9 ms·
Why We’re Traveling
- bruceb 13y agoSo you are leaving to get more time... yet you list all the perks, zip-lining and all the rest. Seems cool but not sure all the benefits will materialize.
- mixmastamyk 13y agoI assume they won't be doing that every day.
- grecy 13y agoAwesome, you guys will have a blast. > Currently, for legal and accounting reasons, we're only able to accept applications from US Citizens with valid passports. In the future this will change. Please let me know when this changes. I'm a Software Engineer, speak Spanish, have been all over Costa Rica (and Central America), and would love to do something fun like this.
- gkoberger 13y agoEmail me (gregory[at]phileasandfogg.com); I'd love to talk more. EDIT: We just changed it to "You must be able to work in US"
- jacalata 13y agoWhy must you be eligible to work in the US? Isn't one of the benefits of being outside the US not having to deal with the nightmare of US Visa applications, and expanding your candidate pool to those unwilling/unable to go through it?
- gkoberger 13y agoEventually, yes. We'd also love to find local people, too. But paying people outside the US gets messy, and this is our first attempt at traveling/working. So, consider it an MVP.
- zura 13y agoJust out of curiosity, why it is messy? And you can as well hire them as contractors. This should be much easier, shouldn't it?
- okso 13y agoI'm also curious about how easy/hard it is to hire international contractors. Knowledge on that subject would be very interesting.
- zura 13y ago1. received the contract as pdf file. 2. signed it (inserted the image of my signature). 3. sent the pdf back to them. 4. work && receive money through standard Bank Wire transfer, periodically. That's it.
- scottlilly 13y agoOne potential problem arises if a US company tries to pay someone with a bank account outside the US. Due to FATCA regulations, there may be a 30% withholding on bank wires sent to foreign financial institutions that aren't Qualified Intermediaries (foreign banks that agree to submit information on any US account holders who have accounts with them). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance...
- prawn 13y agoPretend you're buying a product the contractor is providing. They can provide invoices. Pay via PayPal and make sure they're withdrawing funds so the account situation isn't painful if it's locked. (That may or may not have worked for me...)
- scottlilly 13y agoUnfortunately, PayPal has limited capabilities in some countries. In fact, Costa Rica (where the company is moving) appears to be a country where you cannot withdraw money from your PayPal account into a local bank account. It also looks like you can't have them transfer money to a Costa Rican credit or debit card. PayPal doesn't even have my current country (Paraguay) listed as a place where I can do anything. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-approved-signup-countries-outside https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-approved-... I also encountered problems with other money transfer services when I first moved overseas. They had limits on how much money I could transfer per day, month, and lifetime of my account. As I started crossing certain thresholds, they wanted me to send them my tax return for the previous year, if I wanted to continue using them. Someone else I know frequently had transfers blocked by the service he uses to pay his foreign contractors. There's some new regulation, a policy changes, or just general screw-ups.
- benologist 13y agoSame, except I'm already in Costa Rica. It sounds like loads of fun!
- ramayac 13y agoExcelent location / country, and probably you'll fall in love with the people and the beautiful CR women. If you happen to be arround El Salvador, I'll be more than happy to show you arround. Have a blast!
- clhodapp 13y agoI'm almost sorry to be making this comment, but I feel compelled to. Your comment is an example of casual objectification and I really don't think it's appropriate public discourse. Worse, it perpetuates/fulfills the "boy's club" stereotype of tech startup culture. I'm a bit conflicted because this comment is: 1) Off-topic 2) Technically a personal attack 3) Something of a call for self-censorship However, I feel that it should be made. Feel free to express disagreement or even downmod me if I'm out of line.
- zerr 13y agoUnless the OP edited the comment, there is nothing off-topic, it is even interesting. And I don't see any personal attack or something to be censored.
- benologist 13y agoAre you saying he shouldn't say 'beautiful women'? Latin America's not as PC as the US - women are openly ogled and married men often have girlfriends. Costa Rica also has a woman president, no military, and almost 100% renewable energy. Check mate.
- the_watcher 13y agoWow, this is awesome. I do online marketing and code in my spare time (I am a novice, but working hard at learning) who would love to do this. I understand if it's not what you are looking for now, but let me know if there might be a fit!
- untico 13y agoHa! Hope you have fun around here, good luck! ¡Pura vida!
- rfiatt 13y agoCool idea, great spot to live as well. I'm a Software Engineer and a tico and would love to join you guys as well. I live at downtown San Jose and it's not the same as working near the beach. Know a lot of other developers willing to relocate to the Osa Peninsula.
- tamarey 13y agoit's 20 years I'm leaving in Tamarindo,Costa Rica sleeping late, fishing a little, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip beer and play pool with my amigos. I have a full and busy life... and a little boat...
