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For me, this is the number one reason that I work remote. Here was my thought process: - Identify the thing you really want to do most in life. - Find the pl

For me, this is the number one reason that I work remote. Here was my thought process: - Identify the thing you really want to do most in life. - Find the place in the world where you can do that the best. - Find a house there. For me, as a rock climber, that meant moving to a little village near Fontainebleau, France, where they keep the best Bouldering in the world. For you, it might mean finding the best concentration of snowboarding, a really good surf break that somehow has affordable houses near it (which probably means Puerto Rico, from my research), a cheapish southwestern Austin'y town with a good music scene, or if you're lucky in choosing your hobbies, a beautiful, unknown trout stream way up in the hills. It could also turn out that the place you want to be is "The Road". There's something to be said for flying one-way to a strange corner of the world, and slowly making your way through it while working from the laptop (3G is ubiquitous nearly everywhere you'd expect it wouldn't exist). You might need to choose your spot carefully this year in particular, but this was what I did for 10 years or so before settling on that house. The important thing is that it's actually somewhere you'd rather be spending your time, so make sure you really know what it is that you want out of life. Because if there's no reason to be near an office, it only makes sense to be near something better.

sverhagen 6y ago
But what if the place you really want to be is... wait for it... the office. I get that's not a popular choice, but there's few things I love more than going to work. I know, I'm in a niche, but it's a thing. I am a passionate workaholic, I can do a lot of it from home, but I do my best work in the office with others and, damn, do I miss it.
- teraku 6y ago
  Nothing bad about that
- iso1631 6y ago
  That's fine, just dont expect everyone else to change their lifestyle to accommodate you.
  - Ancapistani 6y ago
    This is a delicious reversal of common wisdom :)
- webmaven 6y ago
  Perhaps you would move to wherever the world's best co-working spaces are concentrated?
- tmaly 6y ago
  The thought just crossed my kind, will they have to institute hazard pay for office workers?
teraku 6y ago
Hey! Would you mind detailing a bit of your process. Indoors climber here, and planning a vacation trip to Fontainebleau in the next 1-2 years (depending on state of pandemic). Few questions come to my mind: - Where was your initial setup (France, EU, overseas)? - How much savings did you have? - Which industry? - Are you working remote as FTE, or are you freelancer/consulting/having your own company? - How's the internet, doctors, infrastructure? Thanks!
- jasonkester 6y ago
  I started doing this back before Remote was really a thing. So initially, I'd work short 3-6 month contracts on-site in the 'states with 9-12 month stints of travelling in between. Eventually, as it became more possible, I started lugging a laptop along and doing client work from the beach on rest days from climbing. I'd sometimes stop in one place for a month or so just to go heads down for a client or on my own project stuff. In 2011, I took a full-time contract for a fully remote company in the 'states, while living in England. I was their furthest "remote" employee at the time, though they quickly started hiring more once they realized that it worked. There were guys on the team working poolside while digital nomadding around the world by the time I left 5 years later. France happened after a long search to find a good surf break to set up shop at. The issue there is that surf always happens right next to the beach, where they keep all the $5M houses. Or in places full of grumpy expat American surfers that we decided we didn't want to be our sole source of potential friends. Climbers, on the other hand, don't get grumpy and territorial over climbing areas. They're just generally lots of fun to be around, so the only real trick is to find a place that you won't climb out. Most crags have only a few hundred routes at the level you'll be operating at (even factoring in improvement from living next to said crag), so lots of cool places (including Tonsai beach iteslf) got ruled out on those grounds. Font, however, has 30,000 problems recorded and new 7th grade lines going up at the rate of about one every 3 days. It'll be tough to catch up. As to living, it works itself out. They have doctors, grocery stores and schools everywhere in the world. Do what the locals do and you'll be fine. Hope to see you out here one of these days! EDIT: It occurs that I actually wrote a whole article on this once. Shoulda just linked it: https://expatsoftware.com/articles/guy-on-the-beach-with-a-laptop.html https://expatsoftware.com/articles/guy-on-the-beach-with-a-l...
zemvpferreira 6y ago
I don’t disagree with you but I want to highlight a similar-but-different choice. For me, remote work (years ago and now financial independence) has meant staying close to my family, in the same neighborhood I grew up in. I still take a few months off to go live in Japan or wherever every year, but I mostly use freedom to optimize for relationships instead of activities. I still see the same group of highschool friends every week - going on 25 years now. It’s not as adventurous, but this is what my life is about.
- jasonkester 6y ago
  Indeed, you're actually following the 3 steps. Your "thing" just happens to be family & friends, so naturally the best place to live for doing that is where those people are. Saves a lot of work with step three! All the best.

