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hi, I have been using a free VPN for a while.
Just wondering though, im planning on travelling into china and wanted to know if there were any VPNโs that anyone can recommend that are safe within china.
As I undertstand the Chinese are aware of some VPNโs and have blocked them. Not sure if that is true or not, but would be really great to know more.
Also any one think any particular VPN provider is better suited to nomads and why?
For digital nomads working in China, using the internet is a big problem because the Great Firewall blocks many sites. Many people use VPN but many VPN services are blocked in China as well.
If you are tech-savvy, you can try installing your own Shadowsocks server because Shadowsocks works better than VPN in China (less likely to be blocked).
If you need a VPN, Iโd suggest VyprVPN, ExpressVPN, AstrillVPN etc. You can also take a look at some VPN testing websites in China. For example, this link:
You can also search shadowsock, vpn, vps and make your own vpn. Itโs a bit more work than an off the shelf version but itโs going to be more reliable too.
Hi
VyprVpN has end points a bit everywhere. They have their own protocol to go undetected in China, or so they say.
I did not try it in China but from time to time I had to go through other VPN blocking firewalls and it worked.
Iโm in China at the moment and VyprVPN has been good. In any case, Iโve cycled through many VPNs over the years (outside of China) and nothing has come close to the speed and software these guys provide.
Itโs definitely a game of cat and mouse out here though.
Connecting to some countries is fine, then not the next. Some Wifi set-ups are a lot more receptive to you running a VPN - others just donโt seem to like it and drop out all the time. At one place I found I would keep a connection for 40-60 minutes then it would disable me for another 10-15 before I could get back on again. Bizarre and frustrating.
Right now though (in a different city) Iโve held a VPN connection all night with no drop outs and fast speed.
So there are many exterior factors in addition to choosing a good VPN. But I think VyprVPN would give you the best chance.
Iโm in China now. I use ExpressVPN and hotspot shield. Definitely download more than one to both your phone and computer before you arrive because sometimes I just canโt get one working while another will be fine.
Astrill used to works amazingly well in Chinaโฆ until recently.
I still works, from times to times, according to the provider. And I canโt find any logic on when and why it will work, or wonโt.
Iโm now using ExpressVPN. It works. I canโt say it works great. UDP protocol connections often get detected and blocked. TCP works almost all the time, but itโs slow.
I lived in China for 5 years and used Astrill. They have a StealthVPN option specifically for China. Itโs supposed to work when regular VPN doesnโt work. Plus, if they are down, you can email/skype their support, they usually have creative workarounds to get you back online.
@nomadtax is completely right!
That saidโฆ Iโve lived/traveled in China extensively over the last two years and while I have 3 different VPNs that I rotate between, VyprVPN has been the most reliable for me even when others fail to connect.
China doesnโt block specific VPNs, they block the protocols that all VPN services use. This means that no VPN works well there. Sometimes it may work a little better but overall itโs shit. If going to China, read this first:
I'm in need of a tax advisor who understands "our" typical situation. I'm all good on being legal on taxes at this point, but as I'm doing more investing and there's more compliance and KYC and such, it's getting more complicated to deal with this topic. Not living in my country of citizenship, company in another country, resident in yet another country, banking in a different country ... you know how it is, a pile of red flags.
Would be great to find a good tax advisor to sort things in a way that makes my situation as "explainable" and easily dealt with as possible. Any leads?
Thereโs been a lot of discussion on this recently.
Nomads usually stay in hostels, hotels and short-term apartments. But itโs all not very optimal.
Iโve heard people suggest getting funding and building a network of houses you can stay at for a subscription price (e.g. Bruno Haid is working on that).
I donโt want do physical stuff, so Iโm thinking of building a platform around making housing better for nomads.
What are the housing problems nomads face? And how can we solve them with products/services?
Hi all, I was looking for a cool spot in Southern Europe for winter and Iโm considering Sicilyโฆ Have you ever been there? If yes, how was your experience? If not, why?
thanks!
Greetings!
Does anyone have experience in Bari, Italy please? We are thinking of going from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Bari by boat in mid-March. Has anyone taken a boat across? Is it nice or can it be choppy? (We are trying to avoid planes, to reduce our carbon footprint, so adding more surface travel.) Also, any info you might be able to offer about Bari and the surrounds? Next step will likely be trains up Italy as the Spring progresses.
Hello all,
Iโm planning on spending a couple of month in Mauritius Island and even when Iโve been there for a week, never rented or worked there.
Does anyone here has tips or experience to share about Mauritius?
Cheers!
We launch in 2 weeks. In the US, we use Apple TV and Netflix regularly. Do these work abroad?
Hi All! Iโve heard Spark and Vodafone are the best. I plan to move around, so I care mostly about having good coverage, and all Iโll need is around 1 GB of data or so.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Hey, Three in the UK offer a โGo Roamโ package that - at first glance - looks good for nomads.
