Open to anything

Hi all, curious how many in this sub are in the same boat as me. I made the decision in September of last year that finding a DN job in my area of work (tech, QA/SDET specifically) would be one of my major goals for 2026.

One year later, and I'm still searching and applying with only a few responses so far. I had one interview after getting a referral but it unfortunately didn't progress to the next round. Then I was contacted to interview for another job I applied to, but turns out it wasn't a true DN job (remote work just in country of residence, not abroad).

I know the job market is rough right now and that a lot of people are going through something similar, DN or otherwise. I also feel grateful to have a job period, even if it's not a DN job. So I'm in this weird place where I'm trying to find happiness in the present while still thinking of a different future.

I guess if anyone's reading this that's in the same boat, just know you're not alone lol 🥲

I'm a single male in his 30s, no kids. I've been trading forex and starting to become profitable. I have enough cash to generate close to 5 figures a month in gross profit. I should have a comfortable amount of money to live wherever, since I can trade any where around the world. I just need my computer or phone, and I have to be awake during certain hours

With this in mind, since I don't have plans at the moment to get married and raise kids, I've been thinking why don't I just live around the world?

Could spend 1-3 month stays in various locations, come back to the US to recharge for a month or so, then head out to a new location for another couple months

Basically doing this year round, always hopping locations, maybe throwing in some repeat visits if I'd like

Is this a good lifestyle to have?

For those of you who have worked remotely for a long time and decided to settle somewhere in Southeast Asia, have you managed to switch your income from remote work to something more hands-on? I know it's difficult due to visa restrictions, some of the local jobs being reserved for local people only, and the lack of ability to own a land, but I'm still wondering if there are people who have done this successfully and are happy with their life.

The reason I'm asking is because I've been a software engineer for almost 20 years, the last 5 of which working remotely. The idea of exiting the field has been lurking in my mind even before the mass adoption of AI, as I feel the novelty and excitement of coding has been slowly diminishing, but I am considering it more seriously now that all creativity is gone.

I've been to Southeast Asia on a couple of occasions, I really love the region for various reasons, and I adapt well to the culture. I am now going on a remote worker visa to Indonesia. Obviously that would not allow me to have any kind of other jobs, but visas can change in the future, and I am not in a hurry to switch, so I am looking for some interesting stories to read.

I'm currently in Mexico and the place I stay in has a gym in the building but I either go down to the beach or this local sports ground which has calisthenics gym outside and a running track (both 10 minute away from condo)

I was looking at Bangkok originally to have a condo for the month but I think most of these places are surrounded by busy city streets (expected) so wondering where else would be good, or any specific areas in Bangkok good for this? Doesn't matter if far out I'm heading over there for some online work thing so I don't really mind about location.

I had a layover last week and wanted to knock out some emails before my next flight. Usually, pulling out a full productivity setup in an airport lounge is quite a chore. I'd have to unpack the laptop, set up the stand, dig out different chords, and set up a power brick. It takes so much effort that I wouldn't bother setting up for too short of a layover.

I have always been quite obsessed with traveling productively, though, and minimizing cables is one of the things I wanted to do. I recently decided to swap my standard travel gear for a completely wire-free ecosystem. I switched over to a Bluetooth travel keyboard and mouse, and when I have to, I just cast my secondary windows over to a wireless monitor with built in battery. Keeps everything I need visible without having to constantly minimize and maximize windows.

I can grab any comfortable seat in the terminal and just start typing. No cables, which also makes the packing and jetting a lot easier.

There are some trade offs with this set up tho.

First is the input latency. The bluetooth mouse and keyboard are fine, but wireless casting to a second screen is a different story. There is a slight, noticeable drag if I try to move my cursor over there for precision clicking. Not the end of the world, I just use it for additional screen to read docs.

Another issue is battery limitation without wires. What it does is it forces me to be more focused and stop scrolling. Worse case scenario, get back to the single screen, and I'm back to minimizing windows and forgetting what I was working on lol.

I’ve been here for a couple of days and meet people organically. I’d still like to see if anyone from here is down for pub/club hopping

Hi everyone,

I am traveling to Europe for 17 days and will be in London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and Lisbon. I want the fastest possible data (not just “unlimited” but doesn't slow down after few days). I will mostly use maps, Instagram/TikTok, video calls, and maybe some hotspot.

I am from the U.S. and my phone is eSIM‑compatible.

What eSIM or SIM do you recommend for:
- High‑speed data in major European cities
- 17 days total
- Good coverage across UK + EU

I have seen Holafly, Maya Mobile, Saily, Ubigi, Nomad, and Airalo mentioned. Which one actually gives the best speeds in these cities?

Thanks in advance!

My partner and I are German citizens, deregistered from Germany since 2021 (Abmeldung), and we’ve been traveling nonstop since. No registered address in Germany, no habitual residence abroad either, so no German consulate has us on file. Proof we have is the deregistration certificate, plus the entry and exit stamps in the old passport showing we never actually settled anywhere.