sverhagen 6y ago

But what if the place you really want to be is... wait for it... the office. I get that's not a popular choice, but there's few things I love more than going to work. I know, I'm in a niche, but it's a thing. I am a passionate workaholic, I can do a lot of it from home, but I do my best work in the office with others and, damn, do I miss it.

teraku 6y ago
Nothing bad about that
iso1631 6y ago
That's fine, just dont expect everyone else to change their lifestyle to accommodate you.
- Ancapistani 6y ago
  This is a delicious reversal of common wisdom :)
webmaven 6y ago
Perhaps you would move to wherever the world's best co-working spaces are concentrated?
tmaly 6y ago
The thought just crossed my kind, will they have to institute hazard pay for office workers?

teraku 6y ago

Hey! Would you mind detailing a bit of your process. Indoors climber here, and planning a vacation trip to Fontainebleau in the next 1-2 years (depending on state of pandemic). Few questions come to my mind: - Where was your initial setup (France, EU, overseas)? - How much savings did you have? - Which industry? - Are you working remote as FTE, or are you freelancer/consulting/having your own company? - How's the internet, doctors, infrastructure? Thanks!

jasonkester 6y ago
I started doing this back before Remote was really a thing. So initially, I'd work short 3-6 month contracts on-site in the 'states with 9-12 month stints of travelling in between. Eventually, as it became more possible, I started lugging a laptop along and doing client work from the beach on rest days from climbing. I'd sometimes stop in one place for a month or so just to go heads down for a client or on my own project stuff. In 2011, I took a full-time contract for a fully remote company in the 'states, while living in England. I was their furthest "remote" employee at the time, though they quickly started hiring more once they realized that it worked. There were guys on the team working poolside while digital nomadding around the world by the time I left 5 years later. France happened after a long search to find a good surf break to set up shop at. The issue there is that surf always happens right next to the beach, where they keep all the $5M houses. Or in places full of grumpy expat American surfers that we decided we didn't want to be our sole source of potential friends. Climbers, on the other hand, don't get grumpy and territorial over climbing areas. They're just generally lots of fun to be around, so the only real trick is to find a place that you won't climb out. Most crags have only a few hundred routes at the level you'll be operating at (even factoring in improvement from living next to said crag), so lots of cool places (including Tonsai beach iteslf) got ruled out on those grounds. Font, however, has 30,000 problems recorded and new 7th grade lines going up at the rate of about one every 3 days. It'll be tough to catch up. As to living, it works itself out. They have doctors, grocery stores and schools everywhere in the world. Do what the locals do and you'll be fine. Hope to see you out here one of these days! EDIT: It occurs that I actually wrote a whole article on this once. Shoulda just linked it: https://expatsoftware.com/articles/guy-on-the-beach-with-a-laptop.html https://expatsoftware.com/articles/guy-on-the-beach-with-a-l...

zemvpferreira 6y ago

I don’t disagree with you but I want to highlight a similar-but-different choice. For me, remote work (years ago and now financial independence) has meant staying close to my family, in the same neighborhood I grew up in. I still take a few months off to go live in Japan or wherever every year, but I mostly use freedom to optimize for relationships instead of activities. I still see the same group of highschool friends every week - going on 25 years now. It’s not as adventurous, but this is what my life is about.

jasonkester 6y ago
Indeed, you're actually following the 3 steps. Your "thing" just happens to be family & friends, so naturally the best place to live for doing that is where those people are. Saves a lot of work with step three! All the best.