6 ms·

> I'd say 95% of digital nomads are just online marketers It’s strange ‘cuz I’ve been working in digital nomad hotspots for years and have met very very few pe

> I'd say 95% of digital nomads are just online marketers It’s strange ‘cuz I’ve been working in digital nomad hotspots for years and have met very very few people like that. Lots of translators, programmers, and then a complete mishmash of other people, but very few people selling courses, and the ones who _were_ selling courses generally nothing to do with being a digital nomad

moltar 6y ago
Same here. I’ve been nomading for ten years. I haven’t met a single person who was not legit doing something of value. The closest I came to one was an online poker player in Chiang Mai back in 2010. Maybe we just hang out in the “right” circles? It’s probably just like in real life. I have never met anyone offering me a generic (non nomad) Ponzi scheme. But I sure had several legit investment opportunities thru my circles.
- seppin 6y ago
  > I’ve been nomading for ten years. The most i've ever been able to do was half a year. How can you choose to be without a real home that long?
  - peteretep 6y ago
    > How can you choose to be without a real home that long? Depends what you mean by "real home" I guess. I have a tiny apartment in Bangkok, where we would normally spend ~ 8 weeks a year in total a year, and then we rent ad-hoc or stay with family the rest
    - seppin 6y ago
      Ah ok you are married. Do you have long term friends locally ? Is your wife your anchor to a local community ?
      - peteretep 6y ago
        > Do you have long term friends locally? Not really sure what that means, but most places we go we have friends we’ve known for many years, and those are often other nomadish types. > Is your wife your anchor to a local community? No, she’s from even further away than me
        seppin 6y ago
        Right but actual roots / connection to a local community, besides fellow travelers / tourists? I personally never felt more than a temporary resident in most places i've been.
      - marcus_holmes 6y ago
        I've travelled single and as part of a couple. Doing this as a couple is hands-down easier. Cheaper, less stressful, and a lot less lonely. Not only because constant companionship, but also because striking up random friendships is easier if the whole "is he hitting on me?" thing is off the table because the girlfriend is right there too ;)
  - moltar 6y ago
    I didn't say I was homeless :D I have a home base, but I spend 6 months or more outside of my home country.
    - seppin 6y ago
      I mean a home with local ties and roots, not just someone else's airbnb :)
      - moltar 6y ago
        Yes, I do have a home with ties and roots. We use it a few month per year, while travelling the rest of the time.
        seppin 6y ago
        Good plan ! :)
anm89 6y ago
What utopia have you found? I couldn't stop meeting these people on the road.
- peteretep 6y ago
  Last year I was in Kohub, Hub Hoi An, Outpost Penestanan, and some time at Hubud. This year, due to Covid, just Kohub.
  - anm89 6y ago
    Kohub is the coliving on a thai island right? I've been really interested to check that out but never ended up making it there. My email is in my profile. I'd be really interested to jump on a chat with you for a few minutes and hear about your experience if you are open to it. Get in touch if you are open to talking.
  - marcus_holmes 6y ago
    Yeah, Hubud is cool, or was last year. I understand the whole of Ubud has been shocked by COVID killing the tourism industry so it'll be interesting how it goes when we can travel again. But yeah, you won't find the budget backpackers trying to scrape a couple hundred bucks a month monetising their awesome travel blog about their amazing life in Hubud. It's too expensive (relatively speaking). Find a cafe close to a cheap hostel, that'll let you spend the whole morning abusing their decent wifi for the cost of a single americano. You'll be able to tell them because of the number of inappropriately-dressed white folks somehow covering an entire 4-seat table to use their 13" MacBook.
fxtentacle 6y ago
If you can afford to rent a table in a coworking space, then you have already separated yourself from the other 95% of digital nomads. When I was working remotely from Asia, I sometimes went to cafes in the backpacker areas and there would be lots of people working online and posting selfies about their dream life, but their entire monthly budget was like $300. Even in Asia, that's not enough to rent a good office, let alone for apartment +office +food. Also, maybe you just didn't dig deep enough. I myself was once feeling quite impressed about someone getting rich from making iOS children's games. But when I had issues with my own apps and asked him for advice, it turned out that he was actually making a living from selling an Udemy course on how to get rich by selling apps... And as usual, the revenue from Udemy was presented as if it had come from the apps.

