@wanderingdev

What do you use to work together remotely with your team?

I know Slack, Hipchat and Hall.

Which ones do you guys use and why?

I have finally saved enough money to start investing. What company gives good, diversified access to stock, ETFs and mutual funds? Does it make sense to use company like Vanguard or Fidelity for that? I’m a EU/Poland citizen, how would I transfer my money back and forth without incurring significant fees?

Hello everyone! I’m new here and probably this is a very newbie question, but it doesn’t leave my head.

How do you, nomads, pay your taxes? I mean, if you’re constantly traveling, how are you going to pay taxes for a certain country if you are going to stay there a short period of time?
Or do you return to your “original country” and then pay them?

By the way, this forum has very nice cool formatting features!

Hey travellers, how are you doing?

Do you have problems to plan your trip choosing any currency they want? For example, I’m going to the UK but would like to plan my trip (How much will I spend in housing/food/having fun/attending attractions?) in US Dollar or Euro or any other money.
How do you guys do it easily?

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?

How do you track a total number of days you’ve spent in different countries during the past 12 months?

I find it to be important for visa and tax purposes to know how long and where I’ve been and I’m unable to find any software that solves this.

We’re researching places to use as a home base next year, and are leaning towards Mexico or Panama for 10 months (with 1 week “vacations” to explore surrounding countries)

But, I want to settle some place where the infrastructure is good enough for fast, reliable internet - fast enough to run live webinars without worrying that I’ll be S.O.L due to internet issues when it’s time to go live.

And ideally, I’d like to be on the coast… I like to have ocean/beach access without the need for a drive.

And not in a malaria zone (just saying, since Panama in particular has many areas that I’d rule out simply due to the need for malaria prevention meds)… it’s one thing to take that stuff for a few weeks long trip, but I don’t want to take it for months on end.

Thoughts?

Thanks for reading all

Hi there,

I’m considering a month or two in Medellin and wondered what the co-working space options are like. I want something more than a cafe, so happy to pay the going rate. I spent a couple of months at Hubud in Bali earlier this year and loved it, but realise that I’ve set the bar pretty high.

Has anyone used Epicenter? I read somewhere it is pretty busy. Any other options?

Suggestions much appreciated.

The situation is that my BF is a UK citizen and I am not. We are traveling around SEA and planning to stop in the UK for 6 months to rekindle funds. Granted, the UK is not the cheapest place to rekindle funds, however, he can work and get a good job there.

I have already done my working visa in the UK so I can’t legally work there again. I’m a graphic designer and web designer and have decided that I will try and get freelance work to support myself whilst I’m over there.

My question is more related to tax and visas. I am an Australia citizen so I can get a 3 month tourist visa. I’m just a little worried about how strict they are over there on visas and questioning finance etc

Hi all,

What do you guys use for call and sms forwarding?

Currently I have a Skype US number that forwards to my local phone number. However, it can’t receive SMS’es so that’s a huge dealbreaker.

There’s RingCentral - but that starts at $29/month which is rather pricey.

Any suggestions? I’d just like to be able to call and text like I’m still in the US (when I’m not). Thanks in advance!

Sarah

Hey,
Does anyone have experience with coliving? Is this lifestyle reserved for us sad and lonely nomads or is it intentional communities 2.0?

I see it as the next generation of coworking and have been thinking that it is a feasible solution for me. I’m wondering if there are any success or nightmare stories out there?

Ours is a transient, spontaneous at times, existence. What physical/geographical community can we build in this space? Is that important?

So I’m taking the plunge and will be going nomad in less than 3 months from now!

My situation is that I just started a semi-remote contract with a startup that has a good chance to go fully remote in 3 months time if all goes well.
I will be heading over to Chang Mai at some point, but have decided to do a month or two in South America first, just so that the time difference isn’t so crazy while dealing with the team back home (skype/ hangout meetings in the morning etc)

The current cities on my radar are Mexico City, Medellin and Buenos Ares.
Basically, I am looking for a place that is has a relatively low cost of living, is safe for expats, has good internet and doesn’t have too much of a language barrier.

If anyone has lived in any of those cities ( or other nomad friendly spots in SA/CA), would love to get your thoughts on which place would be ideal for a 1-2 month stay based on my situation.
Thanks!

Hey guys,
My question might be blunt ahah but … how do you get your stuff stolen?
Do you stay in hostels, or shady hotels? Or do you get robbed?
I stopped using hostel with outsiders and I pretty much only use budget hotel now.
I have heard about an app that take screenshots of your room and send it to you if it detects movement too so you can alert the hotel staff.
I don’t want to make everybody paranoiac too ;).

With so many places to choose from, I sometimes overthink where I should establish a presence(home base) . This thought pattern sometimes eliminates the spontaneous choices that are right in front of me I am wondering if any other DNs deal with this as well. If you have any suggestions or resources that could be helpful, please do not hesitate to share!

I currently work at one of the big 5 tech companies (Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon), at the main campus as a software engineer. I was wondering if any nomads work remotely for said companies and how you came to that arrangement. Working for myself or moving to a smaller company that has mostly remote work seems less desirable than maintaining access to all the resources I have internal to my company.

Hi all!

I will be moving to Switzerland a bit earlier than expected and would love to stay in the Swiss Alps for 2-3 weeks. Any of you have any recommendations for a solo traveler that wants to ski in the morning and work on my computer in the afternoon? I need to be mindful of my budget, although I don’t have to live super cheap. Anyone want to join me?

Hey guys!

Doing some travel planning for when my boyfriend and I have to be out of the Schengen in the spring. I’m looking at Dubrovnik and Mostar. We’ll probably get to both of them, but was wondering - for those who have been - which one would you recommend basing in longer-term?

