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Ask Slashdot: What's the Best Way To Work On Projects While Traveling?
An anonymous reader writes "I really want to go travel the world with the money I've saved up at my day job, but I also want to grow as a developer in the process. This is a long-term engagement: 2-3 years or more depending on whether my software is successful. I'll probably be hopping from hostel to hostel at first, with a few weeks at each. How do I find a good work environment in these conditions? Do hostels generally have quiet areas where work could be done? Is it OK to get out your laptop and spend the day in a cafe in Europe, assuming you keep buying drinks? What about hackerspaces — are those common on the other side of the globe? (Apartments are an option for later on, but I'm concerned about losing the social atmosphere that's built in with the hostel lifestyle.) I've never done anything like this before, but I'm really excited about the idea! Any advice would be greatly appreciated."
You want to travel AND you want to grow as a developer? Well if you want to travel and enjoy yourself why take work with you. And if you want to grow y our development skills why not stay home and take classes or something.
you'll never look back, or regret it. i've been doing it for 3 years and it's the best lifestyle possible.
you can find wifi in most guest houses/hostels in the world, and also cafes too, if you buy a hot chocolate or coffee from time to time they let you sit there for hours.
duh.
but in europe, you can find quiet places in most cities. if it's a quiet cafe they don't mind if you give them money every now and then.
hackerspaces you'll probably find near universities. which brings up another point, at least in finland you can just walk into any university during daytime and nobody will ask you any questions and you'll find quiet places to work during daytime, during night you might need a pass to get in and get booted by the security depending on the university(booted means asked to leave, though that happens probably only if you're drinking alcoholic beverages).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
It's hard enough to give a development project your full attention while you're at home, much less "hopping from hostel to hostel" or leeching internet connections in cafes.
There are time limits on how long you can stay on a tourist visa everywhere (something like 6 months for Americans in the EU, and you can't just leave and come back to reset the clock). Plus, it's not really clear that you can legally do what you're talking about; countries haven't adjusted to the new reality of working from anywhere. You may find that you need a work visa to do this, even if you're not making money in the country.
Cool story, brah.
Ya think?
... what do you want with a job? (Quote from Raising Arizona) Seriously, enjoy the time off you have earned instead of polluting it with a development project. You will have plenty of time to sit in front of a screen when you are done, assuming you still want to stare at a screen.
Who can afford to travel for 2-3 years without some sort of work? Most of us can afford to take a week or two off at most, not years. But if seeing the world were combined with a paying gig, long term could be more feasible.
What's wrong with doing both? You're afraid it'll be more interesting than your boring life?
"I really want to go travel the world with the money I've saved up at my day job, but I also want to grow as a developer in the process. This is a long-term engagement: 2-3 years or more depending on whether my software is successful.
Awesome, welcome to the fun :D
I'll probably be hopping from hostel to hostel at first, with a few weeks at each.
Each place you stay try to find semi-furnished apartments by the month if you can. Honestly if you can find them you will save loads of money. I usually found a touristy area in my desired city, and asked bartenders and restauranteurs.
How do I find a good work environment in these conditions? Do hostels generally have quiet areas where work could be done?
Not really, they are designed typically with socializing in mind. My favourite hostel work space is in bed... Next best is an area with various cafes.
Is it OK to get out your laptop and spend the day in a cafe in Europe, assuming you keep buying drinks?
I find it is more internal that I start to feel uncomfortable working in any particular cafe too long or too many times in a row. I don't think they mind, but I start to feel awkward. That is why I like areas with lots of cafes/bars all with internet. So I can shuffle around a bit.
What about hackerspaces — are those common on the other side of the globe?
I haven't found them, they would be a welcome site to me. Maybe more in Europe.
(Apartments are an option for later on, but I'm concerned about losing the social atmosphere that's built in with the hostel lifestyle.)
I find when I'm working I lose that social atmosphere anyway and have to find it outside after work anyway. I'm not sure the benefits of a hostel outweigh the costs.
I've never done anything like this before, but I'm really excited about the idea! Any advice would be greatly appreciated."
Good luck, it is fun!
Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
I suggest you look at the concept of coworking. Basically you'd rent, short-term, a desk in an open-plan office full of people who work under the same arrangement. This includes internet access, power, and perhaps snacks and drinks. The other people in the place provide the social work atmosphere you crave, and exposure to other interesting things they may be working on. You can pay by the day, week or month (week and month payments usually cover a set amount of days but are cheaper than paying by the day).
Coworking spaces exist in many cities around the world, and since coworking enthusiasts are, well, very enthusiastic about the concept, they communicate with each other and set up collaboration networks. Before you leave on your trip, I suggest you look for local coworking spaces to scout the concept, and talk to the space owners about your plans. They can certainly give you more information and tell you about the "coworking visa" which "allows active members of one space to use other coworking spaces around the world for free for a set number of days (3 is the default)."
Read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coworking
http://wiki.coworking.com/w/page/16583831/FrontPage (they have a worldwide directory).
Hostels.. most will kick you out after two weeks to make room for fresh guests but other than that you are unlikely to have problems. Most have free wifi and there are plenty (unfortunately) of antisocial folk stuck in a corner Facebooking, some even have special areas. Writing code is grand but you have to make sure none of the girls see you at it, or you'll and up on the National "Do Not Fuck" List because you know girls don't like coders / nerds (joke). You won't be the only one stuck behind a screen but you'll be doing something more useful than any of the rest of them
Hackerspace is relatively new here in Yurop. I seen one in Cork that costs €40 a month to sign up to, a bit far away for me. Havn't checked it out really
You are more likely to be moved on in a Cafe, it's expensive anyway, usually, in the expensive countries at least. I don't know every place you intend to go:)
There are cheap places to rent particularly in depression-struck Ireland and I'm sure other countries too. You can get a room in a house for 50e a week or less sometimes. If you are willing to live in a dump you can get it cheaper yet, maybe get a discount to help do the place up (you'll be very lucky to find a place like that). More realistically you could try and work in a hostel in return for a free place to stay. Unless you want to go legit and get a proper visa.
Also don't go to Bhutan. That country has a paywall. As a slashdotter I doubt you'll approve of that sort of carry on
Surprisingly good places to work in many western nations.
Presuming that you bring your own laptop, ideally with good battery life (and a spare battery)... When you want internet connectivity, try out libraries. In the US they're quiet and usually have free Wi-fi. I don't know how common that is in libraries around the world. As far as development goes, yank down the relevant documentation (wget works great), and use a distributed CM system like git. Git, in particular, works really nicely for disconnected environments; you can work away and then sync up later. Then go to some beautiful locale like a park. You may find that you don't need to be "always on" to get things done. For more $$, cell phones work for Internet connectivity, but depending on where you are that can get pricey.
- David A. Wheeler (see my Secure Programming HOWTO)
For "quiet space", I recommend really good ear-plugs. Best for me are "Ohropax Color". I use them frequently when working at home (noisy people living below). You can use each pair for several days before effectiveness diminishes. Should be available at most pharmacies in Europe or they can get them for you often within only a few hours. As for Internet, for Europe, you may also want to look at things like Fon (http://www.fon.com). Most of your needs should be covered by hotels and cafes though. As for hackerspaces, I don't think there are many in Europe, the idea is just too silly and the "hackers" in them too much of the "wannabe" class.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
As long as you understand that you will very likely get robbed, or have your laptop stolen at some point, I'd go into something like this with a learn-as-you-go attitude. After all, it's supposed to be an adventure, right? Gain some world knowledge from first hand experience and whatnot. Just make sure you're saving your work remotely somehow, probably through some cloud service, and that your credentials and personal identity information isn't easily available to the first person who swipes your phone or laptop.
Seriously consider getting remote wipe software for both, as well.
As for the other stuff... hostels are, by their very nature, community areas. Most have space to break out a laptop and get internet access, but you are very much sharing the area with other strangers. Again, theft is a huge issue at these places, to the point that you might return to from taking a piss only find your laptop stolen.
There are also some security-related issues to consider, if you are going to be hopping from one country to another. Many will flat out require access to your laptop just to pass through, and if you have it encrypted (which you should), they'll demand access to the encrypted data as well, or else confiscate it while you miss your flight. It can be a real big pain in the ass. So what you want to do is setup your laptop with a standard unencrypted Windows OS install that you use for random internet crap like Facebook or general browsing, and maybe a few games. Then setup a second hidden install of whatever OS you prefer, and use it for your *real* work. TrueCrypt handles this for the purpose of plausible deniability, although any encryption software should be able to handle it. The basic idea is that, if you get stopped at customs, you can happily give them access to your laptop and let them log in and see your mundane OS install with normal internet crap, without raising any flags about whatever work you are doing.
And it really doesn't matter what kind of work you are doing, either, because the security guys at checkpoints could easily decide that the crazy-looking computer code for your gaming pet project might really be stolen state secrets. Or that the photos you took of some Buddhist temple could be considered spy activity. Crazy people are crazy, and the last thing you want is get sent to some labor camp in the middle of your dream vacation.
Things to take:
A spare battery for your laptop. (And encrypt your laptop, and have a decent backup solution.)
Power adaptors for your things.
A powerboard, hostels often only have one or two powerpoints.
Oh, and a voltage converter thing.
An unlocked mobile phone.
Fewer electronics (no music player, no recorder, etc., let your phone do all that).
A backpack (a suitcase will really piss you off).
