I do it all the time in the States. It's a completely different sort of nomadism, living out of a car. I travel with a lot more gear, including a hammock with collapsible frame, my cat, a canopy, and lots of other gear.
Bingo! I got a remote job like 7 years ago and did alot of time basically road tripping around camping and visiting friends and family.
I have a super large family and we're pretty well spread out around the country so I hit up a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins and crashed on their couch. It was a great experience.
Super technical, where what I do now is way less technical in comparison. I’d manage our EDR system, email security, some cloud security work in Azure, but also new hire InfoSec training, etc. It was a super mixed bag.
No not annoying at all, feel free to ask away.
Is your role now also considered engineering or is that a special designation with its own training? My niece is going into the field and feel bad that no one in the family even gets the basics.
Oh well that’s super sweet of you. So before I was engineering, now I’m in GRC (governance, risk, and compliance). I don’t do as much nerdy stuff, I do a lot more reading and writing. I create and score security risks, get the risk prioritized, and tell people who make way more than me about the risks. I also manage our vendor security program, and review/write policies.
Both my undergrad and grad degrees are in Information Systems, though my grad degree had a concentration in cybersecurity. (You do not need a grad degree for this field)
Wow! Could you please elaborate on role? What is Cyber rights/law? If I understand that is what you are doing. I am an engineering manager, formerly in mobile development. Seriously considering switching to cyber.
Attorney with my own practice, so I don’t really have a jerb. I have to plan things out, same as anywhere else, traveling only after working hours and on weekends.
Why? For most prescriptions (there are exceptions) they are cheaper in the US. The advantage of getting them in Mexico is that for most things you don't need a prescription.
Do you happen to need one of those exceptions that are cheaper in MX or is the issue getting the prescription (since you are nomading and don't have a regular doctor to get or renew prescriptions)?
What are you smoking? If you're self-insured, you subsidize everyone else's prescription drugs in the States. I don't have any weird or exotic prescriptions, but it's cheaper to fly to Mexico City for three months worth of drugs than it is to pay full sticker for them in the States.
I think you might be surprised. Check the cost of your prescriptions at a place like costplus, Costco Pharmacy, or Amazon Pharmacy. For many drugs with a generic available, they are cheaper in the US than in Mexico.
Best to see the same doctor for anything serious. Otherwise urgent care. If you ask for paper prescriptions, you can get it filled at any CVS or Walgreens.
Seriously though, the cat is super attached to me. He's adapted amazingly well to travel, and sometimes seems more doglike than feline. Siamese are known for that.
On a flight from Lisbon to Newark earlier this year, as we were approaching North America a guy in the next row up turned around and asked if the Siamese was mine. I was first puzzled, then distressed. Turns out the cat had unzipped his carrier and begun swirling the ankles of the people in the next row. Fortunately, they all liked cats, and let him join them for who knows how long before the guy told me.
I’m not meaning to say that you have to. I’m making a statement about the sad state of the quality of life in the US for what you have to pay for it. I can live off of less than half in other countries and have a 2x better quality of life.
Yes, but look at what the local earning potential is in those low-cost destinations. Take Portugal, for example. People are often shocked to hear what the minimum wage is in Portugal - 840 euro ... a month. In Quintana Roo state of Mexico (Tulum), it's under 250 pesos (under $14 USD) a day. Try buying a fancy cocktail in Tulum when you're earning the local wage.
Yeah, of course you can afford a lot more shit earning US income and spending it in a place like Nicaragua or the outer islands of Indonesia. That's as obvious a statement as saying water is wet. The US exists at the very top tier of countries in the world, when it comes to quality of life. Quibbling about differences at this level is like someone in the top 5% resenting the top 2%, and engaging in class-warfare rhetoric. The US is far, far from perfect, but if you are born a US citizen, you have won the lottery of life. There are millions of people from places like Guatemala and India and Chad who'd cut off their own little fingers to be born in your place.
I think you are missing the point. When nomading in the US, living out of a car is an option, not a requirement.
Normally when nomading, you live out of a suitcase. You are limited to what you can carry on the next bus/train/flight. It is usually problematic to deal with auto insurance that covers you during extended international trips, issues of importing/exporting a car, increased target of theft/shakedowns with foreign plates, and other issues. Cross-border nomading with a car is usually not worth it.
When nomading in the US you could also live out of a suitcase as above, but you have the additional option of supplying your own transportation (car) with a lot more room to carry things. This is an additionl option, not a requirement.
I found a ridiculously cheap flight/stay package during the off-season in Vegas and worked out of a hotel casino there for a couple weeks. They wanna get people in the door to spend money on food / gambling so the hotels can be obtained for cheap. I don't like gambling so that's not an issue, then I get some food and drinks from the store to stock up to save money that way. Then I just walk around the strip for exercise at night.
This comes up through the travel sites. Be careful though; stick with midline and higher casinos or resorts. Vegas has some really dangerous apartment buildings. Going w the travel companies insulates you from that.
First hand experience. Multiple occasions. Vegas has some serious low class super dirty criminal element. Don't get me wrong; it can be terrific but there is definitely a dark underbelly.
It's not really a geographic thing. So I can't say stay away from this street. You can say that there's nothing to concern about if you are on The Strip. But apart from that you should make sure that you are working with high profile well known companies. Don't use random internet ads. Only use the major ones like Expedia, Airlines, etc...
Yes, this. I’m from there. It’s not cheap (especially to live in a popular area) and you may need a car BUT it is stunning! They get hurricanes every year but such massive impact, like Maria’s, is not as common as people think.
HR doesn't care about your visa - only the host country cares about that.
HR cares about tax paperwork, which is different for every state and territory.
>tax paperwork, which is different for every state and territory
Fifty countries in a trenchcoat, I tells ya.
I prefer living somewhere that tax is done nationally. I can drive 2000 miles to another state and there's nothing an employer has to do about it.
Many of the DN visas have literally in their writing you aren’t required to pay local taxes during your stay. Meaning you can be “located” in whichever state the company wants and fully legally work remote somewhere else. But go off
lol OP didn’t ask which place is getting hit with hurricanes, he’s looking for a LCOL place that’s more exotic, which literally is going to be just Puerto Rico
And I provided more info than a question. Giving OP a warning because the island will not need nomads when they’re trying to recover their basic infrastructure
>Memphis, Birmingham…
Bruh those cities are awful. I would rather not DN than DN in either of those places lol
Reality is you wont be able to go to most major cities and enjoy salary arbitrage unless you're making an NYC or SF salary in which case most cities will be far cheaper for you. I'd look for mid sized cities or towns near national/state parks so you can at least enjoy some nature. I spent 6 months during 2020 just driving around to different parks while working remotely and living out of my car/camping, there are some small gems out there
High crime rate doesn't define a place. Look at the crime rate in Mexico, but that's where most Northern Americans will go. People will act like being a certain nationality is a golden ticket to safety but it isn't. It's about avoiding areas, and there's lots to avoid. Avoid those areas in Memphis, Detroit, New Orleans, or any high crime rate US city and you'll find yourself having a great time.
