A season abroad! But where?
October 6, 2022 10:57 AM Subscribe
I recently landed a new job that is flexible, 100% remote, and pays enough to cover our basic expenses. My spouse and I are considering spending a "season" (1-4 months?) somewhere else in the world while I work remotely. But where should we go?
Pertinent details:
- We have an easygoing six-month-old
- We are currently on Pacific Standard Time, and I would prefer to stay within a two hour time change in either direction for work scheduling purposes (or, I guess, a 22-26 hour change).
- We enjoy outdoor adventuring: climbing, hiking, swimming, SUPing, mountain biking, etc. Awesome nature is a must wherever we go.
- Ideally we would be away for a summer, since that is our least favorite season at home.
- Remote is fine, but I need reliable internet.
- We are both good travelers, and comfortable with culture shock, language barriers, etc.
Right now we are considering Costa Rica, Alaska, British Columbia, Mexico. But I know there are awesome places we haven't thought of yet!
Any suggestions, tips, resources, etc. are welcome!
Pertinent details:
- We have an easygoing six-month-old
- We are currently on Pacific Standard Time, and I would prefer to stay within a two hour time change in either direction for work scheduling purposes (or, I guess, a 22-26 hour change).
- We enjoy outdoor adventuring: climbing, hiking, swimming, SUPing, mountain biking, etc. Awesome nature is a must wherever we go.
- Ideally we would be away for a summer, since that is our least favorite season at home.
- Remote is fine, but I need reliable internet.
- We are both good travelers, and comfortable with culture shock, language barriers, etc.
Right now we are considering Costa Rica, Alaska, British Columbia, Mexico. But I know there are awesome places we haven't thought of yet!
Any suggestions, tips, resources, etc. are welcome!
Best answer: If I could do this, I'd pick Peru - Lima has incredible food, and obviously there is lots of nature to be found. It will be their "winter" but still relatively warm. Based on my location, Costa Rica or Mexico are both relatively cheap plane tickets, whereas Peru is double the price - so to me it would be more worthwhile to be able to spend a long time there.
posted by coffeecat at 12:24 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by coffeecat at 12:24 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Given that your time zone preference is pretty limiting, I thought I would mention that most of the Caribbean doesn’t do daylight savings, so I believe Jamaica is only 2 hours different, and the Eastern Caribbean is only three hours different during the summer.
posted by snofoam at 1:08 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by snofoam at 1:08 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
One other consideration might be taxes and visas. Of course people work abroad quietly without necessarily getting their administrative ducks in order, but if you're trying to do this "right", you'd want to take both of those things into consideration. You could also consider domestic travel (assuming you're US-based, I see you've already mentioned Alaska) to make that part much easier (though taxes may still be a factor).
posted by mosst at 1:11 PM on October 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mosst at 1:11 PM on October 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Vancouver seems an excellent choice!
Warning about this with a baby -- we did this with a four-month-old for several months and are also well-traveled and it was really, really hard. We thought it would be a cinch! Our baby was also easy! But having a sick baby in a different country where you don't speak the language was totally and completely different from all the times we'd traveled for months before. Baby gear was just hard and unwieldy, and we are minimalists.
We did this again a year later and it was also hard -- toddlers are really tricky and rarely easygoing and it's hard to toddler-proof a rental and find babysitters. Not saying you shouldn't do this -- omg you should -- but if I were doing it again, I'd do it in a gorgeous place where I spoke the language and had a better grasp of healthcare, etc.
posted by heavenknows at 1:47 PM on October 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Warning about this with a baby -- we did this with a four-month-old for several months and are also well-traveled and it was really, really hard. We thought it would be a cinch! Our baby was also easy! But having a sick baby in a different country where you don't speak the language was totally and completely different from all the times we'd traveled for months before. Baby gear was just hard and unwieldy, and we are minimalists.
We did this again a year later and it was also hard -- toddlers are really tricky and rarely easygoing and it's hard to toddler-proof a rental and find babysitters. Not saying you shouldn't do this -- omg you should -- but if I were doing it again, I'd do it in a gorgeous place where I spoke the language and had a better grasp of healthcare, etc.
posted by heavenknows at 1:47 PM on October 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Go to Costa Rica or Mexico. Find a full time/part time baby sitter. I am sure you can join some local facebook groups to find them and feel comfortable, it will be be ridiculously cheap. Not getting one would be a msitake.
An easy going 6 month year old does not equate to an easy whatever (once they start walking btw).
posted by sandmanwv at 5:11 PM on October 6, 2022
An easy going 6 month year old does not equate to an easy whatever (once they start walking btw).
posted by sandmanwv at 5:11 PM on October 6, 2022
People think they can work remotely from wherever they want, but it's not actually legal to do so. You will want to look into digital nomad visas, which allow you to work remotely from that country.
As Snofoam mentioned, if you are willing to do 3 hours difference that opens up the Caribbean. However, most of the Caribbean islands with nomad visas have terrible Internet speed. The exceptions are Barbados, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.
Other options with digital nomad visas in the time zone you're looking for are Costa Rica and Panama (which has scorchingly fast Internet speeds). Belize also has a digital nomad visa program but their Internet speeds aren't great.
posted by rednikki at 5:36 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
As Snofoam mentioned, if you are willing to do 3 hours difference that opens up the Caribbean. However, most of the Caribbean islands with nomad visas have terrible Internet speed. The exceptions are Barbados, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.
Other options with digital nomad visas in the time zone you're looking for are Costa Rica and Panama (which has scorchingly fast Internet speeds). Belize also has a digital nomad visa program but their Internet speeds aren't great.
posted by rednikki at 5:36 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you're considering the Caribbean, I recommend avoiding hurricane season, which is technically June-December but typically at its worst from late July to end of October. Evacuating a few days before a hurricane off an island with a baby and limited flight options is hard, sometimes impossible.
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 7:30 PM on October 6, 2022
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 7:30 PM on October 6, 2022
Make sure you take a look at this question before you decide to do anything. Last thing you want to do is get somewhere and immediately get fired.
> People think they can work remotely from wherever they want, but it's not actually legal to do so.
It definitely depends on the country. Canada, for instance, while you can't work a physical job there (like at McDonald's), you can work remotely as much and for as long as you like on a tourist entry so long as it's entirely remote, the company you are working for is entirely in the other country and doesn't hire Canadians who are living in Canada, and you're being paid in the other country.
posted by tubedogg at 9:31 PM on October 6, 2022
> People think they can work remotely from wherever they want, but it's not actually legal to do so.
It definitely depends on the country. Canada, for instance, while you can't work a physical job there (like at McDonald's), you can work remotely as much and for as long as you like on a tourist entry so long as it's entirely remote, the company you are working for is entirely in the other country and doesn't hire Canadians who are living in Canada, and you're being paid in the other country.
posted by tubedogg at 9:31 PM on October 6, 2022
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posted by aramaic at 11:07 AM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]