomad life…

> competition for ... spouse > In particular, finding your long-term partner can be a huge struggle in a big city in times of Tinder where nobody is committed anymore You're projecting here -- the article never mentioned anything related to a partner. Also, wait what? COMPETITION for a spouse? If you look at your desired gender that way, I think it might actually do you good to live as a nomad for a while. "Nobody is…

Think you misunderstood. My message was that people who do this nomad thing are doing this because they struggle with city-life and my bullets were examples why they might struggle. I just said finding long-term relationships got harder because of Tinder and the current zeitgeist. I didn't say that I struggle: I didn't bail out and went the nomad route. I know that it's tough but once you got used to it, you learn, adapt and improve.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#103

Post by coldtea »

mmahemoff wrote: post #94

I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? I've done a fair amount of coding on laptops while travelling and it's okay, but I feel like a big monitor is optimal for most work and wouldn't want a permanent situation with just laptop. I like to have logs, command line, and editor all visible, and ideally a browser too. The editor alone is much more useful in a big window where you can see a f…

>I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop?

No. Some of us work even more focused on a single smaller screen even than having 10 BS windows asking for our attention (and I include debuggers in those, the ultimate hop-around time sink for some developers).

Besides, people managed to write software for several decades before larger than 14" screens became the norm. Heck, until the late seventies many people didn't even use a visual editor -- they only edited their files line by line in ed. And until the 90s even color was not that common -- there goes syntax highlighting (and many other uses of color).

So I don't think big monitors are any sort of necessity in the days of 15" laptops with excellent retina screens.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#104

Post by Alkim »

grecy wrote: post #24

I am doing something somewhat related. I built a Jeep Wrangler into a house on wheels [1], and am driving around Africa for two years. I am freelancing for Magazines, and earning money through my website and social presence. I have not done any coding on this trip, mostly becuase I find it hard to get remote work that meets my flexibility needs - i.e. weeks off-grid and only occasional checkins/calls. Last time I dro…

This sounds both interesting and audacious. I'm nearing retirement and considering various options for what to do next. Could you explain how you earn $$ from 'social presence'? I'm a personable guy, but I don't know that I could convince anyone to give me money just for showing up to something.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#105

Post by coldtea »

submeta wrote: post #58
yoavm wrote: post #26

I'm doing the same in Israel for almost two years now! The photos-haiku-blog is in Hebrew, but well photos are universal. http://bus.house/

Holy cow. What happened to your social life, if I may ask? Friends, family. How do you maintain your relationships?

If anything, it's easier to make and meet friends, and easier to be with your family, if you aren't tied to a 9 to late-at-night job.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#106

Post by virtualwhys »

mmahemoff wrote: post #94

I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? I've done a fair amount of coding on laptops while travelling and it's okay, but I feel like a big monitor is optimal for most work and wouldn't want a permanent situation with just laptop. I like to have logs, command line, and editor all visible, and ideally a browser too. The editor alone is much more useful in a big window where you can see a f…

> don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop?

Yes. I've been on the road for more than 10 years now; travel with a lightweight (6.5 lbs) 23" LG monitor and my 15" Dell Precision laptop.

It's a fair bit of gear to heft around, but I tend to setup shop for at least 2 months at a time so the added weight isn't much of an issue.

Of course, I'd like a giant primary monitor to accompany the laptop, but that will have to wait for the day when I finally settle down.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#107

Post by coldtea »

leoedin wrote: post #55

This is written in October. He's been living in the van since the middle of May. Basically late spring, summer and early autumn. How is he going to feel after another 150 days? Camping in winter can be fun, but it's not warm. At all. Trying to work in a van when it's below freezing outside will be pretty hard work. I can't even type when the room drops below 15 degrees. Vans like the one he has are basically uninsula…

>How is he going to feel after another 150 days? Camping in winter can be fun, but it's not warm. At all.

Depends on the country. There are places where winter is like 30 degrees. And you can always have a portable heater -- in a small van it will heat it up completely.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#108

Post by desdiv »

icebraining wrote: post #90
classisch wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey! > How much was the initial cost of the van? I bought the van for 7.000 Euro. > How did you maintain your internet connection? I'm working with 4G. Works perfect all most everywhere in Europe! I use a pre-paid Italian SIM-Card that I can use all over Europe. It costs me 9 Euros for 20 GB. I usually need around 30 to 50 GB a month. So it's roughly 20 Euros per month. You can read more about the technical setup her…

9€ for 20GB and it works everywhere in Europe? That sounds like an amazing deal. Can you tell me which provider you're using?

I Googled around and found this:

>Giga International: 9 € - including 20 GB data valid for 28 days. The activation fee is 5 € and the SIM card is 9 €, making the total cost 25 € for the first month and 9 € for subsequent months. This offer is only for customers with foreign citizenship.

[0] http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Italy

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#109

Post by maaaats »

coldtea wrote: post #103
mmahemoff wrote: post #94

I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? I've done a fair amount of coding on laptops while travelling and it's okay, but I feel like a big monitor is optimal for most work and wouldn't want a permanent situation with just laptop. I like to have logs, command line, and editor all visible, and ideally a browser too. The editor alone is much more useful in a big window where you can see a f…

> I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? No. Some of us work even more focused on a single smaller screen even than having 10 BS windows asking for our attention (and I include debuggers in those, the ultimate hop-around time sink for some developers). Besides, people managed to write software for several decades before larger than 14" screens became the norm. Heck, until the late seven…

That's some serious gatekeeping.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#110

Post by hkon »

grecy wrote: post #24

I am doing something somewhat related. I built a Jeep Wrangler into a house on wheels [1], and am driving around Africa for two years. I am freelancing for Magazines, and earning money through my website and social presence. I have not done any coding on this trip, mostly becuase I find it hard to get remote work that meets my flexibility needs - i.e. weeks off-grid and only occasional checkins/calls. Last time I dro…

i look at your videos from time to time. awesome
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