Some context on us: we love food and the outdoors. Both of us are cyclists (and should have folding bikes with us by then) and enjoy hiking/walking. Great views are a must. And neither of us are bar or party people, so the night scene isn’t a factor for us. Quiet places are great and I love small towns.

Keep in mind that this will be March/April/maybe May next year, so not high tourist season. I don’t mind if things are generally bustling, but I hate super crowded touristy spots (for example: I love Rome in winter and hate it in summer).

If anyone has insight, would love to hear it!

Hi All,

My question is about banking when it comes to being overseas/working etc. How do you avoid getting charged large fees by your bank when withdrawing overseas?

I’m originally from Australia and do my banking still in Australia. I live in the UK and most recently was living in Vietnam where I found I had to withdrawl money just to get charged very large amounts from my Aussie bank.

How do you get around this? What can you recommend.

Thanks

I know that when you become a digital nomad you have to become somehow a minimalist. But if luggage space and weight were not problems. I would like to know what items would you miss traveling with. I certainly would carry. A guitar, a set of good knives, a pair of Hiking shoes, (they are sooo bulky), a good camping tent.

What about you?

Hi all, need some help with schengen fuzziness… I’m a US citizen.

Does any know if the 90 day rule applies inside of Croatia. I’m seeing that Croatia isn’t part of schengen but adopts the same visa aquis. This isn’t clear to me.

If someone has a definitive answer please let me know as I’m approaching the 90 day rule in my travel plans and I want to hit Croatia and not have it count.

Thanks in advance.

it seems like Visa have gotten more tight recently and it’s touch and go whether each transaction will go through. Sometimes it does but often now I am getting declined. The bank knows my locations but in the background Visa seem to be blocking a lot regardless and they are harder to notify. I am using paypal where possible because it doesn’t get blocked, but that’s only good for a limited number of places.
Anyone else getting worn out by the payment approval games?

Hi everybody,
We are at the beginning of a very interesting journey to eventually establish work spaces and accommodation in Panama.
But before we start, we’d love to figure out how Panama is perceived by you, US time zone and currency are any advantages ? Would you prefer more urbanic or beachfront locations ?
All feedback will be highly appreciated.
Cheers =)

Hi,
I wondered how everybody deals with getting data on their phone in each country they travel. Is there a way around it? It is always such a pain having to buy and activate sim cards everywhere. I have tried the company “worldsim” and had an international sim for a while, but they where terrible and ended up to be super expensive.

I’m visiting Medellin this October for a month and was wondering what’s the best way to find a place there.

I’m looking at El Pabelado, but on Airbnb it’s all like $1500, when I know the real rent price there for a 1br should be $600.

Anyone can recommend some locals so I won’t get scammed/overpay?

Hi everyone! I will be heading to Poland in two weeks for around ten days. I will be in Poznan, Gdansk, Warschau and Krakau for travelling (the main purpose) and working (as freelancer). For working purpose, I need to be able to connect to internet for most of the time. So, could anyone give any advise which sim card and mobile data option should I get? It doesn’t have to be cheap, but it should have good coverage area and big data plan (around 3 - 5 GB). Thanks.

Hey guys,

In the past 10 years, I have visited many towns and villages across India, however except on Facebook, there is no other way to look back and see on one map - where all you have been to and also how many times.

Since its a part of the nomadic lifestyle as well, I am assuming a couple of you might have put things on a map. How and what service do you use? I would prefer Google Maps, however I am not sure how to put things on that and specially how to mark whether you have visited twice or thrice?

If possible, kindly share Free tools or services.

In the UK we have a significant vote about whether to stay in the EU. I’ll be abroad during the vote but will vote by postal vote in advance. I imagine this would be trickier if I were more nomadic; if I didn’t have an established base in the UK.

I’m curious to how others engage with their national political processes. I’ve met many Nomads who are quite politicly minded. Does this translate to being involved with the established political realities of their homeland?

Would love to hear what you do or don’t do. More an exercise of curiosity than anything else.

Cheers

I’m building a pre-travel checklist for every flight.

This is what I have up to now.

• Visa ready
• Visa Docs
• Immigration papers
• Onward Flight
• 1st week Accommodation / Long term Accommodation
• 1st week 24/7 Cowork
• Printed itinerary
• Following Long Term Stop Planned.
• Where to buy a Cellphone Data Plan SIM card on arrival
• Travel Insurance
• Packing
• Check-out
• Airport Transportation (on departure)
• Airport Transportation (on arrival)
• Online Flight check-in (plus connections)
• Check Weather on arrival
• Schedule events on Google Calendar

I would like to know if you use a pre-travel checklist, if you can share it too, and what experienced nomads think I should add.

Thanks!

Admin edit: Spelling and grammar

I’m currently on UpWork, PPH, Guru and Fiverr but it feels like I’m grasping at straws here. It takes a long time to apply for each job and then wait for the reply. Even still, most of the jobs are small and not recurring.

I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for finding remote jobs (as in ones that are recurring)?

I know of a few out there like remoteok and all the sites it pulls from but they all seem to be jobs for experienced techies. Looking at the job board today I see the word, ‘senior’ and ‘principal’ showing up constantly.

My biggest skill is around video but I can do web development as well as a junior. Does anyone know a platform or group where I could find remote jobs more suited to me?

I appreciate any feedback. Thankyou!

Hi there!

I’m going Nomad in about 3 months. Mainly I’ll stay in some places for at least 1 month, but I’m planning some backpacking trips in between movings. So I’m planning to travel carry-on only on this trips. But I also would like to carry with me some non-indispensable stuff that helps me to keep up with my lifestyle and work on the places where I’ll stay for a longer period. For example a blender, coffee and an Aeropress to prepare my bulleproof coffee. Also my guitar, some camera gear, a good quality screen to work, etc…

Except for the guitar, everything fits into a medium size luggage.