Water bottles. Plastic travel cutlery maybe (it's cheaper to buy bread and cheese separately than it is to buy them together as a pre-made sandwich).
Travelers Checks and cash for many countries.
A lock for your bags, a lock for lockers in hostels, and a bicycle lock to tie your bags to your bed (or park bench) when you don't have a locker.
Get clothing with hidden (inside) pockets to put cash in. But that's emergency cash. Put your general day cash in an easily accessible pocket (and watch it).
Hostels only sometimes have quiet areas, and are only sometimes quiet (not just drunken people wandering in at 3:00, but also just the traffic all evening, or the bar downstairs), and only sometimes have Internet in the rooms.
If you're looking for places to stay all day, try libraries instead. Ask yourself if an American cafe would let you stay all day. The answer is probably the same for other countries. But then again, a library or a local park would be cheaper.
Two years is a long time. You'll probably get sick of traveling by the end.
Your question is too generic to give a more specific answer.
HELP MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED BY AN ILLIBERAL ART STUDENT SET TO DESTROY THE INTERWEBZ!
Visit people who you can learn from. Work with them on concrete projects. Then move on.
If you know you're going to be in a specific area and want to see if there's a hackerspace close by that you could work in (subject to the membership fees/rules of each hackerspace, of course) you can always check the listing on www.hackerspaces.org
Also, I know it's possible to develop and travel at the same time. Just don't get so attached to your laptop that you miss what's around you.
if you're traveling in russia and eastern europe then you should be able to find a job supporting a botnet operation
Get yourself a good laptop which has the features required for the work you need.
An extra battery isn't something to sneeze at.
For the most part, understand that if the internet is something you often use for references that assists you in your work or to store your files onto a cloud server or even github, then do your homework.
At the moment about 2/3 of european hotels will offer free wifi with their services (Complimentary Perks!).
Problem is, free wifi doesn't mean performing wifi.
Since you need this for business, you may want to use something like Boingo Wi-Fi, or something similar. Do your research.
The more you know where you are going ahead of time, the better the itinerary and then you can more than like line yourself a list of hotels where one of the requirements is good wifi.
In the US, I've gotta my own hotspot from Sprint and in the areas where I don't get 4G, i get a decent enough 3G.
It cost 70$ a month with a 5GB per month use.
So, you might end up paying a bit more in Europe, again, Google a bit and do some research, it's not all that hard.
I admit, I'd be jealous. More power to you if you can pull it off.
I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
will be surprised that the outside world is not like his moms basement
You want to travel AND you want to grow as a developer? Well if you want to travel and enjoy yourself why take work with you. And if you want to grow y our development skills why not stay home and take classes or something.
I'm not sure why this is flamebait, but sadly I'd rather comment than moderate.
I would suggest breaking the time into phases: travel and study. Say spend a month wandering around, then pick a city and settle in for some serious study time.
Seems like the best of both worlds to me.
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
Funny, I was actually going to write about my experience in France as well, though, for me it was more that the German tourists are very loud and make it impossible to get any peace and quite in the morning at the Hostel.
Though, the brit I ran into over there, who was living there teaching English, did talk about the arab communities there. Though most of his comments were about how well he was treated in their establishments and how "the white french are the most racist people you will ever meet".
Guess different people have different experiences.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
I need hotels, absolutely, because I have to have quiet, privacy, in-room wifi and ideally a landline for concalls. Wifi in many countries is often poor (Italy comes to mind). B&Bs, hostels and other options usually won't give you a landline. You can sometimes make do with Skype but if connectivity is poor then Skype and voip software sucks. Certainly you can get a local sim card for your phone and use calling cards as well. It's all possible, but even cheap hotels tend to have better privacy, quiet, internet and other facilities like fax compared to cheaper options like hostels.
Because growing as a developer is enjoyment for him. I have trouble explaining to my significant other that building electronics, developing software, and yes, even maintaining my work's servers in offtime, gives me not only a sense of accomplishment, but also a feeling of growth and even pleasure.
Otherwise, I might just find a deserted island and maroon myself there (possibly with my family).
But I would expect not to have to explain that on /.
Also, development skills can (sometimes, even in isolation from other developers) be grown with little more than a book, an IDE, a compiler and time -- the kind of time he's looking to avail himself by travelling while he has no immediate debts or job responsibilities. That's leaving the question of Internet connectivity and all that entails: wikis, IRC, Youtube, etc...
Again, not the sort of thing you think you'd have to explain to a fellow /.er
Emacs: for people who just never know when to
A person expresses a desire to travel and improve him/herself. You snark.
If the same person had said they attempt to live frugally and therefore don't travel you'd probably say they were a typical Ugly American with no interest in the rest of the world.
Unless you're one of the millions of people in the world who drink unsafe water and live in shantys you also have "First world problems" and can STFU.
including yourself. I'm with Crono (unfairly, imho, modded as flamebait). If you're travelling and trying to work, you're either going to miss some amazing sights ("Taj Mahal? Sorry, can't make it today - just want to get this exercise complete...") or get ripped off (no disrespect to the other side of the world - which to me is the States, btw...).
Do some travelling, meet people. Talk. Look. Think. Consider. Learn how to talk to other people and learn how you react to other things. Learn another language. Try some different food. You'll come back a better person, and have better conversations, better outlook, better health. Yeah, you'll be poorer and a year or two out of date with tech. Is it worth it? Now that's another matter.
"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
Really, you're traveling to see the world right? So, see it. Always. Work anywhere the tour guides won't kick you out of. Bust out your laptop on the steps of the Sistine chapel. Read a tech book at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Head over to "The Pub" or wherever that cute local girl is frequenting.
Starbucks will always be waiting for you if you really need something "normal".
You'll just need a camp chair and some good noise cancelling headphones.
There's awesome hackerspaces all over the world, you should be able to locate them very easily with this newfangled thing called "The Google."
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
One of the features I'm most proud of I coded almost entirely at the Tomorrowland Terrance Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom (WDW Florida).
Quiet places can be found just about anywhere. All you need is electricity, and for the most part you can bring your own these days (laptop batteries are way better than they used to be).
TrueCrypt full disk encryption (but be prepared for Customs to ask for access). Automated online backup (or at least github and backups of that repository).
/week /month /year.
Dual displays? Tablet and appropriate software (e.g. iDisplay) , and if stored separately you may not even be fully down if/when your laptop goes on its own travels. With good backups, laptops can be a commodity so be prepared for a possible loss of one to *not* ruin your travels
fencepost
just a little off
You'll have a blast!
I really recommend that you spend some time in Berlin. I lived there for 6 months (some of it working, some of it chilling out). It's a hugely exciting city and everywhere has free wifi. I spent many happy days just hanging out in cool cafes, coding. Don't be put off if you can't speak German. I only really have schoolboy German but everybody under the age of 35 speaks fluent English (which is a bummer if you also want to seriously learn the language).
I've also done similar in Stockholm, Sweden (but for a much shorter amount of time).
Basically, both have really nice people, great beer, great coffee, great working environment and a surprisingly large number of fellow coders.
Enjoy!
--- "We've always been at war with Eastasia."
It depends, in many cafes and pubs in Germany they will not bother as long as you don't block a place in a crowded place without consuming some beverage or food.
In many places you will find free WiFi or payd hotspots from the Telekom or another provider in the vicinity.
Be aware, that there is the rule, that the cheaper a hotel is, the better is the chance to get free internet access.
A good way to connect is to get an O2 mobile account. You can get it with a one Month termination term and at least in all greater cities the access is more than ok (HDSPA+). (Use the phone as WiFi-Router).
You want the social atmosphere of living in a hostel but want to speed all day on your laptop at the same time?
As someone who recently did this (and planning to continue) here's some advice off the top of my head.
- Try to limit your involvement to realistic levels. You won't be able to be as tightly integrated into the team and projects as you were before. Acknowledge this early with your employer.
- Coffee shops are great work environments, and double to put you into the mindset of "in the office".
- Slow down. While traveling, a lot of people are in such a hurry to get from one place to the next in an effort to "see as much as possible", but really don't truly "see". Instead if an itinerary set up a variety of waypoints you want to visit. Move on to the next only when it feels right.
- Now that you're slowed down, change your work habits. Instead of doing 8 hrs, break that into a few 2-3hr sessions each day at the coffee shop. You get a surprising amount of work done when you're not doing big daily drolls and instead short intense/focused bursts.
- Invest in a quality NEW ultra book. Don't try and lug around that 12lb 17" Dell you've had for two years.
- Cell phones are important. Buy a SIM compatible phone outright and get it unlocked. Many also have "world" configurations with multiple antennas.
- Enjoy the trip. Say "ok, I'm game" more. Focus less on work and money and stuff. Don't over prepare, it can be a waste of time.
If you want to talk more let me know, I'll be glad to share.
But when I travel, I'm "supposed" to be doing something different from working. It sounds like you just want to be a mobile worker. What a waste
I recently did this myself, traveled for a year and a half through Europe, Australia and Hawaii, while writing software to pay the bills. It was much easier than saving up that much money before hand, and the work was more stable and dependable than trying to find temporary work at each new location. I stuck to countries with good Internet access, where I didn't have to worry about getting mugged or my rig stolen.
