My 3-year experiment as a digital nomad(kapwing.com) |
My 3-year experiment as a digital nomad(kapwing.com) |
You're able to take jobs that you may enjoy more for less pay. You can keep your personal burn rate lower while you're working on a startup. You might even just like seeing different parts of the world.
I moved to Silicon Valley and lived there for 5 years, starting 2014. This was my example. It seemed like there were too many software engineers, myself included. Not enough people building houses or baking pizza. Everything tangible was under-supplied and overpriced. Yeah the economy was adjusting to it, but in 2020 it got jerked the other way.
A 5-fold difference?! Towing a trailer makes the Tesla use 5 times more energy per mile!? This can't be right... Author must have a trailer loaded with a literal ton of cargo.
Edit: a Tesla Model Y is 4200 lb. The trailer is about 3000 lb empty (thanks LukeShu), say worst case 4200 lb loaded with cargo, so at most the weight difference can account for a doubling of the energy per mile. It seems hard to believe drag alone can account for another 2.5x increase in energy per mile, which is why I think there must be even more cargo. If not, I guess for me this highlights how good the aerodynamic design of the Model Y must be. This also means the author could get a significant range increase simply by choosing a better trailer with a lower drag coefficient. Or my preference would actually be getting a vehicle designed for that lifestyle in the first place, an actual camper van. One could even use the comfortable driver seat as the office chair, instead of transporting an actual office chair. Swivel it toward your desk behind it and, bam!, instant office desk: https://www.thewaywardhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Sw...
> Recently, I was hopping back and forth between Grand Junction, CO and Moab, UT—a distance of 113 miles. I had to go about halfway, stop, unhitch the trailer, then go back and charge the Tesla up again before finishing the trip. It makes travel days very slow.
I'm sorry. I could never be that committed to the ideology of EVs to do something that preposterous even once. The second I realized that was what would be needed, either the trailer idea would have to go, or the Tesla's being traded in for like, a Ford Ranger.
And honestly, I'd be very wary about dropping my trailer in like Cisco or wherever. Its not quite the San Rafael Swell, but the Colorado Plateau is rather famously deserted. If my entire life was in that trailer, I'd really hesitate to drop it in a place that has signs that say "next services, 70 miles".
At what point do you accept that your EV ethos is incompatible with the rest of the lifestyle you want to lead? Either the lifestyle needs to change or the ethos does.
I'm definitely surprised that they wouldn't recoup most of the energy loss through regenerative braking, though.
60 miles... with a brand new 40k car. Wauw
Our friend borrowed it to take a small Uhaul trailer to pick something up from family and had a similar experience. At one point he called us asking, cryptically, "how low was safe to plan to get to a charging station." Turns out he was on a longer stretch between chargers that he'd handled fine on the way out, but, like the author, ended up having to leave the Uhaul and come back for it on the way back.
This suggests to me that there's an emerging business in camper trailers designed for EVs. Make aerodynamics a priority (which also does increase costs and potentially make the living space a less useful shape). There are also trailers starting to emerge that have batteries in them. I've seen some where you can charge the car from the trailer's battery (not sure if they work while the car is moving though), and there are even a couple where the trailers wheels are driven, but I'm not sure how much of that you can really do and keep the vehicle stable.
We have a 1 ton dually that pulls a 5th wheel when we camp. Yes, we're at the far end of the camping spectrum, but it's what we've evolved to over time, and it's finlly a safe combindation. There is nothing that approaches a diesel pickup for it's ability to haul cross country with relatively rapid refuelling, and many Campers go through an iterative process where their Tow vehicle isn't adequate to the trailer they were sold, they upgrade the two vehicle, then outgrow the trailer...rinse-repeat.
It's been said plenty of times before, but gas and diesel's biggest problem is that they're just so energy dense and easy to transfer.
I also wonder if the regenerative braking is less efficient / engages less often when dealing with larger weight.
[1] https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a30169467/tesla-model-3s-a...
I'd def be interested to hear more if this is true, my gut tells me you should actually be able to get more energy from regenerative breaking, but could def see it not being set up for towing at all and sensing the extra weight falling back on traditional brakes earlier.
We have a 6x12 trailer that we’ve done a minimal RV conversion on. It rings in at 1300lbs empty. Maybe 1500 loaded. However, it’s 6.5 feet tall.
Towing that cuts our SUVs fuel economy from 25 mpg to 10 mpg at highway speeds. In the winter, we’ve had it drop as low as 6 mpg.
- aerodynamics make a huge difference. Even in a light trailer. Especially if it has a significant frontal area. That’s for sure.
- towing a trailer may reduce energy recovery from regenerative braking.
- when towing, power requirements on the motors and batteries may move them away from optimal efficiency and design points (that’s a guess).
- the model Y is probably not significantly more aerodynamic than comparable sized car models. But it’s a lot more aerodynamic than a trailer.
With all that plus the extra drag, I'm not too surprised.
a heavy duty diesel tow pig usually has an auxiliary fuel tank in the bed and can do 1000+ miles in one go.
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/ford-f150-lightning-elect...
