7 ms·

5+ years here. Definitely not looking back to go to an office. After doing the DN thing in Asia for a year, I bought a farm house in my home country in Europe a

by ibz 9y ago

5+ years here. Definitely not looking back to go to an office. After doing the DN thing in Asia for a year, I bought a farm house in my home country in Europe and moved over here. Being able to live in nature instead of in a city is an amazing, life changing experience. I often have people over visiting me - either friends or couch surfers. Planning to AirBnB the barn as well, which I converted into a nice big loft. I don't feel much lonely - I can always chat with neighbors - everybody knows everybody here in the village. Or I can drive to the city whenever I feel like. I love the fact that I've never used an alarm clock (except when I need to catch a flight or something). And yet I am always getting up earl and full of energy. I often nap during the day, which I love, and would be hard to do in an office. I sometimes disappear for a couple of hours to do some work in the garden. And I sometimes check on work on weekends. Overall, the flexibility about how you spend your time and where you live is what makes remote work worth it. You also need the discipline though.

thenaturalist 9y ago
Mind sharing if/ how it's possible to visit? I'm starting out to work remotely and travel and would come by.
- ibz 9y ago
  Sure! Email me at hn <at> myusername <dot> me and let's keep in touch! There are very cheap flights from Berlin to here if you're flexible. :) Cheers!
jamiegreen 9y ago
What do you do, if you don't mind me asking? (I am assuming developer, but interested to learn more specifically your niche/years of experience)
- ibz 9y ago
  Python. Data processing and such. I like doing pretty much anything that is not UI. Been in the field (programming, that is) for ~15 years. Currently working for a failed startup that got acquired by another startup. :) Did this satisfy your curiosity?
  - jamiegreen 9y ago
    Very interesting, thanks for the answer! :)
openfuture 9y ago
Have you checked out trustroots? I prefer it to couchsurfing.
- ibz 9y ago
  Yup, I'm on trustroots as well. Indeed, it looks like a nicer alternative, now that CS is becoming more and more commercial. Not that many people on trustroots yet though.
padobson 9y ago
Or I can drive to the city whenever I feel like. Imagine how open the highways would be if this was how everyone worked/lived. Clear the highways. Save the planet. Work from home.
- ivl 9y ago
  And spend much less money on commuter infrastructure. If a highway can realistically be cut down to two lanes per direction instead of three, there's less to maintain.
  - jliptzin 9y ago
    I severely doubt that 2 lanes vs 3 will save any significant amount of road maintenance. Once you have to send out the crews anyway that’s probably 90% of the cost.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- Buttons840 9y ago
  How can we make this happen? I've been thinking of this as a potential startup idea. What hardware/software can we build that would make companies feel comfortable with many remote workers, and also ensure those remote workers are able to collaborate and work efficiently?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - bproven 9y ago
    The comfort level would be: are you completing your projects on time? Good. You are not? (b/c goofing off at home instead of working) Goodbye! That would do it.
    - Buttons840 9y ago
52-6F-62 9y ago
You just described a large part of my dream lifestyle. Coming from a rural setting, the city life gets a little old after a while. I love the city and love visiting and the convenience of everything, but other opportunities for sport and exercise can be limited. And god do I miss being able to bike 5 minutes and ending up in the countryside. If I can get myself further north or toward the mountains comfortably, I will. Please do share how you managed all of that—it helps to have insight!
- bonestamp2 9y ago
  Not OP, but for me... I was working in an office and then my wife was offered a great job in another city. I was going to quit my job when I realized I should at least ask to work remotely first. They said yes! I've been working remotely for that company for coming up on 10 years now. It's a software consulting company, and I'm the only person who works remotely full time... however many of our clients have employees who work remotely, so it generally works out very well. When working with people at my company, there was an adjustment... at first I would miss out on a lot of office discussions, but it has been a learning process for them too. My colleagues and I have a lot of mutual respect so it didn't take long before they realized they needed to halt a spontaneous conversion for a moment and loop me in on the phone/skype. I think you go through different adjustment phases, but I've come to realize I need to treat working at home with great discipline to do it long term. This may not apply to everyone, but I need to maintain a routine, although the flexibility is available if/when I need it, but that sometimes comes at a cost of focus and/or productivity for that day (although I think the much greater focus and productivity that is achieved most days more than makes up for any of these off days). So although flexibility is one of the great perks, I'm not someone who can take advantage of that every day. But, when things come up it's great! I can help out in my kids classrooms, or show up for their midday school events whenever I want... which is an unbelievable luxury. If we want to beat traffic for a long weekend we can leave the day before and just work from the hotel the next day. This is an amazing treat because then when you're done work, you're already at your vacation destination and you can start to relax or enjoy the place. Just like the author wrote, I never had a problem with it before but now I find it much more distracting to work in an office. Even if my wife is working from home and I can barely hear her across the house, just having someone around is distracting. It's not a major problem that can't be solved by some noise isolating headphones, but it definitely a change I noticed. Even though I don't spend any time with them, I know of a few nice people on my street who also work from home if I really needed something. I have also met people on meetup.com who are interested in similar hobbies to mine, and regularly get lunch with the ones who live/work near me and it's surprising how many other people work remotely now too.
allsunny 9y ago
help me out, what's DN?
- heartbreak 9y ago
  Digital Nomad.
thathappened 9y ago
Discipline is key. I coded in college to avoid competing for a retail job. You get in grooves and forget to eat or go out and next thing you know you're nocturnal. After cramming 2 decades of work in the next one, I burnt out and worked remotely from a cabin in NC. I was a network engineer so fast net hours from a major city and I was king
criddell 9y ago
Is your internet connection fast and reliable?
- ibz 9y ago
  I've got a satellite connection. Unlimited traffic for 100EUR / month. Much more than I would pay for internet in a city, but hey... And yes, it is reliable and quite fast bandwidth wise. The ping time is not that great though (which means there's always a small delay when you talk to somebody). Has never been an issue though, and I do Google Hangouts every day!
  - criddell 9y ago
    Is your uplink via satellite as well, or is that over a different channel? And can it stream Netflix?
    - ibz 9y ago
      Yes, also satellite. Here's what I am using: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooway (from a local reseller) Never understood this Netflix thing. Guess because I'm not into TV series and the movies I watch are likely not there. But I can stream Youtube just fine. If that helps. ^_^
albertzeyer 9y ago
Do you have a family? What is the job of your partner? Do you have a school nearby for kids? This sounds like something which would be hard to do with a family.
- paulddraper 9y ago
  I assume a spouse would not be employed, or would also work remotely. And believe it or not, even rural places have schools, at least in the US. If anything, I think this is more appealing to families, because of the available space.
enobrev 9y ago
I enjoy similar comforts, but prefer to live in major cities. I've been working remotely for 17 years, and in that time I've lived in Brookyln, Seattle, and now Chicago. No alarm clocks, ever. No driving unless I need to haul something. No commutes. I refuse to deal with rush-hour. I truly enjoy naps and long lunches and have no set schedule - sometimes I'm up nights, sometimes days. I could very well move to a farm-house in the country, but I think I'd lose my mind. I truly enjoy city life, as a personal preference. I used to think I wanted to be a "nomad", but it turns out I really enjoy my sit-stand desk with three monitors, a comfortable chair, and everything just how I like it. I'm far more productive than I ever have been while on the road. Instead, I prefer taking long breaks with my wife to travel without any work-related devices. I'm not always incredibly healthy when it comes to eating, exercise, and extra-curricular activities, but mentally I generally feel I'm in far better shape than most of my peers who deal with the bustle of a daily on-location occupation. I have the utmost respect for their ability to carry on every day. It's just not for me.
simonebrunozzi 9y ago
Great. Just curious, which country do you live in now?
- anthony_barker 9y ago
  Same - was thinking of doing the same think in France... but I have heard good things about northern romania
  - ibz 9y ago
    SW Romania :)
  - ibz 9y ago
    Of course this could be done all over Europe, as cheap farm houses abound. It's more a matter of having the patience to restore the thing. That is a very time and resource consuming task.