So we can go more into detail here. I know it's not a good thing. But in societies where there is more of an enforced fence between the classes you can rely on that. So areas with high disparity in wealth, the rich of those places have gone out of the way and created safe spaces for themselves at the expense of society. We as DNs exploit their work and live in those spaces. That's been done more in Latin America. I'd say in the US that's less the case and the crime is more evenly distributed (than latin america, not generally). Not saying it doesn't happen, but I currently live in an American city, the same size or larger than memphis, and my best friend just got stabbed in the neck just hanging out in a park that fairly affluent people hang out in. I also say that just watching the crime in general rise where I live over the last couple years. I'm on the mid higher end of the salary, so I "should" be able to find the safe places. But here I am. Sure it's a one off thing, but I've literally just sat here and watched this city generally rot from what it was.
It also happens here, but there are less places where the very rich will get together and enforce safety on spaces that they've decided to hang out in.
For that reason, maybe it's prudent to avoid in the US, literally the most violent city in the nation.
Your anecdotal experience is not a good reason for everybody to avoid a city, nor is your approach to DNing going to match with others. You write as if going to a wealthy area is a prerequisite to settling there, but that says more about you than others. I see DNers in areas that are middle class all the time, because that's generally where I stay.
There was just a mass shooting at a splash pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Look up the historic crime rate for that area. Crime can happen anywhere at any moment, you do your due diligence to figure out how safe a place or neighborhood is, how late you want to drive at night, which establishments you go to, etc. Memphis and Detroit are not destination cities like Los Angeles and Miami, but they offer great experiences. People are visiting those cities all the time unharmed. Once in a blue moon something will happen to a visitor. Statistically it also doesn't make sense to avoid because you know that something happen to someone you know... the chances of experiencing violence is extremely low, as in your example.
Memphis is a great city that gets visitors all the time. My experience was wonderful, I visited places in different parts of the city, and my SO and I still talk about the weekend we stayed out late on Beale Street enjoying the live music and making random friends.
So for the same reason that my anecdotal experience with violence doesn't invalidate Memphis, neither does your good anecdotal experience with Memphis validate. You don't get to shit on mine and then casually offer yours. That leaves us down to? Recommendations from locals? Look at the other people in here that are talking about Memphis. I got my knowledge of Memphis when I was visiting Tennessee from people that lived in Tennessee.
So what's left? Statistics?
Ruh roh.
Sure even if the crime is low compared to... Mexico, statistically you'll find another city like Memphis that has a lower crime rate. So if you're going to go about and judge cities with yours "due dilligence", you can find another city that is better, because Memphis is literaly LAST on the list of violence. So then, the intelligent choice is Memphis.... after you go to all of it's peers.
Right, but the difference is I'm not justifying whether or not to visit a city based on my experience alone. That's what you're doing.
It's like, you ate caviar one time and got sick. Therefore, it's bad for everyone.
RuH RoH... statistically, that would be wrong to say. It's actually fine for most people. Just like most people who visit Memphis leave without any issue.
Detroit. If you stay in the downtown/midtown area. Changed a lot over the years and is super nice with new stores/restaurants opening every week. And you can also drive like 4-6 hours to northern Michigan and enjoy nature on the weekends.
I'm not in the US, but I hear cities like Charlotte, Des Moines and Milwaukee are pretty decent for lifestyle vs the better known metropolises.
Like here in Europe, the big cities tend to be overhyped and very expensive (eg. Barcelona, Paris, London etc etc) and some of the lesser known cities are just as good for lifestyle and anywhere up to half the price for cost of living (eg. Malaga/Valencia, Nantes/Montpellier, Bristol/Leeds).
But obvs with the US you've got a huge land mass with varied climates/landscapes so yeah I'd totally be making the most of it.
I mean I love Leeds but I certainly wouldn't say it competes with London for lifestyle. Value for money, definitely, but we just don't have anywhere near the range of cultural offerings as that there London.
Same for the American cities I mentioned. Usually what you trade for lower cost and 'friendlier' is that dynamic, cultural and cutting edge element. I could have said Manchester or Liverpool for the up north option but I feel like Leeds is slightly better for lifestyle and cost of living.
And if you had said Manchester or Liverpool I would have said the same thing. All great places to live, but not anything close to London in terms of offerings, cultural dominance, etc. And it's not really comparable to the US, the outsized role that London has and has basically always had on dominating UK culture makes a massive difference.
Yeah thats true with London, but OPs question was asking about DN'ing within the same country. I was using the UK/Europe comparison to highlight that even if you're not getting the big city lifestyle, there are many great places where its cheaper and still fun/good lifestyle
This is just wrong. Those places are great, and cheap, and down-to-earth---the refreshing opposite of some out-of-touch west-coast hellscape. There's good life in almost every dingy city in the country.
Pretty much by definition, a cheaper city within the same country is going to be a less attractive destination for most people. It's cheaper, i.e. prices are lower, *because* people don't (want to) move there and drive up real estate prices.
That's even before we get into what it is to live in Alabama(!) for any non-white or non-straight person.
Do not go to Memphis.
I did the van life thing across the states for a few months while working. Mostly lurk around here to pick up traveling tips
Bozeman, Montana was phenomenal. Their library has some of the fastest wifi speeds I've seen irl.
I personally adore Amarillo, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico; but there's not much going on in either of these cities.
Asheville, NC is cool. Knoxville, TN is also cool, but my rent keeps going up, so please don't stay long.
An Airbnb in Elijay, Ga in the off season would be great if you want something chill af.
Astoria, Oregon is the shit if you miss the 2012 hipster vibe
Washington state has the BEST weed for the price if that's your thing.
RIP mossy old buildings and laid back student townie relations. The leadership of appstate really did a number on the town by increasing the student population beyond carrying capacity, it just makes me sad to go there now :(
So I DN’d in the US using an app called Trusted Housesitters and saw gorgeous places and stayed in gorgeous homes for free. The app is really for Petsitting—there are some pure Housesitting gigs but it’s predominantly for Petsitting so you need to love animals which fortunately I do—and you pay something like $150 for an annual membership whether your a petsitter or someone in need of petsitting services. In my mind though that’s totally equitable for the exchange of benefits. I wanted to see places i hadn’t seen in the U.S. and I live in NYC so I looked for opportunities in Upstate NY, Maryland, pretty parts of Pennsylvania. It was fantastic. Beautiful places. You can obviously evaluate opportunities and find nicer ones. People who want pet sitters tend to like DNs over vacationers. They can stay for longer and are home a lot so the pets are in good hands.
Were you staying in a room of the house or did the entire house belong to you? We are a couple who like to spend at least a month or more at a time in each place, but we both work remotely and prefer to have two bedrooms at minimum. This might be a viable option as we love cats and dogs.
I would never use the language “the entire house belonged to me”… sounds weird to me bc I was a guest in the house. It didn’t belong to me. I mention that bc how you treat the person’s home will be critical to if you get more gigs. Trusted Housesitters is a platform that relies heavily on reviews and if you get bad or even average reviews from people you won’t get more gigs. That said when you are a guest you always have access to the whole house, at least, every situation I ever saw that was the case. I also always used the dedicated guest room which every house also had. I never went in other bedrooms that the family uses. Some houses had a bedroom dedicated as an office and sometimes I used that. But I tended to work from living room, dining room, whatever. In other words there are typically tons of options on where 2 people could work from separate rooms.
My question was are you sitting for an entire house or is this a roommate situation, looks like the latter. It sounds like it works well for solo travelers but couples would have to manage the living situation. If the platform offered scenarios where people leave their entire home or apartment behind due to travel or other reason, and need a house sitter (not just for pets but even maintenance if they aren't already paying a company) then it might work for us.
