Aug
24 Things We Wish We’d Known Before Becoming Location Independent
Image by falsalama
Where & When To Go
1. Planning to travel through Dubai frequently with an overnight stopover? Get yourself an e-gate card and waltz straight through passport control bypassing all the horrendous queues. If you don’t plan to route through Dubai frequently, then consider booking the Marhaba meet & greet service which gives you a dedicated, quicker route through immigration.
2. Visiting during off-peak seasons (including hurricane, typhoon or monsoon seasons) can be a great time to visit if you don’t mind risking the weather; you can negotiate favourable rates on almost everything and the weather often isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be. We lived in the Caribbean (Grenada) during hurricane season and spent time in Thailand during monsoon season.
3. Make sure you speak at least the very basics of a language for each country you visit, even if you plan to get lessons when you arrive. Not being able to get around in taxis, order food at restaurants or figure out stuff in the supermarket because you don’t know the basics sucks big time!
4. Don’t believe everything you read in guidebooks or on the internet; for example, English is not that widely spoken in Panama no matter what it says on every website you might come across.
5. You need even less stuff than you think; unless you plan to do business and require business dress, most of the time you need about a quarter of what you take with you.
6. If you’re from the UK, register your itinerary and travel plans with the FCO Locate website as a safety and security measure.
7. Not everywhere will suit you nor live up to expectations; that’s ok but make sure you review what types of places you do and don’t like and use it to guide your future choices.
Communications, Computers & Internet Access
8. Always save the cards you get when you buy a new, local SIM card - they usually have your phone number on which is handy to know!
9. If you run your business via the internet, don’t even consider renting an apartment which doesn’t have internet access unless it is within spitting distance of an internet cafe.
10. Always check whether you’re being charged premium rates if you use a global wireless service like Boingo around the world. These charges can really add up and you’re not always aware that you’re being charged.
11. Macs are generally less troublesome than PCs when trying to connect in internet cafes and to wireless connections - although they can also have their moments (we’ve travelled with both but now use Macs).
12. Take your software and hardware disks with you wherever you go; you just never know when you might need to reinstall everything.
Money & Finances
13. Inform your bank/credit card company of your movements ahead of time, to prevent having access to your funds suspended for suspected fraudulent use.
14. When claiming tax refunds back always have the items handy at the airport; the tax officers will want to see the purchases as well as the receipts.
15. Make sure you manage your cash flow effectively whenever you move countries - being required to pay 3 months rent up front plus a deposit, requires a big chunk of cash.
Transport & Accommodation
16. The perks of flying business class (at least on non-US airlines) are well worth it if you can afford it or can use miles to upgrade; the extra perks such as free airport transfers, lounge access with free wi-fi and flexibility to change dates are ideal for location independent professionals.
17. Booking flights and finding accommodation takes hours and hours; don’t underestimate how much effort this task requires and if you can, think about outsourcing some of the initial research to a virtual assistant.
18. Be wary about booking accommodation based purely on internet photos, especially if you’re committing to a medium term rental (3 months plus). There’s nothing worse than paying a hefty deposit (or the full amount before you arrive) only to hate the place and find it’s a dump when you arrive
Business & Blogging
19. Moving around every month is probably too frequent if you also run a business which services clients globally; the travel, changing time zones and fact that you’re exhausted doesn’t help you provide good customer service.
20. If you’re a blogger, always aim to stay at least 1 month ahead of yourself with draft posts - this gives you cover if you’re without internet, too busy and excitable to post but you rely on blogging for your business
21. A basic understanding of how social media works is a minimum requirement if you really want to make the most of marketing your business online but spending too much time on it produces diminishing returns - use it smartly and effectively but don’t let it become a time suck.
22. Watch those time zones; whilst you might not think that an 8 hour time difference is going to make much of a difference when speaking to clients…in reality it does. We’ve worked with clients with -5, +1, +3, +7 and +8 hour time differences - the 8 hour difference was a killer.