I know I can check in this stuff when moving. But if I’m going to backpack I don’t want to carry this stuff around.

• Is airmailing this stuff to myself a good option?
• Any experience on this?

I’m a newby on this lifestyle so any advice is welcome . Many thanks!

Hi,

As peak seasons arrives in the summer for most of the EU, I’m wondering where people travel in the EU, while keeping their costs down at the same time?

I’ve seen split in croatia, but that seems like peak season in Jun-Sept. Obvious ones are spain, portugal etc - but stiil peak season - so expensive.

Anyone know of anywhere that’s nice and sunny but still cheap at the same time in Jun-Sept, with good infrastructure (health, internet etc.)?

Hello, what is the best voice service to use in Europe? I plan to move around to different to countries. I’m wondering what people are doing?

I was thinking of using Apple’s Sim for data, but that doesn’t include voice.

Hi fellow DN’s
I’m searching for a DN “last minute” type website / service out there?
Maybe something similar to travelzoo.com and skyscanner.com or tripalertz.com but with more focus for DN’s ? What I mean is I don’t really care about the location - if I go to Mexico, Canada or Shanghai. If there is a good deal I might be seriously interested.
Maybe there is nothing like this yet in that case it would be something interesting to create.
Best Y

Hi there!

I’m sorry if this question has been asked before, whether in disguise or directly, but I couldn’t find its own dedicated topic and I find it very interesting to talk about.

One of my issues with the remote working world is the lack of knowledge of where to return to. After a one/two/ten month stint living and working somewhere else (say Airbnb’ing or a short let, meaning a place that is NOT yours by any means), where do you return to?

• Do most nomads own a place that you rent while you travel?
• If not, is this something that you consider doing?
• Do you return to your home country before deciding where to go next? Or do you jump directly somewhere new?
• And when you return, do you find the need to be in a personal, private space? (ie, not sharing with strangers 24/7 365 days a year)

Speaking for myself, I’ve gotten rid of my apartment in Portugal 2 years ago and moved to London simply for the pursuit of new and interesting opportunities. I’m now, at last, working remotely and I plan on working and living for a few weeks/months in random European cities, but not knowing where to return after to after this… is killing me! (I still own too many possessions to carry in a backpack. Not too many, but moving is a hassle).

• Those of you who travel without a set of keys on you, how do you deal with this thought? I’m really curious to get to know your views on this.

Thanks in advance. This forum has helped me a lot convincing me that this is a leap I need to make sooner or later cheers!

Thanks to the forum and many hours’ worth of reading, I have a number of puzzle pieces, but am having some difficulty putting them all together as a cohesive plan.

This was evolving into an epic post (of heroes and dragons), but I think the crux of the thing is: everything basically requires a physical/street address somewhere in the US, correct? How are you doing this now, given current conditions/requirements?

For business formation, for a business checking account, and even for a personal account, it’s all about the physical address. For example, I believe I’ve read here that Charles Schwab (often recommended) may no longer be accepting addresses from mailing services such as Earth Class Mail and Traveling Mailbox, street-based or not. Correct? And that’s simply for a personal account–business stuff is always more complicated.

Assuming a “friends and family plan” is not an option, what to do?

One thing I think would work is to rent a cheap room or apartment in some state and use that as a base, but that’s an added cost/pain, and I don’t believe that’s what most people are doing.

This also has me wondering if it isn’t better to simply find a cheap domestic location and give up on the international plan. (But that sux.)

Hi everyone,

Is it illegal to not have a residency?

I’m from Sweden and make all my money online. Now I’m going to become a non-resident for tax purposes.

My thinking is that I want to live in Australia for a few months of the year and then live in 2 other places a year. Basically… I’m looking to escape tax and not have an official residency anywhere. At the same time, I’m gonna take great care avoiding to stay long enough in each place so I’m not obliged to pay tax.

The thing is… On the visa into Australia I have to type in residency, and when I don’t legally have one, what the heck am I suppose to type in?

Could I just type in my old address in Sweden? (Or maybe my parent’s address). Or would that be considered illegal seeing I don’t live there but more importantly I don’t have residency there anymore (though I will of course always remain a citizen)?

Curious to hear your thoughts about this and if maybe someone is already doing this and living without an official residency.

(The ultimate goal with all of this is of course to avoid giving away half of my hard-earned money every month while being able to live a more comfortable life in 3 places a year)

I have been interested in traveling to the balkans for a while, and the cities I’ve been delving most into are Ljubljana, Zagreb, Split, and Sarajevo (also Prague and Budapest). I’m interested in hearing about these places from anyone who has travelled there, especially to multiple of the cities, or to any other place in the region.

In particular, I’m interested in pros and cons of the cities vis-a-vis each other, and interested in tidbits about the vibe of the cities, the culture of the people, and any other first-hand things that are hard to pick up by reading (I already know the sizes of the cities, that they each have beautiful architecture, that Split has the beach, etc. ). How youthful do the cities feel? How walkable are they? How friendly are the locals? How likely would a 26 year old digital nomad be to meet his bride there ;)? What are the biggest unique things that stand out about each place?

We spend a ton of time in the tropics and are craving a little bit of winter. There was a thread about ski towns: What are good ski towns for digital nomads? but I’m actually wondering about non-ski towns.

• On the cheaper side
• Reasonable internet and/or coworking
• Has good public transit
• Has snow without being mind numbingly cold

Anywhere on the planet is of interest from Bulgaria to New Zealand, from Harbin to Matroosberg… i don’t really care where on the planet it is, just that it’s not to hard to get to/from.

Hello,

I’m planning to fly to Mexico mid October for 1 month. I’m working on my laptop (like many others I guess) so I need a reliable wifi connection.
My budget is about $1500/month.
I was looking at Playa Del Carmen and renting a flat through Airbnb is not too expensive since I get a major discount for staying a month.
I don’t really care about nightlife. I want a place with good vibes and I want a place near the ocean or with nature around me.
Does anyone have any thoughts about Playa Del Carmen? and Maybe suggestions of other place in Mexico?

