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Look, I'm at a total crossroads. Five years grinding in corporate tech burnt me right out, and getting through a failed engagement on top of that just finished me off. I've given everything I have to these companies, and what do I get to show for it? Laid off twice in the past five years by faceless corporations that clearly don't give a single fuck about you. It's gotten to the point where this job is genuinely giving me depression.

To make a clean break of it, I sold everything I owned and paid off all my bills. I currently have zero debt and zero liabilities left in the US.

On top of that, my parents are retiring and moving away from the US. They're getting up in age, and I know that in a few years when I hit my 40s, things are going to get heavy and I'll likely need to step up and take care of them. The family dynamics are shifting, and I realized I’m not getting another window in my life to pull this off. If I don't take a shot now, I never will.

So I’m hitting pause for a six-month sabbatical and life reset. I've got about 25 grand saved up and I'm giving myself a hard six-month window to try and start a business. Realistically, I know I can stretch that runway to 12 months if I need to, which takes a bit of the edge off.

I’ve spent the last few years flying back and forth between the US and Asia, building up a solid network out there—especially around Bangkok. Realistically, between the contacts I’ve got in that scene and knowing how things work on the ground over there, I can pull in at least $1,500 a month pretty easily to keep the lights on. Back home in the US, I don't really have many connections to lean on anyway, which makes taking the show on the road feel a lot more practical.

I originally tried to sell this to myself as some kind of cinematic, permanent life restart. But looking in the mirror, it’s really just a sabbatical with a parachute. I know I can always hop back into the US workforce and stay on the matrix and in the grind if I have to.

Giving myself this generous runway is more than enough time to reset my mind, learn something new, and actually give building a business a legitimate shot. It almost feels like a fail-proof move.

For the guys who have walked away from the grind to build something: how do you deal with the psychological weight of the clock ticking down? With $25k, how are you actually pacing that money without blowing it on stupid overhead or vanity metrics early on? And does having that corporate safety net secretly kill your hunger when things get brutal, or is it just smart risk management?

Hit me with the hard truths.

Hi. I wanna go be a digital nomad with a remote US tech job for a little while. I love mexico city. What are some other places I should try out? Specific neighborhoods with lots of Americans in there 20s? How and where did you meet the most friends while doing this?

Currently doing a startup and thinkin of going to asia in january. Where would you guys suggest? im m22 and would love a place with some nice beach area, cheap living, good dn community, sports, good weather. also like me a good party from time to time. been thinking of Da Nang, Koh Phangan, Pattaya. maybe 3 months in vietnam, 1-2 months in thailand. Give me some tips, prices for the places and other relevant stuff

Whay do yall think?

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

Looking for some options on the sea. Ideally clear blue sunny skies, and I'm ok with chilly water. I like to swim in extremely clean seas so anything next to a big city is probably not great but lmk

Any personal recommendations from experience? I'm not looking for chatgpt answers, just personal recommendations.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hi all. I will be digitally nomading in these places early 2027 and would love to know if there are any filmmaker communities (digital or physical) that organize meetups, host film screenings, industry mixers etc? Bonus points if they are leaning towards expats too. Thanks so much!

I’m asking because of your German brokerage accounts that you continued to keep after emigrating. Did you simply register your foreign phone number? Was it straightforward?

I’m based in HCMC and almost all my work is with US clients, so my day is fully upside down. Here’s what my setup looks like:

• Sleep: 1pm to 8pm. Blackout curtains are non negotiable. HCMC at 2pm is loud and very bright.
• Calls: 10pm to 5am my time, which covers most of the US business day. East coast mornings are the easy part. West coast afternoons hit right before dawn.
• Where I work: home, mostly. Cafes are great until your first call at 11pm.
• What I’d do differently: less coffee. When your “morning” starts at 8pm, it’s very easy to have a 2am espresso and then wonder why sleeping at 1pm doesn’t work.

The upside: daytime errands, empty gyms and lunch when everyone else is at work.

Anyone else running full US hours from Asia: how do you keep it sustainable long term without turning into a vampire?

Never have enjoyed working for other people, but I think that's most ppl. Currently in Mexico to save $ (spending about ~1k a month) but don't wanna spend all the 50k. I think I would need to return to USA if it got bellow 25k~ maybe so I have some room to get a job in office.

My skills are mostly software dev + design. Some motion graphics but nothing advanced.

Have NOT been working for almost ~ 4 years, living off savings. Tried a few things, nothing worked so far. Have always wanted to build my own thing. Did do some freelance years ago but nothing in a while.

