Random thought with the rise of remote gigs

[Revelate]

So I work from home, a lot.  Some positions now are going for a month at a time.

I've been thinking about simply just moving somewhere cheaper (though there are few areas that are cheaper and yet have godlike air travel options, maybe Atlanta might still be cheaper than LA).

Then while listening to NPR and listening to someone who's 100% remote backpacking through central America, it was such an obvious idea that I don't know why I didn't think of it before: just take the month WFH and just go work somewhere else... like Munich or some other destination with Airbnb running like 50/night US for places which absolutely fit my needs (Wifi, some place to crash, and walking distance to mass transit).  With a flight which probably can get for under 1k, talking $2500 to just spend a month somewhere else in the world, and sleeping hours might be awkward but I'm seriously thinking "why the F not?"

Admittedly can't do that with the current lineup (hi big networking vendor where I am stuck going onsite here in LA more frequently) but this is going to become a larger trend as time goes on and the Census data seems to support that, so we talk about virtual offices and what not, why not just extend that further with a virtual community and just leverage the flexibility to go explore the world while still having a useful paycheck?

Really if I just dumped the condo I'd probably be coming out ahead frankly doing it this way, but that's not in the cards currently and I would still need somewhere to store my crap.

Am I missing anything obvious besides being unhooked from the local community social fabric I do have, but current life is easy to slide in and out of apparently with how much my working 3 gigs has been a non-event socially for the people I care about.

[Anonymous]

" ... Then while listening to NPR and listening to someone who's 100% remote backpacking through central America, it was such an obvious idea that I don't know why I didn't think of it before: just take the month WFH and just go work somewhere else... like Munich or some other destination ..."

You may want to consider the Carribean area and certainly down under in Australia where you may be surprised by the great social landscape or maybe Thailand (lived there) and you could enjoy the beaches and night life with no need to become rooted in the everyday happenings! 

[Revelate]

Good ideas, tons of places to go and possibly try this. Thanks!

[pizza1]

@Revelate , oh my word...Rev!! As long as Ive known you, (at least 6 yrs), you've talked about this! I say DO IT!  Didnt we JUST talk about this a few month ago? Im texting you... LOL! I have a better idea...."couch surfing"

https://www.couchsurfing.com

[iced]

I too work from home, and have worked from many cities around the country. My job also affords me about monthly domestic travel and several international trips per year, so I spend a lot of time in a Marriott each year. I once also contemplated doing the same thing, but ultimately decided against it. My reasons may not be the same as yours, but here they are:

1. Expense - I don't do the El Cheapo Backpacker Packages when I travel. Domestic airfare usually runs me around $1,000/person; international $2,000-$4,000/person. Hotels about $2,000/week (though I have splurged on occasion and paid north of $1,000/night). I can't sustain traveling 6 months out of the year at that cost, and I'd rather travel 1-2 months a year nicely than 6 months in AirBnB-style. It's a personal choice, but I've come too far in life (and am too tall) to fly uncomfortably in the back of the plane or stay in hostels or 2-star dives.

2. Work Priority - Since I can work from anywhere, I usually go with my SO on her work trips, or we'll occasionally book a trip to something that's an evening/weekend event and bookend some days around it, but ... I'm spending my days in a hotel room on a laptop. That's not really getting to experience the place. I'd rather just have a nice home office to work from and use travel for those times when I can devote most/all of my attention to experiencing the destination.

3. Current Location - I'm happy with the city I'm in now. It has history, character, dining, sports and entertainment. I've been to a lot of cities that turn into ghost towns after 5 or on weekends. I wouldn't have half (or any) of those amenities in a low CoL area. If I moved somewhere else, I'd probably spend a lot of money each year coming back here.

4. Resale - I could move to the sticks, buy a giant McMansion for cash, save 6 figures a year, and still live like a king. When I grew bored of the place, I'd have property that would be a pain to sell, and possibly at little/no profit. Our condo now works well enough, is walkable to everything we need/want, and will sell fast and at significant profit to what we paid. The other nice thing about living in a high CoL place is that when you do want to move/retire/travel, the world is your oyster because nothing's going to sticker shock you.