Thank you!

Have any of you worked from Zanzibar? It’s mostly a vacation destination but the Internet is relatively good so we are planning to give working there a try in mid-July. Do you know any hotels, coffee shops or restaurants that might be particularly good for getting work done?

I’m an introvert: people distract and exhaust me, and my ideal working environment would be an empty room and silence. Next best is what I have whenever I’m in my own environment: the space is never empty, but it’s usually silent save for ambient noise. Working from public space involves dealing with noise levels that are, for me, entirely counterproductive. Right now I’m in a hotel lounge and was settling in to focus on a magazine layout job when all of a sudden they switched the music to something loud, upbeat and with lyrics. I put my earplugs in immediately, but I can still hear that crap, and my concentration’s shot. What do you all do to manage noise when working from public space, or what are your workarounds?

In my case right now, I’m here because I need several hours of electricity, not just the two hours max I could get at my off-grid location. My noise workaround is to come to town and recharge my laptop, then go back to the country to work, but for long amounts of time, that’s not an option for me (yet — but I’m working on it).

If I stay somewhere for a while I usually get hard bottled bulk water containers, but often I have to rely on cheap plastic water bottles, which isn’t good from both a health and environmental perspective. Have used a drink bottle with a filter but can’t say I trusted it, and it was a little annoying. Any better options in use?

Hey there! As a nomad, how do you organize your book notes? I used to write notes on the physical pages, but now since I’m always traveling I’m trying to avoid physical books and it became difficult to keep track of my book notes. Also, I feel that it is so much more effective to retain the information on the book when I take notes of what I’m reading…

Any ideas for tools/methods to organize your book notes on the road?

My husband and I have residency in the state of Tennessee in the USA and my in-laws collect our mail for us there. We only pass through Tennessee about once a year.

Does anyone know what happens if we’re called to jury duty? Is traveling a legit excuse to get out of it?

Hey Nomads, I run a subscription site in the gaming industry (Magic: The Gathering to be exact) and I have a number of friends in the UK that I like to visit frequently. I’m American, so I can get a 6-month visa just by showing up at the border.

I’m 2 months into a 3 month stay here, and I just found out that I need to come back about a month after I leave.

My question is, how is the 6-month period calculated? My assumption was that I cannot spend more than 6 months in any given 12-month period in the UK on my visa. I am asking because I intend to come back to the UK after spending the winter somewhere…warmer

I’m trying to sort out whether I can come back in early 2017, as I have work obligations in Ireland in February and would love to piggyback onto that trip.

Does anyone have experience with this visa and comings-and-goings? I don’t want to risk screwing up and getting in trouble and jeopardizing my ability to enter the UK in the future, so I’d like to get some proper guidance on this.

Hi guys

Does anybody know if there are special visas for self employed people in European countries? I dont have a European passport but i would like to stay a bit longer than the time allowed to tourists. I know Germany have some kind of visa but are there any other countries in the region? what about the UK?
Thanks!

Hi!
I found this perfect solution https://www.didlogic.com/ that will forward phone calls to whatever SIM card you currently are using and really cheap too. But… Really horrible reviews http://www.oregonherald.com/bnews/story.htm?id=1113.

What do you guys say?

I’m a digital nomad with a goal of visiting as many different cities as possible.

I travel each month to a different city (with good weather) in a different country and I never repeat the same country in the same year for diversity (except when visiting home).

I choose where to go next by pinpointing the top cities from the nomadlist.com (which is constantly updated according to the weather, if I’m not mistaken) in a personal Google Map, I then see what’s the nearest country according to my current location and I plan everything 1 or 2 months ahead.

In December I always go home (Portugal) to spend time with my family and then in January I start all again.

Sometimes in order to get to the “nearest” pinpointed country I have to take 2/3 flights which can be expensive and time consuming. This is when I think I might not be making the best move.

Do you guys have any advice that might improve my strategy?

I’m traveling with my girlfriend and she takes birth control pills, one pill every day. Can any of the digital nomadic women on here give her any tips on what time to take it to best suite global travel inside many timezones?

Hi,
This is quite a specific question but can be generic in term of method.
I need to get some time out of Bogota so I can come on the remaining days of my touristic visa in order to enrol in a cheapest university to study Spanish.
So basically going out for 2 weeks, come back, do the papers during the 3 remaining weeks.
I’m trying to find the cheapest flight + hotel combination for this period of time using Nomadlist.
Anybody has a better method/experience?

A few days ago I came across this: https://www.mindmyhouse.com/homepage, it’s a website for connecting house owners and caretakers. Even though they seem to exist for a long time, I haven’t heard of them before. The website seems a bit outdated too.

Has anyone tried this? What was the experience like?

What method do you use to get paid by your employer abroad? I’ve used wire transfers and PayPal, but come to realize there are lots of fees some more obvious than others.

For example, with PayPal, often there is an international transfer fee of 3.4% or more, then on top of that PayPal takes a 2.5% spread on the currency exchange rate.

Hi,
I have been using Paypal since I’m nomading and contracting. However now it asks to confirm my identity.
I created my account when I was in the UK, now slow traveling, my account is bound to the UK and I’m feel like I’m *****ed since they ask for information about my previous UK address.
They are talking about limit lifts. Anyone using paypal has a nomad with no home address?

Hi there!

I realise this isn’t the right way of asking for legal advice, but I’d appreciate some initial loose pointers on where to go and what to do.

I’m currently working for a company which is UK-based (full-time contract), where I’m paying my taxes, own bank accounts, and so on. However, being a remote worker, I’ve been working from Berlin this year and for personal reasons, I really don’t want to move back to the UK.