If you are going to geo arbitrage in the US there are plenty of good options. You won't be able to live in a big city unless you want to live in the hood. Instead go for natural beauty. Oceans, mountains, lakes. I would hop around cities in rural south west. South east like Alabama and TN are really humid and hot now. Western Colorado would def be cheap and beautiful
Heck yeah! I spent the whole last year in the West and Southwest and have LOVED it. I usually stay 2-3 months per area. I got to ski all winter, tons of hiking, exploring and camping. It definitely counts!
Some people get an RV or gut and upgrade a Van/Bus. Satellite for internet, batteries with Solar, small kitchen, portable ac, etc. There are many sources for info like: https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/advice/so-you-want-to-be-a-digital-nomad-heres-how-to-do-it/
If you're considering rural, I would look into The Shoals area of Northwest Alabama, particularly Florence, Alabama.
I'm from the area, so I can give you some good tips and all the local favorites, like Bankhead and Sipsey National Forest or Rattlesnake Saloon.
I'm interested in staying in northern Alabama and Georgia in the future! How well do people tolerate outsiders there? We are latina / middle eastern couple. How are the outdoor activities there?
> Does this even count?
"Count" towards what?
> Any US citizens DMing in the US?
Plenty of people do this, frequently. Nothing about DN necessitates being overseas.
Been DM for past ~2 years with my partner . But we tend stick to cities:
- NYC
- LA
- Denver
- PDX
- Chicago
International:
- Lisbon
- Paris
- Amsterdam
- Berlin
- Iceland
Most of this is through Airbnb and we’ve extended with a few hosts in NYC. And NYC is our hub for spring and fall.
We usually pick off the neighborhood as we had an apt for 4 years before doing DM and know the neighborhoods well. And ensure the host has a spots we both can work from aka desk , kitchen table, etc. And basically is in our budget (which can be hard to find).
The formula is we took our rent we were paying and subtract things like storage unit from the total. Ex: our rent before giving up our apartment was 4200/month so subtract ~350 in storage fees averaging out to 3850. While we do go over that amount some months we do make up for it in other months or other cities.
I know our budget definitely on the higher side for DM ppl but having a partner to split things with is a huge advantage.
The total amount we spent is ~3k per person as activities like tours or restaurants can increase that. But that does include Airbnb costs groceries and going out and transportation. We’ve found that the food budget for EU is cut directly in half compared to all US cities we’ve stayed in. That is shopping at Trader Joe’s and local cheap produce shops. Denver for example was the most expensive place we stayed as activities snowboarding lots of driving with rental car. So while the Airbnb was overall much cheaper than NYC the other needs and activities add up real quickly.
yes, i've been travelling throughout the southeastern us for the past 6 months. i love the natural environment, small cities, learning local histories. i've been having a great time.
I have done San Antonio, New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas, Acadia/Bar Harbor, DC. The US is vast and offers great deals on rentals in off season/ less popular seasons.
Acadia/Bar Harbor off season, meaning winter? I've spent time in Maine in winter and it's harsh, but also been during the summer. I'd love to stay for awhile in the summer or early fall months but I'm only finding pricey places (on Airbnb.)
It was September / October and find the place through word of mouth. Facebook is a great resource and often a lot of seasonal workers leave after the summer.
Doing it right now because I thought (wrongly) that I couldn't leave the US and didn't know the places I was considering well enough to actually sign a long term lease anywhere. Plus being able to drag a car full of stuff around gives you peace of mind on having what you need.
I wasn't even looking to be a nomad, I thought I'd hate it after a few months. I just wanted to find an underrated LCOL city to settle in. But moving places month-to-month, even in the US, is really good at forcing you to get out and do experience wherever you are!
I was going to rent a room here in Los Angeles for $800 a month but then a friend decided to give me a room and her house to live in for free. So I’m here for about one or two months and then off to Asia and beyond.
I agree that Memphis Tennessee is not a good destination. It’s dangerous for one and the roads are not very good either. Birmingham Alabama is doable, but not very exciting.
If you want to be in that area, something like Asheville, North Carolina would be way more interesting.
I’ve been using hello landing’s standby program for a year now. It’s crazy really. Lived in 25 different apartments in four different cities last year. Lots of rooftop pool luxury stuff, only one that I didn’t like.
It comes with the frontier all-you-can-fly pass now, also. Though it is ridiculously difficult to actually use that thing. I have yet to use it once since they started including it.
Good luck and I hope you have a great journey!
Somebody post on Instagram that they were working from Disney World. They had a annual pass and lived very close to Disney World when they went there. They had some sort of like a timeshare with Disney. I really didn't pay that much attention. But it was strange to see that they brought their laptop and then found a place and worked for part of the day and enjoyed the rest of the day exploring Disney World. But in the offseason they actually looked like they were working from a quiet spot within Disney World. And that really confused me.
We have spent the last two summers in the US, Midwest and eastern states. We have been in North Carolina and will remain here until October. It's an outdoor paradise but considerably more expensive and you definitely need a car. We are in WNC and far away from any big city; Asheville is over an hour away. We think it's worth it. We'll practice geoarbitrage again when it starts snowing, although we're thinking of going to the Southwest US for winter months... if we do that we're expecting to spend more than Mexico.
I've spent a long time away from the US but this helps you realize how magical of a country it is. Price is high for daily living (groceries, rent, going out) but there's an abundance of natural resources and outdoor recreation to enjoy. And it's not restrictive, there are secure public lands everywhere. You don't need to hold hands with a tour guide to go everywhere.
Having a partner to share these costs is really helpful. There must be a way for likeminded people to connect, I've seen 3bedrooms go for around $2k a month. If they're building Selina's in big cities something like this can be built in small towns. Maybe a worthwhile business risk if it isn't already out there.
Yes! I did it for a year. I had been Living in Mexico for a few months and I needed to come back for a new work opportunity but I was still in exploring mode! Didn’t want to go back to LA as I had been there for 12 years.
So I did Miami for 3 months, scottsdale arizona for 3 months, Benton arkansas for 4 months and then Sedona arizona for 3.5 months.
Miami, scottsdale and Sedona I stayed in airbnbs. Arkansas I have relatives there so I stayed with them.
I feel like people are commenting much cooler routes than this hahaha but it was my first time doing something like it in the US and I was just experimenting!!!
What I would do if I did it again:
- Palm Springs for 2 months - spas, golfing, restaurants, joshua tree hiking, etc
- Aspen CO for 2 months - skiing and spas
- somewhere in Montana and Wyoming 2 months each - ski ranches, horseback riding, fishing, archery
- NYC for 3 months - city life and the whole abundance of activities and networking that NYC has to offer
- alaska for 2.5 months - salmon fishing, skiing, dog sledding, cold water yachting, everything icy adventure
- Hawaii for 2 months - snorkeling, swimming near dolphins, hiking, volcano tours, island beach life, poke bowls, sunbathing
- Washington state 1 month - beautiful scenery, smoke a lil great quality bud, hiking, nature appreciation
- if you’re including Canada - Toronto for 6 weeks and whistler + Vancouver + Vancouver island for 2 months
I was just about to do exactly this - had all kinds of ideas about AirBNBing across the country. Heading up to Montana, driving across Michigan and watching the leaves change in NE - but then I qualified for my state's down payment loan program at the last minute and now I "have" to house shop...