5. Married - My SO does not work from home. The great thing about my work is it means I'm ultimately flexible. She can relocate and it's painless for me. She can travel for work and I can tag along. I'm not going to demand we move somewhere new at the expense of her job, nor am I going to ask her to burn her vacation time to go somewhere to watch me type on a laptop in a hotel room all day. You're single, so you don't have this limitation, obviously.

[Revelate]

Appreciate the thoughts iced!

I'm totally fine with Airbnb as frankly I don't ever use the amenities of the places I stay in other than to sleep and shower, well wifi too if being complete.  Also while I probably wouldn't be flying in economy, premium economy flights are doable and in my experience pretty nice at least on the few airlines I've been on... when amortized over a month or two isn't much expense.

I can't even justify paying Marriot rates whem I'm up in SF, just doesn't make any sense when they're 4-5x the price, though as with any busy metropolitan area when something big is going on in SF everything is expensive including Airbnb.  I do think you're underestimating Airbnb though, we're not talking hostels, hell most of the places I've stayed in over time have been equivalent to one room of what I own and that's 1300' condo in a rapidly gentrifying area in LA.

In my case I can do most of my work at a time that's convenient for me rather than at specific time intervals (at least not when I'm working an operational responsibility gig) and as such I'm fairly confident I can make the scheduling work; I agree when you're going specifically for work you don't get to experience as much, but this isn't that.  Also as you mentioned I don't have anyone else to really worry about in my life, my friends will still be around when I get back.

Really the only thing that's keeping me here is knowing I need to fix some stuff in my local life before I just go traipising around the planet... and really if I decide I don't like a place just go somewhere else.  It isn't permament unless I find a better place somewhere else, but for right now the economy really favors my being right where I'm at so this is pretty much on hold until it's favorable to me.

[iced]

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@Revelate wrote:

Appreciate the thoughts iced!

I'm totally fine with Airbnb as frankly I don't ever use the amenities of the places I stay in other than to sleep and shower, well wifi too if being complete.  Also while I probably wouldn't be flying in economy, premium economy flights are doable and in my experience pretty nice at least on the few airlines I've been on... when amortized over a month or two isn't much expense.

I can't even justify paying Marriot rates whem I'm up in SF, just doesn't make any sense when they're 4-5x the price, though as with any busy metropolitan area when something big is going on in SF everything is expensive including Airbnb.  I do think you're underestimating Airbnb though, we're not talking hostels, hell most of the places I've stayed in over time have been equivalent to one room of what I own and that's 1300' condo in a rapidly gentrifying area in LA.

In my case I can do most of my work at a time that's convenient for me rather than at specific time intervals (at least not when I'm working an operational responsibility gig) and as such I'm fairly confident I can make the scheduling work; I agree when you're going specifically for work you don't get to experience as much, but this isn't that.  Also as you mentioned I don't have anyone else to really worry about in my life, my friends will still be around when I get back.

Really the only thing that's keeping me here is knowing I need to fix some stuff in my local life before I just go traipising around the planet... and really if I decide I don't like a place just go somewhere else.  It isn't permament unless I find a better place somewhere else, but for right now the economy really favors my being right where I'm at so this is pretty much on hold until it's favorable to me.

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My issue with AirBnB is two-fold:

1. I used them once and it was a disaster. They cancelled my room on me 3 months in advance and told me I must rebook with another host that was a smaller space and higher cost. We very reluctantly agreed. Then, while we were driving on our way to the new room the day of check-in, we get a call from the original room host asking when we would be arriving. AirBnB never bothered to tell them, so it was AirBnB that cancelled on us, not the host.

2. I live in a very touristy area that's a spotlight for some of the AirBnB/roomshare problems. Investors are buying up condos and renting them out as AirBnBs. Owners are vacating and doing the same with their units. The AirBnB guests don't know the local laws and rules, and as a result put trash out on the street on non-trash days, damage common areas in condos, park illegally in resident spots, and a plethora of other things aggravating to those of us who are actual owner occupants. I'm not going to do to others in other cities what they're doing to us here.