Today I was up at the lake with my iPad, reading a book in the sun and listening to the sound of the little lake surf. Truthfully, it felt a lot like being in the Caribbean, sipping a beer by a pool in Punta Cana, and it made me miss traveling. While I was enjoying myself reading, my iPad decided to cut my experience short by shutting itself off due to overheating. So, I decided to head back to town and do a bit of thinking.
At this point in time, I’m about 50/50 with the possibility of doing some traveling this fall. I can think of a lot of reasons why I should go, but really not many reasons why I should stay. And it’s not like I’m talking about going for the rest of my life, I’m simply thinking about escaping the rain for a few months and going somewhere that’s a bit warmer.
I put a note in my calendar for August 1st. That would be the day I would have to give notice on my apartment if I were to leave in late September. Obviously I would want to be back for Christmas with the family, so I’d essentially have October, November and December to go experience something new.
I fired off a quick email to The Network Hub in Vancouver. They apparently have a mail service where I could simply forward my email there and they would scan them and send them to me via email. That way I would still be able to get all my mail (aka bills) and make sure I pay them on time. Prior to that though, I’d probably try to convert as many bills as possible into email variants, since I’m sure many companies do that nowadays.
In terms of location, I really have no idea. I still want to do my normal working hours, so leaving this side of the world isn’t something I want to do at this point. But definitely the Caribbean is on the short list, as is Hawaii. I have no problem living like a student again, or sharing an apartment with some surfers or what not. My only real constraint is that I have access to dependable Wi-Fi.
It’s the kind of adventure I’ve talked about for years now, but never really had the balls to go on. So, I’m going to start seriously considering what would be involved and what I’d need to do to pull it off. I’m sort of the type of person that likes having a backup plan for my backup plans, so I’d want to think everything through and make sure I have enough of a reserve in the bank such that I could simply come back home if I hit any snags. But right now, that’s the direction I’m leaning in for the fall.
I’m currently doing something like this right now. We sold all our stuff and put the remaining stuff in storage and just left. Sold my laptop to Bob K at VancouverisAwesome and @kk bought my iMac all of which happened through twitter. It’s been about 4 months since we’ve been on the road and we’re really enjoying it. I’m in Boracay, Philippines now and saw your tweet about this… I was unable to find an Earth Class Mail type service in Canada when I left Vancouver. Wifi has been everywhere we’ve been, it’s just always slower than what I’m used to and more flaky but it’s been usable. Anyway I’d be happy to help with any questions you have about this type of thing.
I don’t think you really need to worry about bills too much. Pretty much everyone has e-bills of some form now and the rest will do automated visa billing. I just make sure to check my visa bill carefully every month so there’s no over billing. I have the rest of the mail just going to my parents place which I pick up whenever I’m back (95% of it is junk mail, and the rest is redundant bills that I get electronically).
Internet is always going to be a big problem no matter where you are. It just seems that there’s no such thing as “dependable” internet if you’re not the one who’s paying the bills. The people you’re renting from will rarely have an understanding of what’s needed and what they need to do to fix the problem if the internet goes down (a bigger problem if they don’t speak english 🙂 ).
But it’s not too big a problem if you’re prepared for it. If you’re in one country for a while your best bet will be to get 3G as backup. Also a good idea to find nearby coffee shops with wifi for when you have a problem with your own. I recall some very stressful days walking around Buenos Aires trying to find wifi I could use for a pending meeting when the internet in my apartment went down :).
@Scott – yah, that’s what I figured. I have a few questions:
1) How hard is it to find a 3G mobile stick in most countries?
2) What’s been your favourite place in the Caribbean to visit?
3) You going anywhere this fall and need a roommate? 🙂
Thanks!
1. Usually not possible. Many countries you still need to get a long plan to get a 3G data stick. I bought an unlocked one in Hong Kong for like $60 and I’ve used it quite a bit in South Africa now. But I also usually just use tethering on my phone.
2. I’ve never been to the Caribbean. But I’ve heard a lot of people rave about Costa Rica and I’d be really keen on going there myself. Apparently great surfing and scuba and also a relatively low cost of living. (I have a friend who’s traveling through a few islands there right now and has a blog post about each place she’s been: http://canadianwanderlust.blogspot.com/)
3. Coincidentally I’ll be back in Vancouver this September through February. Been missing the rain ;-).
I’ve been to Costa Rica, it’s pretty awesome. Craigslist rental postings are pretty expensive though, so I’m not sure if I could find something cheaper locally. But it was an amazing trip when I was down there.
You could also consider many parts of the US. It’s cheap to live in many of the warm states an you’d have reliable Internet. Mexico also has some pretty nice spots?