moltar 6y ago

Same here. I’ve been nomading for ten years. I haven’t met a single person who was not legit doing something of value. The closest I came to one was an online poker player in Chiang Mai back in 2010. Maybe we just hang out in the “right” circles? It’s probably just like in real life. I have never met anyone offering me a generic (non nomad) Ponzi scheme. But I sure had several legit investment opportunities thru my circles.

seppin 6y ago
> I’ve been nomading for ten years. The most i've ever been able to do was half a year. How can you choose to be without a real home that long?
- peteretep 6y ago
  > How can you choose to be without a real home that long? Depends what you mean by "real home" I guess. I have a tiny apartment in Bangkok, where we would normally spend ~ 8 weeks a year in total a year, and then we rent ad-hoc or stay with family the rest
  - seppin 6y ago
    Ah ok you are married. Do you have long term friends locally ? Is your wife your anchor to a local community ?
    - peteretep 6y ago
      > Do you have long term friends locally? Not really sure what that means, but most places we go we have friends we’ve known for many years, and those are often other nomadish types. > Is your wife your anchor to a local community? No, she’s from even further away than me
      - seppin 6y ago
        Right but actual roots / connection to a local community, besides fellow travelers / tourists? I personally never felt more than a temporary resident in most places i've been.
    - marcus_holmes 6y ago
      I've travelled single and as part of a couple. Doing this as a couple is hands-down easier. Cheaper, less stressful, and a lot less lonely. Not only because constant companionship, but also because striking up random friendships is easier if the whole "is he hitting on me?" thing is off the table because the girlfriend is right there too ;)
- moltar 6y ago
  I didn't say I was homeless :D I have a home base, but I spend 6 months or more outside of my home country.
  - seppin 6y ago
    I mean a home with local ties and roots, not just someone else's airbnb :)
    - moltar 6y ago
      Yes, I do have a home with ties and roots. We use it a few month per year, while travelling the rest of the time.
      - seppin 6y ago
        Good plan ! :)

anm89 6y ago

What utopia have you found? I couldn't stop meeting these people on the road.

peteretep 6y ago
Last year I was in Kohub, Hub Hoi An, Outpost Penestanan, and some time at Hubud. This year, due to Covid, just Kohub.
- anm89 6y ago
  Kohub is the coliving on a thai island right? I've been really interested to check that out but never ended up making it there. My email is in my profile. I'd be really interested to jump on a chat with you for a few minutes and hear about your experience if you are open to it. Get in touch if you are open to talking.
- marcus_holmes 6y ago
  Yeah, Hubud is cool, or was last year. I understand the whole of Ubud has been shocked by COVID killing the tourism industry so it'll be interesting how it goes when we can travel again. But yeah, you won't find the budget backpackers trying to scrape a couple hundred bucks a month monetising their awesome travel blog about their amazing life in Hubud. It's too expensive (relatively speaking). Find a cafe close to a cheap hostel, that'll let you spend the whole morning abusing their decent wifi for the cost of a single americano. You'll be able to tell them because of the number of inappropriately-dressed white folks somehow covering an entire 4-seat table to use their 13" MacBook.

fxtentacle 6y ago

If you can afford to rent a table in a coworking space, then you have already separated yourself from the other 95% of digital nomads. When I was working remotely from Asia, I sometimes went to cafes in the backpacker areas and there would be lots of people working online and posting selfies about their dream life, but their entire monthly budget was like $300. Even in Asia, that's not enough to rent a good office, let alone for apartment +office +food. Also, maybe you just didn't dig deep enough. I myself was once feeling quite impressed about someone getting rich from making iOS children's games. But when I had issues with my own apps and asked him for advice, it turned out that he was actually making a living from selling an Udemy course on how to get rich by selling apps... And as usual, the revenue from Udemy was presented as if it had come from the apps.