Going Back Home
23. Visits ‘home’ are not holidays; you typically spend the whole time running round seeing everyone, telling the same stories and often end up needing a holiday when you leave.
24. Include your visits home in your travel budget; even if you have somewhere to stay on your return home which doesn’t require paying rent, the trip will always be more expensive than you think it will be, so plan and budget accordingly.
And now for some other news…
As part of the launch of our new professional brand, we’ve redesigned the theme for this blog. If you’re reading this by RSS feed, why not pop on over and let us know what you think…
Related posts:
- Twitter Length Answers To Common Location Independent Questions
- Components Of A Successful Location Independent Business
- 10 Useful Foreign Language Phrases To Know As A Location Independent Professional
- 5 Lessons Learnt From The Rat Race That Apply To A Location Independent Business
- Is A Location Independent Life Cheaper Than Living In One Place? Just How Much Money Do You Need? A 12 Month Breakdown.
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Pingback by The Cosmonaut: Become a location independent professional on August 19, 2008 @ 9:03 pm
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Awesome recap. Def not on your level yet, but even little tips help and makes the dream that much more attainable!
I was nodding through the list - check, check, check - and then got a chuckle at #23. We’re trying to figure out a trip home - first time in 2 years - and have mixed emotions. We’re excited to see everyone, but also imagine weeks of non-stop questions about “where are you going next?” and “when are you coming home?”
Regarding #9: from our experience, India, Central Asia and the Caucasus are still years away from being ideal LIP locations.
We’re back in the land of internet connections for a while, which is nice.
Thanks Greg!
Audrey - before you put yourself off going home too much, just focus on the good stuff you’ll do whilst you’re there!!! You’re the 2nd person in as many weeks who has said India is less than ideal for LIPs. How about Goa?
I didn’t mean to sound like a scrooge! We are focused on the positive - seeing people - but you are right about trips home not being holidays…especially with family spread over six states
We visited a programmer in Chandigarh, India who did some work for our website. As he explained it, the issue in India is not so much the internet (private companies) but the electricity supply (government). Our experience echoes that.
We didn’t visit Goa since we had spent so much time at Thai beach areas. It’s supposed to be beautiful, but I imagine the hotels/rentals with internet and good backup generators would be pricey.
Great list, I have stumbled it! We can really relate to many of them.
We find it also really helps to have one person at your bank/s to always deal with… and VP preferably. It tends to make things easier on the move.We had to learn that one the hard way.
We have only taken 2 flights in two years of world travel ( 4 continents), so have not run into those concerns. ( Have crossed 8 seas by boat as we are fond of slow travel).
We are going on our third year, so finally will go home for a visit, which should be interesting. We were in cultural shock when we hit Ireland this year after being away from English speaking countries for two years. We will keep your advice in mind!
Hi guys,
This is great information that will hopefully come handy to me too. Your blog will always be bookmarked so no chance of losing the info.
Good luck too with your new company. Looks like you have been very busy and it all looks very impressive.
Thanks. That were useful and informative tips. Perhaps I’ll use them sometime in the future as well.
Just stumbled upon this blog…
I’m from India and with the exception of Mumbai, cities here face 2-8 hour (or more) power cuts daily. The nuclear deal (
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIEYlYXpFZclKpkSJce0e_rgpJmQ) may change that but will take awhile.
Goa is a beautiful place but can get very crowded, especially in the peak season (Oct-Feb). If you do visit, one place you must not miss is Palolem beach in South Goa (http://wikitravel.org/en/Palolem). The opening sequence of The Bourne Supremacy was shot there. Sadly, the power crisis exists in Goa as well (
http://goadourado.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/06/goa-frequent-power-cuts-lead-to-rise-in-inverter-sales.htm). Stay in Goa is quite economical as there are plenty of shacks available.
If you need any more info, feel free to drop me a line.
Hey all - sorry for the absence (it’s the temporary job, nightmare - see my personal blog for more!). Appreciate all the comments - and the advice about India - thanks!