- contingencies 13y agoJust remember, returning to the US is largely optional.
- sejje 13y agoI'm moving out to Costa Rica this Sunday, and also staying about (rather, at least) 3 months on the Pacific coast. See you there!
- gkoberger 13y agoSend me an email (gregory [at] phileasandfogg.com); we'd love to meet up!
- andreipop 13y agoHow did you find the house?
- JimboOmega 13y agoI don't think children alone are the problem - switching countries often means leaving behind your entire social network. From the guys you go out drinking with to the person who cuts your hair, you have to build this all over again. It can be fun, but it can also be isolating. It's tough to meet new friends, especially in a foreign culture, where your common cultural threads - sports you grew up watching, foods you grew up eating, languages you speak - don't overlap. For some people this is a great opportunity to meet and learn about all sorts of things, and it can be, until you're tired, sick, or stressed - and just want the voice of a familiar friend. Moving every 3 months means this problem is only amplified - you'll never really feel tied to whatever place you've moved to. Making real friends, learning the language... why bother, if you're just going to be somewhere new in a few months? The other thing I dislike about this article is the "advice from rich people" tone it strikes. I've seen a lot of these kind of articles - "I made this successful business and then I realized I can just travel the world doing nothing". I suppose Tim Ferris started it, but he's not the only one. The point being you have to have a certain amount of financial resources before you can do this kind of thing. Now nothing in the article says they are rich (and they do point out CR is cheaper). But before you can do something like this, if you have any sense, you've either got enough money in the bank or enough business already planned to cover all the changes - relocations and all. You know that it will be an international flight to meet almost any client, and that's not really a problem. I really think that - especially in the youthful zeitgeist, "conspicuous consumerism" as we once knew it (IE, at its zenith in the 80's) is dead. So let's stop acting like the only reason people live a frenetic life of work hard/play hard in the city is all about building up money to be better than their peers, and if only we had a little more perspective we could realize we could live relaxing, fulfilling lives on a tropical beach working a few hours a week.
- gkoberger 13y agoLots of interesting points -- but for what it's worth, I'm the founder and I'm certainly not a "rich person". I'm a designer/developer living in Silicon Valley who wanted to experiment with new ways to build a company with the round we raised. Tim Ferriss was one of the inspirations for the traveling. Like him or hate him, his point is "you don't have to be rich to travel, you just have to do it". This isn't for everyone, but the hope is that it's extra-awesome for people who want to see the world and experience new cultures, all as part of a job.
- latortuga 13y agoI know you didn't say that they are explicitly forbidden but discriminating against prospective employees due to having families is walking a fine line of violating equal opportunity hiring practices in the US.
- gkoberger 13y agoMy co-founder has a family and kids. Just to be clear, there is no reason at all we wouldn't hire people with a family.
- themodelplumber 13y ago> Of course, one downside is that it’s not ideal for people with families. Some of the best people I’ve ever worked with have kids, and unfortunately wouldn’t be able to do this. I have a friend who travels the world with his kids. I'm sure it takes a bit more organization, and they aren't exactly jumping here and there every other week, but man, how I envy those kids.
- mixmastamyk 13y agoI know a four-year-old with tons of FF miles. The family is not rich (in the common sense of the word) but it happens when you have grandparents in Brazil. It's basically a $1k per year expense.
- serverascode 13y agoInteresting article linked in that post about needing new experiences to slow down the perception of time.
- jetcom 13y agoGreat write-up. Have a blast Greg & hope to bump into you there at some point!
- krazydad 13y agoThis will sound way more interesting when you make it to the next location after Costa Rica. But then, I always wait for version 1.1..
- Anderkent 13y ago“Millions, señor?” replied the Mexican. “Then what?” The American said, "Then you would spend most of your money to save 400 lives for each million you made [1], and retire peacefully, knowing that you made the world a better place." [1] http://www.givewell.org/giving101/Your-dollar-goes-further-overseas http://www.givewell.org/giving101/Your-dollar-goes-further-o...
- rdl 13y agoI'd love to do something like this, but ideally for a shorter time (with a team), or more informally (with more people). Renting a house in Hawaii (ideally one set up for startups; with some extra cars, high speed Internet, printer, whiteboards, etc. all set up) for a month might be a good way to do a 2-3 week project kickoff, followed by a week long vacation for friends/family. I'd still love to find a group of (security? infrastructure? bitcoin?) startups which have a reason to be in non-USA which move to a place like NZ/HK/CH/IS/EE and operate. One of the advantages of SFBA is you can switch companies very easily. Moving for a single company to a place like Costa Rica doesn't do that. 3 months is in the range where it is long enough to feel permanent, but too short to really set things up properly, unless you have a yearly cycle among 4 different locations or something.