@tylertringas

I’m surprised this isn’t anywhere on the forum yet. But just a pro tip for Americans about to start a nomad adventure. T-mobile offers unlimited SMS & data in 120 countries for FREE with any of their (already pretty cheap) plans. It’s ideal if you plan to be back in the US for any part of the year, but I honestly would consider it even if you’re going to be entirely out of the country.

You get bumped down to much slower 3G speeds, but it’s free and works as soon as you land. Can be super helpful before you’ve sorted yourself out with a local SIM. I usually keep my T-mobile SIM in my iPhone all the time and then buy a local SIM and drop it in my pocket wifi for both laptop and iPhone when needed. I keep my local US number and just use it (it’s like $0.05/min in most places) for important clients calls so they don’t have to bother with Skype.

I’m not affiliated at all, just a happy customer. Anybody found a better deal worth mentioning?

Any US nomads found health insurance with global coverage? My current approach has been to have US health insurance, essentially a waste of money but if I ever got very sick I could go home and have coverage. My actual healthcare is a combination of travel insurance (haven’t really used it much though) and paying cash in cheap places like SE Asia and Latin America. The cobbled together approach is neither simple nor very cost-effective. Love to find a product with global coverage that also satisfies Obamacare requirements. Any leads?

Hi nomads! I’m headed to Tanzania in mid-July and working my way down to Cape Town over about 2.5 months. It’s my first time in the region. Any tips or warnings for typical nomad concerns in Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa?

I’m anticipating worse than usual wifi speed but any tips on connectivity would be great.

What are the best sites or strategies for accommodation? I usually use Airbnb, hostelworld or booking.com and target guesthouses in the $50/night or cheaper range. Is that realistic?

Most importantly what should we do?! I’ve already research the obvious highlights: Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Zanzibar, Victoria Falls, etc. Any off the beaten path things to do and/or good spots to post up for a few weeks and enjoy/work?

Thanks

Lots of nomads in and headed to Barcelona. Let’s create a central place for resources, guides and sites for finding an apartment.

I’m headed there in April for 1-3 months (argh, Schengen!). So far Craigslist and Spotahome seem useful. What else is there?

Also any thoughts on neighborhoods would be great here. Right now I’m looking at Gracia which seems to be the spot. Probably avoid Barrio Gotico and Barceloneta due to masses of tourists. I’ve heard some good things about El Born… thoughts?

I want to buy a new backpack and get it shipped from the US. I’m currently in Ubud and generally in Southeast Asia for the next few months. What’s the most reliable place to get a product shipped to?

I know Hubud will let you receive packages but I’m a little too nervous about customs grabbing it or it taking forever and arriving after I’m gone (here for 1 month). The shipping cost to me is free and I’m happy to pay a reasonable fee to customs or whatever to get it reliably delivered. Any specific tips for Bali? Anybody successfully done this?

Places like Singapore and Hong Kong are a bit later in the schedule, wondering if those are generally more reliable places for this kind of thing and worth it to just wait until then.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

Specifically I’m self-employed with an American passport. Curious if there are any good tips & tricks for staying in Schengen Area more than 90 days, like closer to a year.

The basic run down is I’m currently in Thailand and starting at the end of this year or beginning of next - I want to spend a year burning savings to build a piece of software. English language workable to get around (with the exception of Spanish - which I want to learn & don’t mind finding a school / investing the time)

If I were to use a point system to decide where to go it would be something like this

Cost of living (has to include 1 - 2 round trip airfare back to the US. Visa runs / applications) - 10 pts

Geographic location I prefer (worth 3 points)

South / Central America
European
SE Asia
Africa / India

My options seem to be gravitating towards Eastern Europe (Serbia, Ukraine, Poland) or South America (Columbia, Argentina & I’m not sure where else). Looking into the visa rules it looks like I would be limited to six months in Columbia before needing to move on.

Am I wrong for giving up Southeast Asia? I understand it’s popular (I’ve spent a month in Phuket Town, a few months in the Krabi province & a border run to Malaysia).

Hey guys,

I already did a search for internet/wifi on the forum but couldn’t find anything that answered my question, but I could’ve missed something, I hope this isn’t a repeat!

I’d love to hear from you guys on how you’re handling getting internet connection. Do you rely on wifi from coworking spaces, house sitting gigs, cafe’s? Or do you tether/hotspot your phone?

Do you guys have an estimation on how many GB’s per month you go through?

Is there a way to travel on the go, and get internet connection wherever you are at a reasonable cost (like a modem/whatever device–if so, any brands/models you recommend)?

Any insight or links to resources would be great. It’s been surprisingly difficult to find specific nuggets of info on this stuff! I’ve found two sites, Globalgig and GoodSpeed and wondering if anyone has ever used them?