It essentially promises data use abroad, up to 12GB,
Iโd link to Threeโs FAQ for Go Roam, but as Iโm a new user I canโt.
Bali/Indonesia and Australia are both included, which are top destinations for me.
Thailand is not, which may be annoying.
I could do with a new iPhone before I leave for Bali again in January and as Iโve been launching a new business, am a bit short on cash.
Unsure if this is a good solution, or if it makes more sense to sit-it-out on my iPhone 6 until I can buy an iPhone XS Max with cash and stick whatever SIM I want in it.
What do you guys think?
Cheers!
Are there any regular meet-ups or other places to meet nomads in London?
This was the only nomad focused event I saw on meetup.com:
https://www.meetup.com/meetup-group-BNBrelBl/events/252398877/
Iโm a South African about to become a Nomad next year. I will still be employed by a South African company and receive a salary into my FNB bank account monthly.
I will be mostly based in Serbia but plan on travelling a lot. Does anyone have any advice on the best bank account to have? Is there a way to not get charged a small fortune in ATM charges and avoid getting my account frozen for using it in lots of countries?
Iโm unsure of the best way to handle things. Should I try get another bank account outside of SA (Can I even do that)? I also have a British Passport if that makes a difference.
If any of you have any experienced advice I would be very grateful, Thanks in advance!
Hey! Trying to learn more about digital nomad locations in Mexico. Anyone living in San Pancho (San Francisco), Mexico? Do you recommend it?
I am deep in the search from Mexico to Barbados, Cayman Islands to Columbia.
Anyone know of a hostel with good internet on the beach or a co-living house happening?
Iโm moving to London for a year and would like to know where Iโll have the best โaccessโ to other digital nomads as well as facilities such as coworking spaces. If possible (I know itโs asking a lot for London), Iโd prefer to live somewhere cheap (a relative term I know, but Iโm looking to spend no more than ยฃ1,000), but still have the aforementioned items. Any help, guidance, or just simple insider advice would be much appreciated! Thank you =)
My girlfriend and I started our DN life this March and went straight to Chiang Mai because of itโs ease of living. We love it. CM is great โ we got a scooter for 2700 THB, a nice apartment for 8000 THB all in, we get our laundry done for 50 THB, eat out at nice places every day for less than 100 THB etc. Arriving here needed nearly no preparation โ it just worked out all by itself.
We are still on tight budget and donโt want to give up much of CMโs quality of life but we want to see other places and we are now thinking about what could be our next destination. We are not really willing and able to spend more than what we spend now. Bali seems to be a good place according to what you all wrote.
How does it compare to Chiang Mai or Thailand in general?
CM can get very hot and we often acknowledge that we should have chosen an apartment with a pool here. Can I rent something in Bali for a few months with a pool for less than 250 USD?
Are there any Nomad-houses or similar projects at the moment that make it easy to connect to other people?
We donโt really hang out in co-working spaces, more in cafรฉs. We source products in China and sell them to customers in Europe through e-commerce.
Any tips or experiences are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi there,
Iโve been wanting to visit the Philippines for a while. I need a stable connection to make skype calls and get my work done. I have some questions:
I know some of these questions are relative, but please give me your own honest opinion and advice.
Thanks!
Rosanna
Weโve seen A LOT happen over the past 2 years. Digital nomads have gone pretty mainstream and about half of my normal friends in some way or another travel a lot and are starting to work remotely for their companies now. Over half of startups have people working remotely.
The housing problem that we talked about back then? Lots of companies have popped up to try coliving projects and thereโs now countless fixed and temporary retreats around the world.
I tried to add my bit by adding the social grid to the digital nomad scene letting people meet each other on here, organizing meetups and building out this site.
Butโฆwhatโs next? What can we do/organize/build now?
For some of us maintaining a US Based Bank is just a necessity. Either we never pick up residency abroad, or have a US based business for which a US based account makes life easy.
Purely online personal banking is a growing trend. Schwab has a great checking account that reimburses ATM fees and has no international fees, Simple is a new online only bank with tons of great features (though not so great for nomads abroad).
Anyone know of similar services for small business online?
Features Iโm looking for:
Iโm thinking of spending August-October in Europe; Berlin was a strong contender, but Iโm hearing good stuff about Zagreb. Anyone have any experiences (good or bad) to share?
Hi everyone. I am new on this forum and will post in the introductory thread when I have some more time. My question is:
Whatโs the best mobile-data option in Brazil for nomads?
background info to the question: I bought a vevo (vivo?) sim the other day and charged up around $7US on recharge.com. it seems now that I can only send text messages but cannot call other people or get internet. I will be in brazil for min 5 weeks max 3 months. sorry if Iโve posted this in the wrong section.
Has anyone done remote work from Lefkada or Kefalonia in Greece? Heard internet is good on Lefkada, thinking of spending some weeks of September there. Also looking for coliving/coworking peepz to get a house with, posted a tread in the coliving section, check it out in interested 
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