Tips for building your business while traveling/nomading?

My main tips are:

• try stay in places for a while. We stayed in places for a month at a time at least. This let me get into a bit of a routine.

• online listings on booking.com and aribnb can be super inaccurate. Try book places that let you cancel early or stay somewhere for a day or two initially and walk around to physically view places for longer term stays. There would literally be two places minutes from each other with similar reviews - one being a hell hole and the other being pretty great.

This last tip might not be for everyone, but I recommend coming to terms with doing less work. I was fairly productive while travelling, but not as productive as when in London. This felt weird at first, but I figured I wouldn’t be travelling forever so I shouldn’t feel guilty about spending time exploring and what not. What’s the point otherwise?

Co-working spaces and meet ups are also great for meeting people

My top tip is don't mess up your wrists like I did 3-4 years ago! I deeply, deeply regret it.

Laptops are generally horrible for ergonomics, but you can greatly mitigate the problems of long hours on them by doing the following:

1. Minimize track pad usage
2. Take a couple minutes to stretch every 2 hours
3. Take a small ergonomic keyboard with you. I suggest the Kinesis Freestyle Edge.
4. If possible prop your laptop higher—on a couple of books, for example—but keep your keyboard down on the desk.
5. If not possible, then change positions every hour or two. E.g. standing to desk to couch. That way you can alternate between having the keys too high for your wrists and having the screen too low for your neck!
6. If you start hurting, take a day off. Injury isn't worth the productivity.

Based on the comments that I have read - a great product Idea can be - Building a small airbnb like community for IndieHackers that are traveling.
Problem : Lack of productive furniture in Airbnbs (like desk, keyboard, chair, nearby we-work? cafes? restaurants?)

Solution : A Curated list of Airbnbs (already vetted by IH community) around the world which solves this problem. This list can be hosted on the IH community.

How : Collaborate with Airbnb hosts that can buy into this argument. Start with one city and then scale.

PS : I am down to collaborating with someone who is interested. Hit me up!

Woo this is awesome to hear! Remote work definitely takes some adapting to and requires a different approach/mindset.

There are lots of tech challenges like finding places to work from, getting decent wifi, and buying/fixing tech from different countries. But, there are also personal challenges like feeling lonely and finding a community. @stephsmith wrote a great very long article here about remote work which I recommend if you have time!

My main advice now after nearly 3 years on the road is that it will take time for you to figure out what kind of digital nomad you want to be. Some people stay 6+ months in places, others move every week or so. Being honest with yourself about what you need to be productive in your work and happy in your life is the most important thing.

Our first year was more backpacking with some remote work sprinkled in but recently we have slowed down and started spending 1-2 months in each place. We have found communities of nomads and are starting to forge meaningful friendships. We just arrived in Chiang Mai and have friends here we already know to get coffee/beers with, ask about accommodation/bike rental, and be in the loop for events/meetups - we'd love to meet up when you do this thing and grab a beer!

Chiang Mai and Canggu, Bali are the 2 biggest DN hotspots. They're a great place to start and get to know people and figure out your DN style. Then you can go other places. We just spent 2 months in Bali, planning 1-2 months in CM, and then maybe Sri Lanka for a vacation/less work-ish month before I imagine we'll go back to Bali!

This turned into a bit of an essay, sorry! More practical tips...

• Stay in each place for at least 2 weeks, maybe even a month. This is long enough to get a feel for the location, start having regular/fav places for coffee or working, and attend a couple of meetups
• Most people book 2 nights in a hotel (Agoda.com for SE Asia is fantastic) and then find longer term places when you're here. This can be hit and miss.. usually you get better deals but it can be a pain. If you book on Airbnb message the host and ask for a discount for staying longer even if it already has a monthly discount
• Sometimes paying a bit more for convenience is totally worth it and takes stress and hassle out of it
• You can buy everything you can imagine you need in Asia, there are Western stores and brands here so don't overpack. Decent/legit tech brands are harder but you can always get them at the airports etc

There's so much more hands on advice I can give about visas processes, finding cheap flights, riding a scooter etc but I don't want to overwhelm you at this stage!