Some hostels provide free wifi, but in many cases it's painfully slow, and many hostels charge for wifi, but it can often be by the hour or for really small amounts of data. Basically they're assuming that you're just emailing and facebooking. Many do have a quiet area, but it might not be setup well for plugging in a laptop, and ergonomically sitting there for hours at a time. What worked best for me was to plan on participating with the other hostelers at all the peak times, such as the shared breakfast and possibly shared dinner times, and either afternoon treks or late night partying. Then I worked in all the gaps in-between, usually the late morning, afternoons, and before supper. Staying in the hostel quiet area all that time was very unappealing, so I would use any rooftop patio, or cafe, or pubs that aren't busy and so will allow you to camp out for hours after you've finished your meal, if asked nicely. Libraries are very good, as well as any post secondary schools that might be nearby. When I found a cafe with good wifi, I would return often, and they would usually accommodate me, even asking other patrons to move for me so I could access a plugin!
Since not every place has good cheap/free wifi, it quickly became necessary to get local SIMs for my iPhone, and get data plans that allow for tethering. Luckily in most places outside of North America, getting 1 GB pay as you go is pretty cheap and easy. At times I got 1.5 or 3 GB. It did take some effort to make sure that a wireless provider allowed both tethering and VPN through that tethering, so I could access my company's intranet for SVN etc. Also, having a local SIM will facilitate with communicating with fellow hostelers and locals that you meet. People seem to mostly stick to SMS, WhatsApp, iMessage and Facebook for messaging and coordinating meeting up.
I always kept a very current Time Machine backup of my computer, which I stored separately from my computer bag, which saved the day when my computer did eventually get stolen. Don't rely on a computer that you can't afford to replace. If you can, keep your home insurance up, to cover your possessions abroad, like I did. Also, I use CrashPlan for an offsite backup, in case I lost everything. This helped get back my very most recent work that I hadn't yet backed up to my Time Machine. But beware, your data plan or limited wifi will not readily support regular backing up everything. I added rules to CrashPlan to not backup any temporary or built files, and I would regularly use the feature that allows suspending backing up for several hours, until I was back on a free wifi. Also, don't let your computer automatically download updates. It can take a while for an online backup service to upload everything for the first complete backup, so start that process well before leaving. I used Mozy first, and didn't like how slow it was and the trouble I had restoring files, so I needed to start all over again with CrashPlan. Also, a padded water proof or resistant computer case is a must. Many times I went to a cafe it wasn't raining, but on my return it was. Always lock up your computer in your locker in your room. Not every hostel has lockers in the rooms.
The main thing, is to not shut yourself off from the other backpackers, but to find a balance of socialising, seeing all the sights, relaxing, and also fitting in your work that will pay the bills. This way you will have an even better time than those who are not working but must live within a tight budget as they're burning through their savings.
You have a great adventure ahead of you. From my own experience doing something very similiar in Europe, I can say that you will easily be able to find quiet places to work while soaking in the atmosphere.
One of my favourite places was Rome - there are so many great parks and tourist attractions where you can find a nice place in the sun to relax and work at the same time. Just get a laptop with built in 3G modem, so all you need is a SIM card, and away you go. I had no problems sitting in cafes for half a day or more, just ordering drinks occasionally and being friendly with the waiters.
It's a hell of a better way to live than being stuck in an office cubicle all day.
I would refrain from pulling out the laptop in a hostel too much - just for security reasons if you are sharing your room. And be wary of flashing your equipment in public as well - I have personally seen several bag snatching incidents - so I always made sure to follow the usual guidelines for staying safe on the street. (Bag secured over both shoulders, don't listen to music, keep aware of your surroundings etc).
But you'll have a great time - and meet some great people. Enjoy!
You want to do this for a long time? Avoid high cost of living areas! A pint of beer that costs $1.50 in Cape Town South Africa would cost $10 in Copenhagen. Look at inexpensive cities that intersect with places you would want to visit.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Google "tea scam" and you'll find out that the friendly cute local girl is probably part of a criminal gang who will rob you and empty your bank accounts and then beat the crap out of you just for the hell of it and dump you half dead in a ditch. This is no joke. This is something that happens every day.
If you want to see the world, then focus on that. Take some time (not 2 or 3 years, a few months) and do your travelling. However, get involved in it and leave your techy bits behind.
If you feel unable to spend time apart from your computers, then spend the time writing your software as that will be apparently what you value most highly. Part of growing up is getting to know yourself: are you more content doing software on your own, or can you put that to one side and do something completely different that is also important to you? Maybe this episode will help you learn something about yourself - nerd or explorer?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
For what I do, a $500 12-14 inch laptop with Ubuntu and a unlocked phone with tethering when you can't find wifi.
Full disk encrypt the harddrive, and back up your project with git. It most likely will get stolen or break some time while traveling, so make sure you have enough money to buy another. A usb stick with the OS should nice to carry in your backpack for these emergency occasions. Not sure if any of these will cause odd looks from security personnel.
Also make sure you have enough money to fly back to the US if you find the situation doesn't work. Do you have family or friends staying abroad that you could crash at for a week? That can be useful if things get hard.
The hostels I have stayed at were all pretty nice, but they weren't the cheapest options in town. It's going to be hard not to let your laptop leave your view for 3 years. Traveling with someone else would make this easier.
uh, make sure you fly to the city where the project is located ?
In NSA America social networks join you!
I've done the hostel travel thing, and travel a lot internationally for work now.
Connectivity is always the biggest pain, next to finding a plug to plug into in a public place. The hostel probably have wifi, it will almost certainly be crap. An unlocked 3g dongle or wifi access point, with carefully selected local pay-as-you-go data sims is a good way to go.
As for quite spaces. Coffee shops work well, but you can't spend all day there. A nice quiet pub without music or sport in the afternoon is a surprisingly productive place work. If you want to spend serious time on a project, then a library is a great place to go.
Traveling while working allows you to not just visit places, but stay for weeks and months, and get to experience actually living there. When you first arrive at a place, it usually only takes 3-5 days to see all the top sights. The thing is, you won't know until you're actually there if it's a place you would like to stay longer in, or if that's good enough, and you can move on. So planning ahead to segregate time as travel or life isn't necessarily doable. And instead of spurting between making money and spending money, it's a lot easier to budget with a semi-stable income and expense profile.
IMHO, your basic idea is right. Combine work you want to do with traveling and experiencing all the world has to offer. Those suggesting you simply skip working for a few years have no idea how difficult it can be to get back into the swim later.
Issues such as visas, living costs, easy access to good Internet connections and an environment conducive to working effectively vary tremendously from place to place. [If you have ideas about where you might go, and let me know, I might be able to provide more specific advice.]
Here are some pointers that you will probably not receive from others, especially those who have not done it. First and foremost, you need a clear plan on work/life balance and you need to be disciplined on adhering to it. I have seen many intelligent and talented people, faced with the temptations that exist in many parts of the world, simply self destruct because they lack structure in their lives. That does not mean you cannot take periods of a month or two to concentrate on traveling and enjoying life in a way that cannot easily be combined with work. It does mean that, any time you do this, you should set yourself a time limit for returning to your more structured lifestyle and stick to that time limit.
If staying more than a couple of weeks anywhere, try to escape from traveler ghettos and immerse yourself in the local culture. For instance, rent a room in an area where few foreigners live and eat in the places frequented by locals. This will take you out of your comfort zone, but will teach you more in a week about the realities of the society you are in than a year in a backpacker guest house.
If you have specific questions, ask away!
Came for the mandatory "Why are you working while traveling?" first post question.
Was disappointed.
I just want to say that this has always been my secret dream. Glad you're taking yours seriously.
Sounds like a great idea, but whatever software you develop (even If it seems insignificant at th time), pleeeeeeeease back it up.
Not just to a memory stick, but to some cloudspace as well. Physical backup devices get lost, stolen, damaged, destroyed, zapped by alien rays, or maybe confiscated. Okay, so the Cloud ain't perfect yet, but you stand more chance of saving your work to show a prospective employer if you keep your source somewhere primarily under your control.
If you think you can't lose 5 years work in a moment then take it from someone who's done that. Otherwise, have a lot of fun, and write about it all when you get back.
Unless you have a big enough bankroll... which I thought was the premise of the whole question.
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
And be prepared to forget about work. That's what usually happens when I do these kinds of trips, in which I lie to myself that I'm gonna do some work.
`echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
If you've been a student - get recommendations from your supervisors. Carry some academic credentials so that you can get to universities / higher education institutes / academic libraries. If you can afford it, take a course in a European universtiy for a semester or two. Connectivity may well be the biggest / most expensive problem.
Hammer out visas ahead of time - make contingency arrangements to transfer money - one of the hardest things will probably be moving living expenses around.
Find software developers to hang around with in the areas you're moving to next. contribute to FLOSS in an international team before you go?
Be prepared to learn (human) languages as needed, even if only enough to order food from a street stall / cafe or whatever. Be prepared to live like a local and life is always easier.
have fun with that. by the time you've seen the sights all day, drank at the pub all night, and found a quiet place to sleep it off, you'll be doing it again.
my biggest problem was finding a balance. 8 to 10 hours onsite, then go back to the hotel for a drink to answer emails for a couple hours, make phone calls, eat, then home gets to work so they are emailing and needing this or that. you end up with another 9 hours with them trying to do your day job.
now sleep.
Do hostels generally have quiet areas where work could be done? Is it OK to get out your laptop and spend the day in a cafe in Europe, assuming you keep buying drinks?
I haven't done any of this either, but I image that you can simply go and ask along the way. If you're polite and show some patronage, I'm sure most cafes will tolerate your laptop loitering, especially if you're considerate about their busy times, etc... Immerse yourself in the environment and you may get a richer experience than you imagine.
