In 09 I've been to India (vacation), London (worked), Vancouver (worked), and I'm currently in Italy (both vaca + work). Heading to Budapest in two days to rent a place for 3m.

The most common question I've gotten is how to fund this. I've funded this with consulting gigs and living in cheap-ish places - living in Buenos Aires, for example, is a great way to bootstrap a startup. Building a more scalable biz to do this - consulting is a fine way to make a living, but a terrible way to build wealth.

It's great to see the world and get a better sense of the nuances of a culture than a hit-and-run trip. But it's not without its challenges. Off the top of my head, here are three:

- the biggest (for me) being balancing the desire to explore a new city with work

- A close runner up (believe it or not) is finding good broadband

- Building a community where you move to is often tough, though meeting people through couchsurfing.com has been awesome

If you have specific questions, please fire away here. I'm also going to teach a free class on www.edufire.com about this soon and I'll drop you an email about it if you email me directly (blog at reemer dot com).

There's more about how to live the technomad life in this interview I did: http://mixergy.com/business-nomad/

And on my blog (too busy bootstrapping to update since Feb, but some info there): http://howsthewifi.com

EDIT: An afterthought - whatever you do, don't let someone else tell you it's not possible or there's a better way to do it. Figure it what you want, then explore your options yourself (learning from people who've done it).

The benefits of living like this will do two things - build your self-awareness and build your confidence in yourself. It's close to the best way I've found to take responsibility for my life - I'm eating what I kill and living in cities where I know nobody and don't speak the language. You'll learn a hell of a lot about what you're capable of and that's the best damn part imho.

I totally believe it. My ex-wife and I did a few years of nomading (just in North America and the Caribbean) in the first half of this decade, and finding internet connectivity was absolutely the most difficult thing about it. I imagine it's actually considerably easier, now.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=inc...

if you meant something else by "issues", let me know :)

Did you use arc? If not, why not? If so how does it compare to HN in terms of complexity?

Did you learn anything worthwhile?

    > (/ (codetree "docs.arc") (codetree "news.arc"))
    1399/6586

If you work as a freelance developer, and have already established a good network, it is fairly easy to lead this kind of life. Working remotely is very common, and if the client knows you are good, he would not care where in the world you are. But if you don't have an established network, it is harder to find work while you are on the road.

Starting your business is also claimed as a possibility. But I personally have not come across anybody running a successful business and spending a lot of time on the road. But I am sure some people pull it off, a la Tim Ferriss.

Oh, and teaching English. Great way to see the world, and money is good in places like Japan, Korea and increasingly China.

Even if you cannot figure out a way to work from the road, just save some money and get going. It really requires very little money, e.g. you can explore the whole of SE Asia for about $1K/month.

Good luck!

It is very much possible to live in places like SE Asia for $1k per month (I'm from India, it wouldn't take even $1k, especially if you are single)

Nope. In fact if you are the stereotypical American with no accent, speak great English and know none of the foreign language you are usually far better off because they only want you speaking in English and teaching in English.

Not to mention the better schools get to have their American "poster boy" so they can show they've got quality English teachers in their school.

(This is at least what I gathered from a number of teachers over in Taiwan when I considered doing it).

:D

I haven't taught a second language myself, but I am around a few people who teach or have taught languages, and I've picked up on it a bit.

Check the left hand side for the forums, there's volumes of information on just about any question you could ask.

Tealit.com is good for Taiwan.

Of course, the people teaching English without knowing any of the local language would claim everything is alright.

But it's undeniable that teaching will be more efficient if you do know some of the local language too.

You'll probably read lots about people doing global consulting, or working remotely to pay for it, planning for months, getting travelogues, etc...

But most people who have done this over the years didn't have that luxury and haven't let it stop them. They got passports, visas, saved some cash...and then just walked out the front door. Really. The hardest part in something like this is most likely that first step you take.

So stop thinking, dreaming, etc and just go. Even if you stay within this country for a few months first. Just Go.

The first few years were fine - I enjoyed being in a totally different place. But eventually I missed having other hackers around. My social life took place mostly online.

Earlier this year I finally launched

http://www.cocovivo.com

So far, experiences from that are: -people differ in so many ways- it's hard to find a group that works together. -some people take the day-to-day distractions better than others. Some thrive by being able to got for a swim whenever they want, some get restless and can't get work done -our location may be a bit too extreme (we're off the grid on an island in the caribbean, solar + long distance wifi link from town)

Connectivity has improved a lot.. When I started in 2001, writing web apps in Java, my makefile included a target for copying the code to a floppy disk, and adding pscp.exe a .bat file to upload everything to the server so my client could test it. Bugs would come in the form of long emails.