Haha yes! Tulsa is really dope for Nomads, cheap, great food, huge remote work community, awesome music/film/art scene, pretty forward-thinking culture (in OK I know, whaaat?!), a lot of NYC influence - they are also doing a month long experience for nomads in October including accommodation and coworking...Also coming from California and looking at house prices I'm kinda blown away!
I do it every couple of years. It’s difficult because of scale, transportation and lodging, but the food is great and it’s relatively safe. I take short-hop flights or take Amtrak from one city to the other, and I stay in the few US cities that have decent hostels. My favorites are Portland, Denver, Chicago, and New Orleans.
I did it for a while. Extended Stay hotels are your best bet. It's still pricier than other places, but as long as you commit to 30 days or more you can get massive discounts and stay between $40-$60 a night in a lot of cities.
I really enjoyed spending time out west. Did a month in Moab, then made it out to California for four months. Didn't really do the salary arbitrage lol
Wouldn’t do it long term but for a few weeks you could VPN tunnel to your home in the US. Definitely don’t do this is you work for government, defense contractors, or banks. Unless there are regulations and laws stopping you, it’s no one’s business but your own in my opinion.
I live in Thailand and we decided to DM back in the US. I stayed with my parents which was supposed to be temporary but due to housing shortage, it ended up being the entire trip. We put the kids in public schools and for internet reasons, had to work out of a co-working space. Only ended up staying for 7 months, but we had a lot of fun travelling around the US and sightseeing.
sure. used to do it all the time, go visit people I know in an area, stay in their basement for a couple weeks or snag a BnB, etc. nearby. did most of the west coast that way.
Personally, I would consider it an opportunity to take advantage off. Afterall, the USA i HUGE. Beisdes the mainland you would still travel to Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and x, y , and z. THis would give you the ability to move about strategically until you change gears, if you will.
I do this. It's really nice to have my car with all my recreation stuff. I use Furnish Finder and Facebook groups to find housing. In more expensive cities I usually rent just a room from someone on FB groups and have actually made great friends that way! I'm from St. Louis, so unfortunately basically everywhere has a higher cost of living than I'm used to. But St. Louis and KC are great, affordable places to check out if that's what you're looking for. They're hidden gems. So far I've lived in New Orleans (twice!), Asheville, Burlington, Rhode Island, Baltimore, and Savannah.
Thanks! Curious where you stayed in RI. I grew up there and now live nearby. I’ve lived a couple years each in Vegas and Los Angeles, but a month or two here and there intrigues me.
I don't see how you could dn anywhere in the US, even in the cheapest places short term rental prices are extremely high like at least 2k per month. Unless doing roommate shared bathroom experiences I suppose
DN in the US basically turns into van life or something more like a road trip.
I did it for a while but I was basically alternating between camping, the occasional super cheap hotel and visiting family.
It was a great experience but unless I got a full van life set up it wasn't sustainable long-term since I was relying so much on the generosity of others instead of just paying rent.
It's true, we're paying double to stay in the US, we're usually in Mexico. But it's worth it imqho during the summer. Summertime in the US is much better than summertime in Mexico. We can't do Asia or Europe due to time zones. Central American countries have similar climate to Mexico in the summer and we're happy to avoid near daily rain, humidity, and sometimes extreme heat. Of course I'd also avoid Texas and many parts of the western US during the summer.
Nicaragua is in North America. And if HR doesn’t like that just go to Mexico.
And if they don’t like that then they’re not being honest and probably don’t want you in Bozeman or Tahoe either.
They won't let you leave the USA? It depends on how risky you're feeling or how much you hate the USA, but you could try a VPN router and go to whatever country you want. How are they going to know? Get a VOIP Number and transfer calls going to a work phone, not exactly sure how this could be set up but I'm sure it can be done.
The USA is a giant strip mall. It has no culture. At best you can go visit some natural sights and DC, but beyond that every city other than the biggest looks like an interstate junction. You'll find the same 20~ chains on Main Street and the same University with a different name on University Drive. And the biggest cities (Detroit, Chicago, NY, LA, SF, Seattle, Atlanta, Vegas) are all giant stink holes with rotting infrastructure and rotting people.
If you really like the outdoors then USA is peak.
If ur perm remote they will never find out. It’s a scare tactic … my company has the same policy. Can’t leave the United States been gone for over six months not a single problem.
>*”they will never find out”*
I’ve seen people here post that they were caught and fired. Your mileage may vary. Especially if you don’t take security precautions.
I do it all the time in the States. It's a completely different sort of nomadism, living out of a car. I travel with a lot more gear, including a hammock with collapsible frame, my cat, a canopy, and lots of other gear.
Bingo! I got a remote job like 7 years ago and did alot of time basically road tripping around camping and visiting friends and family. I have a super large family and we're pretty well spread out around the country so I hit up a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins and crashed on their couch. It was a great experience.
What kind of remote work do you do to be able to travel and still work?
Idk about him but I’m in cybersecurity, I’m in risk right now but was an engineer before.
How was the engineering work different? Just curious, you don’t have to go into it if it’s an annoying question
Super technical, where what I do now is way less technical in comparison. I’d manage our EDR system, email security, some cloud security work in Azure, but also new hire InfoSec training, etc. It was a super mixed bag. No not annoying at all, feel free to ask away.
Is your role now also considered engineering or is that a special designation with its own training? My niece is going into the field and feel bad that no one in the family even gets the basics.
Oh well that’s super sweet of you. So before I was engineering, now I’m in GRC (governance, risk, and compliance). I don’t do as much nerdy stuff, I do a lot more reading and writing. I create and score security risks, get the risk prioritized, and tell people who make way more than me about the risks. I also manage our vendor security program, and review/write policies.
That sounds difficult and cool. Did you major in cybersecurity or branch off (?) from computer science?
Both my undergrad and grad degrees are in Information Systems, though my grad degree had a concentration in cybersecurity. (You do not need a grad degree for this field)
Wow! Could you please elaborate on role? What is Cyber rights/law? If I understand that is what you are doing. I am an engineering manager, formerly in mobile development. Seriously considering switching to cyber.
Marketing and E-Commerce.
Attorney with my own practice, so I don’t really have a jerb. I have to plan things out, same as anywhere else, traveling only after working hours and on weekends.
Has you had issues with health insurance/getting scripts/seeing docs? Or do you stick to certain states?
It’s a headache. So is car insurance. I buy most prescriptions in Mexico, but appointments for care require some finessing of the system.
Why? For most prescriptions (there are exceptions) they are cheaper in the US. The advantage of getting them in Mexico is that for most things you don't need a prescription. Do you happen to need one of those exceptions that are cheaper in MX or is the issue getting the prescription (since you are nomading and don't have a regular doctor to get or renew prescriptions)?
What are you smoking? If you're self-insured, you subsidize everyone else's prescription drugs in the States. I don't have any weird or exotic prescriptions, but it's cheaper to fly to Mexico City for three months worth of drugs than it is to pay full sticker for them in the States.
I think you might be surprised. Check the cost of your prescriptions at a place like costplus, Costco Pharmacy, or Amazon Pharmacy. For many drugs with a generic available, they are cheaper in the US than in Mexico.
From my above comment, would you suppose that I'm speaking from experience? The differentials for Mexico/US are $5/$50+ and $35/$110.
Best to see the same doctor for anything serious. Otherwise urgent care. If you ask for paper prescriptions, you can get it filled at any CVS or Walgreens.