Good luck and good travels.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I've traveled 150+ dates a year while keeping a full time job and I can say that it is not easy. While most of that time is spent in a van and in nasty green rooms, there have been some helpful tricks that have helped a great deal being productive while on the road.
1. Keep whomever you work for in the loop. There are going to be times where you are missing a meeting or will have trouble being available. Most of the time isn't a big deal if you're up front an open about where you are. It also helps if you end up keeping somewhat "off hours", which I typically do.
2. Get a MiFi or some other reliable internet source. Coffee shops and hotels often have flaky connections. When you do need to have that meeting or restart some services, it is beneficial to have a connection that is reasonably reliable. Also, if you use Linux full time, a MiFi is like any other wifi, which can mean less futzing with USB drivers.
3. If you work while "moving" (ie in a van, train, plain, etc.) then make sure you don't get motion sickness. I used to take Dramamine and Bonine, but both made me extremely tired and put me in a horrible mood. Since then I keep a lot of ginger chews / gum and natural motion sickness remedies. Specifically, I use a chewable tablets with Nux Vomica and Cocculus Indicus. You can pop that stuff like candy and it really works.
4. Have different themes available for your text editor. When traveling, having a light and dark theme is helpful when you may not have the best natural lighting or you have to battle some sunshine outdoors or by a window.
5. Battery life is critical! A small power efficient laptop is really helpful, especially if you have to carry it around. I also keep a small power inverter for working in the car. You want to get the lowest power possible as they are less likely overheat and break.
I've also found that using a email client that can work offline is helpful at times. I use Emacs + Mu4e with offlineimap and have found it to be helpful at times. Org-mode in Emacs is also helpful as it provides me with a timesheet and a helpful system of organizing my notes that is close to the code. This is nice b/c when traveling, you typically will have shorter time spans to focus. Being able to clock out and keep a note of what you were working open when you close your laptop can go a long way when trying to get back to work.
Good luck!
actually if the guy is moving between hostels he isn't exactly loaded with cash, and many people like to have a break from regular work
he's probably single with no wife/girlfriend or family to support
i say good on him and wish him luck in his adventure
my advice would be to leave the computer at home. there is a good chance that wherever you go will have slow or no internet access anyway, and power connectors vary between countries. also, why travel the world if you're just going to hunker down in a hostel at a computer? seems like a huge wasted opportunity to go outside and experience the countries and cultures you visit. i'm not saying you should be an ignorant tourist with a camera strapped around your neck, but if you're going to visit another country and spend the time programming on your computer you way as well save your money and travel with google earth and streetview.
he could also be a pizza face teen in his mom's basement posting what he wishes he could do, but in either case if it's the most pretentious thing you've read in a while you clearly don't do much reading.
work all you want, then ssh and upload?
.. It can be challenging but can be done....
Here in Sweden you have lots of places where you can go and work outside.. At least in the summer when the polar-bears are not roaming the streets :)
There are quite a few places where you can sit and work inside too, as long as you order stuff for the duration... Have done that myself quite a few times, but only for about 3-4 hours at the max.. never had the need for anything longer...
Libraries can also be kind of nice if you want a bit quieter environment..
In London, at least the places i usually visit i don't see that a whole lot, but there must be some... The hotel-bars is often a good place unless it's crowded and i usually see some people working from those from time to time...
Amsterdam have tons of cafe's, and yes coffee-shop's too :), and it's a wonderful city... But same thing here... just as long as you keep your orders going... Most i have spent in one place there where about 3 hours without any complaints...
It probably differs from place to place, but as long as you are not disturbing anyone and keep ordering stuff you should not have any problem anywhere in Europe.....
But from experience you can never go wrong with the hotel-bar/cafe/lounge .. Usually you don't have to order that much and it's usually not packed during the day so they will not complain even if you don't order anything as long as you are staying in the hotel...
I usually don't stay in hostel's, but from the few i have been staying in one maybe 30% of them have had some semi-quiet place where you could sit and work... Check online before booking...
Hackerspaces do exist here, but not too many depending on where you are going... Check http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces
I'd consider renting an apartment/spare room when you find somewhere you like, it'll normally work out a lot cheaper and you can cook for yourself to save money. Plus there's no people waking you up at 3am running around drunk. You might also want to consider Internet access, some places (eg Vietnam) block many sites like Facebook - that said that might provide a big boost in productivity! others often have pretty unreliable internet out of cities. That's assuming Internet access is important for you...
don't use 3g / 4g without a local sim unless you like paying about $20 a meg.
I agree: Assume worst case scenarios. But, then why travel at all?
I have not flown anywhere for over 15 years, find little reason to drive more than a couple of hours from home, and have taken no vacations longer than a weekend for the same period. It simply isn't worth the risk and hassle. Besides, who can afford it? (Trick question. Protip from your elders: if you are not seriously wealthy you should be saving/investing NOT spending a dime on long-distance travel and vacations. You cannot afford it, you just don't realize this yet.)
Walks and hikes, local trips, evenings out, time with friends and local family are all much more rewarding, far more return for the effort and time.
Or at least why travel when trying or needing to get something done? If you are on a business trip - then you take that attitude (assume worst case scenario), and ultimately any loss is to the business. You simply cannot combine pleasure and business, one or both is being shortchanged.
If you are going to travel for the adventure or enjoyment then anything beyond a simple cell phone is just added risk/hassle.
Photographs? Video? Waste of time and effort. Live your life, don't record it. If your life is important enough to record, others will do so.
Maybe a simple journal, or letters home.
Don't worry about the details, just do it. You'll work it out as you go along.
The power-outlet differs between countries, but they all use 240V so using a simple adaptor will work... Laptop's AC adaptors are usually designed for anything between 110-240V...
Internet in most countries in europe is quite good, and you can buy fairly cheap 3g prepaid cards for pure data too..... and loads of cafe's have free wifi too...
Some prices for Sweden : http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/Sweden
So buy a prepaid sim for the wanted duration and plug it into a cheap android phone and you have a perfect way to get online where ever you might be..
Why not? Spent too much and got yourself into too much dept?
Save 10% of your salary every month, even if it can be hard some months.... Do that for 10 years and you will be able to take a whole year off.. (2 month's per year to offset any increase in salary..)
Why not multi-task and do both?
Because growing as a developer is enjoyment for him.
Part of growing as a developer is stepping away from it time to time. Put it down for a few weeks. Come back.
Do that for 10 years and you will be able to take a whole year off.. (2 month's per year to offset any increase in salary
And when you do that and you show up to work the next year, you can have Milton's office. It still has a stapler in it.
I am a keen listener to FLOSS Weekly hosted by Randal Schwartz, and am astounded at how often he is away on a geek cruise ship, evidently having a great time, and learning from other geeks. I cannot imagine a better person to address this question to.
Have you done much backpacking around the world, or any? Long-term backpacking is as much a way of life as it is about travel, and you simply can't spend your entire time being a tourist, not only does it become exhausting but impossible as well cause you need to stop and do laundry once in a while, get a haircut, buy more soap and razors. Go to any hostel and you will see people just hanging out all day chatting, reading a book, doing laundry or catching up on email.
To the OP: not a problem to take your laptop, most hostels have free wi-fi that may or may not work, ask the staff if they have a safe to lock up your laptops overnight, stay away from hostels in major cities where thieves hang out (I've personally caught 2 trying to go through bedside lockers at 4am, it's always at 4am). If you do take out your laptop at the hostel, other backpackers will ask to borrow it to check email, either be prepared to say "no" or create a "guest" account so that they can visit malware-ridden sites without affecting your entire system.
Not sure why this is modded funny. Travel for personal reasons should have nothing to do with work. If the original poster wants to develop code while living as a vagabond, I presume this is as a hobby? Do not do this as a career move, it's ridiculous. There is no meaningful work experience to be gained this way, no one is going to appreciate it on the resume once returning to the real world. Now if someone wants to travel and also loves to code and do it as a hobby while on the road, that is another matter but it is not how the original poster described it.
Ie, there won't be any employment so it will show up on the resume as a large period of nothing. Prospective employers do not like that at all and it will in not be counted as experience. There's really no practical way to make money this way, it just will not happen! The only hope here is to get a job first that lets one work from anywhere, and then make sure there is enough time to get the work done before doing the other stuff.
The hostel atmosphere is not a social environment for the most part. If one wants to hang out with a lot of desperately poor people while writing code, then consider graduate school. Hostels are for when you want to pretend to be Canadian so you can hang out with Europeans and bash Americans.
There are essentially only three real ways to develop code. Be employed by someone else, be a student, or do it as a hobby. The plan to roam the world and make money as an itinerant coder is strange and prone to failure. If one just wants to go abroad to get wanderlust out of the system then get a job in another country instead or become a student in another country.
I've been around Europe last april (Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brugues) and had a much harder time than I expected finding WiFi. I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and there's WiFi almost everywhere here... most bars and cafes have it, shopping malls have it, etc. In Europe there were Wi Fi connections everywhere, but very very few of them were public. Some belonged to phone / internet providers and were available for their customers only. McDonald's and Starbucks are the places that most often guarantee connectivity and a socket to plug your laptop... however I once had a problem trying to work from a McD because they blocked all internet ports except 80 (no FTP, no SSH, I couldn't even access my hosting provider's control panel, which is HTTP but runs at a custom port). I promised myself to get some sort of prepaid data plan next time I'm in Europe because otherwise you have to search a lot for internet access.