So, being aware that I would need to spend at least 90 days in the UK if I want to continue to legally work, what are my options to avoid this entirely?

• Should I register as freelancer in Germany and have my company employ me as a freelancer? Would this exempt me from the 90 days rule? If so, what would happen to my pension scheme in the UK?

• Should, if it’s possible at all, still be employed by this company (non-freelance) but pay my taxes in Germany instead of the UK? Again, is this wise and would it exempt me from the 90 days in the UK rule? (the company has no German affiliate)

Funny enough, I can’t find an available accountant in Berlin to ask all of these questions, hence why I’m hoping some of you wise folks would point me in some direction

Thank you!

Hi people,

I’m Greek, I’m now transitioning to fully remote. I think I have solved the first part: Creating a remote legal entity, a business bank account and having health insurance but I don’t know how to solve the pension issue.

As an EU citizen, either your employer contributes X% of your gross salary to the national/private pension funds, or if you are a freelancer you pay the equivalent to the freelancer pension fund of your country, which in many cases is also attached to the national insurance fund.

So as a fully remote person, not registered as an employee or freelancer in any EU country, only having an EU company for invoicing and money transfers, where and how do you contribute to a pension fund for you? And what fund would that be?

I’m talking about a core pension fund, similar to the one that you would have if you were registered as an employee or freelancer in your country. Not ancillary pension funds offered by insurance companies, as these mostly focus on covering additional aspects that may not be covered by the core pension fund you have and they assume you already have a core pension fund.

Thank you so much for the help.

Hi,
Surprised that this thread does not exist.
If you lose and block your only credit card, what are your other options than going home?
Do you have a specific bank that can send you a new card? Aside from that do you have some tips?

Ever heard of people buying an old school bus together and taking a road trip throughout the U.S.? Well it’s kind of like that.

What are the chances of a bunch of freelancers, or a startup, buying a really big boat, and working 100% remotely, while cruising to a different country each year? Kind of like Semester at sea but for a company or group of freelancers!

Hello

I am going to buy a new laptop, a lightweight one. And I am considering removing the battery as a option to remove extra weight (~350g / ~0,77lbs, I guess).
Because I used to work on my laptop at library, I am not able to image situations where there is no plug.

So, when are you using your laptop on battery ?

Hey folks, we’re starting up a coworking community in Sombor, northern Serbia (www.fabrika.org.rs/coworking/). We’re trying to figure out what is the first thing that comes to mind, so that we can address any prevelant concerns, assumptions, generally, handle them in a better way. Our country is not well known, so understanding how others percieve it will help us develop our community in a better way.

So, in all honesty, what is the first thing that comes to mind when I say “Serbia”, good or bad (I won’t be offended )

Thx!

I’m just curious as to other nomad’s lifestyles.

Most nomads seem to work constantly (either for others or themselves) and I was curious as to whether anyone works for a few months and then travels for a few months without working.

That would be my ideal schedule, just curious as to what you do and who you are!

I’m an aspiring DN and my best chances for getting a job are to continue developing my Front-End skills until I can get a steady stream of income. I’ve never been hired for this kind of work. Before it was just a hobby but now I’m quite serious…any suggestions to go from 0 to employed in 6 months? Also I live in China.

I do not want to be an “alarmist” but today we had a recent major bombing at an airport & subway in Brussels. A few months back there was Paris. I am currently on my European part of this years trip and it is on my mind.

There are many places that are off the map for Digital Nomads and for good reason. Safety due to war or major crime. I am talking places like Syria, parts of Iraq, few islands in Philippines, a few province in Mexico, El Salvador, etc. But places that aren´t historically unsafe do causes concern to people, specifically your back home family&friends.

As a traveler how do you deal with terrorism or major crime when it is around where you are visit? Also secondly how do you deal with at home messages from family members.

So, our doctor gave us a great book called Travelling Well… it’s a guide to staying healthy while travelling. However, I don’t want to carry it around the world! Can anyone recommend an iPhone app or website that is good for this? We also purchased a travelling medical kit, full of all sorts of goodies should we get ill… problem is I won’t remember what any of it’s for and looking for an app or online guide for medicines.

Thanks Digital Nomads!
Clark

I’m planning to leave the US in May, travel for at least a year, maybe longer, and it is unclear, if I’m going back to the US at all, except for brief visits.

Looking at WorldNomads I seem to be covered for pretty much anything bad that could happen. But what happens, if I have to be transported back to US? If I understand correctly, WorldNomads is out at that point and I’m left with whatever insurance I have there.

How do you deal with this?

I’m currently looking to go to one of the two cities in the upcoming months (or both!) to do research for a documentary. Are there any shared workspaces or meet-ups for nomad anyone recommends? I’d love to interview people who have been living there for a while and do a bit of networking. For you veterans, what’s the best way to go about this?

Hi All,

Have been bumping around the world for the last year and would like to find a semi-permanent residence somewhere in Central America or Mexico. Thinking up to 3 months or so.

Currently I am in Guatemala, but would go anywhere from San Cristobal, Mexico to SJDS, Nica. Would love to share a house with another nomad (or two or three etc.)

Doesn’t really matter to me whether it is beach, mountains or town. Would prefer to stay outside the larger cities.

I am a JavaScript developer, but also have a background in design, marketing etc.

Holler out if you are in the area and lets see if we can make something happen.

Cheers

Jesse

I’m still trying to decide where to go between October and Christmas this year. Too many criteria to handle and at this point no absolute priority is emerging… first world problems. So I turned the “problem” around, instead of thinking selfishly “what can this or that place do for me?” I am now thinking “what can I do for this or that place”? And so… Greece. I visited Athens & the Peloponnese on holidays last year and found some beautiful spots where I could definitely spend a couple of months, and am now thinking: what if there’s a few of us who rent a big house with Internet (preferably by the sea, that priority is pretty much always top of the list for me though I’m flexible) and turn “selfish nomadism” into “supportive nomadism”? I only have a contact in Nafplio for housing, so if you are interested in helping create this and have ideas/suggestions/contacts let me know in a comment! There may be a few practical difficulties, with the current cash shortage… I haven’t studied this in details but here’s a thought, anyway!