But I was really talking about the car camping phase of his experiment—the part where he's living out of his car, not the towing part. I didn't make that clear enough in my comment.
- I wish this guy had a personal blog that I could subscribe to. I like that post, but I could care less about the rest of the blog posts on his employers site.
- I'd be interested in why he has stuck with a Model Y, seems to not be a good fit. I'd love to see him switch to something better (probably an ICE even though I know tech people love EVs).
All in all kudos to this guy for all the work he has put in to make this life work, love the iterative approach.
200k miles and 5 years later, I only stopped because I am continuing in Brazil, after having explore every state in the US (except AK) and nearly every national park.
I am missing the Tesla a lot in Brazil.
This is rather more like full time traveling setups.
One potentially interesting option that the author hasn’t tried is a yacht. Anybody seen any accounts of a cruising digital nomad?
Sarah Steenland the Cruising Cartoonist has been working a digital artist job and raising a family on sailboats for years in the South Pacific: https://www.sarahsteenland.com/
US grid losses are about 5% [1] and charging loses another 10-15%, and the motors are at least 90% efficient.
Meanwhile, automotive diesel engines lose 60% straight out the exhaust pipe, and that's not counting the energy required to refine and transport the diesel.
Lack of Permanent Address: Difficulty in receiving mail, opening bank accounts, or completing certain official documents.Lack of permanent address and the legal issues that come with it. If you do have a permanent address, then you are not a digital nomad just somebody who travels a lot.
Sleeping in a Vehicle in Cold Temperatures: Risk of hypothermia, vehicle battery drain, and legal issues in areas where it's prohibited( Most of them). Sleeping in a common transport vehicle (Tesla or not Tesla), under negative temperatures sounds challenging.
Mechanical or Electrical Issues: I have heard of Tesla owners in Europe, having to wait sometimes for weeks for repairs, due to lack of spare parts. Due to increased stress on the vehicle any minor problem, will send you out of your "home".
Inconsistent Internet Access: Reliability and speed issues will cause work productivity and communication impact. It is already challenging when travelling between business hotels.
Healthcare Access: Navigating healthcare provider support across large distant locations ?
Legal Issues with Remote Work: Withing the US some specific laws regarding remote work for non-residents in a certain state can impact your tax liabilities. Heck...New York can even create tax liabilities for you even if do not live or work in the USA and just visited for a few days a year...
Security and Privacy: Out in the wild outside of camping parks? I see untold risks.
Maintaining Work-Life Balance: Blurring lines between work and personal time, would look like a load instead of a relief...
Equipment Safety and Maintenance: Risk of damage or theft to essential gadgets like laptops and cameras.
Accommodation Issues: Unreliable bookings, substandard living conditions, or scams.
Travel Burnout: Constant moving looks like physically and mentally exhausting.
Insurance Coverage: Ensuring adequate insurance for health, travel, and equipment.
You can run the heater off a battery bank (we have an eco flow with the panels). Much easier
Also, towing and road trips are like the number one reason I think most outdoorsy people should be going for plugin hybrids for now. You can be 100% clean (local utility dependent, limited to 'fuel' and not other maintenance) for like 95%+ of your trips but still have that extra oomph if you need it
Ive never seen an airbnb or vrbo listing with office equipment in it. Would be cool and useful. It would probably get robbed though. My wife and I usually go through tons of listing photos looking for an somewhat adequate working space.
Im curious how other software people do it.
Though I found the article and evolving process very interesting!
"Kapwing Reviews: What Is It Like to Work At Kapwing?
Oct 18, 2023 · I joined a company in August, but soon after, they started big layoffs. My team was scattered, and my boss, who was supposed to find me a project, didn’t. Four …
But the link from Bing doesn't lead to that review. It shows only three reviews, two of which are from the CEO (!).
Feeling quite stuck in my life where I am now and would love to get unstuck.
If I was younger and truly had less stuff, no reason it wouldn't work.
> Lack of Permanent Address: Difficulty in receiving mail, opening bank accounts, or completing certain official documents.Lack of permanent address and the legal issues that come with it.
I just put an address of some Hilton I stayed once. I never need to get any paper documents; if I do, I use DHL or other delivery service to actually get them delivered to me.
(No comment on issues related to sleeping in a vehicle — I don't even drive).
> Inconsistent Internet Access: Reliability and speed issues will cause work productivity and communication impact. It is already challenging when travelling between business hotels.
Most airbnbs have pretty good internet, and all have at least a decent one. Usually it's enough to just buy a local simcard to fix these issues.
> Healthcare Access: Navigating healthcare provider support across large distant locations.
I don't live and nomad in US, but in many other countries across the globe it's just easier to pay for healthcare services out of pocket. I've recently signed up for Safetywing, but when a visit to a (pretty well educated) doctor costs about $10 or is just completely free, I wouldn't even bother with it.
> Legal Issues with Remote Work: Withing the US some specific laws regarding remote work for non-residents in a certain state can impact your tax liabilities. Heck New York can even create tax liabilities for you even if do not live or work in the USA...