As a Slashdot discussion grows longer, the probability of an analogy involving cars approaches one.
Who can afford to travel for 2-3 years without some sort of work? Most of us can afford to take a week or two off at most, not years. But if seeing the world were combined with a paying gig, long term could be more feasible.
The OP can.
You need to read what they said more carefully: "2-3 years or more depending on whether my software is successful"
In other words, they intend to work on a software project for themselves, and are not looking for a paying gig; they're just looking for a place to do work - a quiet place.
To answer their question, rather than your assumption: In general, there are no quiet places in the areas of cities which have hostels, and Internet cafes, or cafes in general, don't tend to be quiet. Unless a cafe is very high end - which is more or less incompatible with the need to stay in hostels rather than hotels - it's not going to be quiet in the same way that a hostel doesn't have a quiet "business center" (or decent soundproofing in your private room) like a hotel does.
The best bet is a library or some other quiet public place. A park might work, but if the intent is to do work when the weather is lousy, and explore and have fun other times, then we're back to the library.
Really don't want to contribute to the negativity around an admirable idea. However you need to be aware of the horribly complex visa and tax laws.
The UK has a a growing number of good hackspaces, you would be welcome at Reading http://rlab.org.uk/
Really don't want to contribute to the negativity around an admirable idea. However you need to be aware of the horribly complex visa and tax laws.
The UK has a a growing number of good hackspaces, you would be welcome at Reading http://rlab.org.uk/
Yes, it's a fun hobby. However one doesn't just travel the world while doing their hobby and hope the money magically shows up to pay for it. The original poster makes it seem like he naively assumes he can make a living writing code while moving from hostel to hostel. What's really going to happen is that the tiny amount of money saved up so far will be completely drained in very short order.
I'm doing this myself right now in a way in the Philippines but for only 2 months. What I did is get a cheap town home in a medium sized village outside of a major city. So living in the village gives me the to true culture and life style and when I need something I hope on a Jeepney and travel into town. I've learned to split up my time, I'll work a few hours in the morning when I wake up. Then walk around outside around lunch time and see if any street vendors are cooking anything good. If so will eat lunch with them and chat a little, sometimes been asked to help them with something in return for free lunch or even asked if I would like to join them on a trip with them to a beach or somewhere. Go back home and work a few more hours till 4-5 like a normal working day. After that and the sun starting to go down is when the city comes alive anyways. Will usually go into town then and do any number of things. Last night went to the tallest building here in Cebu and did their sky walk along the edge of the roof of the building. Then walked down Mango street (kind of red light district) just to see all the strip clubs, went into a few shops for clothes and then came home. I'll also sometimes take the weekend or a few days to travel to different area. 2 weeks ago spent 4 days in Davao south of here and went wake boarding with the locals. Thursday driving south to Oslob to swim with whale sharks and a number of other things I'm trying to get planned. The first week or 2 was a little rough, finding the place to stay, finding Internet for laptop (wifi sticks but limited to 800mb/day!!), random brown outs aren't uncommon here either. Of course also have no hot/cold water but have gotten use to that and find it refreshing now with the high heat here anyways. It helps I found a beautiful lady here to keep me company and her cooking is AMAZING! I've never ate so good for so cheap.
Hah another one who comments out of their ass without having done any backpacking. You're the naive idiot, or you're one of those softies who likes to stay in hotels, fly everywhere and take cabs from the airport to the hotel, which makes you an even more naive idiot.
At the bar my friend.. at the bar..
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
It's entirely possible to do both. You don't ALWAYS have to be working or ALWAYS out sightseeing. You can easily set aside time for both and not miss a thing on your itinerary.
Then again, I'm an older traveler, been doing freelance work for close to two decades now. I take my netbook and smartphone wherever I go.
I will say, however, that I wouldn't consider staying in a hostel. It's just not me. I don't consider myself a shy person, but I'm certainly not the life of a party either, and I find I like socializing with the locals much more at a cafe or bar. And I suppose part of socializing with the locals to me means getting out there and actually meeting locals, not other travelers. Plus, you can generally find really cheap short-term furnished apartments where you'll have much greater peace of mind about your stuff and privacy.
I'm not a freelance coder, I'm a freelance translator, and if people see me working on something in a cafe, for example, I'm often approached and asked about my job (it's pretty obvious looking at my laptop screen that I'm working on a translation). That usually leads to some interesting exchanges, often with me getting to practice or outright learn about the local language - something important to me. And if we hit it off, there's usually an invitation somewhere in there to join them for sightseeing, lunch/dinner or some new bar.
The way I see it it, if I were just interested in meeting English speakers, I'd travel the US/Canada (well, there are some great places to see in the UK, Australia, South Africa, etc., too).
I'm from Europe and traveled around a little, and it will vary slightly between countries. In Italy it is not usual to be inside most cafes for hours (but it may be allowed if you ask), in Portugal and Spain some (if not most) cafes will allow you to be there as long as you're consuming anything the ones who don't usually say so somewhere on the walls, but you can always ask.The rule that usually applies almost everywhere is that the owners will be more lenient if they have public wifi inside the cafe. As for Germany and some other northern countries, you'll you'll be able to find quite a few places that have not problem with it. Aside from these you have public libraries that will have somewhere for people to use laptops and some public gardens that have bars and cafes with wifi that will most likely allow you to be there.
means there are NO border checks between most of the countries in the EU - check wikipedia for the full list of countries. But even then, if you are within the EU, the customs controls between EU countries are very light; you're very unlikely to have a problem with customs. Overall the EU is a generally safe place to travel within; once you get beyond its borders it's a lot more iffy...
Not to mention the cost (and hassle) of getting work visas for every single country you visit.
It also takes about two weeks on average to adjust to any setting.
You will need an apartment or office space that offers short-term accommodations. It is the only way you are going to study and/or meet deadlines (client's or your own). Bunking in hostels can be fun for a week or two, but the commotion will leave you struggling to get things done. Don't fight the flow; have fun and meet people, search for somewhere to settle, and then get to work. On your downtime, you can then meet your new comrades for drinks, parties, theater, museums, hiking, sailing, diving, whatever. You will quickly be introduced to new social settings and more people. Repeat and be flexible to changes. First and foremost, be open.
Good luck and have fun.
Ever met a serious programmer who would voluntarily not program for an extended period. It's an addiction, not work.
If you can get credentials for a university that's a member of eduroam, then you can access wifi in any other member institution worldwide.
https://www.eduroam.org
Pretty much every university in Europe seems to have it, and it's growing outside of USA. It's great, I've used it in about 10 different places in the past year. It just works. Perhaps enroll in a cheap course, and just not attend :p
Could look at hanging out in university cafés, empty lecture rooms etc with great quality wifi.
It used to be that there were quiet a few people who traveled around Latin America teaching at the US Consulate-sponsored English as a Second Language institutes. Travel for a time, settle into an interesting city, teach part time and explore the vicinity, and then move on. Don't know if that's still possible.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
Why would you need a work visa? Unless you are going to get a job with a local outfit, the fact that you are working while traveling is basically immaterial. A tourist visa will do just fine.
Dude, this is the 2nd negative post you've made on this thread. You're obviously the type to get a Job and work in an Office. That's fine nothing wrong with that lifestyle, but why comment in an article about travel (something you don't enjoy) without bringing anything constructive? You don't need to be jealous, even if tons of people of all ages enjoy travelling and backpacking nobody will think any less of you for not doing it. Your envious attitude however makes you look like a complete ass.
You're pretty certain about something that you rather obviously have never tried. A lot of people are able to make a living writing games, smartphone utilities, app plugins, and even shareware. A lot of people have taken a year off from the corporate rat race to develop their own program that they can then sell. I've never seen anything carved in stone that says the only place that can possibly happen is when the programmer is chained to a desk, is that a rule somewhere?
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
If you want to code on the go, you must be able to work with out an internet connection. I recomend kiwix, pdf e-books and a mirror of very frequent reference sites.
A couple of years out of date, but: Italy/Sardinia was fantastic for wifi, at least when I was there - could sit down in Florence and fire up laptop - because their broadband does not seem to be metered, half the time I could find a wifi network that was completely unsecured and just jump online - but if not then the amount of free wifi cafe's was good, the 3g connection costs for essentially unlimited off contract data were cheap as well. I found France/Corsica sucked for access - there was some weird law about needing a French credit card to pay to recharge the sim I had - and you don't get far wandering up to people on the street in a strange country saying "Excuse me, can I borrow your credit card for a moment - I'll pay for it, I promise" - which, believe it or not, I did actually try.... England is now pretty good as well - unlimited data pre-paid sims for phones are cheap and you can tether them.
Sitting down at cafe's could get you into trouble price wise depending on where you are - a coffee pretty much anywhere in Italy should cost you about 1 EU - if you don't mind standing at the bar to drink it. Near tourist attractions the act of sitting down can bump the price from 1 to 5, 10 or even more - you are paying for the seat, not the drink - my (now) wife and I ordered a tea and coffee at one place - how much, we asked - 3EU - how much if we sit down at that table - 28EU... So if you are in Venice somewhere and planning on an easy few hours at a nice sunny table with your laptop - check first how much sitting down is going to bump up the price of your coffee or you might get a nasty shock when the bill arrives.