I’ve noticed that recently a lot of us tend to prefer the ‘slow-travel’ rhythm, which is more about moving to a place for a month or two, and then living there, instead of changing your place every couple days.

However, what about those that still like the fast pace of travelling, with meeting lots of other travellers on the road? Are there any nomads here, that still like the backpackers’ lifestyle? That is: you travel through a whole country by yourself; you change your place of living much more often; but you still have to work a bit digitally in the meantime?

If yes, then how do you hang out with backpackers and keep up with their pace, while still having to work remotely?

Related questions:

• How do you choose which hostel (or place, area to go to in general) to stay in as a next one?
• How do you maximize your way of meeting other travellers and your own travelling experience (by seeing other places, people and their cultures), while still having to work remotely in the meantime?

I like both digital nomads & backpackers, but so far, barely I’ve seen any digital nomads in the backpacker places or vice-versa. I’m wondering why? In the end, it would be a clear connection of Work & Travel at the same time, two things that a lot of us propably enjoy very much at this moment.

Hello !

I am wondering how do you manage your laundry work flow.

I ask this question because since I investigate the minimalist way of life I only have 4 teeshirts.
So I changed my habits and I wash my teeshirt, my boxer and my socks while taking a shower (takes me 6 more minutes).

How about you ?
Are you reducing your laundry flow, like by wearing merinos wool clothes ?
Are you going to lavomatic one time a week because you have enough clothes for all the week ?
Are you going to lavomatic more often that once a week because you have only few clothes ?
Are you handwashing your clothers ? how and how often ?

Browsing this forum a lot, I learned that the best option for mobile data is buying a local SIM card in pretty much every country I go to. Ok, that’s manageable.

Now I was wondering which mobile hotspot to buy, because I will have more devices with me that I want to connect to the Internet, and my girlfriend will have even more devices with her to connect, too.

When I was looking at just one manufacturer’s offerings, I’m already overwhelmed by the complexity of options.

Should I just use my main mobile phone’s hotspot feature for this?
Should I get a separate mobile hotspot device for that? Which one? Any recommendations?
How do you do this?

Hi Everyone,

I’m myself a digital nomad. So this is a nomad 2 nomad question

It seems to be a popular trend for people to live and work on local farms in returns for daily meals and lodgings. (Southern Portugal)

Typically for 1-3 months periods

My Question
I’m just purely throwing out an idea here. But would any digital nomads be interested in a similar deal ?. Digital work in return for lodgings and food??

Im interested to hear peoples feelings on this one, be it good or bad! I understand this wouldnt be for everyone but a might be appealing to others?

Thanks for reading my question. If any nomads are interested right off the bat feel free to drop me a PM for further details.

I’m leaving for India in about a month and then headed to Thailand and probably Indonesia. What immunizations should I get, and which ones did you get for these areas. The CDC says Hepatitis A and Typhoid for most and long list for some travelers. I’m also considering a Malaria prevention pill. I will be in India for 10 days and Thailand and Indonesia for about a month.

Any information regarding what other nomads have or have experience with would be greatly appreciated.

I was sure there was already a topic on this but I can’t find it.

If you have to replace your laptop while travelling, how do you go about it?

I’m assuming it’s best to blitz everything before throwing it out. Also, do you just bin it or is there some process (I guess that would depend on location).

I’ve realized that if I really want to be a DN entrepreneur, I need to get my ass to a DN hub.

My income (around $1000 USD/month) and some research I’ve done point to Saigon, Chiang Mai, and Medellin as 3 great choices to start out with.

I know some people who could “plug me in” to the DN scene in Medellin and Saigon, but not Chiang Mai.

The primary goal of me moving is to build relationships with DN entrepreneurs, and get great work done. Quality of life for $1000 USD a month is very important too, as I know how much a lack of money can degrade one’s quality of life.

Any advice from people who have lived in 2 or more of these cities? Any particular ways I should be thinking about this?

Right now my initial, probably wrong impressions are:

Medellin -
Pros: Culture and language are more interesting to me than Vietnamese or Thai culture.

Cons: More dangerous than SE Asia, not sure how much more. Higher cost of living than SE Asia. Thriving community, but not as much as SE Asia.

Chiang Mai -
Pros: Lowest cost of living. Very friendly, safe. Probably the easiest to integrate into, and least stressful.

Cons: Harder to connect with locals than in other locations (I know a decent amount of Italian, so Spanish seems easier, and apparently a decent amount of Vietnamese living in Saigon speak English.)

Saigon:

Pros: Seems to have the best community for what I am looking for. Very exciting entrepreneurial atmosphere. Cheaper than Medellin.

Cons: Pollution, could get old living in super urbanized area (stressful perhaps)

Right now I am leaning towards Saigon haha, but I am hoping for others’ experience based perspectives as I am just spouting theory right now

Also, it seems like maybe I should be just thinking about Medellin vs either of the other two cities, since I could literally just fly between Saigon and Chiang Mai for cheap and see how I like either of them.

Hi all,

I have noticed that it is very common in coworking places to see computers which are not locked. The owner will get up and go for a walk, or even go out for lunch for a couple of hours and leave their computer unlocked.

I find this strange because it basic gives anyone access to your computer and all the information that is on it - mail accounts, social media accounts, your password manager etc, so it poses a potentially huge security risk.

For me personally I worked in corporates many times and there you can get into big trouble if you leave your workstation unlocked. It is part on my muscle memory now - when I get up I lock the computer. On Windows it is so easy because you can just press Win+L and the computer is locked.