by ibz 9y ago

thenaturalist 9y ago

Mind sharing if/ how it's possible to visit? I'm starting out to work remotely and travel and would come by.

ibz 9y ago
Sure! Email me at hn <at> myusername <dot> me and let's keep in touch! There are very cheap flights from Berlin to here if you're flexible. :) Cheers!

jamiegreen 9y ago

What do you do, if you don't mind me asking? (I am assuming developer, but interested to learn more specifically your niche/years of experience)

ibz 9y ago
Python. Data processing and such. I like doing pretty much anything that is not UI. Been in the field (programming, that is) for ~15 years. Currently working for a failed startup that got acquired by another startup. :) Did this satisfy your curiosity?
- jamiegreen 9y ago
  Very interesting, thanks for the answer! :)

openfuture 9y ago

Have you checked out trustroots? I prefer it to couchsurfing.

ibz 9y ago
Yup, I'm on trustroots as well. Indeed, it looks like a nicer alternative, now that CS is becoming more and more commercial. Not that many people on trustroots yet though.

padobson 9y ago

Or I can drive to the city whenever I feel like. Imagine how open the highways would be if this was how everyone worked/lived. Clear the highways. Save the planet. Work from home.

ivl 9y ago
And spend much less money on commuter infrastructure. If a highway can realistically be cut down to two lanes per direction instead of three, there's less to maintain.
- jliptzin 9y ago
  I severely doubt that 2 lanes vs 3 will save any significant amount of road maintenance. Once you have to send out the crews anyway that’s probably 90% of the cost.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
Buttons840 9y ago
How can we make this happen? I've been thinking of this as a potential startup idea. What hardware/software can we build that would make companies feel comfortable with many remote workers, and also ensure those remote workers are able to collaborate and work efficiently?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- bproven 9y ago
  The comfort level would be: are you completing your projects on time? Good. You are not? (b/c goofing off at home instead of working) Goodbye! That would do it.
  - Buttons840 9y ago