I have considered going to Asia so I could extend my runway but I enjoy LaTam more than SEA. Maybe will head to Peru at one point. My dream is to build games but that's so difficult to do but I think I wanna keep trying my own stuff for at least another 6-12 months. So I would be at ~30k total net-worth if I do that and it doesn't work (gonna go with ~1.5k burn rate per month). I am keeping up with AI, it's incredible but also can basically do most of my old job(s).

I'm okay with risk. But curious if others have been or are in similar predicaments?

I’ve been working from a new city lately and bouncing between different coworking spaces. Some desks only have one outlet nearby, and my laptop pretty much needs it all day. If my iPhone 17 runs low, I either have to unplug the laptop or leave my phone charging somewhere else.

I’ve tried a regular magnetic power bank. It was convenient, but the charging felt pretty slow. A wired power bank seems more reliable, but then I have to carry another cable every day.

What do you use at coworking spaces? Is magnetic charging enough, or do you usually end up plugging in?

Been on Mercor for a bit over a month now, and I’ve been with Micro1 and Ethos for about two months. Got a few payouts from all three so far. Just wanted to share how they compare from my experience:

- Minimum hours (that 10-15/week thing): Mercor is pretty strict about it. Micro1 is more chill and will let it slide now and then. Ethos is the most relaxed of the three.

- Task availability: With Mercor and Micro1 there’s usually enough work to stay busy. Ethos is more hit-or-miss — some weeks are fine, others not so much.

- Pay: Ethos pays the best by a decent amount, but the work isn’t as steady. Mercor and Micro1 pay less per hour, but at least the tasks keep coming more consistently.

- How organized everything is: Mercor feels the most put-together, then Micro1, then Ethos.

- Support when you get stuck: Micro1 has been the most helpful for me, followed by Mercor. Ethos is the weakest here.

Who they’re looking for: Ethos mainly wants people with real professional experience in their field, not really beginner-friendly. Mercor and Micro1 are easier to get into if you’re more of a generalist.

If anyone wants to sign up, my referral links are below: Good luck!

Mercor
Micro1
Ethos

I just started with Terac. I therefore cant really include it yet, but I will keep you updated!

I’m a developer and solo founder and I’m going to Thailand (specifically Phuket) in November from the 7th to 14th and I wanted to connect with other digital nomads as Thailand has a reputation for being a host to a lot of them, I’m a novice at this whole digital nomads thing and would appreciate a dm and if we cool, maybe we carry on the conversation in person in phuket, coding or chilling, cheers.

Citi said clients can make a "travel notice" for ±365 days at a time.

Three other banks all told me..."we gonna freeze and you gotta call".

Hello everyone,

I’m a bit confused and would appreciate your help deciding, especially since I haven’t been to Asia before.

I’m planning to spend the period from December 11 to February 26 in Asia. My initial plan was to spend one month in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, one month in Da Nang, Vietnam, and two weeks in Phuket, Thailand.

My total budget, including everything, is around €5,000.

However, since I work remotely, finding accommodation with a reliable internet connection in Sharm El Sheikh has been challenging. I’m now considering other options, but I’m not sure what to choose.

Da Nang’s weather during that period doesn’t seem ideal based on what I’ve read online, and I’d also prefer to avoid crowded cities.

I’m looking for somewhere affordable, with good weather, reliable internet for remote work, and a comfortable place to stay for a month or longer.

I’d really appreciate your recommendations and advice on how to plan this trip. Where would you go in my situation?

Thank you!

If you could go anywhere in the world for one month to do a little bit of vacationing, but mostly just work from home from a nice location, where would you go?

Here are considerations/possible constraints. I'm based on the East Coast in the U.S. I don't want to be too far off those hours. I want to be somewhere warm, and I ideally want to get my diver certification. Apart from that, no real constraints. Happy to get a Starlink if that makes working easier in less reliable places. Prefer not to be in a very resorty town, ideally, I have my own house/space, and I don't want it to be a crazy hassle to get there, but I don't mind a little bit of legwork.

Hey everyone, so i would like to come back to DN in South America, but the travel always kind of made me worried that it would conflict with my job. South america routes can be long, face delays and cancellations, and it’s also just the general un-ease about if the travel will go smoothly.

I know i can also do flights, but sometimes they just dont have the flight route you’d need to get to the next place, or the flight schedule is really sparse, etc.

This time around, i’m interested in colombia, bolivia (samaipata/sierra de la cruz/ruta del Che), brazil, panama. This is a very huge and expansive list, so i am definitely going to cut it down. It’s really just figuring out the travel in between locations that’s getting me.

In hindsight, i also felt overwhelmed this way when i visited Uyuni and the Atacama desert area. Yes, it was a LOT of transfers and coordination, so i did hire a local guide for this part of my trip. And, in hindsight, i am really happy i hired a local guide to help me pass through all of those different van and bus transfers and border crossings, and i could just check my work emails on my phone and answer phone calls etc.

Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I'm planning to spend 2-3 weeks in Bali while working remotely as an IT freelancer for a company based outside Indonesia.

I've been looking into the visa situation, and I understand the difference between the B1 tourist visa and the E33G remote worker visa. From what I've read, working remotely on a B1 visa isn't permitted, while the E33G is specifically designed for remote workers.

The problem is that the E33G seems to take quite a while to process, and I'd ideally like to leave as soon as possible. I'm also self-employed rather than a traditional employee, and from what I understand, the E33G requires an employment contract, which might make me ineligible anyway.

My situation is pretty straightforward:

• I'd only be staying for 2–3 weeks.
• I work in IT, entirely remotely, for clients outside Indonesia.
• I'd be working from my accommodation, not coworking spaces or cafés.
• I wouldn't be doing any business with Indonesian companies or clients.
• No content creation
• Nothing that would drain money from the local economy.

I've heard that Indonesia has dedicated immigration enforcement teams that actively look for foreigners working on the wrong visas.

So I'm curious how things actually work in practice in 2026.

Are immigration authorities actively checking remote workers, including those working privately from their accommodation? Have there been any recent cases of tourists getting into trouble simply for working remotely on their laptops?

And has anyone successfully applied for an E33G as a freelancer without a traditional employment contract?

I'm not looking to work around the rules. I'm just trying to understand the actual situation and whether there's a realistic, legally compliant option for such a short stay.

Would appreciate any recent firsthand experiences!

The best trip memories are rarely the postcard-perfect ones. They are the rainy walk that led to the best bakery in town, the wrong train that became a funny story, and the restaurant your whole group still talks about months later. Learning how to save travel memories means capturing the feeling around those moments, not just filling your camera roll.

A little intention goes a long way. Instead of trying to document everything, create an easy rhythm that lets you stay present while collecting the details that will make your trip feel real when you look back.

Looking for 3 months stay somewhere with budget of $1500 a month including rent in a proper modern building renting a studio.

Thailand seems great but tourist visa is up to 30 days. The 6 months digital nomad needs $15k, i got most money invested into stocks and that doesn't counts.

Vietnam is up 3 months tourist visa which makes it easier.

See attached link for recap.

Anyway, I applied for certificado migratorio and being a foreigner, they sent me to the office to pick as opposed to sending me a PDF that I could download.

When at immigration, I got the document but decided to ask about article 46, resolution 5477 of 2022. More so, what does "Validity upto 2 years" mean. He looked i to the system and interpreted it as is...it means after 2 years, you apply for a new visa. We debated over this and I told him how Cancillera frustrates me each time.

But yes folks, it is blantly what it says....renew after it expires.

https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/s/1AytucFMEC

I've lived abroad a bunch in my 20s. Did tons of the typical backpacker stuff. I saved at home then went off for months. It was more cheap living most of the time.

I eventually got work online and would live abroad. Mostly in places like Malaysia and Bali cause it was affordable and I weren't earning much online.

Now I'm 34 years old and got my own business set up. I'm making enough to live better. Most people around me in my hometown are settling, having kids, super in careers and not really doing anything other than this. Which is fine. My previous relationship in my hometown I just felt so trapped and glad it's over. I don't want to live in my hometown anyway it's small and nothing much going on.

I'm considering a slow mad trip around Chiang Mai, Bali, Japan, maybe somewhere in Vietnam too. Few months at a time for a year kind of thing. I don't really drink or go out partying these days. Not against it when a good occasion occurs though. Happy to go out at night and not drink still. I like good sleep. Training in the morning MMA/swimming/running, outdoors in nature, reading, meditating, blah blah blah...

I'd like to be in places where I'm not the ultimate unc though haha. Definitely won't be in any big hostel dorms with a bunch of 20 year olds.

Even writing this out I think it's silly cause I already saw a bunch of people decades older than me when I was that young kid living good but I didn't get to know them or connect so not sure of their lifestyles. I guess you can find community anywhere if you try and my post is silly overthinking but I'm this far so I'll post anyway.

Any 34+ year olds done something similar?

I've worked remotely around the world in countries low / non-censored internet for the past year. My setup is the GLinet Beryl AX with StarVPN residential IP using their Amnezia Wireguard protocol. Now I want to try working in China. Does anyone have experience with this? I work a remote US job that thinks I've been in the US the whole time, so it's absolutely essential that this setup works in China, otherwise I won't try it.

I am a young person from Latvia and I really want to move for around a month to work remotely between Oct - Feb. I prefer warm places where I can meet new people, hang out in cafes, I like electronic music, art. I don't earn a lot so very expensive places are off the table :)

I was thinking about Palermo, Spain, maybe Albania...

Thank you for recommendations!