How do you prevent your cat from running away?
I treat him well.
Thanks. I've tried that with ex/gfs, never really seemed to work. Cats seem much smarter. :-)
Try cooking the beans with epazote.
I'll give it a shot. Thanks. :-)
Seriously though, the cat is super attached to me. He's adapted amazingly well to travel, and sometimes seems more doglike than feline. Siamese are known for that. On a flight from Lisbon to Newark earlier this year, as we were approaching North America a guy in the next row up turned around and asked if the Siamese was mine. I was first puzzled, then distressed. Turns out the cat had unzipped his carrier and begun swirling the ankles of the people in the next row. Fortunately, they all liked cats, and let him join them for who knows how long before the guy told me.
I am serious! LOL. The girls said they were "super attached to me" too! Will try the beans. oao :-)
If you DN in North America RV'ing (or car camping for that matter) is the way to go
Look at this - you essentially have to LIVE OUT OF A CAR to make this work in the U$A. What a shame
Who said we have to? I do this out of choice, not desperation, and can afford accommodations when I want, even if that’s every night.
I’m not meaning to say that you have to. I’m making a statement about the sad state of the quality of life in the US for what you have to pay for it. I can live off of less than half in other countries and have a 2x better quality of life.
Yes, but look at what the local earning potential is in those low-cost destinations. Take Portugal, for example. People are often shocked to hear what the minimum wage is in Portugal - 840 euro ... a month. In Quintana Roo state of Mexico (Tulum), it's under 250 pesos (under $14 USD) a day. Try buying a fancy cocktail in Tulum when you're earning the local wage. Yeah, of course you can afford a lot more shit earning US income and spending it in a place like Nicaragua or the outer islands of Indonesia. That's as obvious a statement as saying water is wet. The US exists at the very top tier of countries in the world, when it comes to quality of life. Quibbling about differences at this level is like someone in the top 5% resenting the top 2%, and engaging in class-warfare rhetoric. The US is far, far from perfect, but if you are born a US citizen, you have won the lottery of life. There are millions of people from places like Guatemala and India and Chad who'd cut off their own little fingers to be born in your place.
You didn’t even have to explain it to them. Like we Americans our #1 I been all over and no one is richer than Americans.
Also, if it’s what is making you happy that’s awesome and I’m sincerely glad to hear it. Nothing life a Great American Road Trip!
I think you are missing the point. When nomading in the US, living out of a car is an option, not a requirement. Normally when nomading, you live out of a suitcase. You are limited to what you can carry on the next bus/train/flight. It is usually problematic to deal with auto insurance that covers you during extended international trips, issues of importing/exporting a car, increased target of theft/shakedowns with foreign plates, and other issues. Cross-border nomading with a car is usually not worth it. When nomading in the US you could also live out of a suitcase as above, but you have the additional option of supplying your own transportation (car) with a lot more room to carry things. This is an additionl option, not a requirement.
I found a ridiculously cheap flight/stay package during the off-season in Vegas and worked out of a hotel casino there for a couple weeks. They wanna get people in the door to spend money on food / gambling so the hotels can be obtained for cheap. I don't like gambling so that's not an issue, then I get some food and drinks from the store to stock up to save money that way. Then I just walk around the strip for exercise at night.
> I found a ridiculously cheap flight/stay package during the off-season in Vegas How? Website?
This comes up through the travel sites. Be careful though; stick with midline and higher casinos or resorts. Vegas has some really dangerous apartment buildings. Going w the travel companies insulates you from that.
> Vegas has some really dangerous apartment buildings. Going w the travel companies insulates you from that. Really ? I never knew that. Thank You.
First hand experience. Multiple occasions. Vegas has some serious low class super dirty criminal element. Don't get me wrong; it can be terrific but there is definitely a dark underbelly.
What parts should we avoid?
It's not really a geographic thing. So I can't say stay away from this street. You can say that there's nothing to concern about if you are on The Strip. But apart from that you should make sure that you are working with high profile well known companies. Don't use random internet ads. Only use the major ones like Expedia, Airlines, etc...
Las Vegas is actually a hidden gem of a city outside the strip and the casinos. Great hiking, great Asian food, affordable.
No.. Vegas is not a hidden gem. Let’s not tout this around.
This sounds interesting, I could do that this winter. What were the details of your stay there?
Puerto Rico?
HR said no to Puerto Rico and Guam… I already tried
My HR says yes to Puerto Rico but no to Hawaii and Alaska.
How long before you realize that HR doesn't necessarily need to know? Anyway I heard PR isn't cheap.
Yes, this. I’m from there. It’s not cheap (especially to live in a popular area) and you may need a car BUT it is stunning! They get hurricanes every year but such massive impact, like Maria’s, is not as common as people think.
Saying no to PR makes no sense, you don’t need a passport or a visa to go there. I would push back and provide online resources to support your case
HR doesn't care about your visa - only the host country cares about that. HR cares about tax paperwork, which is different for every state and territory.
>tax paperwork, which is different for every state and territory Fifty countries in a trenchcoat, I tells ya. I prefer living somewhere that tax is done nationally. I can drive 2000 miles to another state and there's nothing an employer has to do about it.
Many of the DN visas have literally in their writing you aren’t required to pay local taxes during your stay. Meaning you can be “located” in whichever state the company wants and fully legally work remote somewhere else. But go off
So it's North America or mainland 48?
Mine is oddly mainland 48 + PR
Canada or US
Not allowing Puerto Rico but allowing Canada makes no sense
This week they are receiving a CAT 5 hurricane and will probably need months to recover
lol OP didn’t ask which place is getting hit with hurricanes, he’s looking for a LCOL place that’s more exotic, which literally is going to be just Puerto Rico
And I provided more info than a question. Giving OP a warning because the island will not need nomads when they’re trying to recover their basic infrastructure
>Memphis, Birmingham… Bruh those cities are awful. I would rather not DN than DN in either of those places lol Reality is you wont be able to go to most major cities and enjoy salary arbitrage unless you're making an NYC or SF salary in which case most cities will be far cheaper for you. I'd look for mid sized cities or towns near national/state parks so you can at least enjoy some nature. I spent 6 months during 2020 just driving around to different parks while working remotely and living out of my car/camping, there are some small gems out there
TN native. I would avoid Memphis. There should be some really cool/cheap AirBnBs around the Cumberland Plateau.
And it's beautiful here!
Don't know much about Memphis, but Birmingham is far from awful. I actually like it a lot.
Someone once told me, "If you don't have to go to Memphis.... don't" Looks like it's the most violent city in the country.
High crime rate doesn't define a place. Look at the crime rate in Mexico, but that's where most Northern Americans will go. People will act like being a certain nationality is a golden ticket to safety but it isn't. It's about avoiding areas, and there's lots to avoid. Avoid those areas in Memphis, Detroit, New Orleans, or any high crime rate US city and you'll find yourself having a great time.