I think you will get sick of hostels and not having your own space in well less than 2 years...
Since you mentioned Finland: Libraries here have free wifi and lots of areas where you can sit with your laptop and even get power for it. The opening hours aren't quite as long but I don't think the person asking wants to work over eight hours a day every day...
Seriously, I'm surprised no one has mentioned libraries as a public space with internet access and no obligation to purchase anything.
Get me a meat pie floater!
I telecommuted for a couple years, mostly from an island in Thailand. It was pretty easy to set up in a restaurant for up to 3 hours at a time, but I would likely have been unwelcome if I was taking up space for more than that, or if I was just ordering a Coke during dinner. Personally, I worked in 3-4 3-hour shifts, early morning at my bungalow, lunch at the restaurant, early evening at either another restaurant or a place with air conditioning, and as needed a 4th shift back at the bungalow. Some social time, but also some concentration time in the mix gave a reasonable balance. Could get in 2 hours of Scuba diving a day as well.
In hostels in Europe I would think the same style of living would be much more difficult. Biggest problem would be concern of theft, but after that you have to find good venues for a large part of the day. Restaurants closing between lunch and dinner makes this hard; you would have to work hard to make more than a two-hour shift. Working in a hostel would never be functional for me; too transitory of a place.
Really it comes down to finding the right spot for yourself. If you can concentrate in a public square you are set...
I've seen work-at-home types, and lived with one. It's tougher than being in the office. Develop the code, easy enough, but then follow up with marketing, sales, cold calls to customers, attending trade shows, etc, and overall much more work than 9-5 job.
Hi, WiFi is fairly ubiquitous across Europe, as are reasonably priced 3g data plans. Data and Laptop security would be my two concerns for you. Encrypt everything and backup all important project files as frequently as bandwidth allows. Use SSH or RDP and work on a remote server altogether if that's viable. Laptops will fall and go missing, it's a fact of life, plan for it in advance. Somebody mentioned a guest account for other users/beggars which is probably a good idea. Libraries are your best for peace and will probably have some internet access available. Don't expect everybody to think you're great because you're American, expect the opposite from some quarters. Expect to need to be able to cobble together some local languages, it's a courtesy if nothing else. Record everything you do and release it with a time delay to a blog or wait until end and write the how and why in to a book. Have a great trip I am rightly jealous.
Just get an Apple computer and a some hipster outfits and get your airline tickets. Everything else will just fall into place.
Are you really asking if hostels have a quite place to work? Okay, let me go down the list of all of them in the world and I'll tell you. While I am at it, I''ll post about every coffee shop you can use and also post all of the people in random countries in need of development work near those places.
You don't get out much do you? This experience will cahnge you, no doubt.
He must not have met many Israeli tourists. Met a bunch of them in Peru, and they made the French look like paragons of equality in comparison.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
I'd imagine there are "hacker" clubs all across the globe. I'd imagine you could do some research for the various places you're looking to stay, and see if there are any local computer groups. You'd gain from the sharing of knowledge, social interaction, and possibly some leads on good internet connections. Heck, you may even find someone willing to share a room with a fellow programmer.
just to add to all of the above: surge protected power strip, and no worries. all the talk about theft is just that. protect yourself and your stuff. been on the road for 13 years now, and no problems but blown apple power adapters (sensitive to voltage surges in places with 240 and poor wiring). but even in someplace like Nepal, you can get parts. happy trails...
I think therefore I can't be ~TTNH
You can not stay in most european hostels for more than two weeks in a row. If you stay for longer, you would be considered by most european governments as some sort of settler. Then, european hostels are loud places: drunken teenagers, groups of loud Asian travellers, Brits looking for a fight... You'd rather be looking for the "pension" type of place. Most are family-run houses, quiet and simple.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
I've managed to organize my freelance writing business so I can (and do) travel as much as I want. I'm not 100% -- I travelled 188 days in 2012 -- but that's by choice. (I like having a home base in small-town Ohio, where the livin' is easy.)
Anyway, to answer your questions from my perspective, with travel in the U.S. and Western Europe (which seems to be your focus):
Most modern Hostelling International hostels in Western Europe have comparatively reliable wifi, 24-hour access, and electrical outlets. (I can't speak for other hostel chains or independents.) I've found cafes to be less reliable -- they have less at stake if the wifi goes down. And libraries don't all offer wifi to non-members.
Usually.
It depends. You can usually spend a couple of hours at each, but it's obnoxious to stay when it's crowded. Some have auto-limited wifi access: Check before sitting down.
Again, it depends. I know of some in Rotterdam (The Netherlands), but that's a very Western city. Now, my comments.
Good luck!
Tom Geller
Unless you're dead. Or destitute.
Besides, if you read carefully you see that the alternative given is to travel, but travel very light (ie so that you have almost nothing to steal or be hassled about.)
The question here was how to travel and work, and the point is that (pleasure) travel and work simply don't go together, unless you are rich. At least not anymore.
Which part of "Walks and hikes, local trips, evenings out, time with friends and local family are all much more rewarding, far more return for the effort and time." will fossilize you?
Look, 90% of the world never travels more than 100 miles from home. It is perfectly possible to live a full, rich life without long-distance travel.
It is only spoiled first-worlders who insist on these wasteful vacations and narcissitic travel. The same ones bringing you global warming courtesy of their runaway consumption of resources.
Live simply. Live sustainably. Or we will all go down together.
Rich motherfu****
I work best when traveling, and have really poor focus at home. People function differently. I suggest programming on a laptop, doing things that rarely require an internet connection.
You want to travel AND you want to grow as a developer?
Why not? Travelling takes time. If you take the train, you can spend quite a bit of time on the train travelling between destinations.
You will have plenty of down time from travelling and site seeing. You can spend some of that time programming.
But I am also guessing the OP wants to spend a month or two or three at one location. You can "travel" every day like that. There are some days you'll just want to relax.. and programming is one way to do that.
I just finished a 6month trip through South East Asia and learnt c++ while traveling. Managed to build a couple of games and continue a couple of other projects in other languages as well.
Hotels generally have wireless and ethernet available free or for a limited time (some charge). Most time limited stuff can be bypassed by changing your MAC address. The wireless will either be unencrypted with a web page sign on, or encrypted but straight out. Hotels also generally have fast internet. In asia, many cafe's and eating places also provide wireless free. And some airports have free wireless as well.
You will want a VM hosted somewhere. They are usually pretty cheap. Install a CVS app and make a respository for your work, VPN, rsync (deltasync is pretty good for windows). That way you can connect securely to the VM and sync any files or projects there. Use rsync over ssh (deltasync does that for windows), and setup projects in your cvs app (i use subversion), which is a must for any dev project imho.
I purchased a cheap laptop (Acer S3), installed Linux (its just what I use) and encrypted the home folder. I also left the windows 7 (probably 8 now for new laptop ... stink) recovery partition so if anyone stole it, they could recover the laptop back to windows which would kill my linux stuff. I'd rather they didn't have my data as I had travel insurance so I could just replace the laptop. My home folder was encrypted in case it made it to someone who knows what they are doing and tried poking around the drive. Just made sure I turned it off when I was not using it. Laptop doesn't need to be powerful or fast, it just needs to work.
Internet cafes exist all over the world, don't trust them but u can use them. Understanding the risk that your actions over the network poses is often the best way to avoid issues. They will sniff your traffic and steal your cookies. Had that happen in india, use different passwords for your accounts on the web, make sure to logoff when you are not using them, and change your passwords when your on an a link you trust more, like encrypted wireless vs unencrypted wireless. I use keepass to store my passwords. Has a password generator. stores as an encrypted (AES256) file on the drive. Can copy and paste passwords out into web forms, so you don't need to remember them.
Power will either be 220-240 or 110. Laptop adapters support both (generally) so just get a universal adapter or two. There will be power cuts, but most power is clean so you don't need to get to carried away with UPS like stuff.
Don't completely trust hotel safes. Some (if not all) have master keys and some times the staff have access to them. Check out the hotels on tripadvisor. Often other travellers will have warned on there if they experanced dodgey stuff. Most places are fine and I didn't have any issues with the 50 odd hotels I visted through 15 odd countries. But I have seen a few warnings about a few hotels.
If you travel with a philsophy "My tech shite is expendable", then it will not matter if its stolen because you would have prepared and used good practice. I never had any issues and my laptop survived.
Good luck, you will most probably have more problems with people talking you out of your money than with stuff being stolen.
Many hostels have a "quiet" reading area (it isn't always quiet) Some have decent wifi. Yes sometimes it is horrible, sometimes it isn't. One option is a 3g card or similar. Pick one up in the country you are in.
Pretty much any country you go to will have restaurants or coffee shops you can hang on it, especially if they are off hours. A bar can be a good place to hang out in during the day.
I like your idea behind hosteling at first. You might want to hop a bit more. But hostels are a GREAT way to meet other tourists (not so great of a way to meet locals)
Looks like you can only spend 90 days every 180 in Europe. So plan accordingly. I love your idea, and don't pay attention to the naysayers.
I'd recommend setting things up so you can do all of your work without using the internet. I did some great working, sitting outside, watching the sunset and enjoying a nice cool evening deep in the alps. You will also probably want to work whenever you are on the train for a long trip, and they don't always have internet.
You want to travel AND you want to grow as a developer? Well if you want to travel and enjoy yourself why take work with you. And if you want to grow y our development skills why not stay home and take classes or something.