So I am curious - do you lock your computer when you get up? Is it just something you have not thought about before, or do you think no-one will mess with your computer in a public place?

Hi everyone,

I did a bit of research about Costa Rica and got my feelings all mixed up. I know that it is considered safe in comparison with the rest of SA but how safe is it? I read on a forum that you cannot walk with your backpack every day as you will probably get mugged (gunpoint included). Is this true?
I am a solo female traveler and pretty easy target I’d guess. The other topics here on Costa Rica contain very little info. Your feedback would be much appreciated.

I recently opened a Charles Schwab checking account because I’m sick of paying ATM fees abroad (been about 5 years now so it adds up). I did this online while I was in India. Everything went off fine opening the account online until a week or so later when I received a letter saying my account needed to be verified. No problem I thought, call the people up and answer a few questions. Wrong! Since I opened my account from a non-US IP, my SSN had been flagged. This requires in person verification! There is no way around this now. I asked if I VPN’d with a US IP and tried to open a new account would it work. The CSR said no, my SSN is now flagged and the only way for me to get an account at Charles Schwab is to go branch and verify my identify in person.

So this is word of warning for any US people opening bank accounts while abroad. I suggest you VPN to get a US IP when opening any account. Probably with a less well known VPN as well.

Good luck out there!

I am a web developer and content writer. As of right now , I reside in Atlanta, Georgia . My plan is to move abroad soon. At this point , I am not sure where to set up my home base . Anyways , my real question is about rates. How do web developers decide the most suitable charging rate ? Let’s say a client is in need of a full website and e-commerce platform. That client resides in Paris , but another client in a low income country wants the same service. Does your charging rate depend on the client’s location ? That was a hypothetical situation. I am a new to this stuff! I do not have any clients yet .

Hypothetical Scenario: Let’s say I’m traveling, and I’m using a Windows 10 laptop to get some work done. It’s 12 midnight, and my laptop(s) and luggage are suddenly lost. Maybe I went to a restaurant/bar/club, and thieves ransacked my hotel room while I was away. Whatever the case, I still have my wallet & smartphone, and that’s about it.

At this point, I need a replacement Windows 10 laptop, that I can install programs on, and I need it ASAP, so I can meet a deadline. What are my options?

Is there some 24 hour laptop-replacement-on-demand service out there?

Hey guys, I am planning to start a Digital Nomad community in my country (Dominican Republic), so I would like to know all the things I need to do to make it work as well as possible.

BA has recently reduced the permissible dimensions for a carry-on personal item to 40 x 30 x 15 cms (i.e. 16 x 12 x 6 ins). I’ve been travelling by train since June, but I’m about to fly again and see that my wonderful laptop backpack is now oversized. Can anyone recommend a laptop backpack that fits within the new dimensions?

Hello!

I’m after advice on a good (read: warm) nomad base for November & December. I wanted to head to the Canaries, but I think I’ve left it late to look because there isn’t much left in the way of accommodation in my price range on Airbnb. I know there are a lot of nomads around there, especially Tenerife & Gran Canaria, and wondered whether anybody could suggest other accommodation options/websites to look at?

Failing that, what’s another good nomad spot in Europe for this time of year? I’m chasing the sunshine…

Thanks all

There was a bunch of nomads visiting Croatia this year, and many said they might return again. I was wondering who else has Croatia in their plans or a wish list for the next year?

I’m going to be traveling through and working in many countries in Europe this year and I’m hoping to either use my T-Mobile iPhone 6 (should work based on my research) or I can buy a hotspot to tether internet. This way I can work anywhere and not have to be asking for wifi passwords etc all the time. Does anyone know a good carrier/plan/hotspot? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Also: I’m always looking for great designers and developers to work with. Contact me if you’re interested. I have plenty of work for you

Does anyone know of a service where I can buy SIM cards for countries before actually getting to the country? My mobile coverage doesn’t work most places out of the US (or it’s an exorbitant cost). I just want to land in the country, and pop in a SIM card right at the airport.

So I had a client go silent on me recently as soon as I brought up the topic of delinquent invoice payment. We typically speak daily, and otherwise have an excellent relationship. They love the work I do (at least, their praise seems authentic and on target). I love the work I do for them. We had a verbal agreement that I would be paid within 2 weeks of invoice. My contract allowed for 30 days / 4 weeks. At the second invoice, they went into 6 weeks without paying me.

I asked about it, and got no information in return. I kept sending emails twice a week to politely ask for information about what the issue was, and when I could expect payment. I received an extremely brief non-answer once, and more silence. I began to explore what other measures I could take, I honestly believed I had been scammed. They owed me a 5-figure sum (USD).

I work on about 8 different websites/codebases for this client. Each has a git repository, with a full history of all the other contractors, and naturally, their emails. I have paired up with a few of them on some projects (front end / back end dev relationships), so I know some of them on as personal a level a remote dev coworker can have.

I considered extracting all the emails from each project from the last year’s worth of commits, and then emailing each one individually to ask if they’ve ever had payment problems with this client. This would also obviously share information that I had not been paid for a time that violated the terms of our contract. We have a policy of being able to freely contact each other, via slack, or email, so its not like emailing them alone is violating some kind of privacy term on their end (or mine).

Would it be illegal for me to discuss this information with the other contractors? This concerns businesses incorporated in the USA. They are an LLC, if that matters. Could my client have grounds to seek some kind of legal retribution if they found out I did that? I think its only fair that they all know if I had been ripped off, and also may want to band together to fight the client if they too had also been ripped off. There is nothing explicitly stated in my contract that says I cant share information about my experience with them with other contractors (or anyone, really, outside of technology-NDA sort of things).