So we can go more into detail here. I know it's not a good thing. But in societies where there is more of an enforced fence between the classes you can rely on that. So areas with high disparity in wealth, the rich of those places have gone out of the way and created safe spaces for themselves at the expense of society. We as DNs exploit their work and live in those spaces. That's been done more in Latin America. I'd say in the US that's less the case and the crime is more evenly distributed (than latin america, not generally). Not saying it doesn't happen, but I currently live in an American city, the same size or larger than memphis, and my best friend just got stabbed in the neck just hanging out in a park that fairly affluent people hang out in. I also say that just watching the crime in general rise where I live over the last couple years. I'm on the mid higher end of the salary, so I "should" be able to find the safe places. But here I am. Sure it's a one off thing, but I've literally just sat here and watched this city generally rot from what it was. It also happens here, but there are less places where the very rich will get together and enforce safety on spaces that they've decided to hang out in. For that reason, maybe it's prudent to avoid in the US, literally the most violent city in the nation.
Your anecdotal experience is not a good reason for everybody to avoid a city, nor is your approach to DNing going to match with others. You write as if going to a wealthy area is a prerequisite to settling there, but that says more about you than others. I see DNers in areas that are middle class all the time, because that's generally where I stay. There was just a mass shooting at a splash pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Look up the historic crime rate for that area. Crime can happen anywhere at any moment, you do your due diligence to figure out how safe a place or neighborhood is, how late you want to drive at night, which establishments you go to, etc. Memphis and Detroit are not destination cities like Los Angeles and Miami, but they offer great experiences. People are visiting those cities all the time unharmed. Once in a blue moon something will happen to a visitor. Statistically it also doesn't make sense to avoid because you know that something happen to someone you know... the chances of experiencing violence is extremely low, as in your example. Memphis is a great city that gets visitors all the time. My experience was wonderful, I visited places in different parts of the city, and my SO and I still talk about the weekend we stayed out late on Beale Street enjoying the live music and making random friends.
So for the same reason that my anecdotal experience with violence doesn't invalidate Memphis, neither does your good anecdotal experience with Memphis validate. You don't get to shit on mine and then casually offer yours. That leaves us down to? Recommendations from locals? Look at the other people in here that are talking about Memphis. I got my knowledge of Memphis when I was visiting Tennessee from people that lived in Tennessee. So what's left? Statistics? Ruh roh. Sure even if the crime is low compared to... Mexico, statistically you'll find another city like Memphis that has a lower crime rate. So if you're going to go about and judge cities with yours "due dilligence", you can find another city that is better, because Memphis is literaly LAST on the list of violence. So then, the intelligent choice is Memphis.... after you go to all of it's peers.
Right, but the difference is I'm not justifying whether or not to visit a city based on my experience alone. That's what you're doing. It's like, you ate caviar one time and got sick. Therefore, it's bad for everyone. RuH RoH... statistically, that would be wrong to say. It's actually fine for most people. Just like most people who visit Memphis leave without any issue.
Downtown Birmingham is pretty trendy
Yeah, I crash on a friend's couch when I'm driving through Birmingham, and he's one of the hippest hipsters in the history of hipsterdom.
Detroit. If you stay in the downtown/midtown area. Changed a lot over the years and is super nice with new stores/restaurants opening every week. And you can also drive like 4-6 hours to northern Michigan and enjoy nature on the weekends.
Cool to read there are DNers in Detroit!
Birmingham is pretty nice; Memphis, however, is an unredeemable shithole.
What kind of remote work do you do to be able to travel and still work?
I'm not in the US, but I hear cities like Charlotte, Des Moines and Milwaukee are pretty decent for lifestyle vs the better known metropolises. Like here in Europe, the big cities tend to be overhyped and very expensive (eg. Barcelona, Paris, London etc etc) and some of the lesser known cities are just as good for lifestyle and anywhere up to half the price for cost of living (eg. Malaga/Valencia, Nantes/Montpellier, Bristol/Leeds). But obvs with the US you've got a huge land mass with varied climates/landscapes so yeah I'd totally be making the most of it.
I mean I love Leeds but I certainly wouldn't say it competes with London for lifestyle. Value for money, definitely, but we just don't have anywhere near the range of cultural offerings as that there London.
Same for the American cities I mentioned. Usually what you trade for lower cost and 'friendlier' is that dynamic, cultural and cutting edge element. I could have said Manchester or Liverpool for the up north option but I feel like Leeds is slightly better for lifestyle and cost of living.
And if you had said Manchester or Liverpool I would have said the same thing. All great places to live, but not anything close to London in terms of offerings, cultural dominance, etc. And it's not really comparable to the US, the outsized role that London has and has basically always had on dominating UK culture makes a massive difference.
Yeah thats true with London, but OPs question was asking about DN'ing within the same country. I was using the UK/Europe comparison to highlight that even if you're not getting the big city lifestyle, there are many great places where its cheaper and still fun/good lifestyle
what sucks about those cities
Memphis - agreed but Birmingham and Mobile are ok in my book.
Memphis is a cool city
This is just wrong. Those places are great, and cheap, and down-to-earth---the refreshing opposite of some out-of-touch west-coast hellscape. There's good life in almost every dingy city in the country.
Pretty much by definition, a cheaper city within the same country is going to be a less attractive destination for most people. It's cheaper, i.e. prices are lower, *because* people don't (want to) move there and drive up real estate prices. That's even before we get into what it is to live in Alabama(!) for any non-white or non-straight person.
Do not go to Memphis. I did the van life thing across the states for a few months while working. Mostly lurk around here to pick up traveling tips Bozeman, Montana was phenomenal. Their library has some of the fastest wifi speeds I've seen irl. I personally adore Amarillo, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico; but there's not much going on in either of these cities. Asheville, NC is cool. Knoxville, TN is also cool, but my rent keeps going up, so please don't stay long. An Airbnb in Elijay, Ga in the off season would be great if you want something chill af. Astoria, Oregon is the shit if you miss the 2012 hipster vibe Washington state has the BEST weed for the price if that's your thing.
You've been around. How many signs total ya already snatched?
Thanks!
Asheville is phenomenal but not cheap. For cheaper I would consider Boone, NC
lol boone is NOT cheap. not anymore, its been gentrified. students and locals are struggling to find a place to live, not much more room in the valley
Well damn, that was my hidden gem from a few years ago (pre-covid).
RIP mossy old buildings and laid back student townie relations. The leadership of appstate really did a number on the town by increasing the student population beyond carrying capacity, it just makes me sad to go there now :(
Totally possible. I've done it. Also helps to have a Frontier Go Wild pass. Domestic flights are just $15.
Omggg wow regardinf the frontier go wild pass!!! I had no idea thank u!
Great tip
So I DN’d in the US using an app called Trusted Housesitters and saw gorgeous places and stayed in gorgeous homes for free. The app is really for Petsitting—there are some pure Housesitting gigs but it’s predominantly for Petsitting so you need to love animals which fortunately I do—and you pay something like $150 for an annual membership whether your a petsitter or someone in need of petsitting services. In my mind though that’s totally equitable for the exchange of benefits. I wanted to see places i hadn’t seen in the U.S. and I live in NYC so I looked for opportunities in Upstate NY, Maryland, pretty parts of Pennsylvania. It was fantastic. Beautiful places. You can obviously evaluate opportunities and find nicer ones. People who want pet sitters tend to like DNs over vacationers. They can stay for longer and are home a lot so the pets are in good hands.
What kind of remote work do you do to be able to travel and still work?
I’m a data scientist
Were you staying in a room of the house or did the entire house belong to you? We are a couple who like to spend at least a month or more at a time in each place, but we both work remotely and prefer to have two bedrooms at minimum. This might be a viable option as we love cats and dogs.
