Walk North and you are in the Presidio and see the Golden Gate Bridge. Walk West and you are at the Legion of Honor or Lands End and watching the sun set over the Ocean. Walk East and I can hit up a hip hop or funk night at the Boom Boom Room or go to the Fillmore. You can dance at Madrone Art Bar or see an indie rock show at the Independent on Divisadero. Walk a few blocks South and you are in the Panhandle walking by some beautiful Victorians, then stop and catch some jazz at Club Deluxe. Walk a little more and go up Corona Heights or Tank Hill and you have breathtaking panoramic views of the city. Or head down to some of the pubs in the Lower Haight. And that's just within a 2 mile radius. For some reason, everyone focuses on the Tenderloin and SoMa though. The city has major problems, but there is also so much to enjoy.
I have made many interesting and creative friends here who are from all over the world. I get to work on mobile games, but there are many other opportunities around. Among my coworkers are digital artists and painters, musicians, engineers, hip hop dancers, drag show performers, people who party all night in the Castro, a muay Thai boxer, mixologists, and more interests than I can list.
I lived in Seattle, Portland, and Austin over the previous 2 decades -- all great places -- but still find myself happier in SF.
I won't deny there are some horror stories coming from Mexico, but I'm a European and have been living here since 2009. I've never seen or experienced anything even remotely violent. I paid for a mordida once, that's it. I've lived in Mexico City, Estado de México, Veracruz, Cancún, and now near Querétaro. I've travelled to most states either for tourism or work. Although I'm from Spain I totally look like a gringo so I never pass unnoticed.
We live in a little village about 3 hours from Mexico City with almost no crime at all. We only lock our door when leaving town. We have 200Mbps fiber. We rent a 3bdr house with garden for about $500 USD. Life is really good for us.
My wife is Mexican and her mother passed away a couple of months ago so we're now planning to go back to Europe in 2-3 years once my gig starts generating some income. There is not much here for her and I'm a bit bored of Mexico. We also don't like how the political situation is changing with Amlo.
But I'm hopeful that will all return in 18 months.
And so in my idealized remote setup, the balance I want is:
A) Work environment optimized for deep work. I run a company, but I've found a way to do that with very few meetings and very little email. Most weeks I just have one meeting and many days I don't send a single email.
B) Living environment optimized for people and culture. While a lot of restaurants are obviously going to have to declare for bankruptcy, I do think that people working from home are going to crave a social life and so I think the demand for pubs and restaurants will return.
NYC people resonate with me because I experience them as a diverse group of ambitious people. I'm constantly running into people in different industries, but who still share my basic interest/ambition to figure out how to succeed.
In order to make this work you need to have a decent office setup. But I'm sure that coworking will be able to meet the demands of people that want more work/life separation. That's a pattern that people who work for me often use: remote worker at a coworking desk. But I have a nice office setup for myself already even though NYC apartments are small.
(I am coupled, but we are intentionally child free.)
The beach is like a couple of miles away. The mountains are also quite close and its very beautiful and its very much untouched nature. It's also very hot and humid but I am fine with that.
Also, they get fiber so the internet is faster than where I live in the Bay Area.
The only problem was that there were no jobs there but with the Facebook announcement, that hopefully will change for the better.
It's one of the five biggest cities in the US but most people routinely look past it.
First of all it's fairly cheap, less than half as expensive as SF even in the nicest parts.
It's got the best restaurant scene of any city I've spent time in (and almost all are free BYO).
It's got a great art scene including a ton of amazing live music. 4 sports teams with passionate fan bases.
It's racially diverse (no racial majority), mostly safe, and has plenty of young professionals.
And if you really need to you can get to NY in only a few hours.
The only reason I'm not there is that the tech scene sucks. If I could be remote I'd be there already.
Right now we're a in a similar situation, albeit renting sharing with flatmates. Auckland/Airport is just 20-60 minutes away if need to. Marina is just 15 minutes away. Internet is not excellent but 60mbps VDSL is enough. Maybe 5G will change that.
On longer term - offshore cruising. I recon there might be a boom of that once Starlink constellation is operational and finally sat net is affordable for smaller boats. Big decision here is whether it's catamaran (2.5x living area, 3x cost, 2x speed, 2x maintenance, 2x comfort) or monohull (2x safety, 1.5x versatility).