Also US-specific thing. I'm not a US citizen (but work for american companies), and not having a tax residence anywhere saves me a lot of money on taxes. I effectively pay just 1% on all of my income.
> Maintaining Work-Life Balance: Blurring lines between work and personal time, I would look like a load instead of a relief...
That's true for any kind of remote work, regardless if it's nomading or WFH. Upsides are worth it 100%.
> Equipment Safety and Maintenance: Risk of damage or theft to essential gadgets like laptops and cameras.
Theoretically yes, but somehow neither I not most of my friends who chose this lifestyle encounter this — it feels like you can have your stuff stolen from a coffeeshop next to your house just as easily.
> Accommodation Issues: Unreliable bookings, substandard living conditions, or scams.
This happens. But on the contrary to what HN crowd have been saying, I've found Airbnb support to be stellar at resolving those issues. I have checked in badly cleaned apartment once, and 20 minutes later I already had it reversed, with $400 of compensation.
> Travel Burnout: Constant moving looks like physically and mentally exhausting.
Yes, this is a thing and it sucks. But you don't waste this emotional energy — you spend it on acquiring valuable new experiences and memories that will be with you for the rest of your life.
Overall, the only reason I don't go around advertising this lifestyle to all my friends is because having a well-paying and remote-friendly profession that suits it is not a luxury most of them have.
Care to elaborate how you can legally not have any tax residency and yet still be able to work?
A big monitor rather than a pair of laptop-sized (but pretty good!) monitors? Yeah, that's tough. And no solution for the chair.
For computer setup, I would highly recommend 17" laptop + portable monitor (for example, https://www.amazon.com/UPERFECT-Resolution-2560x1600-Raspber...). I also get beefy laptop with GPU with 4k display. I usually add iPad as my 3rd display for music or whatever.
The two options I’ve thought of are (1) buying a couple of houses in different parts of the world (maybe with friends/family who want to do the same thing) (2) start a specialist Airbnb-style marketplace for working-focused holiday homes where desks, external monitors, chairs, cables, wifi speed, etc are listed in detail.
I don't find the coffee shop tables to be problematic (although the gooseneck will shake some if the table doesn't sit well) but yeah nicer chairs would be nice, for sure. There's a lot of nice venues around me with picnic table style benches, and folks doing work but usually fairly hunched over: I strap a Crazy Creek camping to my pack so I can lean back/have back support, and that makes a surprisingly decent all-day setup of it. I'd love to see a high tech version but just adjusting the chords giving you adjustable lean-back is surprisingly flexible.
Not a huge fan of keyboard typing on the lap but parks with a Moonlite collapsible chair can be fine. I'll lay my bike on it's side & clamp the gooseneck to that.
I could probably go a couple weeks with these setups, but yeah, the chair situation seems the hardest to deal with to me. Portable monitors seem to have gotten a lot better (thanks INNOCN &al) but mounting them still seems super shaky; I wish these gooseneck arms and these panels would work better together!
I really really like the idea of the flying desk the author tried out here. A good chair, a sunshade, and some kind of adjustable desk would be great. An old house of mine had a great umbrella and I used to love computing or gaming under it while it was raining. The author complained about brightness, and that seems like a very real issue, but with mini-led's we are seeing even consumer gear capable at 1500 nits and more. Cinema monitors are pricey and usually only 1080p and 19 or 24 inches, but are built for outdoors, over 2000 but. Commercial signage is often $6k+ but how awesome would a 75" 3000 nit 4k display (Philips 75BDL3003H) on the back of your cae with a floating desk be?
I've also traveled while working for some time, it wasn't great.
I know that most hotels have a survivable desk and chair, but that probably isn't an optimal solution.
What would an idea solution look like? Airbnb but with a gaming setup room?
I haven't tried to do any coworking in smaller cities or towns, but I guess maybe there are indie coworking spaces in places like say, Santa Rosa or Auburn.
TBH if I was designing a nomad project for myself (and wanting a significant nature/non-urban aspect to it) I think i'd do a literal van and have a real desk and chair in it. 5G internet isn't the greatest but I think it'd be easy enough, armed with a van, to seek out places within the area I want to visit with a good enough signal to make it workable.
(Obviously add rooftop solar panels and a Jackery or whatever to satisfy power needs all day.)
Without the rgb led, pretty much. That would be nice.
Airbnb but with a gaming room (or two?) and fast internet sounds ideal for my needs.
That seems like part of the trade off. I don’t expect my home office wherever I am in the world.
I drive a Model S Plaid. My car’s maximum regenerative braking capability is 150kw. It is easily reached, immediately, when you let off the accelerator at highway speed, but more would not necessarily be better.
Last I checked it does require the iPad to be signed in to the same iCloud account as the user on the Mac, which may present a problem if, say, you want to use a personal iPad this way with a work MacBook, or if you use separate accounts for different clients on your MacBook and don’t have them all signed in to a single iCloud account. But, if that’s not an issue, should be fine. Some of those other apps may still exist, too, and I don’t think they have that restriction (I think Apple’s is that way because it’s more tightly integrated with hand-off features and such)
Meanwhile we fund governments and corporations to be careless about any ethos except profits.