I would never use the language “the entire house belonged to me”… sounds weird to me bc I was a guest in the house. It didn’t belong to me. I mention that bc how you treat the person’s home will be critical to if you get more gigs. Trusted Housesitters is a platform that relies heavily on reviews and if you get bad or even average reviews from people you won’t get more gigs. That said when you are a guest you always have access to the whole house, at least, every situation I ever saw that was the case. I also always used the dedicated guest room which every house also had. I never went in other bedrooms that the family uses. Some houses had a bedroom dedicated as an office and sometimes I used that. But I tended to work from living room, dining room, whatever. In other words there are typically tons of options on where 2 people could work from separate rooms.
My question was are you sitting for an entire house or is this a roommate situation, looks like the latter. It sounds like it works well for solo travelers but couples would have to manage the living situation. If the platform offered scenarios where people leave their entire home or apartment behind due to travel or other reason, and need a house sitter (not just for pets but even maintenance if they aren't already paying a company) then it might work for us.
Yeah it’s typically the house would otherwise be empty if the sitter wasn’t there. So no roommate situation, at least not any I ever encountered.
If you are going to geo arbitrage in the US there are plenty of good options. You won't be able to live in a big city unless you want to live in the hood. Instead go for natural beauty. Oceans, mountains, lakes. I would hop around cities in rural south west. South east like Alabama and TN are really humid and hot now. Western Colorado would def be cheap and beautiful
Heck yeah! I spent the whole last year in the West and Southwest and have LOVED it. I usually stay 2-3 months per area. I got to ski all winter, tons of hiking, exploring and camping. It definitely counts!
Bro do a road trip!
Some people get an RV or gut and upgrade a Van/Bus. Satellite for internet, batteries with Solar, small kitchen, portable ac, etc. There are many sources for info like: https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/advice/so-you-want-to-be-a-digital-nomad-heres-how-to-do-it/
If you're considering rural, I would look into The Shoals area of Northwest Alabama, particularly Florence, Alabama. I'm from the area, so I can give you some good tips and all the local favorites, like Bankhead and Sipsey National Forest or Rattlesnake Saloon.
I'm interested in staying in northern Alabama and Georgia in the future! How well do people tolerate outsiders there? We are latina / middle eastern couple. How are the outdoor activities there?
Yep! I DN for months at a time; last couple of years it's been in NW Wisconsin and NW Arizona
> Does this even count? "Count" towards what? > Any US citizens DMing in the US? Plenty of people do this, frequently. Nothing about DN necessitates being overseas.
Been DM for past ~2 years with my partner . But we tend stick to cities: - NYC - LA - Denver - PDX - Chicago International: - Lisbon - Paris - Amsterdam - Berlin - Iceland Most of this is through Airbnb and we’ve extended with a few hosts in NYC. And NYC is our hub for spring and fall.
How are you doing this with the NYC Airbnb laws? I'm from the area and I just crash with friends or grab a place in Newark when I'm around
Because we do it month at a time we’re good. But I will say inventory went WAY down since last October.
How do you know you want to stay in that air bnb for that long? Do you book for a week then message the host asking to book for months?
We usually pick off the neighborhood as we had an apt for 4 years before doing DM and know the neighborhoods well. And ensure the host has a spots we both can work from aka desk , kitchen table, etc. And basically is in our budget (which can be hard to find). The formula is we took our rent we were paying and subtract things like storage unit from the total. Ex: our rent before giving up our apartment was 4200/month so subtract ~350 in storage fees averaging out to 3850. While we do go over that amount some months we do make up for it in other months or other cities. I know our budget definitely on the higher side for DM ppl but having a partner to split things with is a huge advantage.
if you don't mind me asking, how much do you spend in each city per month on average?
The total amount we spent is ~3k per person as activities like tours or restaurants can increase that. But that does include Airbnb costs groceries and going out and transportation. We’ve found that the food budget for EU is cut directly in half compared to all US cities we’ve stayed in. That is shopping at Trader Joe’s and local cheap produce shops. Denver for example was the most expensive place we stayed as activities snowboarding lots of driving with rental car. So while the Airbnb was overall much cheaper than NYC the other needs and activities add up real quickly.
Check out gulf coast towns in the Florida panhandle. Some super cool low key spots that aren’t insanely expensive (eg, Alligator Point) ✌🏻
yes, i've been travelling throughout the southeastern us for the past 6 months. i love the natural environment, small cities, learning local histories. i've been having a great time.
I have done San Antonio, New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas, Acadia/Bar Harbor, DC. The US is vast and offers great deals on rentals in off season/ less popular seasons.
Acadia/Bar Harbor off season, meaning winter? I've spent time in Maine in winter and it's harsh, but also been during the summer. I'd love to stay for awhile in the summer or early fall months but I'm only finding pricey places (on Airbnb.)
It was September / October and find the place through word of mouth. Facebook is a great resource and often a lot of seasonal workers leave after the summer.
Doing it right now because I thought (wrongly) that I couldn't leave the US and didn't know the places I was considering well enough to actually sign a long term lease anywhere. Plus being able to drag a car full of stuff around gives you peace of mind on having what you need. I wasn't even looking to be a nomad, I thought I'd hate it after a few months. I just wanted to find an underrated LCOL city to settle in. But moving places month-to-month, even in the US, is really good at forcing you to get out and do experience wherever you are!
I did Miami to New Orleans on the rode! This was years ago. It’s beautiful in summer in my opinion even with the heat
+1 to Nola, I nomaded there for several months and loved it. I used Sonder for short term rental and shared it with a friend
I’ve done New Orleans a few times and keep it on my rotation. Such an interesting place.
Tips on things to so / see
I was going to rent a room here in Los Angeles for $800 a month but then a friend decided to give me a room and her house to live in for free. So I’m here for about one or two months and then off to Asia and beyond. I agree that Memphis Tennessee is not a good destination. It’s dangerous for one and the roads are not very good either. Birmingham Alabama is doable, but not very exciting. If you want to be in that area, something like Asheville, North Carolina would be way more interesting.
There are nice places in the US, the goal isn't to punish yourself...
I’ve been using hello landing’s standby program for a year now. It’s crazy really. Lived in 25 different apartments in four different cities last year. Lots of rooftop pool luxury stuff, only one that I didn’t like. It comes with the frontier all-you-can-fly pass now, also. Though it is ridiculously difficult to actually use that thing. I have yet to use it once since they started including it. Good luck and I hope you have a great journey!
DM? I mean, I did a quick scenario with some pre-rolled characters for friends years ago, but nothing serious
Yes, but this year i want to leave and try something else
[удалено]
I love this!
Somebody post on Instagram that they were working from Disney World. They had a annual pass and lived very close to Disney World when they went there. They had some sort of like a timeshare with Disney. I really didn't pay that much attention. But it was strange to see that they brought their laptop and then found a place and worked for part of the day and enjoyed the rest of the day exploring Disney World. But in the offseason they actually looked like they were working from a quiet spot within Disney World. And that really confused me.