Japan is out there too. They've recently announced visa programme for startups so immigration options might be more feasible. That said I've got spoiled by rural living and Japan is incredibly dense so no idea how big of a house I could find there. Also I'd move far north as summers in Tokyo etc seem unbearable.
Would only trade for something directly on the seaside, or a little more to the West (Cascais, Guincho) for a slightly cooler climate, but those usually imply driving (which I detest) and lack “big city” amenities (most of which I can’t enjoy right now).
Have zero intention of ever going back to an office (have been remote on and off for years, hot-desked, worked at customers, etc.).
The current situation (despite the pandemic and weird working hours) is perfect for me since (nearly) all my colleagues and customers are outside Portugal.
- Chill and relax
- Awesome people, polite and clean
- Best place in the world to work from cafes. Many cafes shops welcome people who works for long hours. They also care about cafe ;) I actually prefer to work from cafes than co-working here
- Surrounded by nature, mountain, sea, river are within 45minutes reach. Hundred of trails around Taipei.
- Metro / Bus system is top notch, no car needed, it's flat so you can bike everywhere easily. The bike sharing (uBike) is everywhere. I use it daily.
- People are genuinely kind, friendly, curious. Did I mentioned people 2 times? They deserve a 3rd mentioned, they really are.
- Visa is easy to get if you are employed (aka not freelancing), and earn more than usd5.5k/month, or work in a "trendy" field, you can get the "gold card" visa for 3 years that comes with a work visa, that is not attached to any company! Is any other country has such a perk to attract talent? I'm not aware of.
- Great healthcare (and the best best country that managed the coronavirus)
- LGBT friendly
- Warm (but humid)
- Convenient , 24/7 convenience stores, within 2 minutes walk from everywhere, really often, 2 convenience stores face each other (no kidding)
- Awesome international food scene , you can find any western food , and local food is amazing. Japanese food is amazing, as good as in Japan, but cheaper (it's an old japanese colony, and the favorite destination of japanese people)
- It's a better China (I lived in China for 4 years)
Cons:
- It is so relax / chill that it somehow bugs me. I sometimes worry to become "soft", staying here bc it's too convenenient
- Wish the startup / tech scene was better
ps: if you live in Taipei hit me up :)
pps: People often think Taiwan is China, but it's not. It has a totally different vibe and Taiwanese has a totally different personality. The only thing in common is the language
I’m not surprised no one has said it but it’s a really great city. I’m slightly biased in that I grew up in Sacramento but it’s really well located. 2-3 hours to everywhere in the Bay or to anywhere in Tahoe. The American and Sacramento Rivers run through Sacramento and there are miles upon miles of walking trails along them.
The rents are significantly lower than in the Bay. Depending on how far you go from Downtown Sacramento, you can rent a 3bd/2ba house in a great area for $2k/month.
The downtown area has really been revitalized since the opening of the new arena. There are a ton of fantastic restaurants in the area and plenty of things to do, and the homeless population isn’t as bad as in SF.
The weather can get really hot (100F/38C+ during peak summer) but those are just opportunities for a day spent on any of the various waterways.
Growing up here I definitely went through the same struggles as the character in Lady Bird- hating the place and thinking there was nothing to do. But it’s really been transformed and since leaving I’ve really grown to love this city. I’m definitely planning on moving back here in the long term future, but if the new WFH policies allow me to move back here sooner than I likely will.
If anyone has questions about Sacramento I would be happy to answer.
So, answer: slow nomad. It's been a good life, although I've found it difficult to prosper to the extent more connected people can. (But I believe this is more me, than being remote.)
I did the nomad thing for a couple years and loved it, but I sort of got it out of my system. The lifestyle can be lonely. And at this point in my life I'd rather cultivate a life of my own instead of running around enjoying little bits of life elsewhere. Not that I wouldn't take advantage of the ability to travel much more freely!
* Ithaca, NY
* Chatanooga, TN
* Bend, OR
* Willamette Valley, OR
* San Luis Obispo, CA
* Bellingham, WA
* Santa Fe, NM
We've now lived in a small village 25 miles south of S.Fe for a year! The village itself is ridiculously packed with famous artists and writers (the guy that designed the Kindle, too, at least some of the time). It's beautiful, incredibly dry, endless sunshine, amazingly friendly people. It's also "Disneyland for the 65+ crowd", gets invaded by Miller Moths in May (ugh, this year was so bad), there are wasps and other pests constantly bugging the house, and there are not many roads for cycling. Lots of poverty in NM, and poor education.
