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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

#91

Post by pjbrunet »

joonix wrote: post #49
Vivtek wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man, yeah, decision fatigue. I've been a freelancer (web work and later technical translation) since 1996 and we've moved, kids and dog and all, from Indiana to Puerto Rico to Budapest, at will - and the one thing that makes it difficult is that you're always asking, "Should we be staying here or going somewhere else now?" It never stops. The kids are having allergy problems? Let's move to the Caribbean! The Carib…

Exactly. I thought this was what I wanted. Now that I'm somewhat location independent, I keep thinking about where I should move to take full advantage of my freedom. It's exhausting! I want to settle somewhere but can't decide.

Been there, done that. My recommendation is, find your family. Think about your contribution to the future.

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

#92

Post by pjbrunet »

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…

That's my life in a nutshell ;-)

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

#93

Post by dageshi »

alexp wrote: post #66
dageshi wrote: post #58

Having done this a bit, the answer is in my experience, figure out a good location in a particular country, in Thailand I'd say Chiang Mai, in China perhaps Yangshuo, Cambodia Siem Reap or Sihanoukville. Get yourself a cheap place/room for a month or so, do some serious work then when you've completed whatever it is you're doing do some proper traveling. Trying to do it all at once is mostly a killer. That's not to s…

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.

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

#94

Post by virtualwhys »

epsylon wrote: post #83
virtualwhys wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Capbreton, in the Landes region, best waves in Europe ;-)

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

#95

Post by cmeranda »

kalleboo wrote: post #63
cmeranda wrote: post #17

Programming (for me) occurs at the apex of an extended Maslow's type hierarchy, and traveling often destroys the very foundations of it. The code I write when sleep-deprived, hungover, hungry, sunburnt, and sitting on a bumpy Thai train wondering if I missed my stop and wishing there was internet & coffee, is strongly inferior to what I write in a well-lit, quiet environment, fed, rested, fueled by engineering conver…

> Programming (for me) occurs at the apex of an extended Maslow's type hierarchy, and traveling often destroys the very foundations of it For me, it varies with my mood. A lot of the time having some stress and interesting surroundings spurs my creativity and I've written some of my best code in a park, on an airplane or at a café. Other times I just want to lock myself in a familiar room with all my comforts and shu…

It is interesting that sometimes being in a new environment can promote creativity and even discipline (for instance, it's easier for me to work continuously on a plane--which I'm doing right now--than when I'm in our home office because I perceive I have less choice: not sure what that says about me). And I agree that if I'm doing performance testing or adding a mellow feature, then sure, throw me in the middle of Cirque du Soleil and I'll be fine.

But I would challenge the idea that complex programming problems (cloud sync, NLP, etc, choose your poison) can be solved equally well in a suboptimal environment. Here is my "hypothesis": unregulated noise[1], temperature[2], and other travel-centric environmental factors (such as the need for vigilance in a new environment) distract from cognitive performance in the majority of people, if not all people.

[1] http://peterhancock.ucf.edu/Downloads/ref_pubs/Szalma_Hancoc... [2] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0668.2004....

To be clear, I don't think it is possible to write my best code in a park, an airplane or a café, regardless of mood. But I would be curious to see relevant studies which demonstrate otherwise. I agree that changes in environment are stimulating and that stagnant workplaces hold their own dangers.

I also agree that 2-3 months is a good baseline for getting to know a place: you don't feel as jostled about by your schedule, and there may even be time for cursory grasp of the language (w/some prepping beforehand) and making a friend or two. Plus you don't have to cram your (potentially expensive) excursions into as short a block of time.

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

#96

Post by ParahSailin »

cmeranda wrote: post #95
kalleboo wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Programming (for me) occurs at the apex of an extended Maslow's type hierarchy, and traveling often destroys the very foundations of it For me, it varies with my mood. A lot of the time having some stress and interesting surroundings spurs my creativity and I've written some of my best code in a park, on an airplane or at a café. Other times I just want to lock myself in a familiar room with all my comforts and shu…

It is interesting that sometimes being in a new environment can promote creativity and even discipline (for instance, it's easier for me to work continuously on a plane--which I'm doing right now--than when I'm in our home office because I perceive I have less choice: not sure what that says about me). And I agree that if I'm doing performance testing or adding a mellow feature, then sure, throw me in the middle of C…

http://libgen.org/scimag2/10.1111/j.1600-0668.2004.00305.x.p...

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

#97

Post by __--__ »

I recently did something similar to this short term (airbnb for a month in SF) and I'm curious: are all digital nomads strictly software guys or writers? I have physical electronics and carpentry projects I like to do in my spare time, so I had a trunk full of tools during my airbnb stay.

Is it possible to do hardware projects on the road? Maybe rely on hackerspaces for tools and such?

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

#98

Post by pjbrunet »

hawkharris wrote: post #53

Alex, you're a very skilled storyteller. I enjoyed reading the post. I have one small piece of constructive feedback: your use of commas was a little confusing at times, and it slowed down my reading. Commas can be tricky, and I sometimes struggle with them as well. Here's a quick guide that I find useful: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp

You didn't need a comma here:

"at times and it slowed"

Or here:

"can be tricky and I sometimes struggle"

Granted, you might want a dramatic pause or the comma might break up parts that could be misconstrued as together. Chiding Alex with superfluous commas? Generally speaking I recommend dropping commas where you can. Like you said, they're speed bumps.

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

#99

Post by toumhi »

virtualwhys wrote: post #94
epsylon wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Capbreton, in the Landes region, best waves in Europe ;-)

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.

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

#100

Post by asmosoinio »

gexla wrote: post #31

I'm somewhat doing this, I made it as far as the Philippines and then I sort of planted myself. When sticking to one place, it's pretty much the same as being planted anywhere else. Obviously the author of the article moved around a lot more. My advice for S.E. Asia is don't get a hostel for AirBnB room. Get an actual apartment or even a house. Where I'm at you can get either month to month for $100 to $200 per month…

Had to comment on a minor thing: If you are in one of the big cities, Subway is easily available? http://www.subway.com.ph/Subway_front/layouts/

It was what I had for lunch almost too often when living in Makati. A bit expensive compared to many of the local offerings, but always fresh and you know exactly what you get.

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