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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

#41

Post by jakobegger »

hycaria wrote: post #25
phillc73 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, once they have kids, they have to settle and are back to square one. I don't necessarily think it's back to square one. One doesn't have to settle in a big city. I moved out of London when my first child was due. We moved to a mid-sized (250k population) European city. I was able to find work, in an unrelated field to my previous experience but still using similar technical and management skills. The remun…

Don't you worry about the objectively lower education for your children there ? As much as I dislike cities, I can't imagine raising children somewhere else. Education, culture and network potential (through friends) is just not the same.

He said he moved to a mid sized city with 250000 people — I expect that most European cities of that size have decent public schools. Even a lot of small cities often have a good school. And even if that‘s not the case, in most places your kids can just take the bus to a school in the next city.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#42

Post by zenandpeace »

danielbarla wrote: post #21
mvanbaak wrote: post #13

This is exactly what I'm planning to do, but instead of a van, use a sailing 'yacht' big enough to live on. As soon as I have enough funding to get the gear, I'm off!

Interesting idea. Does sailing a boat typically allow for one to be immersed in coding for longer periods at a time (a few hours)? Or would you just park it while you work?

Modern yachts basically sail themselves on an autopilot. If weather is not rough you can do whatever you want, as long as you still keep looking around from time to time

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#43

Post by wallace_f »

d--b wrote: post #7

Good for him... I would totally hate the lack of space and comfort. I'd sleep really poorly at night when it's super hot in summer and cold in winter. I'd hate it to have to look for a good internet to work. I'd miss my friends all the time. I'd dislike having to socialize with random van neighbors every time I want to not dine alone. I wouldn't last a month of this...

I bought a van, converted it into a camper with a surf board, and did a loop around Australia.

It was an amazing experience, and you learn a lot about people, culture, and yourself. One of the things I realized is that life always offers you options to complain about: I think the greatest inconveniences and discomforts of our ancestors of 200 years past have now been solved, but then taken for granted. We just adjust, become jaded and move on to new things to feel uncomfortable, complain about, and fear.

The experience was about making a story in my life that was more than just going back and forth between the same office, restaurants, etc. Getting out of my comfort zone and going on an adventure and exploring what is out there.

In winter, you head north; in summer, south. The weather is great. You meet nice people, and rude. Generous and benevelont, but also some rotten and even dastardly. There's no escaping the realities of our world; but what can maybe be done for ourselves is to try to escape our human nature to be spoiled with what we have, go outside our comfort zones and on the adventures we dream of. At minimum, it at least offers a lot of perspective.

But while all of this said is fair, to be honest: without the hedonism aspect--if I didn't so much enjoy surfing, the outdoors, and meeting new people--I would have quit such a long trip.

TL;DR if you have a good reason to believe you would enjoy it, being uncomfortable might not be a reason to avoid it.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#44

Post by codecamper »

bshimmin wrote: post #35
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 think work is the big issue with this sort of lifestyle (leaving aside children, as others have mentioned). Many remote gigs still want a daily standup, a weekly sprint retrospective and planning session, etc, and none of that really works if you're truly nomadic and can't really guarantee where you are or how good your Internet connexion is at any given time. The article talks about the flexibility of his lifestyl…

After having done this sort of lifestyle myself.. I've realized it can be GREAT for finding a quiet place you can really go deep and concentrate. I'd say it's better to keep the job & have a mobile office like this set up so you can disappear to the forest or lake for a week at a time to get serious work done.

You need the job & others around to stay in touch with the pace of what is happening and to keep up your friendships. And then having a quiet place to go, surrounded by nature is also vital.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#45

Post by andruby »

phillc73 wrote: post #11
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…

> However, once they have kids, they have to settle and are back to square one. I don't necessarily think it's back to square one. One doesn't have to settle in a big city. I moved out of London when my first child was due. We moved to a mid-sized (250k population) European city. I was able to find work, in an unrelated field to my previous experience but still using similar technical and management skills. The remun…

Which city did you settle in?

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#46

Post by jlebrech »

unixhero wrote: post #16
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can do kids on a budget, plenty of people do.

Yeah. That happened to me. Cannot recommend this. AT ALL.

you have to home school to be on budget, otherwise they come home from school wanting new things. which also means your partner cannot have a full time job or has to work remote too.

you could start a remote business and make the hours longer allowing for kid related interruptions.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#48

Post by jlebrech »

madeofpalk wrote: post #39
kbart wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most European countries your children would be taken away by the responsible institutions if you tried to raise them in a trailer.

I feel like there's a middle ground though between spending lots of money raising kids in a London penthouse, and raising them in a van.

manchester council house. if you have children you'll get the house.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#49

Post by classisch »

d--b wrote: post #7

Good for him... I would totally hate the lack of space and comfort. I'd sleep really poorly at night when it's super hot in summer and cold in winter. I'd hate it to have to look for a good internet to work. I'd miss my friends all the time. I'd dislike having to socialize with random van neighbors every time I want to not dine alone. I wouldn't last a month of this...

Hey! I'm the author of that article. I respect your opinion and I totally agree that van life is not for everyone. However it's seems funny that I've never experienced one of your concerns:

> I would totally hate the lack of space and comfort.

I have 12 square meters and my bed is super comfortable. Most of the time I'm outside. Works perfect for me.

> I'd sleep really poorly at night when it's super hot in summer and cold in winter.

That's the whole thing about a van: If it's too hot in the mainland, you drive to the beach where you always have a chill breeze. In the winter you drive down south where it's warm. I actually feel bad for the people who have to stay in cities when it's hot and humid in the summer or freezing cold in the winter.

> I'd hate it to have to look for a good internet to work.

In Europe the 4G network coverage is amazing. Within the last five months I had less issues with my connectivity than some of my co-workers using a cable internet.

> I'd miss my friends all the time.

Yes, I do miss my friends. I guess this is a valid concern. But sometimes I meet my friends when they are on vacation nearby and for Christmas I will fly back to my hometown to see family and friends.

> I'd dislike having to socialize with random van neighbors every time I want to not dine alone.

I guess that's personal taste. It's very easy to socialize with travelers: they invite your for dinner right away. Sometimes you even don't have to approach them actively. I've also spent a couple of weeks with the same people and we had dinner together every evening. Once you life in a van you often meet people who do the same. So basically you have friends near by.

Re: 150 days of living and coding in a van

#50

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

hycaria wrote: post #25
phillc73 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, once they have kids, they have to settle and are back to square one. I don't necessarily think it's back to square one. One doesn't have to settle in a big city. I moved out of London when my first child was due. We moved to a mid-sized (250k population) European city. I was able to find work, in an unrelated field to my previous experience but still using similar technical and management skills. The remun…

Don't you worry about the objectively lower education for your children there ? As much as I dislike cities, I can't imagine raising children somewhere else. Education, culture and network potential (through friends) is just not the same.

What makes you think London is at the forefront of educational standards?

(I'm originally from London, and I also live in a smaller European city).

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