Before the virus hit, our village was incredibly social ... now this aspect of life here has taken a backseat, and I'm not quite sure how it comes back.
Developing software and living here in general is pretty wonderful, but it's hard to know what the future holds. My wife misses water, and maybe (amazingly) even humidity. If I could afford somewhere in southern CA, I'd probably have picked that, but it's just absurd.
I would like to try living in Europe someday ( Switzerland would be awesome ) but I don't make enough money to do that yet. And there are visa issues too.
If I were forced to live back in the states, probably Boulder, Co. Maybe Brunswick Maine.
Honestly though, health care keeps me from moving back to the States.
1. Weather
2. Transportation
3. Discrimination
The climate in the Nashville area was very hot in the summer and damn cold in the winter. My family wasn't very well off. I had a Wal-Mart coat that wasn't so great. I remember freezing my ass standing at the bus stop every morning to get to school, and being a dumb kid, I thought that was "normal", as in, I didn't know that you can have warmer jackets or clothes to stay warm.
Growing up in Nashville (K-12), I literally believed people of my skin color and origin were actually inferior to white people. The South can be hospitable, and I don't mean to generalize. Regardless, the folks who don't want to welcome you are very clear about that and have the loudest voices. One of my best friends in high school wasn't allowed to come over my house. I certainly won't accept my children having to deal with that non-sense. In grade school and middle school, I was bullied often and being the only non-white and non-black kid, it was sort of like being treated as a pariah.
This was all back in the 90's to 2000's. I don't mind living in the West coast, and I think my current city is amazing except that housing is extremely expensive.
Nashville and the surrounding areas are a beautiful place. I assume they've become more progressive in the past 25 years, but I don't know. Unfortunately, the "God fearing Christian/Real Americans terrify me.
Later I went through another phase in which I imagined finding the perfect place and establishing an amazing existence there in an environment uniquely suited to my temperament.
In the current (perhaps final?) phase I realized that everything I want to do and which is important to me is connected with the place I happen to be.
I work remote and live in Los Angeles, despite all the drawbacks of living in California, because of family, friends, and my overall support network. Moving somewhere else would mean having to start all over again.
I'm pretty sure it would be Talinn, Estonia. Everyone there has a high competence with English, the entire society is built with "online first" and usually offered in three languages.
It has a good economy, is friendly and has reasonable social policies and a lovely wilderness.
Bit cold in the winter though. :)
I found that 2-3 years is the sweetspot where you can absorb the culture, learn the language and start to get kinda bored of your surroundings - so that's exactly what I've been doing.
I feel that digital nomad doesn't really work as you can't really get to know the place you're living at in few weeks or even months and staying in a single place for longer than 3 years is a severe underutilization of remote benefits.
Assumptions: Timezone matching isn't a constraint. Political administrations within a nation oscillate, but in general little substantive changes as people pick between two similar options. Proximity to other specific humans isn't a constraint (this seems to be a common requirement expressed in this thread). Alternatively - assume international travel is restored to normalcy.
Rationale: southern hemisphere is desirable for air quality. Politically stable (relatively). Good soil - volcanic, non-polluted. Low population density. Affordable & sizeable parcels of land - sufficient to generate food and maybe income - within commutable distance of a sufficiently large & sophisticated metropolis. Within those criteria, also easy to obtain a location at least 10m, preferably much more, above sea level. There are other considerations but they make me sound a tad paranoid.
Work wise it has been OK remotely consulting, but that only worked because I usually enjoy whatever someone is paying me to work on. I also write some books, but that is mostly for fun, not revenue.
In the last 22 years, I think I have averaged about 15 hours a week working, which seems like a good compromise between career and spending time with friends and family.