Feel free to send me a message about literally ANYTHING no matter how stupid it sounds because I've been doing this a while and I will have been there asking the same question to someone else at some point! Also I wrote a series about our nomad life and journey to get there if you'd like to read them start here

IT'S AWESOME YOU SHOULD DO IT!

Hey! We get asked this a lot, so we wrote a whole chapter on it in our forthcoming Remote Work Encyclopedia. We're launching it in two weeks:

https://www.producthunt.com/upcoming/remote-work-encyclopedia

Where are you thinking of going? Do you want beaches or cities? Do you want your travels to be breadth-first or depth-first? Do you want to hang out with locals or vacationers? How long do you want to travel? Once I know these, I can give a lot more specific suggestions 👍

P.S. - I'm excited for you! You'll have a ton of fun.

Here are just a few ideas that might not work for everyone but they have saved me from going insane.

• for the first year, spend money to make it comfortable. Not party all the time, but just splurge on things you need to work. External monitor, good chairs, stationary.
• Dont try to be cheap if you go nomadic right away from SF. It took me 2 years but now I have the knowledge to keep expenses super low. It was well worth it to have comfort for a bit before that.
• The well trodden digital nomad places are that way for good reason. In SEA, Bali and Chiang Mai top the list due to amenities and community. You will degrade one of those or both as you try off beat places but they are worth a try. I spent 4 months in Mongolia... years ago and wouldnt go back, but I do yearn to try to live in Kathmandu for a month. Philippines was awesome but wifi was always an issue.
• Everyone has their own experiences. You will hear it all. I liked Cebu so stayed another Month. Disliked the lifestyle in Manila so I wont go back. My friend had exact opposite, he goes back to Manila often.
• I personally enjoy the Staymad lifestyle... yes it sounds silly. I stay 1 to 2 months and return often. Programs like Remote Year sensationalize 12 countries in 12 months. It is not fun, for me, to break routine every 28 days.
• Forums complain about visa extention processes but I find them easier and easier each time.

Hi @csallen, I was grown up in Hungary, running a business in Estonia and working from Melbourne more info here ->

https://medium.com/@ironmanthehuman/running-a-paperless-business-99e55ccaf073

I would suggest Bangkok and Chiang Mai as destinations to try out. From my side, I think the most important thing is to stay in one place for at least one month.

PS: I'm not really a nomad, I just tested a few places in the process of relocating.

I am biased here (as my business is in Flex Space), but I think a good first touch-down point in any new location is a coworking space. If the space is any good, they will have attentive and helpful community managers who help with introductions and recommendations. They are also likely to hold regular events which lets you start to get to know people in an informal setting.

Many coworking spaces will offer a one-day membership option so you can get a feel for the space before you commit to a longer plan. Some may also give free one-day passes, although that varies by space.

Hey, This is awesome to hear! I've been a Digital Nomad for almost 2 years right now. I'm originally from Indonesia and really happy to hear a lot of people are having a great experience in Canggu, Bali. Send me a message if you want to have local inside tips for Indonesia!

I travel with my partner, we're currently in Lisbon and will be staying in Amsterdam next week for a month.

Anyway, some of my tips for you based on my experience:

• I always search for a place to live in the Fb group in the city that I will visit. So when I arrived, I only booked 2-7days to stay in Airbnb and find a more sustainable price on the Fb group, Co-working space board or asking around local people. The best place that we stay usually comes from the referral of people that we met on co-working space.
• Southeast Asia is really beautiful and has a great community of Digital Nomad, but my only concern when we stay in Southeast Asia is the time difference. Sometimes we need to have a couple of meetings at midnight or 2 am in the morning. Which is can be really annoying for us.

But the great thing is we got millions of inspiration for our product, talk with people with different backgrounds. So happy and have fun!