Definitely much better now... ssh is sometimes a problem, but now even getting through the Great Firewall of China with ssh is alright.

Overall, I can really recommend trying this out. I'd very much like to contribute my thoughts and experiences to someone willing to build a community around this... I'm not enough of a community builder and too busy with work to do this by myself. Contact me (rick@outscape.net) if interested!

Some useful links on the subject: http://locationindependent.com/ http://www.workingnomad.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technomad

I can't recommend it highly enough, it was surprisingly easy to do and definitely one of the best years of my life.

I've also been working on startup projects in my spare time, since I have good Internet connectivity while doing the day job. The "non-deployed" time can be spent traveling, or working full-time on any of the startup projects which have traction -- with the added benefit that I can provide my own financing up to a series A.

Somehow I get more done on projects in early stages when they're "side projects", and this way I don't have to worry about my burn rate during early stages (since it's substantially negative).

There are tax benefits ($91k/yr deduction) for being outside the USA 330 days/yr, so once you've done 200-250 days deployed as a contractor in a year, it makes sense to spend the balance outside the US as a tourist -- at a high marginal tax rate that's basically $30k, and I can live comfortably in Vancouver, Bali, New Zealand, Japan, etc. for a few months on way less than that.

The #1 thing I've learned is to totally automate my "administrative life" -- I use a mail-scanning mail forwarder, autopay on all my bills, etc. When you travel a lot, it's easy to miss a credit card bill, and it can be a black mark on your credit for 7 years.

The other nice thing is most of these contracts are "go home at night and not worry about it", vs. normal consulting where you can be called back at any time to fix something. And, the separation between dayjob and any personal projects is a lot easier in an admin/ops contract than in a developer dayjob.

I've also had contracts that were almost exclusively remote work. I would check-in first and say "hey, are you going to need me in any meetings in the next 30 days, because I'm thinking of to [blank_city] for a bit."

They were always cool with it.

no matter what path you take to achieve this kind of freedom balance will be required. in the case of your own business you will need to spend lots of in person time with your partners and have great discipline with communications. if you don't have pre-existing relationships of several years that's how long will it take to get started. at least it has in my case. the payoff has been huge; its lead to a company where everyone lives and travels entirely as they want. good luck

As for funding the lifestyle, check out affiliate marketing, it's a great business. I'm now at the point where I have enough campaigns(and SEO traffic) running on autopilot where I only have to work 1-2 hours a day online to maintain an income in the low six figures. I've been thinking of doing the travel thing myself. I'm at the point now with my work where I can work from anywhere in the world(or an internet cafe), or even not work at all and still generate decent revenue, I think traveling the world while I'm young and free from commitment is a great idea. For cheap travel destinations with good Internet I've heard good things about S.E Asia, especially Thailand.

http://locationindependent.com/blog/2008/10/23/6-things-you-...

http://thegrowinglife.com/2008/03/lifestyle-design-and-4-hou...

There are a ton of people doing this and writing about it, so just do a search on the net. Make a list of places you would like to go and do the research on each place.

Considerations, especially for starting out, is visa, language, infrastructure, cost of living and other items.

For example, the Philippines has an easy visa where you only have to do visa runs once every 16 months. English is spoken nearly everywhere which isn't a small village off the beaten path. The infrastructure is not the best in some areas. I have to deal with a lot of brownouts and the internet has it's issues sometimes as well. Thailand is probably just a little more expensive than the Philippines but has better infrastructure. You don't want to be in the middle of a project and then have the power go out, but it happens.

I generally keep pretty busy as a contractor but I know developers here who will do a 3K site and then take the next couple of months off.

Ultimately, if you have an income and a bit of savings it's pretty easy. Just make sure you have enough savings to get you through a six month dry period and then enough extra to buy the next flight out of the country in case you need to leave in a hurry. Take a month or so break from work so that you have plenty of time to focus on getting settled in your new destination, especially if it's your first move. After that, perhaps you can get up to speed faster with future moves.

It all went rather smoothly (it helps that I speak Mandarin and knew some trusty locals).

But while I was there, I kept thinking how difficult it would be for someone who didn't know anyone in Beijing and who didn't speak Mandarin to set this up. And what if I wanted to do something like this in, say, Cairo? It'd be very difficult.

