Iโm thinking about living fulltime in an RV mostly in the US and North America. Is this still part of the digital nomad community? Is there anyone who has tried this? Pros? Cons? Thanks!
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Iโm thinking about living fulltime in an RV mostly in the US and North America. Is this still part of the digital nomad community? Is there anyone who has tried this? Pros? Cons? Thanks!
I just did this for a year. My then-girlfriend and I bought an old 40-foot Motor Home and drove around the States. I have been running my business remotely for 5 years and she got a job that allows her to work remotely.
It SURELY counts as digital nomadism, no question. We invested quite a lot of money into hardware to enable us to work from the road; solar power, batteries, energy efficient lights, cell phone boosters, etc.
Itโs a GIANT pain in the ass, though, and now that weโve split up, I chose to take my digital nomadism out of the RV and into the world alone; the cognitive overhead of maintaining a vehicle-home really cut into my work time and focus; the 10+ hours I spent rebuilding our propane furnace was 10 hours I couldnโt work on my company, read books, etc. When our rear suspension blew out and we spent $3000 getting it fixed, we spent a few days living out of our car and working from cafes.
We had a blog, which she still maintains, at www.smallhousebigworld.com. I suggest you read through that for more details. There are also some great resources for full-time young RVers, including a facebook group called NรผRVers, that you would enjoy.
TLDR, itโs something a surprising number of people do, but do NOT underestimate the cognitive and financial overhead involved. I am greatly enjoying using existing infrastructure in the world rather than needing to drag 10 tons of home behind me at all times. But, it was an AWESOME year of my life, though maybe not one of the most productiveโฆ
Is there a certification agency that decides whether or not someone is truly a digital nomad? An ISO standard? 
RVing sounds like a fun way of life, and it gives you a bit more scope for having personal belongings beyond the bare necessities than you would have living out of a suitcase. As a trade-off, youโre sacrificing the option of getting last-minute plane tickets to the other end of the world on a whim, but that may not be your preference, anyway.
I would say yes, it does count as being a nomad, but your parking options are limited so get to see less of a city versus if you just had a backpack and could stay in any hotel/airbnb.
Have been doing it for 2 years now and loving it! But we stay at RV resorts so not camping for free but the benefit is that we are fully connected and still donโt pay as much as an apartment would cost. The freedom to travel though is what this is all about for us, there are no cons!
I have seen some blogs of RV digital nomads, including:
http://westfaliadigitalnomads.com/
http://rvwanderlust.com/
Good luck with it!
My wife and I traveled the US in a camper van for 9 months a few years ago and still felt very much a part of the digital nomad community. Lots of nomads living, working, and traveling in the USA.
Pros/cons are pretty subjective, but for us the biggest pros were the slow pace of travel, tons of time in nature, and not having to pay for accommodation!
A con was the responsibility of owning and maintaining a vehicle. Itโs not awful, but itโs definitely more mentally/financially taxing than just living out of a bag!
Highly recommend traveling by RV though. Would happily do it again in the future.
We travelled up the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland in an old 1985 VW camper for 3 months. It definitely is digital nomadism here are my ups and downs:
Ups:
Downs:
I hope that helps and best of luck. I can honestly say that time in the camper was the best of my life and I canโt wait to save up enough to buy another one 
Does anyone ever travel to any Islands like Bermuda, Barbados, Barbuda and St. Kitts & Nevis?
Hello Everyone
I'm planning to stay in Seville for 6 weeks for mid January - end of February. Do you any recommandations for a coliving or a place to live in?
Thanks ๐
Hi, I've got a question to anyone who had experience with the digital nomad lifestyle. I'm 24, I'm in my last year of university doing computer science, got 3 years of experience mostly doing web development.
I never liked the idea of staying in one place, getting a job and growing roots - hence the will to take the opportunity and travel the world. My main question is โ how do I go about it? Are there any useful resources I could look into?
How do I go about insurance and such once I decide to move. I currently live in Switzerland and do freelance work for one company. It's not a lot, since my studies don't allow me to pick up a full time job, but it allows me to cover simple expenses.
I'd be happy to get some insight into how things work and also happy to network with anyone interested.
Hi guys ! hope you are doing well.
I would love to get your feedback regarding the best insurance for digital nomads. i'm traveling around Asia since 1 year and for next 4 or 5 years. Would love to buy an insurance to cover especially :
- health
- laptop, phone ...
- Flights
We are hoping to become nomads soon and have booked an AirBnB in September in Goa for our first destination. We are considering what would be the best option for accommodation after that. We are trying to decide between co-living spaces, hostels, or Airbnbs.
What are your experiences of accommodation in terms of the following: reliable wifi, social aspect, pricing, cleanliness, cooking facilities?
Anyone know of any groups or resources for Ph.D. students working on dissertation while living as a digital nomad? I know there are several virtual writing groups around, but wondered if there were any specifically for digital nomads, particularly those who are dissertating.
Thanks!
Hey Nomads!
Iโm looking for an international health insurance (no travel insurance) for my nomadic life. It should cover the basic services and at least be accepted in the EU (itโs ok if itโs not accepted in the US as Iโm aware they rarely are). Nice to have: enter into a contract online. Anyone got a good experience or a recommendation?
Thanks in advance!
