Cost of Living in Miami, FL. Prices Updated Dec 2020.

"Знания недостаточно, необходимо применение. Желания недостаточно, необходимо действие." Брюс Ли

Ask a question



Hi,

Considering a trip to Salt Lake City area, with a side trip to Moab, UT. Thinking of renting a Class B RV (Sprinter van size) to test out Van Life.

Looking for any suggestions/input on:

  1. Organizations that might be interested in a presentation on “Your website is more than a Brochure”. (Informative, not a sales pitch)
  2. Outdoor activities within 4h (see below)
  3. Best places to meet people interested in Tech and the outdoor activities.

Looking to do some easy to moderate:

  1. Mountain biking
  2. Cross country Skiing
  3. Rock Climbing

Wondering what months I could do each. I’d love to do a late September trip if it’s not too late.

-clay

Moab in September should be pretty perfect weather…any sooner and its way too hot IMO. SLC has been having milder winters lately so you’ll be in for perfect weather and great fall colors in September.

How about Moab in October?

(I’m planning on Denver starting Oct 2 or so, for 2 to 4 weeks)



Hi Norway folks—I’m planning a February trip to Tromsø hoping to see the northern lights, but honestly I can’t find anything about how likely I am to see them. Are they out every night and it’s just a matter of cloud cover, or are they like once a week?

Any info would help me decide whether to pull the trigger.

You can find some information on the trend of activity, but that’s about it. There’s no real rhyme or reason. It may happen every day for 2 weeks or go 2 weeks without seeing it. Generally, though, you’re in a downward cycle, so they will likely be less intense and few of them overall.

Your best bet it to rent a car and cross over into the far north Finnish border in the Kilpisjärvi area. Because of its location, the climate is clear and dry. You won’t have to contend with the same issues as far north Norway. If you have access to cabins in the northern fjords, that would be great as well.

Let me know if you want a connection – I know a number of people with cabins about 3 hours north of Tromso and I know they sometimes rent them out.

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast

TMobile advises their international plan requires me to reside in the US for 3 months of each year, however I may be there only 1 month (or less). Anyone using their plan continuously? Rigid requirement?

Have had Tmobile for 2.5 years, with about 60 total days in the US that entire time, and a couple of months ago in Ireland I got an explicit warning text from them that I was not spending enough time in US. I am in canada and mexico for the rest of the year and no issues there as I am on the north american plan anyways, but they may be cracking down…

Anecdotally, it seems the requirement is having it register on a US tower every few months or so. If you travel back to the US regularly, it shouldn’t be a problem.

I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for many years, a nomad for a few of those, and haven’t had any issues, including the year I was out of the U.S. for 11 out of 12 months. They never mentioned any requirement to me. However, some folks have said suggested this might be because I’ve had service with them for so long.

I’m looking to switch to Google Fi anyway due to lower cost, and the fact that I don’t make all that many calls any more. Plus I’ve had some problems with voicemail and receiving calls.

Have been on the T-mobile plan for over three years now. Usually spend about 10 months out of the year outside of the US (returning back for month stints twice/year), and have not had any issues.

We used T-Mobile for about a year outside of the US before they gave us notice and cut us off. We switched over to Google Fi and it’s working out well. It was kind of a hassle when they canceled us (gave us 30 days notice) because Google Fi has to be activated inside the US (at least it did a year ago) and I wanted to port our numbers. I was able to get a short extension from T-Mobile.

I’ve heard others say they haven’t had an issue with staying outside of the US, but that was not the case for us.

We also sometimes use local SIM cards because it’s often dramatically less expensive if we’re going to use lots of data. Once you get used to it the local SIM card thing is really easy in most places.



Small towns with:

  1. beautiful nature (mountains or sea)
  2. progressive (clean energy, digital, social justice, etc)
  3. laid back attitude
  4. affordable
  5. good startup community


    It seems to me that if 2 and 5 then it’s hard to have 1 and 3. e.g. Berlin for startups is too big, not great nature, a bit too cold. Am I asking too much?

Aosta is pretty close to Boulder. Less prestigious university and slightly light on on the start-up scene but growing.

If you where considering Berlin, you might want to look into Leipzig. It’s not too far from Berlin (about 1-2 hours south) and has a similar vibe, but is smaller and more affordable. Climate will be roughly the same of course. But lots of lakes around, very bike friendly and very good kayaking in and around the city. No mountains though…

I definitely recommend Brighton, it’s got a great alternative scene, lots of decent beer and burger joints, and very closer to the south downs.

The weather probably matches Portland closely, it’s pretty miserable in the winter but the summer is glorious.

I wouldn’t say the tech scene is thriving but better than average.

The vibe in Brighton seems definitely more laid back than in London. I liked it when I visited for a couple of days. Although I gotta say, the outdoors in England are quite repetitive and the sea is not very enjoyable. It’s more personal than anything else, after 5 years of UK I’d rather go somewhere else!