I actually did take a year off and went travelling around Asia and Oceania with my GF. I also kept working on my (part time) business. I find that a year (or even months) is simply too long to do nothing structural and/or productive with your life. I also found it very rewarding to do some relaxed hacking on the keyboard for a morning or so and then to go off and do something even more relaxing like going on a little island trip. I could live that way ;)
I usually worked out of Internet cafe's because I didn't have a laptop with me.
that's cool and all, but that's something you do in itself - you do not go traveling, and spend all your time in a dark corner of a hostel coding, what's the point of traveling if you're going to do that?!
The point really seems to be: code or travel, but the two are really mutually exclusive - if you're traveling, then you want to spend your time seeing the sights and meeting people. Do a bit of code in the evenings if you're bored.. but why are you bored if you're out there intending to meet people? If you're bored, move on to the next place. If you go traveling, there should really be no time left for any kind of dedicated coding.
I coded while being on the move for about 5 years. Sometimes I rented a place for a month or two, sometimes I would change location every two days.
- expiment to find out what work environment works best for you. E.g. I work highly productive on trains (most people don't).
- get a very sturdy laptop, mate screen, with a global on site next day warranty, so you don't have to send your laptop in. I have used thinkpads from the x and t line. Sometimes the service still sucks horribly (IBM Dublin, I am talking to you), but better then nothing.
- have a lightweight laptop, you want to be able to carry it with you at all times.
- bring an external keyboard, and a laptop stand (e.g. https://baach.de/Members/jhb/lapchop/howto). Your neck will thank you for that.
- prepare for offline development, git is your friend.
- have a backupdrive in your backpack, and backups on the net.
- carry a multi-plug - fellow travellers will love you for that.
- either plan on tethering from your 3g mobile phone, or have 3g in your laptop. Use a local sim, or one with good roaming (e.g. three network was good at the time)
- Learn being the best guest possible. Bring a gift. Do couchsurfing.
- As others mentioned: coworking spaces can be great. I used the ones from the-hub.net quite a bit.
- Get yourself a voip number that you can redirect to your mobile phone, so that customers can reach you using the same number all the time
- Organise snail-mail. People stil send letters. Either a friend who opens, scans and emails, or one of the professional services.
- Organise money transfers. Not all countries love credit-cards.
Have fun.
If you're in London, I must recommend some local places for you to go.
There's a charming cafe chain called 'Starbucks' - they do pretty good coffee and usually have wifi. Don't be put off by the 'crazy' names for their drink sizes, just bask in that local charm. If you can't find one of those, do stop into one of the family restaurants in the 'McDonalds' chain - they often have wifi, and you can enjoy one of our local delicacies (cheese and meat at the same time, crazy!).
Who is meg and what does she do for $20?
They usually have WiFi. Read WiFi policies. Sometimes it is not allowed to participate in online discussions on some topics.
In French a library is une bibliothèque, in German - eine Bibliothek.
For medium-term hosting, you can look on airbnb, bedycasa, probably some others. If you feel like it you could also try wwoofing, but the work at the farm might not leave you enough time for you own work. There are also other similar sites, not restricted to organic farming: workaway, helpx; some hosts have a clear predefined work schedule which could suit you. You should also consider hospitality exchange websites: bewelcome.org, couchsurfing.com. Some members might host you for weeks if you're lucky, but mostly the interest is just to meet friendly people when you're in a foreign city. In the summer you should also give some thought to buying a cheap tent and staying at camping sites. By the way, some camping sites which officially close in the winter can actually still rent you a bungalow or van for a month or two if you ask.
Good luck, have fun, and don't ruin the world for the next ones :) !
A friend of mine from college worked as a developer for well over a year while driving from Seattle to the bottom of South America. They created a website with lots of good info about what they learned here.
Well I did that -- almost.
I spent about three and a half years on the road around the world, and I'm definitely not wealthy enough to pay for that out of savings so I had to find some work. From my experience, here's what I'd tell you about your plan (with some overlap with what other people said):
- life in youth hostels is tiring. Very little to no privacy, designed to socialize rather than have a quiet moment, and definitely not designed to work! I kept a travel blog through all those years, so every couple of days or so I needed to spend a few hours editing pictures, commenting them and writing the entries, and even that proved to be challenging in some places. In many hostels for example, the only tables you'll get are the kitchen / lunch tables, which will be dirty and people will be buzzing around you all the time. I could go on for quite a while with that, so let's just say that yes, libraries or common rooms in museums are much quieter. So my first advice is to clearly separate the social time from the work time, and have them in different places.
- life in youth hostels is VERY tiring. Partying, drunk people, loud music, no personal space, it's all part of the game. It's not like that everywhere mind you, but depending on where you'll stay quiet places with be the exception rather than the norm. First, pick your hostels carefully. Something that's in the Lonely Planet and Footprint and Frommer's WILL be crowded. Something that's in one of those Japanese guides will be full of Japanese, and something in, say, a French guide but not in the LP will be full of French people. I tried to pick hostels that were a bit outside of the beaten path, sometimes they were just wonderful, and usually less crowded.
- then, you've got the option of bypassing hostels entirely. If you're going to stay for more than a week in a single place, have a look at furnished rooms. You'll lose on the social contact, but you'll be able to have some decent nights, and a proper table on which you'll get some work done. In some places / countries, it will also be much cheaper. Pay extra attention to the cleanliness and general state of the place.
- at regular intervals in your trip you'll need personal space, and badly, make sure you don't ignore it otherwise it will burn you out!
- consider doing some "real jobs" from time to time, if only to keep in touch with the market and/or to do something different for a while and/or to have fun (and it brings money in). Amongst other things, I worked as a tour translator at some point, as I speak various languages and they needed those. If you want to do that, make sure that you research visas and laws and such of the countries you'll go through (just in case), and of course you'll have the option of working under the table pretty much everywhere (easier in some places though).
- backpacks are more convenient that suitcase, but stuff can be stolen more easily. Have as many things as you can in double, with one in your big backpack and one in your small, and get some backpacks that have properly hidden inside pockets. Inside the hostels, make sure that you have a proper locker, and get a couple of very good padlocks. Try to get them with the same combination rather than keys, as keys get lost waaaay too easily.
- other people have already talked about electrical plug adapters. Don't bother carrying a transformer, just make sure that any power source that you're carrying with you is wide voltage (100-260V or as close as you can get). Most are nowadays.
- as far as laptop security is concerned, assume that it will be stolen. Yep, worst case scenario. Configure it properly so that there's absolutely no personal information on it (browser in secure more all the time for example), disable disk cache, encrypt important files, etc. Carry a couple of big USB flash drives with you, to backup files and have access to them when you won't have internet readily available (doing backups helps pass time on planes). When your laptop will be stolen, you'll only lo
He was white, as am I. Actually, we were in a mostly English speaking bar near the local train station. "Rednecks" if you are ever in Nice. The guy was sitting by the bar and we began speaking in French, until he switched to English and threw me for a loop, since I my French isn't good enough to discern an English accent.
If I remember right it started with him telling me how he just gave some people directions to this other bar but, that they were going to hate the place when they get there because its in an Arab neighbourhood and the white French are some of the most racist people you will ever meet.
Completely aside, I was there during a train strike, and had no way back to my hotel aside from a cab ride down the seacoast. It was nice walking into a bar and asking when they are open until and having the bartender just kind of shrug and throw up a tentative 4 fingers. Here they are yelling rude things and herding people to the door like cattle within moments of closing time.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
There are plenty of coders who do a bit of freelancing here and there, often for regular clients. As to the hole on his resume, why don't odd jobs/freelance gigs count? Not everyone is a PHB/corporate drone.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Right. Because it's totally impossible to hand those tasks off to somebody else.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
You can get a ticket to travel around Europe by train for a month. It's cheaper if you're 25 or younger. It would provide a chair and table while you travel from country to country, though WiFi and power sockets on the trains will probably be patchy. You can get free WiFi on Irish trains. The last time I used British trains they charged for WiFi. I thought about doing it but never got around to it. I also thought about freelancing from Berlin for a few months, accommodation is meant to be fairly cheap there.
http://www.interrail.eu/interrail-passes/interrail-global-pass
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Just curious.
How much are you budgeting for this travel stint?
Do you plan to earn along the way?
Do you have a website where intersted people can track your adventures?
Sounds like fun and my best wishes to your success.
Hostels are usually packed with young noisy party people. However its ok to work from a cafe, there are hackerspace and even better - coworking places where you have everything you need including quiet place. I dont know any complete list of such places, however please dont limit your travel only to West Europe. If you happen to visit Bratislava, Slovakia, make sure you visit coworking creative spaces (there are lot of startups) such as http://www.thespot.sk/ or http://www.connect-network.com/ or hackerspace https://www.progressbar.sk/en/ . These are also great places to meet cool like minded people.
Enjoy your travels,
Martina
You're discussing traveling, I think the OP is really discussing immersion, which is really only obtainable with extended stays / living and working with the populace of the place you're in. However, a hostel is pretty much the opposite of that, unless you're wanting solely to experience the hostel lifestyle, which is most likely unlike where ever you are.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Show me a developer that makes that kind of dosh consistently that they can afford support staff.
More than likely, unless the poster is an idea man, he will be working contract jobs to make those apps (which means even less money for his work). Only if he is a *successful* idea man AND driven could he possibly make this lifestyle work, and he's also have to be a social darling (can't sell shit without contacts/connections).