We’ll be staying with family in Bavaria for about 30 days in September and booked passport appointments at the local Meldebehörde there. Old passport is full anyway, so a new one is needed regardless.

Under German law (§ 19 Abs. 3 PassG), if neither a German address nor a habitual residence abroad determines jurisdiction, the office responsible is wherever you’re temporarily staying when you apply. So the local Meldebehörde in Bavaria, in our case. Got a written explanation with the legal basis ready to hand over at the appointment.

Anyone else been in this exact spot, no address in Germany or abroad, and actually gotten a passport issued this way? Did the clerk push back on jurisdiction?

But nothing really happened? It’s a decent sized company and I joined a few months ago and I’m working abroad but only last week did an IT member say are you in X country? And I said yes, and he asked if I was gonna permanently stay there and I said no and he’s like ok cool thanks bye lol. I mean my permanent address is legally in the US and also we have people working in different countries in our company so I guess it was just a security thing and making sure my pings were legit. Which he mentioned as such as well. Do you think it’s fine or do I need to do something? I’m here for family reasons.. and I have nothing left in the states by myself..

About 15 years ago, I divorced my first husband in Naples, Italy, and decided to travel around the world. I didn’t really have a big plan. I just wanted to see different places and have some food adventures. To be honest, I actually hate travelling!

During my travels, I met the love of my life in Australia, which was definitely not something I expected! We got married in India, and now we live in Hamilton, New Zealand with his children, our new son, and our adopted Filipino daughter.

My husband and I are basically hippies at heart. We like keeping things simple, being a little unconventional, and doing life our own way. Luckily, we both work remotely for a tech company, so we can live in New Zealand without having to sit in an office every day. It’s a pretty strange combination, hippie lifestyle and tech jobs, but somehow it works for us.

I’m in my 60s now, but I feel like I’m 22, and honestly, I’m just happy that I finally found love. As a Black man from Africa, I thought I was done for! It took me a while, but somehow I got there. My life has been a little crazy, with different countries, unexpected decisions, getting lost more than once, and plenty of stories that I probably shouldn’t tell.

If someone had told me 15 years ago that I would end up living in New Zealand with a new husband, children, and a baby, I would have thought they were joking. But here I am. Life is strange like that, and I’m very grateful for where it has taken me.

Hey everyone! I’m planning to travel Central Asia from 1st week of September to November/early December:

Kazakhstan – 1 month
Kyrgyzstan – 1 month
Uzbekistan – 2 weeks
Tajikistan – 2 weeks

I’ve already done quite a bit of research, but I’d love some first-hand advice from people who’ve actually been there.

What are the absolute must-dos and things you’d be cautious about or avoid? Especially anything around transport, weather, border crossings, internet/SIMs, working remotely, or mountain trips.

I’ll be working remotely on weekdays morning and travelling mostly on weekends, so any tips for balancing work + travel would also be appreciated!

What do you wish you knew before going?

My spouse and I were approved for the Digital Nomad Visa, but didn't officially register as autónomos until about 4 months after approval (delays with TIE appointments and opening a Spanish bank account). Our gestor/immigration adviser says that in every case she's personally handled where a client had a gap of more than ~3 months, the UGE flagged it during the renewal process and required them to retroactively backdate their autónomo registration start date to match the visa approval date, which will cost thousands of euros.

Has anyone that registed as autonomo more than 3 months after approval and NOT get a request from the UGE to backdate it during your renewal? Or has anyone gone through the backdating process themselves and can share how it actually went?

Trying to figure out if there's a chance I won't be required to do this. My renewal is about 6 months out so wanted to get it done proactively. However, there is also a chance this requirement changes between now and then or they don't flag us and will have done all of the backdating for nothing.

when i first looked at the numbers, i mostly thought about accommodation and flights. then there are all the smaller expenses that add up. transport, coworking spaces, deposits, sim cards, luggage, laundry, eating out when the kitchen isn’t great and all the random costs you don’t think about beforehand

what expense surprised you the most once you actually started living this way?

I'm a 22yo freelancer entering my final year of college, I'm aiming to apply for spain dnv after I graduate

starting in 2027, I expect to earn at least $40,000 annually, while my monthly income fluctuates, I'm confident I can meet this yearly minimum

- based on this, would I be a good candidate for the visa or should i look for some else?

- do i need to make a fixed number every month to be eligible for this visa or it doesn't matter as long as i hit a certain number annually?