We passed through so many beautiful places on the trip though, places that you immediately felt an affinity with and could see yourself living. From Jervis Bay to Tilba Tilba or Eden in NSW, all of the beautiful bays in East Gippsland. Anywhere in Tasmania, but particularly the west along the Pieman river - the forests there are older than birds and the air is the cleanest in the world. To the outback farms around the Grampians, the south eastern wine region of SA and the desolate Beachport, Kangaroo Island, up to Wilpena Pound. Esperance and Denmark (wow!) in southern WA, I took sand from every beach I visited and Cape le Grand was the whitest. It is like snow. The epic surf beaches from Hamelin Bay to Margaret River (and route 250, in my top five short drives in the world!) Way up north to Exmouth and Ningaloo Reef, home of the whale sharks, and then onto the sweet smells and rich colours of tropical Broome and the otherworldly Dampier Peninsula. The interior is possibly less-livable (but then I'm an ocean lover), but it is remote and beautiful, so it ticks boxes.
The world is an amazing place. More power to those who choose to test the boundaries a bit.
BYU being close is great because the town has an amazing food and music scene for it's size. BYU has a great art museum and does concerts regularly. Bands you've heard of like Neon Trees, Imagine Dragons, and Kaskade all got their start in Provo.
I think there are probably countless places that are 30 minutes from a large University that would check all these boxes.
Unlike living in Silicon Valley, where even when I'm walking distance from a major downtown, that getting around is a nightmare, the UK is way easier for commuting.
I would be more likely to change jobs if remote working becomes predominant than I would be to change where I live.
Also I'd like enough rooms to have a proper office (big desk, many screens, drawers filled with Raspberry Pi's, I love computers), now I work in my sons room. I'd also like to have the space to put something like a car wreck on my land, so the kids can explore it. You know, create a rich learning environment, outside and inside.
Edit: Just like Deanna and Riker on Nepenthe [0] but with other people within walking distance ;)
Living in a city is awesome for us; we don't have to drive, can walk to almost everywhere we want to go on a daily basis, and have super close access to all of the nature, culture, and the like we could ever want.
That would be my dream at least. For those that have been to northern Norway, you'll get this. For those that haven't, you'll just scratch your head.
I would certainly take the first flight to my country and try to stay close to those I love the most before it is too late.
One of the reasons I came back to the UK was that work/life balance seems to be a bit more of the norm then it is in Japan. The nature over in Japan is really something else, though. Miss it almost everyday.
I love the lack of traffic, my giant backyard and deck, how completely quiet and pitch black it is at night and that I have yet to meet a software developer. Nothing against devs, but getting out of the tech bubble is nice.
I can go to Detroit, Chicago, the Great Lakes and many other places if I need a change of pace.
Of course it’s only been a few days at this point, but very optimistic. We lived in San Jose for 5 years and it just was not for us despite trying really hard to learn to like it.
I am still working for the same company.
If it's for a short term, I will go back to Philippines, the life is really sweet and enjoyable there.
The multiculturalism there makes for good food and interesting people, and as an intellectual milieu it's not bad -- lots happening on University Ave. I don't mind the weather at all.
Unfortunately it's fairly expensive.
Take friends out of consideration, and I'd either go back up to Louisville (where I grew up) or somewhere up in the Pacific Northwest. I'd need to do a little more visiting up there to decide exactly where, though.
If I could move overseas? Edinburgh. Wasn't able to spend anywhere near as long there as I would've liked on my last UK trip, but it seemed lovely. Although I'd probably need to do a little more European and Australia/New Zealand travel to be absolutely sure. So, maybe I'd go nomad for a while before choosing where to settle down (don't really have any interest in doing the nomad life long-term, though).
Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Italy, Spain, South France, etc. Maybe Tunisia or North Morocco.
Depends on which culture makes the best impression, and after that, I would settle down for 5-6 years.
My 2nd choice would be the Carribean, but the countries are more hit and miss, small islands means everything is expensive, and hot weather year round sounds nice in theory, but I'm sure I'd get tired of it within 3-4 months. I like seasons.
At the moment at least, the government is moving the right directions, and their recent performance for COVID-19 was astonishing from a public health perspective.
East is where the new opportunities are. Singapore provides developed world life in that part of the world which being extremely safe, high quality of education and a lot of overall convineice of life.
Even then - I did like San Francisco a lot but only the parts you could get a nice place in. There are many areas of San Francisco that I don't like because they're just not nice. (Lots of crazy people yelling in the street, trash everywhere, bad smells, crime, loud in general, etc.) If I was able to afford living somewhere like Twin Peaks - I'd consider it... But last I checked, I'm a few million short.