That is the reality of going into business on your own. It's even more complicated if you're doing this in another country (language barriers, distance, work permits, etc)!
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
The holes count if you can give a legitimate story why there's no listed employer. At the least list something there with names of some clients. I've been in a situation where there was a blank spot on my resume, and the interviewers all seemed to aim straight for that.
Good for you! Don't let others pass judgement. There is no specific answer but you will make it work and balance on your own. I started my company from internet cafe's in South America back in the 1990's. They were all the rage and it worked very well. I would be cautious with your laptop in the hostels (as anywhere). You can work on ProjectLibre open source software as you travel :) Have a great trip
I completely agree with the above, but would add an option which for me works even better than a cheap Android phone.
Get a portable WiFi HotSpot device, like the ZTE MF60.
I have one of those. I travel a lot and everywhere I come I simply buy a prepaid SIM, pop it inside and I have wireless on all my devices. Usually it's way cheaper than cybercaffe/hotel/other on-the-go payable options. And the hotspot has a built-in battery that's good for at least 4 hours of unconnected browsing. Of course you can attach it via USB to your PC and it will power it as well.
There's also a 4G version available now, but it's more expensive and for normal use not really that much better.
galaxy s2 (and probably most decent android phones) has a portable wifi hotspot built in or you can provide internet access to a laptop through usb, so no extra luggage required
I am an independent software developer and having been working while traveling off and on for the last 6 years or so. A little surprised at all the negative comments. For me I could easily afford financially to travel without working, but keeping my clients happy means traveling with work, or not traveling much at all. For me this is an obvious choice, and kicking in a few hours of coding/emailing/skyping after hiking/biking/skiing/doing whatever at a remote location is a lot better than being stuck at home all the time (not that Boulder Colorado is so bad). So I take multiple trips every year, mostly Europe, Latin America, and US, working less hours than at home, but still working while traveling. I usually travel with 2 laptops for longer trips, in case one craps out in someplace where replacement is difficult, helps with automated testing anyway to have 2 systems. Work is continuously backed up with cloud version control that my whole team uses, plus google drive and various portable hard drives. Since I usually travel with my wife, cheap hotels are often a better deal than 2 people/nights in a hostel, although we have stayed at plenty of hostels too. A hotel room is usually a reasonable work environment, plus I use cafes/libraries. Hostel common rooms are not usually good work environments for me, but Feb/March in Costa Rica I found shady hostel courtyard hammocks a way more pleasant work environment than the cube I used to live in back in the day. Travel has a lot of boring intervals (planes, buses, trains, and the waits in between, etc.). I can bill those periods out at my contracting rate and the time passes easily too. At home I have lots more computers and sometimes flaky internet access makes it hard to remotely access those desktops, plus in less developed countries like Nicaragua and Costa Rica both internet and cell phone connections can get sketchy, and when I tell clients the signal is bad because you are on a Pacific Beach they might get worried about my commitment, but since my clients and co-workers are all remote anyway it usually does not make much difference. Between buying local cell phones and skype travel communications are orders of magnitude better than they used to be. So my attitude is "Why wouldn't you travel with your work, if you can?" Trips that include work can extend for months, much more relaxed than the jet-lagged 2 weeks a year people I see, who spend lots of money rushing around trying to see everything before they have to be back in their cube, and they get back to work more tired than they left. To each their own, but the original poster's plan is quite reasonable, and the details will work themselves out with experience.
If it were me, I would start by looking at what is cool and then volunteering to work with cool people in cool places. Depending on your skill you can spend weeks to months in a place and do cool stuff and learn new things. Maybe find the fascinating open source project and see if the senior developers would mentor you if you got a place in the area for a month or three. I've done things like this with ecologists in the past and have learned a lot in the process...
Agreed, but then you don't have your mobile number anymore. I find it a bother to constantly have a different number. And if you're going to have an extra phone just for wifi hotspot capabilities you already have extra luggage...
Good lucky keeping our stuff from being stolen in Hostels. I was even worried that a need gal I liked and dated would tell some of her male friends about my expensive laptop (worth a year's income or even lots more to some of them), and I'd get mugged for it coming home.
When I traveled, I rented 'apartments'. Often the owners just moved out to a relative in order to make money from their house.
Other than a few exceptions, like France, Internet can be painfully slow other places that you will have available. It was dialup, the last time I was there (a while ago).
Having done something very similar to this myself I highly recommend it and think you will have the best time of your entire life. I would like to give you a few suggestions, things that I wish I had known when I started.
Depending on your nationality and age, look into working holiday visas you can get them until you are 30-35 in most places. If you are American you can get them in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, the first two of which are sporting much stronger economies than the rest of the world right now (I lived in Australia for a year, if you're smart and looking for work you have it, basic unskilled labor runs the gamut from 18-30 per hour). If you are of another nationality you have many more options: the U.S. has not really jumped on the bandwagon yet and allowed working holidays for foreigners (which I find to be really sad).
On hostels, if you are over the age of 19, DO NOT stay at any hostel which has a bar attached. Not only will you never get any work done, your laptop WILL get stolen and you will start to get the impression that all travelers are rich kids living on mom and dad's dime. The hostels that are best are the ones that look the most boring, clean and comfortable. They will almost never be as boring and you will find more people your age, educated, usually working, and more often than not, very open minded and fun. On the subject of working spaces I cannot see a hostel as a good place to get work done, there will be constant distraction and the internet is often way overpriced (especially in Oz), I would recommend a library as that is where I got work done when I needed to and yes, hackerspaces are all over the world and welcome foreigners, a fact that I took advantage of while overseas.
Anyway, good luck on your trip, from one traveler to another.
You also need to consider the cost of living. If you're going somewhere cheap your money will go further.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Why would I need a work permit to sit in a beach bar in Bali writing code for an American company, or for my own business based in Ireland that sells via Apps-U-Like?
And Americans speak English, nearly.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Lucky I can't, then!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Does not necessarily follow. I'm (relatively) loaded, and I enjoy the hostelling and camping lifestyle ; I also enjoy hitch-hiking. The wife has a fit of the screaming ab-dabs (or whatever the Russian equivalent is) at the idea of travelling by thumb, and has taken some persuading over the idea of hostelling (so I only take her to places which I know are high-quality). That's her personality freak (hypochondria ; Mum was a doctor), not finances.
That said ; taking several years off does imply a fair wad of cash. It's only sensible to be frugal.
Fairly plausible. More likely, there may be good and/ or relatively cheap internet access, but it'll take weeks or months to find out and organise. When I was working in Tanzania last year I could tell from the advertising that there were a lot of competing 3G mobile suppliers, but I couldn't read the details through only having a smattering of spoken Swahili. For a 1-2 month hitch, it wasn't worth the effort to acquire more. (The second trip persuaded me to get a "teach yourself" ... which I'll make more use of before the third trip. If there is one.)
I cope with this by taking a multi-way fused power strip from home, with a moderate (~2m) extension lead on it, and a couple of different pattern plugs which I can put onto the end of the strip (UK/BS1363 ; Schuko with a French hole (also works for the Eastern Bloc) ; NEMA (for American-built workplaces) ; and I've got a weird Canadian "T-bar" plug too, but that lives in the toolbox except when I'm going to Canada). 5 minutes work with the screwdriver (you do keep a screwdriver in your hold baggage, don't you?) and I've got 4 (or 6, depending on which power strip I take on which trip) sockets that fit my equipment and have either 110 or 250V AC going to them. Most modern equipment is happy at either voltage (I check before I buy!). This is much, much easier and vastly cheaper than carrying a half-dozen of the wrong type of individual plug-adaptors, which then foul each other in multi-socket outlets. I am a lazy fucker, and have wasted too much time fucking with such things in the past to care to do it again ; problem solved.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Actually, anyone should be able to relax and work anywhere, anytime, with or without travel. Additionally, adding lots & lots of delicious secs makes it better.
depends what you use your phone for when you're travelling i suppose
you could always take your normal sim with you and change sims when you want to check your normal voicemail (very small luggage, but small is also easier to lose so that's a negative).or get a galaxy core which has dual sim support, so you could keep your normal sim and just pop in your prepaid for data.
on the other hand, if your normal sim works in whatever country you're travelling in such that you would want it available, you could just use it for data as well
/.ers are, for the most part, introverts, and not seasoned travelers. You see all the (negative) advice here about how hard it's going to be and all the potential problems. Now go post the very same same question on forums like Couch Surfing, Ball of Dirt or Lonely Planet and watch the (positive) ideas to solve your concerns flow like a waterfall from people who travel *a lot*.
Less *is* more.
The thing is, I always want to be available on my own mobile number. I don't use voicemail (have it turned off). Amongst other things, because it's expensive to check it, when roaming. Also, I simply don't like it. When I travel I use my phone pretty much in the same way like I use it when I don't travel.
Dual-SIM phone is not a bad idea. But then you're fairly limited with your choice of phones. I haven't seen any top-end devices with dual-SIM support yet.
My SIM works in pretty much every country in the world, that I've been to, so far (and I've been to over 30 just in the last two years). And while my plan allows for almost free incoming calls worldwide, I've yet to see a plan from ANY mobile provider that wouldn't be (at the very least) 10 times as expensive for roaming data as a locally purchased SIM.
And if we get back to the whole "luggage" thing, I have to say that the mobile hotspot that I have is somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 the size of my mobile phone. So far it hasn't been an inconvenience to me in any way.