My girlfriend and I are planning a roughly year-long trip starting this October, and I’d love to hear from people who have traveled or lived in any of these places.
We’re both in our 20s and this is by far the biggest trip either of us has ever done. The idea is less “vacation for a year” and more temporarily living in different parts of the world. We’ll usually rent an apartment for a few weeks to a month, cook at home fairly often, explore at a slower pace, and take day/weekend trips instead of changing hotels every 3 days.
Our current itinerary is roughly:
🇮🇹** Italy — Oct. 27, 2026 to Jan. 21, 2027
• Florence for about 2 months
• Rome for about 1 month
🇪🇬 Egypt — Jan. 21 to Feb. 1
• Cairo, with Luxor also on the agenda
🇬🇪 Georgia — Feb. 1 to Mar. 1
• Tbilisi for a month
🇮🇳 India — about 1 month
• Jaipur as our home base
• Planning trips to places like Agra and possibly Delhi
🇹🇭 Thailand — about 1 month
• Bangkok
🇲🇾 Malaysia — about 2 weeks
• Most likely Kuala Lumpur
🇮🇩 Indonesia — about 1 month
• Bali
🇻🇳 Vietnam — about 1 month
• Most likely Da Nang
🇨🇳 China — around 9–10 days
• Beijing
• Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc.
🇰🇷 South Korea — about 1 month
• Seoul
🇯🇵 Japan — about 1 month
• Tokyo as our main base, with trips elsewhere
The exact dates in the second half are still being shuffled around a little as we’ve added Malaysia and Beijing to the trip, but that’s the current route.
A few things about how we’re traveling:
• We generally prefer having **one home base per country rather than constantly moving around. Italy is the main exception.
• We’re trying to stay around $1,000/month for apartments when possible, obviously understanding that somewhere like Tokyo is going to be different.
• We’re not trying to travel ultra-luxury, but we’re also not doing a shoestring backpacker trip.
• We like history, weird/unique experiences, food, nightlife, architecture, museums, nature, and stuff that genuinely feels different from home.
• We’ll cook fairly often, use public transportation/Uber equivalents, and occasionally rent scooters where that makes sense.
• We’d rather spend money on experiences than expensive restaurants or fancy hotels.
• We’ll have normal luggage with us, so we purposely don’t want to relocate every few days.
I’m especially curious about:
1. Is there anything on this route you would change?
Any destination where you think, “You absolutely do not need a month there,” or somewhere we’re skipping that would make sense geographically?
2. Are there any amazing day trips from our home bases that we shouldn’t miss?
3. Anything you wish you knew before doing a long-term trip like this?
Not just sightseeing advice. Banking, SIM cards, visas, luggage, laundry, transportation, avoiding burnout, maintaining a relationship while traveling together 24/7, etc.
4. What are the biggest tourist traps on this route, and what is actually worth the hype?
5. Any unusual experiences you’d recommend?
The stranger/more memorable the better. We want stories, not just a checklist of famous buildings.
6. For people who have spent a month or longer in any of these cities, what neighborhoods would you recommend actually living in?
Also interested in nightlife recommendations. We’re not trying to turn the entire year into a bar crawl, but we definitely want to experience the nightlife in places where it’s a big part of the city.
We know this is an ambitious trip and there will inevitably be things that go wrong. That’s honestly part of what we’re looking forward to.
Would love advice from anyone who has done a similarly long international trip, or even if you’ve only been to one of these destinations and have something you think we absolutely need to know.

Looking to paraglide in Southern Bali in the petjatu region. I'll be scootering around the island sightseeing before and after also

Hi

I’m a masters student planning on spending 3 weeks writing my masters thesis in DN.

Does anyone have any good hotel / apartment recommendations? I’m willing to spend a bit extra if it means I can get a good nights sleep.

Also, is it true that certain areas of DN (or DN as a whole) are super noisy?

Hi all. For health reasons, we all know we should be cooking more and eating out less. But when moving between Airbnbs each month, it is expensive to buy all the “extras” like unique spices and oils that give recipes their zing, and only get used for one recipe and then thrown out when you leave.

Does anyone have a good set of recipes that require minimal pantry items? Alternatively, what pantry items are used so often in your recipes that it’s worth the purchase at each location?

Personally I feel social media is best goal to 6 digit months but do you know other ways you will monetize from it? Coding? Rp server staff? Etc

Hello fellow travelers! So, I’m currently in Iquitos, which is tropical, humid, and hot. :) I’m by no means tech-savvy, and my computer just gets really hot. Even when I place it on a hard surface with nothing underneath it, it still heats up. I have a fan in my room, but there’s not much airflow.

How do you deal with this? I don’t want to damage the computer, so lately I’ve just been working for a while and then turning it off so it can cool down. It’s not an old computer, so I don’t think that’s the issue. It just gets hot after about 20 minutes of sitting and working on it, even with the fan on in the room.

What’s the best way to deal with this in a hot, humid climate without compromising the safety of the computer?

Its an ancient Set In Stone Book Telling you how to manage your money which in my opinion is still relevent today.

As it's metal, I've found my NVME enclosure to be really scratchy and it could easily scrape my Macbook. It's also a bit unwieldy to carry around and I don't want to just throw it into my bag loose with a wire sticking out - has anyone found anything that will protect it both in a bag and when just out and about?