So, even if I was remote and made a lot of money, I'd probably still choose SF if I could while I didn't have kids. If I have kids and stop going out - I might like to live somewhere on the coast like Pacifica or Santa Cruz (Opal Cliffs). I want a very large workshop at some point - so I might have to move into the mountains. I've spent some time in a nice house there on a cliff in Santa Cruz - wouldn't mind that... But, again, missing a few million...
But now? I'd probably stay right here in the Bay Area, only because my wife's family is here. I wouldn't want to take my kids away from their cousins.
Although my wife's brother has been pushing for the entire family to move somewhere cheaper. He keeps pointing out that if we all sold our houses in California we could buy a mega-compound in Oklahoma.
* Most likely: somewhere between Austin and San Antonio TX.
* Alternate: ~45 minutes southwest of Denver, CO.
* Wildcard: Minneapolis, MN.
* If U.S. adopts laws like what Hungary just did WRT LGBT people: Iceland.A good way to describe Cape Town is San Francisco Lite - The same tech, central rental price, homelessness & drug problems (with crime too!), just cheaper. Pretty place, but not sure I want to keep dealing with that. Then there's also the general wanderlust. Ideally, I want to do the digital nomad thing while traveling through Europe, then decide on a "permanent" place to have as a base, then maybe keep traveling and see what else there is. Currently eyeing Amsterdam, Lisbon (local salaries are only slightly higher than CPT though), Talinn. Athens also has quite an urban flair to it as well, and coming back to it with a fresh pair of eyes for a few weeks last year made it enticing to go back. But alas, I'd rather not waste 9 months of my life in conscription.
(In my case that's Vitória, Brazil.)
I moved out for the work opportunity, to a city a mere 6 hours away door-to-door over air travel, or 12 hours by car. It's been 10 years now.
I visit frequently, about 5 times a year. I spend summers there every year, at least 15 days straight, sometimes 25. I'm happily married with a son. I made new friends.
Yet, I very much miss the frequent contact with relatives and longtime friends.
But, within the US? I'd be tempted to buy a plot of land in the Appalachians, maybe outside Roanoke VA, build a little chalet, and just chill out. Money no object, I can fly to NYC or London when I get the itch to do culture.
Edit - in DC metro now. It has a lot going for it, but some massive flaws too. I'm an hour from the mountains, which I love. 3-5 hours from several beaches - I could live without them, but it's nice to have the option. The city itself is pretty good for culture and dining. True four seasons, to keep it fresh. But, August is miserably humid. And while not that far north, by the time February rolls around, I'm ready for long summer evenings. Traffic is terrible. But, I walk to work.
Great place to live too.
It's basically the Silicon Valley of Canada with plenty of opportunity, beautiful trails, light rail transit, amazing food from all around the world, and a burgeoning event scene.
Plus, it's a 40min drive to Toronto, and <2hr drive to beautiful sandy beaches on 3 great lakes (e.g. Wasaga Beach, Long Point, Goderich).
Once the kids are gone, we are likely to become nomadic.
Geoarbitrage is the easiest way to increase your wealth.
Ideally, it'd be my home-base to afford a good amount of nomading. Low taxes, low cost of living, excellent food scene (UN City of Gastronomy), and a great craft beer/wine/whiskey scene to boot.
It's not perfect, though. You can acclimate to the summer heat if you put the time in, and you'd be rewarded with our amazing monsoon thunderstorms.
Our college sports team is seemingly in a constant downward spiral. But the University is second only to Raytheon/Air Force in power and influence.
There's a fair amount of gentrification happening; as the case with anywhere, there are good spots and less so great spots crime wise.
But having lived short-term in various places around the country, Tucson is always my home. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
My wife and I found that we would frequently vacation outside of cities after living in them for about 10 years; so we figured we might as well try to live where we find relaxation (especially since we rarely take advantage of the perks of urban life).
The only real downside is the lack of good broadband. There are a few local providers (DSL, Cable, etc.) - but I'm fairly unimpressed. Right now my hope is to build a hobby / side-business delivering Internet in the "just out of reach" areas around town.
For most of it, I've been living in Thailand (almost 8 years). Lifestyle here is pretty laid back, but you need to be more aware of your own/your family's safety, in a whole lot of different ways. It's also not particularly easy on foreigners if you want to run a company here, but it's doable. I believe Americans will have a slightly easier time with this, due to an agreement between the countries.
