Digital Nomad, Academic Edition

[larryc]

Friends, forgive me for starting a thread that surely already exists, but here we go.

These days, most of my work is online, and my excellent chair has made it clear that she does not care where I am when I am teaching online. So where should I explore while teaching?

I will need good internet of course. And while some splurge places are fine for a week or two here or there, we are still carrying a mortgage back home and cannot say live in London for six months of the year. Last spring we spent three weeks in Barcelona and that was pretty great, I think that is the kind of vibe we are looking for. We also spent three weeks in Norway, also great, but spendy.

My wife and I enjoy the outdoors, arts and culture, and food, the usual. She is less adventurous than I am, so the rougher parts of the developing world are probably out. We live in the Pacific Northwest, so flights to Asia are not much more than those to Europe. I don't want so much to tour as to live in a place for weeks or months while I work in the mornings and play in the afternoons.

Help me out here, let's daydream together.

[clean]

Costa Rica?

When I was a tyke and growing up in Florida there would be ads "See America, but see Florida First".   

Lots of things to do and see, but I would suggest that the Fall is a better time.  The Snow Birds arrive in late October, and in the Spring Spring Break starts in February and runs through April.  the last half of May is nice as is the early part of June, but then another crowd starts.   Plenty of things to do and see from Key West all the way to Pensacola !  (Including the Oldest City - St. Augustine).   

I had a development leave in the Fall of 2018 and lived in my camper in an RV park for 3 months.  It was great and inexpensive, but I left just before the Winter rates kicked in big.  I am very happy to have done it then, than to have tried the exact same thing in Spring. 

Im sure that there are other states and areas that would be just as nice in different times of the year. 

[lightning]

Athens (GRC)

[ciao_yall]

Spain and Portugal are happy to take digital nomads. Outside of the major cities the CoL is very low.

[spork]

Great but not spendy, hmmmm . . .

Seoul? Likely far better internet than anywhere in the USA. Southeast Asia has some possibilities, depending on your tolerance for warm weather. Kuala Lumpur: good infrastructure, multicultural, Malaysia has a visa program for digital nomads. Chiang Mai: easier to navigate than Bangkok. Coastal Vietnamese cities like Da Nang and Na Trang if you want a low-key beachy experience.

For Europe, I would look eastward for a long-term stay. Sofia. Istanbul.

Southward, have you thought about cities like Cartagena, Valparaiso, Buenos Aires?
,
Egypt is depressing these days because of the military dictatorship. Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Iran are on our no-go list. Jordan is fine but not that exciting for playing in the afternoons. Dubai is nothing but a giant high-end shopping mall.

[Hegemony]

You could reduce your costs by signing up for TrustedHousesitters.com, HouseExchange.com, or SabbaticalHomes.com.

You're also very lucky that your chair does not care where you are. My place issued a directive that any faculty member leaving town, even briefly, during a teaching-online term has to get formal permission. I know a number of people who have overlooked this directive, and I personally don't think we're paid enough to abide by it. But the directive is there.

[apl68]

Spain and Portugal are happy to take digital nomads. Outside of the major cities the CoL is very low.

The major Iberian cities have been showing signs of having had their fill of digital nomads.  Outside the big cities, there are probably places where it's a different story.  Digital nomads have worn out their welcome in a number of hot spots, so it would be wise to check whether any of the places you consider has already had a surfeit of them.

My mother couldn't say enough good things about Costa Rica when she spent a couple of summers studying abroad there back in the late 1990s.  In terms of outdoor activities, they've got some fantastic nature preserves to visit.

[sinenomine]

Friends of mine bought a camper and equipped it with satellite internet. They love the outdoors, and now happily spend 5-6 months every year enjoying the great outdoors without losing touch.

[mythbuster]

Well, you are already in the area where I would go first (lucky you!). In Asia, I might try Thailand or Taiwan. Thailand is likely to be less expensive, but the internet might be more spotty. Maybe Fiji if you are thinking more south Pacific paradise? The capital should have reliable internet. Along those lines- there is always the Eat, Pray, Love mecca of Bali.

I'm very jealous.

[Puget]

Maybe Canada if you aren't looking specifically for warm? The Canadian dollar is fairly weak against the US dollar right now (though who knows how things will go now!). I love Nova Scotia, Montreal and BC. Nova Scotia is the most affordable of those.

[fishbrains]

I would seriously consider Siena, Italy, or thereabouts for myself. Laid back, siestas and evening strolls, wonderful restaurants, within a train ride of everything Italian, and just touristy enough for the locals to speak English way better than I could ever speak Italian.

But you gotta do you . . .