From what I’ve read so far, it seems that most laid back and progressive locations with some startup community can be found in the north side of Europe, which is a shame as the south is so beautiful and much warmer. I have a strong connection with the mediterranean sea and I feel happy just by smelling the vegetations and seeing the warm colours. It would be jackpot if I could find a Boulder near the mediterranean sea, or even within 100-200k range.

Anything in Southern Europe that matches my criteria above? Even if 4 out of 5

Agree with @gianluca_trombetta – would be nice to find somewhere hotter! Currently living in Brighton and although we have an ace kite surf and water sport scene, it’s not quite the med.

I’ve been looking at Tarifa and Lisbon as next possible locations…

Grenoble ?

  • Big university campus
  • Scientific Hub
  • Wonderful nature (Alps and prealps called Vercors and Chartreuse)
  • Startup ? I’m not sure but start it
  • Weather is not bad

Geneva ? (ok not affordable )


Maybe Lyon, Nice (expensive), Montpellier ?…

Cambridge in the UK is the closest town to Boulder that I’ve seen thus far, but it fails rather miserably when it comes to outdoor adventure opportunities. Other than that, all boxes checked–good startups, progressive + smart community built around a university, laid back, and about as affordable as Boulder or Portland (which is to say not very unless you live in a nearby village. Again, just like Boulder or Portland). It even has a large metropolis 40m away.

I can second Freiburg. It’s one of my favorite places. I used to live there for three years and this summer returned to do some nomading. Can even suggest some cafés to work from. In Summer you should absolutely hang out at Jos Fritz Café. They have a quiet shady beergarden with free wifi, and nobody cares if you don’t order something for hours.

But I’d have to add that it’s not a great place for IT/nomading if you care to meet other people with similar interests. Apart from the small IT faculty, there is barely any IT industry to talk of. People generally are a little anti-computer and all about being outdoorsy, political and sustainable. Don’t expect them to be super excited when you tell them what you do Maybe some people will even scowl.

Nonetheless, the vibes are awesome there and I’m sure they will broaden your horizon when you get to know them. Moving there was one of my best decisions so far.

Freiburg Im Breisgau Germany. http://www.freiburg.de

  1. The Black forest is beautiful and natural area with lakes nearby as well. Well located near France and Switzerland. Warmest region in Germany I think.
  2. Large green energy research and implementation from the universities there. Great public transportation and connections via bus, rail, light rail and airports.
  3. Vaubahn community might be Portlandesque. They even have a few food trucks. University towns are more diverse and alive, IMO.
  4. Germany isn’t inexpensive though, but might work if you are a frugal person on a budget.
  5. Vibrant university town, might be good for startups and talent or even flat sharing.

I’d love to be in this area, it’s in the so called blue banana zone. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Banana

How about 4 out of 5? Good enough? If 2 (progressive) is not crucially important, I suggest checking out Lisbon.

Yeah I think Lisbon ranks high despite not being very progressive. I think it’s still a little too big and messy for me, I really wanted something smaller.

@twaldorf is from Boulder and has visited few places in Europe, maybe he can give some mindful answer.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, hits your first three (fails miserably on the affordable requirement, but is great if you have the money).

Ljubljana, Slovenia might be a good bet. I don’t know about the startup culture, but there’s at least one cool co-working space and it’s definitely affordable, close to nature (30 minutes by train and you’re in some of the prettiest landscapes in Europe).

I think Tallinn in Estonia may fit this description.

I’ve never been there, but if all the tales are true, Estonia seems like a great place to be a digital nomad and/or tech entrepreneur.

I’m actually thinking of moving a holding company there.

Can anyone can verify the lifestyle at Estonia?

Check out Bonn. Siebengebirge just around the corner is beautiful, Bonn is progressive with a good mix of nationalities (DPDHL, Telekom and NGOs means many Expats), smaller and less hectic than Berlin, more affordable than Munich and better weather than Hamburg.


Drawbacks include rising cost of living and the next startup community (small but growing) being in Cologne (30min by train).



I am traveling to the Canton fair where I will be for 16 days from April 18th to May 4th. There will be a couple 3 day gaps between working for mini excursions. I am contemplating going to Macau or HK during these times.

I am up for suggestions on similar areas i.e. close in proximity, simple travel arrangements, maybe a body of water as well.

Work may supercede these travel arrangements though if the journey isn’t too demanding it may be worth while.

Thanks!

Ryne

@travelmore thanks! The hostel looks fun and a great spot. Im going to book a room there right now.

Also do you have any recommendations for nightlife? Or what areas to stay away from?

Thanks!

Yeah HK is good. Like a 2 hr train ride from Guangzhou. If you book flights early enough, you could go to Bangkok, Shanghai, Beijing, etc for pretty cheap. For accommodation, if you aren’t staying at a hotel, Lazy Gaga Hostel is amazing. Stayed there for 1 month last Oct for the fair.

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomad List members liked going here

✅ Many Nomad List members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

❌ Very expensive

❌ Humid now

❌ Very difficult to make friends



"Высший человек отличается от низшего своим бесстрашием и готовностью бросить вызов несчастью. Фридрих Ницше"

Related posts