Find a good bakery when you get to a new city 👌

The best tip I have is find a community to plug into as once you start working remotely alone you can find yourself not talking to humans :)

I arrived in Barcelona and created my own community for productive and social CoWorking Days.

I recommend Canggu, Bali because it has a pretty big community of digital nomads. I'm currently working from Dojo Bali and love it so far, but better find out things yourself because I've been into this whole new lifestyle for only 3 weeks now.
I was changing places every few days in the first 2 weeks and it was exhausting and stressful, not able to do much work. It's better to get to know the places, best place to eat, best place to go massage, best place to have fun etc... and also get into a routine.

I spent 3 years nomading (and several more semi-nomading). Been to over 45 countries.

My wife and I settled down permanently last month (expect to burn out fast while traveling!) but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

My tips:

• Start with popular nomad/expat destinations like Bali, Playa del Carmen, or Thailand.
• Go slow. It’s both cheaper and less exhausting.
• Pack light.
• Book an Airbnb for the first couple weeks at a destination, then go boots on the ground to find a local deal. You’ll be able to get 2x the place for the price.
• Splurge on housing. It’s worth it to be comfortable.
• Traveling is incredibly cheap. As a couple we spent around $2-3k/mo on travel expenses, which is less than we spend living back home.
• Go back home to meet up with friends and family as much as possible, otherwise you get lonely.
• Travelers are very lonely people. Just be aware of that.
• My favorite cities are Wellington New Zealand, St Petersburg Russia, and Como Italy.

Best of luck, you’ll have a blast.

I did it for a couple of months earlier this year to Hong Kong and Shanghai. What really helped me was signing up for the Amex Platinum. The card has a high annual fee, but it comes with a 1-year WeWork Platinum Global Access! It more than pays for itself for ppl who need to use WeWork regularly in various places. https://www.wework.com/businessplatinum

Where are you planning to go? I'm also thinking of going nomadic for a couple months next year. Curious what co-living brands ppl here recommend.

We like to stay at a place for several months if not longer. Therefore, not really a digital nomad. Originally from Switzerland, lived in SF for two years, then Turkey for 6 months and now in Ireland (in the middle of nowhere on the west coast).

We stay as long as we like it, and then move on. We don't really move for the sake of moving. For me staying shorter term at a place would be too stressful and I couldn't really focus on working so much (and also seems expensive).

So, maybe consider staying longer at places you like. You get to know the culture and places in a more meaningful way, it's cheaper and you can focus on work better :-)

Yesssss, stoked for you!

1. The “digital nomad” lifestyle isn’t for everyone. There are physical, mental, and emotional challenges. Stay self-aware and be okay with the nomad life not being ideal for you.
2. Places with a startup community are great for meeting expats and helps with any loneliness.
3. Use the IH community! The map of everyone here is probably massive. You could have someone to meet up with everywhere you go. We should have leveraged it more.
4. Stay in each place for at least a month. Travel days are exhausting and it's hard to build meaningful relationships in little time.
5. If you're doing Airbnbs, always ask for a discount.
6. Pack light. I traveled with a backpack and half a carry-on. You don't need most things you think you do.
7. There are a bunch of nomad Facebook groups for each city if you want to meet up with people.
8. Pet/house-sitting was something interesting that we didn't end up trying ourselves. Could be fun!
9. Get out of the house and hang out with locals! My most memorable moments were usually exploring new cities and seeing unfamiliar things.
10. Avoid storing your stuff if possible. Having things always makes you feel tied down to a place. We had to go back to SF to deal with it all after. Most of it we didn't even care about.

I could go on and on but then I wouldn't get any work done today. Hope this helps!

Also interested in some tips!

I'm packing my bags again in a few weeks and spending December in London, before escaping the cold European Jan-March in Tel Aviv. Not sure where I'll head from there, but have heard good things about Cape Town...

remoteyear.com maybe?