I think setting up apartments around the world for technomads would be a great business idea. All that'd be required would be a clean place with broadband, hot shower and a bonus would be a nearby co-working space for local or expat geeks.

One of my favorite stories was when I was at a cafe in Buenos Aires working for an afternoon with these guys. After about 5h we decided to adjourn to a bar, adn I was chatting with one of the poker players (who's 25):

Me: "How'd it go today John?"

John: "Not bad, I'm up 15k today."

Me: ?!?!.... OMG!

J: "Yeah, it was a good day. But there are some days when I lose 13k."

Dealing with the emotional swings would be the toughest part of playing poker online, according to these guys.

They're a family of three (hubby, wife and a kid) working and traveling, all over the world. They're blogging their experience. Exactly the same as you say, except you're probably much younger than the couple.

I think these specific plans fell through, but I am planning something similar. Also, there's a commune of people doing this at http://www.cocovivo.com/

Over the past few months I've been aggressively trying to pick up freelance work on top of my day job, and it's paying off. I'm getting close to the point where I think I can adequately finance myself.

I don't think there's any reason to be tethered to a place if you don't want to be.

Anyone know of good spots to go as a hacker guy? I'm from the Northeast so I'm thinking of hitting Austin first off the bat and explore the US, but where else in the world would be a good place to live for a few months?

I honestly think it would be better to get 6-month or 9-month contract jobs, work like hell during that time, and then take some months off to see the world. And don't take your laptop with you ;-)

I have a bunch of Norwegian friends who did this. They would work March-September in Norway, when the weather isn't so bad, and then they would spend the winter months in Thailand, Bali, etc. I think this is the optimal scenario because work is separated from travel. When you're working, you are just working. When you're traveling, you're free to enjoy the places you visit and don't have to worry about deadlines, internet outages, etc

It's always seemed to me that you don't really experience the culture of a place without living/working there for a reasonably extended period of time. So, I understand where the OP's motivation to do this stems from. However, honestly, people working in most places, aren't going to be willing to chat with you about cultural differences. They're busy working, hanging out with their existing friend groups, etc. You either end up very lonely and doing things by yourself, or spending a great deal of effort in making friends for a short period of time.

Doing what the OP wants to do would end up being a lesson in how to make new friends very quickly very often. Or, you might find out that you really like [x] location and stay there!

i think the underlying concept behind what i'd like to accomplish is the aspect of freedom associated with it. doing a constant cycle of hard work and then vacation doesn't quite have as much of that freedom to it.

beyond that, working a few hours a day and/or being able to work when i'd prefer to do it would probably leave me more satisfied and productive with the work i'm doing than if i were chained to a desk slaving away to ensure a few extra weeks vacation.

Suppose I want to hire you for a few months. You tell me you will be traveling in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand for 6 months. You tell me you will have access to the internet and work while on the move.

I would think you're not committed enough. I would also worry that you may get your laptop stolen with proprietary data on it while on a bus trip through the Cambodian jungle. And I am worried that you will have trouble accessing the internet in some remote locations, which would cause you to miss deadlines. To cut a long story short, there are too many risks. I would be better off hiring someone else.

The freedom would be great. Everyone would love to have the freedom to travel around. That does not mean it's not a fantasy.

Why not travel around and do rentacoder.com programming gigs once in a while?

I was considering trying this in the near future. Has anyone here used it (or odesk)? If so what was your experience? Is it difficult to get jobs given that depending on where you are people in other countries may be able to undercut your price by a significant amount?

i think the ideal solution would be to do something like create my own subscription-based niche web app that would hopefully garner enough users to support the process (which i am in fact working on doing now). and then spend the 'work time' performing maintenance and improving it. and, if extra income is necessary, procure short-term gigs that i could knock out in days/weeks.

Revenue is just one part of the picture. If you can lower your costs dramatically, then you don't need much revenue to support your nomadic lifestyle.

When traveling around Poland, I met a couple of Brits who had moved to Poland for some months to work on their startups. They did freelance work over the internet to pay for their expenses. Thing is, living in Poland you bleed off money a lot slower than you would in London, and you enjoy a much better lifestyle for the same price.

I think having something to do in a place - even if it's entirely remote, but having something to do besides lay on the beach - could be grounding. Also, especially abroad where the cost of living isn't so high, if you can get by with 10/20 hour work weeks that leaves plenty of time to explore a city and make friends.

Again, never done extensive dedicated traveling so I can't say personally. But that's my feeling.

http://microship.com/resources/technomadic-tools.html

That's a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing the URL.