There is a somewhat-formed plan for us to move back to Australia at some point, and we'll almost certainly end up somewhere outside of the major cities, probably one of the larger towns in Victoria.
On top of a job that is truly remote, I am also waiting on my wife to trust that we could live there safely. That day may never come, despite anything I say.
This is a difficult decision to make, not the least of which because of tax concerns. I am already a nomad, having not paid any rent since 2015. Right before the pandemic hit, I was preparing to change tax domicile to South Dakota. As soon as I no longer have a financial reason to stay linked to California, I am resuming my plan.
For something more rural, I like Taos, New Mexico and a few cities in the area north of there in Colorado, the San Luis Valley. The entire area is rich in natural beauty, inexpensive and not very crowded. The drawback is that due to my fairly disturbing collection of serious illnesses, and worrisome history of having to go to emergency rooms, I would be better off being close to a really good hospital.
And to make you SF folks jealous, I bought a 2200 SF house, on 1/2 acre, with a view of the bay, for less than $500K.
The cost of living is next to zero. It's relatively safe for an emerging economy. Still reasonably safe. You can get a 3 month Visa each time you fly in and out. So a quick trip to a neighbour country and you're set for another 3 months.
Do that for 3 years. Live like a king on less than $10k a year living cost. Return home with 3 years salary minus taxes and 30k living costs.
Plus it's a great part of the world. Very fun to explore.
EDIT: Though, at the moment the sun doesn’t go down til 22:00. I may have a different view if asked during the miserable bloody winter when the sun barely bothers rising at all. I am now wondering if it’d be practical to work remotely from Barcelona or somewhere from November to January...
NYC is my place to be.
It needs to be a place where there's a good music scene that I can participate in.
Several spots in British Columbia, Canada come to mind. Other possibilities include the Netherlands, maybe New Zealand.
I've been a slow nomad over the last 15 years or so, with stints in Nevada, SoCal, Texas and the Pacific Northwest.
Although I'm settled down now, someday I'd like to have a couple places in different countries or locales and be able to work from either one.
I would love to move to Japan instead, but the chances of that working are slim to none, and the wife does not really like the Japanese culture anyway, so.
If I can move with a community that wants to be nomadic I'd try that.
If not, Vegas, here I come :)
The twist is I could probably arrange that, but my daughter lives in So Cal.
1. Los Angeles, where I am from. Slightly cheaper and I would be close to family. Even though there are plenty of beaches in the Bay Area, they are not as easily accessible as they are down here.
2. Mammoth/Eastern Sierra. When I was in grad school and working as a consultant, I lived there for two years summer and winter, despite not being a skier. I wouldn't mind spending a few weeks working remote here and there (I have a place there), but I couldn't live there again. It's tucked away, snow is a pain, and you get sick of the tourists really fast.
3. Hawaii. I love Hawaii. But, it's a long flight to get home and the Bay Area is already far enough away for me. It's also expensive and I imagine it would get boring quickly since I am mostly into biking and hiking rather than water sports.
The only wrinkle is that I do like my legal weed; going to a store and buying a nicely packaged edible or a preroll is leagues above buying it off the street.
I lived there for six years and I can't imagine another place I would want to live.
A world class city where you can buy a single family home in a nice neighborhood for less than $750k.
- Auckland
- Taipei (Taoyuan and Kaohsiung are very close by HRT)
- Sydney
- Helsinki
- Stockholm
- Oslo
- Amsterdam
- Copenhagen
- Toronto
- Dublin
- London
- Paris
- Berlin
- Barcelona (or Madrid)
- Lisbon
My criteria were things like Gini coefficients, diversity, democracy indexes, gender equality, and LGBTQ rights. Most places in Asia got bumped because of poor LGBTQ rights, and the US got bumped for poor gender equality (representation in government is a big component of the formula). Diversity is just generally difficult to find, even in major cities, and when you do de facto segregation is almost certainly an issue.
I used to live in NYC but left--the COVID-19 outbreak didn't make that easy--and have been plotting on where to settle for hopefully forever. Toronto's at the top of the list, but it's hard to say no to Europe, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. What a privilege to have options like that though, what a time to be alive :).
My hometown has a great one [0], the only way to improve that would be a beach where it's summer all round the year.
Some people (and some cultures) value their time with co-workers.
