5 ms·

I'm not a digital nomad per se but I think I found a good compromise. Instead of traveling often like he does and dealing with having to travel light and not ha

by song 12y ago

I'm not a digital nomad per se but I think I found a good compromise. Instead of traveling often like he does and dealing with having to travel light and not having all of the conforts, I move to a different country every year or so while still keeping all my customers in the US. I find that it's the best of both world, I have time to discover any country I move to and really get to know the culture. It's also much easier on my clients because it's easy for them to know how to reach me and I'm sure I always have a good internet connection. One thing I do recommend though is getting an expat health insurance like GMC, BUPA, A+, AETNA, ... It's a bit of an expense (I'm in my 30s and pay $220/month with a deductible of $1200/year for coverage anywhere in the world except Canada and US) but I think it's important for the peace of mind that it procures.

vecinu 12y ago
I think you deserve your own blog post as well. I'm currently working remotely through some extremely lucky means (Company I worked with full-time let me work remotely for a year) and I would love to continue doing this full-time. My biggest hurdle is finding a company that is interested in hiring a junior-intermediate remote worker. I just recently officially graduated and only have 2 years of 'real' experience and it seems most companies that offer remote work are looking for workers with 5+ years of experience. When did you start this lifestyle? Do you find the benefits outweigh the positives? How do you balance having a family/wife/children?
- song 12y ago
  I had 4 years of experience when I started freelancing. I quit my job with enough reserve to last one year and an half and moved to Southeast Asia. I still continued to do a bit of work for my previous company but it was actually very difficult finding new clients and if I were to do it again I'd recommend not doing what I did. It took me about a year before I found new clients with enough work to support me. Part of the reason for that is that it took me a while before I could actually force myself to work productively at home without anyone breathing down my neck. I found my clients with a combination of blog post and contributions to open source projects. I don't have a family and children, I have a girlfriend who does remote work as a graphic designer so it works out well for us. I really like the life I have now but it's true that it's not for everyone, working at home is not easy for a lot of people (I do recommend checking out local co-working spaces for this). You also have to enjoy spending time learning new languages and trying to adapt to a culture that's different from your own. Moving to a new place and getting everything ready can be stressful (I tend to be easy going by nature so that doesn't bother me) If I had children, I'm not sure what I would do.
gregjor 12y ago
I have all the comforts, I just didn't bring them with me from the US. I can live in a nice furnished condo or apartment with maid service and all the amenities for 1/2 to 1/4 what I'd pay in the US.

by song 12y ago

vecinu 12y ago

I think you deserve your own blog post as well. I'm currently working remotely through some extremely lucky means (Company I worked with full-time let me work remotely for a year) and I would love to continue doing this full-time. My biggest hurdle is finding a company that is interested in hiring a junior-intermediate remote worker. I just recently officially graduated and only have 2 years of 'real' experience and it seems most companies that offer remote work are looking for workers with 5+ years of experience. When did you start this lifestyle? Do you find the benefits outweigh the positives? How do you balance having a family/wife/children?

song 12y ago
I had 4 years of experience when I started freelancing. I quit my job with enough reserve to last one year and an half and moved to Southeast Asia. I still continued to do a bit of work for my previous company but it was actually very difficult finding new clients and if I were to do it again I'd recommend not doing what I did. It took me about a year before I found new clients with enough work to support me. Part of the reason for that is that it took me a while before I could actually force myself to work productively at home without anyone breathing down my neck. I found my clients with a combination of blog post and contributions to open source projects. I don't have a family and children, I have a girlfriend who does remote work as a graphic designer so it works out well for us. I really like the life I have now but it's true that it's not for everyone, working at home is not easy for a lot of people (I do recommend checking out local co-working spaces for this). You also have to enjoy spending time learning new languages and trying to adapt to a culture that's different from your own. Moving to a new place and getting everything ready can be stressful (I tend to be easy going by nature so that doesn't bother me) If I had children, I'm not sure what I would do.

gregjor 12y ago

I have all the comforts, I just didn't bring them with me from the US. I can live in a nice furnished condo or apartment with maid service and all the amenities for 1/2 to 1/4 what I'd pay in the US.