Note: I was certainly going to report them to Glassdoor, Freelancer’s Union, BBB, and any other institution that I could, if this went on much longer. They finally caved after the 5th email or so, and paid me (again, without speaking to me about it, which is what bothers me the most). I also was going to start resorting to phone calls AND email bombardments (always polite :-P) first, before taking these next steps. This happened with the 2nd invoice in our relationship, which concerned me greatly, since I was told when hired that they had funds to pay me for even more hours than I was putting in. I am aware of the frequency with which freelancers get ripped off by clients (FU reports ~40%). I refuse to tolerate it, especially if we have been told otherwise, and am a strong advocate (re: activist) for workers’ rights in general. Just an aside, Id have been far more tolerant, had they chosen to discuss things with me, and let me know what was happening - the silence drove me towards this aim.

For those traveling through South America at this time, what are your thoughts regarding the Zika Virus? Have you heard about anyone who got it?
I’m planning to go to Medellin and Brazil from March to June and I’m trying to figure out if I should be worried as these countries seem to be the most affected.

I think slack is for mostly location based questions, but the forum also has location based questions, so how do you know which one to post in?

So we have this forum here, but there is also a subreddit at reddit.com/r/digitalnomads. How do they compare? Anybody use both?

This is probably a weird question but yeah… I want to get dental braces to fix the gaps on my teeth but I travel each month to a different city/country and I know I would need adjustments/tightening on the braces once in a while.

I guess I would have to visit a different orthodontist every time depending on where I am. What’s your opinion?

CouchSurfing.com profiles have a section where users list countries they’ve visited and countries they’ve lived in–an interesting distinction for a nomad to think about.

Certainly there’s no one right way to define “visiting” and “living,” but how would you define each of these?

Just phoned my current business bank in the UK(cashplus), they told me that I need to be in the UK to keep using their account.
Can I open a new bank account in Colombia and use it to trade for my UK LLC?
I have seen this : Non UK resident banks
But many requirements to open those bank accounts (having a UK resident shareholder, coming back to the UK, making a deposit of 20K).

I support ObamaCare, but I don’t understand about the requirement that USA citizens must now have health insurance. I just got a new plan, and they don’t support any medical needs when I’m out of the country! So, if working abroad 6 months of year, how do I NOT pay insurance for those months and NOT get a tax penalty? FYI, I’ll be in a pretty high tax bracket in 2016.

Thanks!

I’m curious about a few airlines, but I’ll ask about China Airlines since that’s my most upcoming long haul flight.

• Does it stay connected for the duration of the flight?
• Will there be any hope that I might be able to do real-time voice on it?
• I’ll do text chat most of the time, but are any ports closed on it? I imagine I’ll use a VPN

Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks!

Some of you may be aware that the OECD agreed a while ago on a reporting standard for all it’s members and partners. This standard comes into effect today in some countries.

In effect, this means that from today it will become nearly impossible to avoid declaring offshore bank accounts. I bet most nomads have at least one account in a foreign country so this will affect most of us.

This also means that tax reporting has just got a bit more complicated for many now that those foreign accounts must be declared (often in another currency). If you aren’t sure about whether you are tax compliant, now’s the time to talk to your tax adviser. I offer an international tax consulting service for those who might be interested.

Here’s more details about the new standard (see page 36-37 for the list of participating countries):

Hi, hoping seasoned travellers can help!

I’m leaving Toronto for Lisbon, Portugal in 3 weeks. “Winter” weather there is described as Average 12-15 degrees. Spring "15-18 degrees, and summer 20 degrees up to 28.

Since I have one suitcase and a small luggage allowance - what do you suggest? I know that Lisbon has been warmer than usual in recent weeks!

Advice from Nomads in Portugal specifically welcomed.

Cheers

I’m planning on going to Brazil first. Ideally I want to live there for at least a year but Visa rules for US citizens only allow 90 days max. So I’m thinking of going to Thailand and Philippines afterwards. I don’t really want to come back to the US for a while…
So it got me thinking:

Which countries do you travel to? do you come back when your visa expires? or do you just go to a different country with a new visa and just keep applying for visas for different countries?

Currently with Orange Spain but looking to dump them and move to an EU wide sim - one I can use ideally for phone calls around the world as well? Also, any recommendations for WiFi on the move. Was looking at Open Sky recently - it’s for on the move in a campervan http://www.opensky-europe.eu/

Hey everybody!

The questions… How do you deal with stuff you have to buy but won’t carry? Is there a better way that you already apply for you?

And here is the context to help you answering those…

I usually get semi-furnished apartments where I’m staying and I often have to buy stuff like kitchen utensils, some bed sheets and even pillows sometimes. All things that I have to leave behind what I cannot sell in time so I just got used to count these expenses as part of my stay (e.g. if I bought 200 USD of stuff and will stay 4 months then this adds 50 USD/month of expenses). But I think that is very inneficient. The problem clearly summarizes in: There’s stuff I need to use almot all the time I’m staying in the place, can’t sell it too much before leaving but won’t carry the stuff with me.

Thank you and have good travels!

Do you nomads still print your tickets and/or reservation emails? Anyone travelling with everything on your smartphone?

I still see many airlines asking to print tickets or reservation emails for check-in but can’t I just show them on my phone? Did any of you had any problems with not printing stuff and instead showing everything on your smartphone?

Airlines might have different policies I think…

I was just discussing travel insurance with my mother and she mentioned she’s had an EA+ policy ($179/year) for a couple years. Personally I buy a policy through World Nomads for 4-6 months at a time (usually $1-200/m). I’m more worried about in country care than evac assistance. EA+ seems to focus on evac, but I’m still curious about anyones experience with it.

EA+'s brochure language is a bit vague as to what “assistance” actually means. ie. are they arranging medical care, or paying for it. Curious if anyone has utilized them or made a claim? Seems cheap for what it claims to offer.