I decided to stay in Seattle. Sure, we have our issues (homelessness, high rents) but we also have some perks (close to nature, beautiful weather 8 months of the year, fast internet, cheap power, roughly sane state government).
I've done alot of time in Manila, PH and love it, and across some USA Cities - Seattle, Chicago, Miami, Tampa, NYC and they're great but it's still the USA.
I have been a nomad for the past 2 years, kinda but I position myself down for 2 months at a time because it's hectic to get anything done if you do it every week/few weeks or worse - weekend.
I find that I need a solid week to a week and a half to get used to an area, even if I know it pretty well. Airbnbs are all over the place and no true area is the same as another.
If you have children then obviously you can't be nomad and cheap places like southeast asia are out of question, because you want your children to have best education, healthcare, enviroment etc. (which is reason why I moved from China ASAP after my first child was born)
If i were single young and healthy I would consider Southeast Asia - still externely cheap, good or reasonable internet, good cuisine, pleasant weather, you can find private hospitals with travel insurance, though you can get fed up with locals long term because of different culture (if you are from west)
Since I have children and I am EU citizen obvious choice was return to EU, my original intention was Vienna regularly winning surveys as one of most livable cities in Europe/world, though my budget didn't allow me to buy apartment without mortgage plus it's not that easy to find English speaking jobs there and I am not strong on my German (the one company I interviewed there offered me instead job in US, which I politely declined) and I have to consider also my wife's employment options in future, so I went for poor man's Vienna - Prague. Still extremely safe, quite reasonable prices.
My other options would be Bratislava, which is basically nontouristy small town suburb of Vienna less than hour way, Budapest is quite OK, but since Orban is at power that's not an option and we already see for years which direction they are hading, maybe Berlin (very cheap real estate to buy) although Germans are for my taste already too brainwashed with leftist/eco stuff and way too many non-adaptable migrants from different cultures.
Other EU countries have way too different culture for my taste with too many illegal migrants, not so safe and also not affordable or too socialist (micromanaging your life) for my taste.
When you get older, or have pre-college kids you have to think about a nest somewhere. If there is one thing this COVID-19 crisis has shown me as well it pays to live near good medical systems. But for now I want to wander!
I'd love to go spend a year teaching software engineering in Costa Rica or New Zealand. Settling permanently? I dunno. I've ripped up what roots I've had multiple times now, and I don't really want to do it again.
I was just looking for cheap rent, decent internet, a grocery store and a few eateries, basically. The town is a lot nicer than I expected it to be and I've really enjoyed living here so far.
I can certainly imagine scenarios where I would relocate, but my preference would be to shape this town into more of what I would like it to be.
The surroundings are great, schools are OK, the big city with its hype and hospitals is nearby.
That wild be the dream location.
Property prices are the killer, but the actual cost of living isn't really that high over there and the public transport is fantastic so you wouldn't even need a car.
If not SF, I'd move out of the US entirely to avoid the healthcare disaster and increasing anti-intellectualism.
With these criterions and bay area pay, I'd move to a coastal town in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia or India. All cheap, all developing countries and all with decent internet and healthcare.
But I'd be happy just to leave Brazil. I hate this country.
People like me are so common that they even have a name here: vira-lata.
I don't have many reasons to live in the city but because it's really comfortable as I don't have the need to commute. If I could work always (or 3-4 days / week) from home I'd move to a town. More peace and a better house, instead of a flat, for the same price at the city.
There are rougher places to live.
Once they're gone, though, my partner and I have talked a lot about spending 2-4 months at a time in different parts of the world.
We have a list of places on basically every continent that we'll want to visit. Semi-nomadic is probably the way I would describe the ideal situation.
But on top of the corona situation I also have some pending life stuff that's still to be resolved. Depending on the outcome of that and my company being cool with full remote (no reason not to bring it up), I really wanna move somewhere cheaper.
When I need to retire back in my native land I will stay where my grandpa farmed. Last house on the electricity line, birds everywhere etc.
* good to high abidance to rule of law
* little to no speculative investments in real estate
Main issues I have right now is low quality of existing indexes, and lack of anecdotal data for potential candidates. I'm not just talking about countries, but specific areas also.
I've always wanted to make this move but I never cared for the nomad life.
Too bad HK left that club, otherwise I'd also consider it.