52-6F-62 9y ago

You just described a large part of my dream lifestyle. Coming from a rural setting, the city life gets a little old after a while. I love the city and love visiting and the convenience of everything, but other opportunities for sport and exercise can be limited. And god do I miss being able to bike 5 minutes and ending up in the countryside. If I can get myself further north or toward the mountains comfortably, I will. Please do share how you managed all of that—it helps to have insight!

bonestamp2 9y ago
Not OP, but for me... I was working in an office and then my wife was offered a great job in another city. I was going to quit my job when I realized I should at least ask to work remotely first. They said yes! I've been working remotely for that company for coming up on 10 years now. It's a software consulting company, and I'm the only person who works remotely full time... however many of our clients have employees who work remotely, so it generally works out very well. When working with people at my company, there was an adjustment... at first I would miss out on a lot of office discussions, but it has been a learning process for them too. My colleagues and I have a lot of mutual respect so it didn't take long before they realized they needed to halt a spontaneous conversion for a moment and loop me in on the phone/skype. I think you go through different adjustment phases, but I've come to realize I need to treat working at home with great discipline to do it long term. This may not apply to everyone, but I need to maintain a routine, although the flexibility is available if/when I need it, but that sometimes comes at a cost of focus and/or productivity for that day (although I think the much greater focus and productivity that is achieved most days more than makes up for any of these off days). So although flexibility is one of the great perks, I'm not someone who can take advantage of that every day. But, when things come up it's great! I can help out in my kids classrooms, or show up for their midday school events whenever I want... which is an unbelievable luxury. If we want to beat traffic for a long weekend we can leave the day before and just work from the hotel the next day. This is an amazing treat because then when you're done work, you're already at your vacation destination and you can start to relax or enjoy the place. Just like the author wrote, I never had a problem with it before but now I find it much more distracting to work in an office. Even if my wife is working from home and I can barely hear her across the house, just having someone around is distracting. It's not a major problem that can't be solved by some noise isolating headphones, but it definitely a change I noticed. Even though I don't spend any time with them, I know of a few nice people on my street who also work from home if I really needed something. I have also met people on meetup.com who are interested in similar hobbies to mine, and regularly get lunch with the ones who live/work near me and it's surprising how many other people work remotely now too.

allsunny 9y ago

help me out, what's DN?

heartbreak 9y ago
Digital Nomad.

thathappened 9y ago

Discipline is key. I coded in college to avoid competing for a retail job. You get in grooves and forget to eat or go out and next thing you know you're nocturnal. After cramming 2 decades of work in the next one, I burnt out and worked remotely from a cabin in NC. I was a network engineer so fast net hours from a major city and I was king

criddell 9y ago

Is your internet connection fast and reliable?

ibz 9y ago
I've got a satellite connection. Unlimited traffic for 100EUR / month. Much more than I would pay for internet in a city, but hey... And yes, it is reliable and quite fast bandwidth wise. The ping time is not that great though (which means there's always a small delay when you talk to somebody). Has never been an issue though, and I do Google Hangouts every day!
- criddell 9y ago
  Is your uplink via satellite as well, or is that over a different channel? And can it stream Netflix?
  - ibz 9y ago
    Yes, also satellite. Here's what I am using: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooway (from a local reseller) Never understood this Netflix thing. Guess because I'm not into TV series and the movies I watch are likely not there. But I can stream Youtube just fine. If that helps. ^_^

albertzeyer 9y ago

Do you have a family? What is the job of your partner? Do you have a school nearby for kids? This sounds like something which would be hard to do with a family.

paulddraper 9y ago
I assume a spouse would not be employed, or would also work remotely. And believe it or not, even rural places have schools, at least in the US. If anything, I think this is more appealing to families, because of the available space.

enobrev 9y ago

I enjoy similar comforts, but prefer to live in major cities. I've been working remotely for 17 years, and in that time I've lived in Brookyln, Seattle, and now Chicago. No alarm clocks, ever. No driving unless I need to haul something. No commutes. I refuse to deal with rush-hour. I truly enjoy naps and long lunches and have no set schedule - sometimes I'm up nights, sometimes days. I could very well move to a farm-house in the country, but I think I'd lose my mind. I truly enjoy city life, as a personal preference. I used to think I wanted to be a "nomad", but it turns out I really enjoy my sit-stand desk with three monitors, a comfortable chair, and everything just how I like it. I'm far more productive than I ever have been while on the road. Instead, I prefer taking long breaks with my wife to travel without any work-related devices. I'm not always incredibly healthy when it comes to eating, exercise, and extra-curricular activities, but mentally I generally feel I'm in far better shape than most of my peers who deal with the bustle of a daily on-location occupation. I have the utmost respect for their ability to carry on every day. It's just not for me.

simonebrunozzi 9y ago

Great. Just curious, which country do you live in now?

anthony_barker 9y ago
Same - was thinking of doing the same think in France... but I have heard good things about northern romania
- ibz 9y ago
  SW Romania :)
- ibz 9y ago
  Of course this could be done all over Europe, as cheap farm houses abound. It's more a matter of having the patience to restore the thing. That is a very time and resource consuming task.