I’ve been a “digital nomad” now for around 9 months and here are there things I have picked up.

I use the term loosely as I’m not sure I’m a legit OG as I have had to return home twice for meetings (since my work are non the wiser)

  1. The internet has NOT been an issue. Have been travelling in SE Asia and the wifi has almost always been excellent. Just normal airbnbs tend to have much higher speed than back home. Only expecting is hotels, or anywhere where the wifi is an open network.

  2. It has been a lot easier than I thought. I spent around 4 months planning VPN methods, trialing methods on small weekend trips and running all sort of “what if” scenarios. The truth is in my case, it has been easy but I also think it has a lot to do with my next point

  3. Stay consistent. I have certain rules about booking accommodation- nothing too jazzy or distinguishable so my backgrounds are constant. Making sure I’m dressed for the the weather back home when on calls and little things like trying to keep face to face stuff during mural daylight hours. I try to lie as little as possible, so I hold back on the small talk and share general details only when invited too.

  4. I’ve never performed better at my role. I am happier, and therefore more motivated to keep a job that allows me this lifestyle. This in turn means I’m on top of shit, and even in line for a promotion. (But I’ve heard that one before 🙄) either way, I don’t care because I wake up every morning grateful for the life I am leading, and working a role that I enjoy because of it.

Moral here for me is take the chance! If you are able to figure out a way to try this out I would urge to to take the risk! It’s way scarier in the planning, and I always remind myself that if the company wanted to let me go tomorrow they would and they could for any number of reasons.

Happy Travelling People!

  • Englishology@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Did you end up utilizing a VPN? I was a freelance nomad for 2.5 years and heading back out with a full-time job soon. Have looked into the port forwarding, but from what I hear, 9 times out of 10 nobody will care as long performance is consistent and you’re not handling sensitive info. And on top of that, regardless of how well you hide your location, SOMETHING will give you away - connection speed, ping, etc.

  • noride@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    This is really cool, I wish I’d heard of this when I was younger! Are you at all concerned your workplace could find out via the IPs you’re using for VPN? Or perhaps just remotely checking the GPS coordinates on your work laptop?

    I can think of an easy way to get around the first one, but haven’t come up with anything for GPS tracking. Curious if someone has a trick.

  • tomahawk66mtb@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Asia WiFi often better than internet in home country? Are you from Australia by any chance?! Damn those Aussie internet connections are terrible!!

  • tomahawk66mtb@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Asia WiFi often better than internet in home country? Are you from Australia by any chance?! Damn those Aussie internet connections are terrible!!

  • zainerd@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Hi! Loved reading your story, thank you for sharing :)

    Quick question re: the VPN - does your work use its own, and have you been able to use it alongside a personal one?

    Thanks!

    • Pineapplesyoo@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      My work has a VPN. You wanna get a gl.inet vpn router and only connect to that. I recommend getting a dedicated residential ip VPN from VPNArea. They worked perfectly for me after having a couple bad experiences

      Or setup your own server in a friends house but that honestly proved to be quite a hassle for me and both of them failed me within months

    • otakudayo@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      This type of experience sharing is interesting, but only really useful to someone with very similar conditions. If someone is a “WFH” customer service rep who is expected to be manning the phones from 9-5 New York time, then I imagine it would indeed be very tough to work those hours while living in SEA.

      Personally I do most of my work when it suits me, it’s only scheduled meetings that can be inconvenient.

  • distancerover@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Can anyone provide insights into the current safety situation in Medellín, especially for digital nomads?

    I’m considering Medellín as a destination for digital nomad life. Any thoughts or experiences on the safety and lifestyle there?

    For those who have visited Medellín recently, how would you describe the safety and suitability for digital nomads?

  • ScotlandHighlander@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Good stuff. Yeah my team last year had multiple people in different time zones and everyone was expected to work on New York hours no matter where they were. We had people checking in from Cairo, Cape Town, and Copenhagen.

    I agree it’s a good idea not to flex too hard on the people back home because jealousy is real. So only a few people would attend meetings from the beach or the swimming pool. Also if you ever screw up they might say, well so and so needs to come back to New York to prevent future problems.

  • serendipitybot@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    This submission has been randomly featured in /r/serendipity, a bot-driven subreddit discovery engine. More here: /r/Serendipity/comments/180qfbg/9_months_in_here_is_what_i_have_learnt_xpost_from/