Digital Nomad - Remote work in various countries

Three things hold me back from digital nomadism: first, my family. Setting aside them, if I were single and looking to do this, I'd need good internet access and a time zone at least close to those in the US. I think you'd need to be in a specific line of work that would support working whenever, and not just when your colleagues are around.

 

Not necessarily. Travel itself can be work. Very hard, sometimes unpleasant work - but it has its rewards. If it involves infrequent moves - in easily-travelled countries, with pleasant places to stay between trips - yeah, great. Your batteries are constantly recharged so you can work. Then you move on, settle in somewhere else, and after a few days work is comfortable again.

Constant travel can be a source of burnout even without the work. Remote work is just as demanding as doing it on-site. You're expected to bring the same results -or even better. A lot of travel can make this a struggle and a juggle. Not a work-life balance.

Some travel and long, good stays at destinations - yeah, that can work wonders. But what the heck do I know about work? I've been retired for 30 years! (But I remember....)

 

Yeah -- might be a good setup for a professional counterfeiter. Rent a press, fill a couple of suitcases and move on.

 

I am a digital nomad, but I use Kenya as my home base. I have a digital nomad plan that outlines my itinerary to visit the six inhabited continents by June 2024. I removed some countries because I would be traveling too much, and I don't want to get overwhelmed and not have enough time for my work. By the end (June 2025), I would have visited 25 countries in total (17 new countries during the digital nomad period). I also removed some countries for various reasons - Argentina (anti-Black), France (enemy/exploiter of Africa), and South Africa (xenophobia).

Anyway, I am single, so I have no issues with my frequent travel. As far as time zone, I am 8 hours ahead of CT. I only teach two days a week for an hour (5:30 to 6:30 p.m. EAT). Everything else is asynchronous. So, I do my work when convenient (typically during my business hours). I have a meeting once a week at 10 p.m., but my supervisor changed it to 5 p.m. because she didn't want me to be on so late. I told her I didn't mind coming on at 10 if that's the price I must pay for traveling.

I generally have consistent internet (95%). It drops occasionally, but I also have (based on one local) the worst ISP. I have no choice because I stay in an Airbnb. However, I quickly switch to my hotspot if I ever have any issues. I have my mobile service through the best mobile and ISP. So, the hotspot is fast. I also have Google Fi, which I use only to receive or make calls to the U.S. I don't use the data since I have a local phone service. But it is an option if I ever need it. I also have a VPN service through NordVPN (paid for two years).

From Kenya, I will travel to Tanzania in October and UAE in November. I plan to leave Kenya in January for Ghana, Senegal, Spain, and Jamaica. I will go to Brazil before going to the U.S. for the ACJS 2024 Conference.

 

I am looking at Vietnam for a digital nomad, trying to connect with a software developer to start my SaaS business. But I left almost 30 years ago and don't know anybody there. Portugal, Costa Rica, and Croatia are also on my list.

 

Another SaaS company? There are 30,000+ worldwide and 17,000 are in US. How will this one be different / unique? It's gonna have to be. Salesforce is the largest, with about 10% of the take.

Not surprised Croatia is on your list. Very, very fine developers there. In good numbers. I met a couple, via internet, some time ago. I was really impressed. I somehow get the impression these skills are taught better in Europe, particularly Slavic Europe, than elsewhere. (That applies to a lot of subjects -in particular, Math, which is needed as a foundation for all programming.)

 

Well, at least I think it is...

 

I used to travel all the time for work... a few different places a month for anywhere between four says to two weeks at a time with the possibility to travel internationally. I was constantly tired and extremely burned out. I often just wanted to be home with my pets and to not be missing all the exciting things my friends were doing on the weekends. It's possible that being a woman makes it different too. If I wasn't traveling with other people I knew then I generally didn't go out unless it was to a grocery store or pharmacy because of safety issues of going places alone as a woman. The trips were much more interesting when I was with other people that I knew, but even then it was almost always work and eating out. That was about it because we were working over the weekends when most cities have all their events going on and any weekdays we had free tended to be less exciting. If a person could ever remote job where they worked during the week though and they felt safe traveling alone or had people if they knew well to travel with, then I think it would be more enjoyable.