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My co-founder and I have been doing this for three years. We have two backpacks and we are nomadic. Interestingly, it isn't online services that have enabled

by lzw 16y ago

My co-founder and I have been doing this for three years. We have two backpacks and we are nomadic. Interestingly, it isn't online services that have enabled this so much as a lifestyle choice. We value travel and figured it was cheaper to run our startup in most parts of the world than it was in our origin city. We don't use a lot of online services for our business. Biggest one is Gmail, really, and hosting. Things we couldn't take with us. I run a virtual machine on my laptop and under it I have a server that acts as our "intranet server" and so all of the collaboration tools, etc run there. I also start servers periodically while developing something that will eventually run in the cloud to test it out before running it online. We're geared to be able to work full time without access to the internet. We're expecting to be in places where there is no internet. However, for the past 3 years that we've been traveling we've had pretty much full time internet access so far. When we're without internet we use an ad-hoc wifi network so we always have our "local network" with us. Other than what fits in the backpacks we just have a couple boxes in storage. The most stressful experience has been going over all of our stuff and getting rid of it until we fit in the laptop. That took several months of work and because many of the possessions had a history it was not easy. But now, we can go anywhere anytime we want, just about. It is very liberating! Am willing to answer most questions....

andresmh 16y ago
Do you travel only to places with good internet connection?
- lzw 16y ago
  Not intentionally. It has sorta happened to be that way so far. Apparently this internet thing has been adopted widely. But the intention is to be able to be fully productive with only an occasional or intermittent internet connection. Really developed countries: We have internet where we stay. This is more common than we expected. Developed countries: We use mobile broadband for occasional net connectivity on demand, and use email and SMS to notify us about important events. So far all of our services are manage hosted so I've never gotten a "the server is down" message. Undeveloped Countries: Plan is to check in once a week with a cybercafe or wifi hotspot. GSM is a global standard and so, with an unlocked iPhone you can get pre-paid SIMs with dataplans. Fortunately for everyone Apple is now selling unlocked iPhones as a matter of course in countries with multiple iPhone carriers, like Canada, France, Germany and the UK.
nudge 16y ago
I would be interested to know, simply because I wonder about it for my own projects, how you deal with (the possibility of) server/db/other problems with your site when you are going somewhere that has no internet access.
- lzw 16y ago
  We're using AppEngine and it hasn't been a problem at all. This is part of the reason we chose AppEngine. I'd be very hesitant to choose anything where I have to manage the host myself.
dandelany 16y ago
> We value travel and figured it was cheaper to run our startup in most parts of the world than it was in our origin city. Has this assumption proved true so far? How true? What was your origin city, and where have you been? I'm quite interested in this strategy, it would be so nice to pair low-cost living with travel.
elai 16y ago
While i was on my long term trip I found it quite unproductive trying to find that stable internet connection, and a new place to explore provided much more of a distraction than home. Do find travelling decreases your productivity?
rdl 16y ago
I am trying e same thing over the next five months, but I plan to rent apartments for a month or so and travel in between. I like having the Internet, shower, and laundry problems resolved, and I'd like to get to know places beyond superficial tourist level. Plus I have friends visiting for a few weeks at a time. Which cities have worked out well or poorly for you? I'm probably traveling a bit heavy right now (mbp 17, 7d and lenses, kindle dx, iPad, outdoor, business, and casual clothes, global blackberry) and going for value luxury (50-100 per night for a 2br 5 star hotel suite, or a nice condo rental). I think that will increase my productivity and happiness, but I'll try the lowest cost option later this year. The people in student or backpacker places are definitely more interesting than at the oriental or peninsula. Mainly Asia and au/nz for now, and Europe probably next, and then maybe a couple months of USA.

by lzw 16y ago

andresmh 16y ago

Do you travel only to places with good internet connection?

lzw 16y ago
Not intentionally. It has sorta happened to be that way so far. Apparently this internet thing has been adopted widely. But the intention is to be able to be fully productive with only an occasional or intermittent internet connection. Really developed countries: We have internet where we stay. This is more common than we expected. Developed countries: We use mobile broadband for occasional net connectivity on demand, and use email and SMS to notify us about important events. So far all of our services are manage hosted so I've never gotten a "the server is down" message. Undeveloped Countries: Plan is to check in once a week with a cybercafe or wifi hotspot. GSM is a global standard and so, with an unlocked iPhone you can get pre-paid SIMs with dataplans. Fortunately for everyone Apple is now selling unlocked iPhones as a matter of course in countries with multiple iPhone carriers, like Canada, France, Germany and the UK.

nudge 16y ago

I would be interested to know, simply because I wonder about it for my own projects, how you deal with (the possibility of) server/db/other problems with your site when you are going somewhere that has no internet access.

lzw 16y ago
We're using AppEngine and it hasn't been a problem at all. This is part of the reason we chose AppEngine. I'd be very hesitant to choose anything where I have to manage the host myself.

dandelany 16y ago

> We value travel and figured it was cheaper to run our startup in most parts of the world than it was in our origin city. Has this assumption proved true so far? How true? What was your origin city, and where have you been? I'm quite interested in this strategy, it would be so nice to pair low-cost living with travel.

elai 16y ago

While i was on my long term trip I found it quite unproductive trying to find that stable internet connection, and a new place to explore provided much more of a distraction than home. Do find travelling decreases your productivity?

rdl 16y ago

I am trying e same thing over the next five months, but I plan to rent apartments for a month or so and travel in between. I like having the Internet, shower, and laundry problems resolved, and I'd like to get to know places beyond superficial tourist level. Plus I have friends visiting for a few weeks at a time. Which cities have worked out well or poorly for you? I'm probably traveling a bit heavy right now (mbp 17, 7d and lenses, kindle dx, iPad, outdoor, business, and casual clothes, global blackberry) and going for value luxury (50-100 per night for a 2br 5 star hotel suite, or a nice condo rental). I think that will increase my productivity and happiness, but I'll try the lowest cost option later this year. The people in student or backpacker places are definitely more interesting than at the oriental or peninsula. Mainly Asia and au/nz for now, and Europe probably next, and then maybe a couple months of USA.