I currently live in in Tokyo but have visited Kobe many times and loved the more relaxed atmosphere and smaller size of the city compared to Tokyo. You are also very close to Osaka and Kyoto and even getting back Tokyo is easy with the shinkansen.
Had to turn down jobs at tech companies in the past because they wanted relocation to popular tech cities.
Later I could see myself living in Portugal, or Italy, or Spain.
If I could live in Nara, I feel as if my life would become instantly tolerable whilst simultaneously beneficial to those immediately around me.
Having a family that wants connections with other family means that the full nomad thing just isn’t practical.
When I ignore taxes and cost of living I also like Hawaii.
As an aside, I am shocked how many of the responders here effectively say they will willfully violate local labor law in one or more countries and get their employers in potential legal trouble.
Full time RVing has been an interest of mine too, but with the COVID thing and RV parks closing and some RV people feeling a bit misplaced. So seems owning land somewhere could be beneficial... Full time RVing seems to have it's pros and cons, but I think maybe part time RVing would be a little less stressful.
Also if you lived somewhere with cold winters, maybe RV a bit in the warmer months for a month or two then during the winter head off to Arizona or something... Like I think Utah would be a cool place to vacation in the summers since a lot of beautiful places to visit like Zion, go off-roading, mountains, etc... But probably not the first choice to live year around since I'd love to escape cold depressing winters but if I did could use the RV to do a bit of snowbirding to like AZ, TX or FL. Otherwise I think Utah is a near prefect state as an outsider prospective in general and sounds like in the future they might attract more tech but if more and more companies go remote then moving to an area based on jobs but other things in life you care about is a bonus, and might even make other places compete more for gaining more residents who are looking to find a new home town.
I think snow is pretty but haven't had much snow lately just cold and after a while it gets old quick... Always wanted to try snowboarding too. There's someone from Utah I like, so that kinda makes me change my mind a bit, and seen that Salt Lake City is on some list for startup hubs haha but I don't think they are as successful as say maybe Austin, Texas is at this point.
I kinda want something different, since bored of where I'm from and not as much opportunities as I'd hoped, seems to be a problem in the midwest in general and people call it the brain drain problem. Like there's a company in Philadelphia I'm a fan of and thought of relocating since they even offer a bonus but seems almost the same stuff just another state over...
If you could get decent internet, working from cruise ships sounds interesting too! But I think being a nomad and working a regular 9 to 5 job online wouldn't be enjoyable and hard to balance work and play... That might work better if you manage your own company remotely or some other passive sources. I know there's world cruises that are like half a year along that sounds fun, only have to unpack once and see the world but some sea days multiple in a row so that'd be some downtime to get some work in since being a longer cruise you'd probably already seen most of everything the ship has to offer anyways.
I'm currently planning an or-exit, but it'll be a few years. At this point in time, the wife and I are thinking Arizona (somewhere Payson-ish, up high where the weather is nice).
Biggest hit I'm going to take is giving up my 1gbps fiber connection for at best starlink. Maybe I'll win the lottery and will be able to pull in my own fiber connection. While I'm wishing, I want a race car and a pony.
This after working remote for years, from all over the world.
Close to Denver. High elevation town at 8200 feet, homesites to 9800 feet elevation. Adequate internet. Cheaper than Evergreen, and a bit higher. High elevation is good for health. Wildlife (deer, migratory birds, elk, foxes and the occasional Black Bear). Small town but has what is needed. (Grocery, vet, medical, dentist, car repair, chain saw shop) Same distance from ski areas as Denver. Lots of snow in winter, and mild sunny summers.
If I were to work with an American company as an engineer then London/Oxford is really good. The timezone difference is quite appropriate to take meetings without asking for too much rescheduling and adjustments, and the London food is way better than any city in the US, plus the location is quite appropriate to travel anywhere within Europe. It's not cheap, but city life is worth it. I don't quite like Oxford, but my family lives in Oxford, so it's kind of nice to be home and everything is taken care of yourself.
If I was in meeting heavy role like Product Manager, then Mexico City is impeccable. Good food, bay area weather, reasonable cost of living, just a quick flight away from bay area if you have to visit and easy to get visa as well. It's not at what you see in the news, and there are more starbucks on Reforma than they on Market St. in SF.
But only if I can find a house in Rione Monti.