Anyone with knowledge regarding complications of not being a tax resident anywhere in the world? Iโm aware that primary health care, bank account opening and incorperation can be problematic but are there other practical or legal factors I should be aware of?
And what about paying myself salary from a self-owned OECD company? I would like to know if I risk potentieal issues with the tax authorities in the jurisdiction of the company, especially regarding withholding tax.
Appreciate your input!
I have finally saved enough money to start investing. What company gives good, diversified access to stock, ETFs and mutual funds? Does it make sense to use company like Vanguard or Fidelity for that? Iโm a EU/Poland citizen, how would I transfer my money back and forth without incurring significant fees?
Iโm a big believer in co-living but Iโm finding hard to find all the options available in different cities.
I have found the major players like Roam, The Collective, and WeLive but havenโt found many others.
Has anyone seen a list or should I start making one?
Hello digital nomad!
I dream of being an independent digital nomad. But it feels very elusive & unattainable with my success rate. In full disclosure, whilst I have dreamed about making money online since high school; I have not earned a single cent making money online. $0, nada, zilch!! On the contrary, I have spent a lot of time & money on books, podcasts. Even though I have spent a lot of time reading/listening to others, I do not have anything to show for it!
I have made attempts in the past to start an online business, but these fizzle out quite quickly when I do not see traction especially when the goal I have set myself is too high.
Instead of reaching for the ultimate nomadic lifestyle goal, I want to start much smaller. Really small! I am simply looking to make $50 profit per month from a new online business. Thatโs it.
I need some advice from you please!
Is $50 profit too low? How long did it take you to earn $50 profit per month?
What is a good way of achieving this goal?
Thanks
Mark
aka the $0 online business entrepreneur
Hello everyone! Iโm new here and probably this is a very newbie question, but it doesnโt leave my head.
How do you, nomads, pay your taxes? I mean, if youโre constantly traveling, how are you going to pay taxes for a certain country if you are going to stay there a short period of time?
Or do you return to your โoriginal countryโ and then pay them?
By the way, this forum has very nice cool formatting features! 
Hi!
I am planning to move to Latin America for 3-4 months (Oct-January). Iโve narrowed down 6 different places that I want to visit before committing to settling down, but Iโd love to get some community input.
Here are the cities Iโm considering:
The most important things Iโm looking for:
Anyone have any experience with these places and can give some insight? Iโm also completely open to other recommendations.
Thanks!
Rose
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?
I vaguely remember hearing about such a service before, but Iโm drawing a blank on the name. Basically I left my tablet on a connecting flight in Europe, right before my main flight to Thailand. They have my tablet and are willing to ship it out for me, but people have warned me thereโs a big risk of it getting โlost in the mailโ if I ship something expensive like that to Thailand.
Iโm wondering if thereโs a service or community, where I can find a nomad whoโs in Europe/heading to Thailand soon, so I can have it shipped to them in Europe and pay them to ferry it down here for me? I met someone in Budapest a ways back who had built something for this type of use-case, but I canโt remember the name of it. Any help would be appreciated!
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!
Hey all:
Does anyone here have any experience attending a full time fitness bootcamp or a fitness resort while working? I know there is one in Cambodia for digital nomads (Fitness Retreat Resort Kep Gym), unfortunately the time difference vs my work schedule would make my life suck if I tried to go there. Iโm looking for a place between US and Europe timezones that lets you live with them, kicks your butt with fitness, but would also have good WiFi/accommodate working eight hours a day. Iโm also open to other tangential ideas for something close-ish to get that same experience.
Thanks for any help!
Whatโs the best place?
For residency Iโm looking at Portugal and they have the NHR (non habitual resident) program which would exempt dividends from foreign income.
So all Iโm really looking for is the best place to actually start the company.
Biggest factors are of course low taxes and ease of setting up the company plus a business bank account that enables me to receive payments through Stripe.
What I found so far:
Hong Kong
Corporate tax rate of 16.5% (8.25% for the first HK$2 million)
โ/โ offshore income from outside HK is exempt from taxation but itโs not clear whether this can be done in the first year and prorated or if itโs only through filing the offshore exemption claim. This might take two years and requires not income from HK at all. More info on that would be great
โ seems very difficult to get a business bank account
โ necessary services and fees are roughly around โฌ2000 / year
โ accounting requirements seem to be very strict
โ Doesnโt require local partner
โ Agencies available that seem to handle most of the work
Singapore
Corporate tax rate of 17% (0% on the first S$100k, 8.5% up to S$300k)
โ requires a local director. What are the implications of this?
Malta
Corporate tax rate of 35%
There is the โfull imputation systemโ but I donโt really understand it.
"In most cases, the tax refund to the shareholder is 6/7 of the tax paid by the company on profits distributed as dividends. The tax refund rate may be different in the following cases: " This would result in an effective corporate tax of around 5%.
โ European customers would have to pay VAT and Iโd have to deal with that
Cyprus
Corporate tax rate of 12.5% and there seem to be ways to lower this
โ European customers would have to pay VAT and Iโd have to deal with that
โ requires staying in Cyprus for 2 months / year
I find it surprising how much research this requires and how much โit dependsโ information is out there when Iโd assume that there are probably thousands of digital nomads who probably have very similar requirements.
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