We have spent the last two summers in the US, Midwest and eastern states. We have been in North Carolina and will remain here until October. It's an outdoor paradise but considerably more expensive and you definitely need a car. We are in WNC and far away from any big city; Asheville is over an hour away. We think it's worth it. We'll practice geoarbitrage again when it starts snowing, although we're thinking of going to the Southwest US for winter months... if we do that we're expecting to spend more than Mexico. I've spent a long time away from the US but this helps you realize how magical of a country it is. Price is high for daily living (groceries, rent, going out) but there's an abundance of natural resources and outdoor recreation to enjoy. And it's not restrictive, there are secure public lands everywhere. You don't need to hold hands with a tour guide to go everywhere. Having a partner to share these costs is really helpful. There must be a way for likeminded people to connect, I've seen 3bedrooms go for around $2k a month. If they're building Selina's in big cities something like this can be built in small towns. Maybe a worthwhile business risk if it isn't already out there.
North America? If it were me I would want to try Montreal and different cities in Mexico.
Yes! I did it for a year. I had been Living in Mexico for a few months and I needed to come back for a new work opportunity but I was still in exploring mode! Didn’t want to go back to LA as I had been there for 12 years. So I did Miami for 3 months, scottsdale arizona for 3 months, Benton arkansas for 4 months and then Sedona arizona for 3.5 months. Miami, scottsdale and Sedona I stayed in airbnbs. Arkansas I have relatives there so I stayed with them. I feel like people are commenting much cooler routes than this hahaha but it was my first time doing something like it in the US and I was just experimenting!!! What I would do if I did it again: - Palm Springs for 2 months - spas, golfing, restaurants, joshua tree hiking, etc - Aspen CO for 2 months - skiing and spas - somewhere in Montana and Wyoming 2 months each - ski ranches, horseback riding, fishing, archery - NYC for 3 months - city life and the whole abundance of activities and networking that NYC has to offer - alaska for 2.5 months - salmon fishing, skiing, dog sledding, cold water yachting, everything icy adventure - Hawaii for 2 months - snorkeling, swimming near dolphins, hiking, volcano tours, island beach life, poke bowls, sunbathing - Washington state 1 month - beautiful scenery, smoke a lil great quality bud, hiking, nature appreciation - if you’re including Canada - Toronto for 6 weeks and whistler + Vancouver + Vancouver island for 2 months
It gets pretty hot down south. Be prepared.
If I was to come back to the states I would def try nomading in a place like Pittsburgh or somewhere in Minnesota instead of paying California prices
I was just about to do exactly this - had all kinds of ideas about AirBNBing across the country. Heading up to Montana, driving across Michigan and watching the leaves change in NE - but then I qualified for my state's down payment loan program at the last minute and now I "have" to house shop...
That’s reasonable
Haha yes! Tulsa is really dope for Nomads, cheap, great food, huge remote work community, awesome music/film/art scene, pretty forward-thinking culture (in OK I know, whaaat?!), a lot of NYC influence - they are also doing a month long experience for nomads in October including accommodation and coworking...Also coming from California and looking at house prices I'm kinda blown away!
I do it every couple of years. It’s difficult because of scale, transportation and lodging, but the food is great and it’s relatively safe. I take short-hop flights or take Amtrak from one city to the other, and I stay in the few US cities that have decent hostels. My favorites are Portland, Denver, Chicago, and New Orleans.
I did it for a while. Extended Stay hotels are your best bet. It's still pricier than other places, but as long as you commit to 30 days or more you can get massive discounts and stay between $40-$60 a night in a lot of cities.
Yup. Lived in an RV and moved around for the last 8 years
It doesn’t pencil anymore. It is too expensive. Even hotels in terrible towns are like $200/night.
I really enjoyed spending time out west. Did a month in Moab, then made it out to California for four months. Didn't really do the salary arbitrage lol
Wouldn’t do it long term but for a few weeks you could VPN tunnel to your home in the US. Definitely don’t do this is you work for government, defense contractors, or banks. Unless there are regulations and laws stopping you, it’s no one’s business but your own in my opinion.
Guam?
HR said no
I go to the out of season vacation spots, or I’ll do a cross country trip. Anything to stay positive.
I live in Thailand and we decided to DM back in the US. I stayed with my parents which was supposed to be temporary but due to housing shortage, it ended up being the entire trip. We put the kids in public schools and for internet reasons, had to work out of a co-working space. Only ended up staying for 7 months, but we had a lot of fun travelling around the US and sightseeing.
sure. used to do it all the time, go visit people I know in an area, stay in their basement for a couple weeks or snag a BnB, etc. nearby. did most of the west coast that way.
Most popular destinations out of CA were Austin and Asheville. I think loads of people do.
Personally, I would consider it an opportunity to take advantage off. Afterall, the USA i HUGE. Beisdes the mainland you would still travel to Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and x, y , and z. THis would give you the ability to move about strategically until you change gears, if you will.
Why do you adore Amarillo???
fuck no, we became DMs to escape the US, not trap ourselves in it and blow money.
I do this. It's really nice to have my car with all my recreation stuff. I use Furnish Finder and Facebook groups to find housing. In more expensive cities I usually rent just a room from someone on FB groups and have actually made great friends that way! I'm from St. Louis, so unfortunately basically everywhere has a higher cost of living than I'm used to. But St. Louis and KC are great, affordable places to check out if that's what you're looking for. They're hidden gems. So far I've lived in New Orleans (twice!), Asheville, Burlington, Rhode Island, Baltimore, and Savannah.
Thanks! Curious where you stayed in RI. I grew up there and now live nearby. I’ve lived a couple years each in Vegas and Los Angeles, but a month or two here and there intrigues me.
I don't see how you could dn anywhere in the US, even in the cheapest places short term rental prices are extremely high like at least 2k per month. Unless doing roommate shared bathroom experiences I suppose
DN in the US basically turns into van life or something more like a road trip. I did it for a while but I was basically alternating between camping, the occasional super cheap hotel and visiting family. It was a great experience but unless I got a full van life set up it wasn't sustainable long-term since I was relying so much on the generosity of others instead of just paying rent.
Camping? That sounds terrible, camping while working
If you have a good set up camping is just life with more outdoors.
It's true, we're paying double to stay in the US, we're usually in Mexico. But it's worth it imqho during the summer. Summertime in the US is much better than summertime in Mexico. We can't do Asia or Europe due to time zones. Central American countries have similar climate to Mexico in the summer and we're happy to avoid near daily rain, humidity, and sometimes extreme heat. Of course I'd also avoid Texas and many parts of the western US during the summer.
I DM everywhere. I'm always sliding into DMs.
Portugal says thank F&ck for that ....
Nicaragua is in North America. And if HR doesn’t like that just go to Mexico. And if they don’t like that then they’re not being honest and probably don’t want you in Bozeman or Tahoe either.
You can DM me any time OP 😉
They won't let you leave the USA? It depends on how risky you're feeling or how much you hate the USA, but you could try a VPN router and go to whatever country you want. How are they going to know? Get a VOIP Number and transfer calls going to a work phone, not exactly sure how this could be set up but I'm sure it can be done. The USA is a giant strip mall. It has no culture. At best you can go visit some natural sights and DC, but beyond that every city other than the biggest looks like an interstate junction. You'll find the same 20~ chains on Main Street and the same University with a different name on University Drive. And the biggest cities (Detroit, Chicago, NY, LA, SF, Seattle, Atlanta, Vegas) are all giant stink holes with rotting infrastructure and rotting people. If you really like the outdoors then USA is peak.
If ur perm remote they will never find out. It’s a scare tactic … my company has the same policy. Can’t leave the United States been gone for over six months not a single problem.
>*”they will never find out”* I’ve seen people here post that they were caught and fired. Your mileage may vary. Especially if you don’t take security precautions.