
Show HN: NomadHouse – A network of houses around the world for nomads - atudoute
https://nomadhouse.io
======
sixQuarks
I'm interested in co-working/co-living spaces, but I'm a bit older (late 30s),
I don't want to do the "hostel" thing, and I want to be around others who are
successfully running real remote businesses with decent income.

My problem with the whole nomad thing is that most "nomads" are just bloggers
starting out. It seems most have just saved enough money to live off of
(frugally), and are calling themselves digital nomads. Not much different than
regular travellers.

Even the founders of Nomad House look like they've never done anything before
- if you read their profiles, they are "builders of businesses" and "growth
hackers", whatever that means.

That being said, this might be fun if you're a 20-something, and a bit
different than staying at a hostel, but I wouldn't expect to get much more out
of it.

~~~
atudoute
Thanks for the feedback. I'm a freelancer since 4 year and I'm trying to
change the world to be a better place, but I understand you that I never done
anything before.

~~~
practicalpants
Well, I hope your aims are sincere... I am getting a little annoyed with these
digital nomad 'startups' that just want to make money off of other digital
nomads, like they're any other market segment to fit a product to. "The
Digital Nomad Space." Sucks where it's heading. Like the recent poster doing a
similar thing as you but more pricey with a REIT investment group potentially
backing him (he's also promoting you, so I don't know, maybe you, him, the
nomad list guy are all working together... not that it really matters)... or
the "nomad year" venture where you throw down a ton of money to have
everything planned out for you (kind of the opposite of being digital nomad
IMO), or that IMO unjustifiable digital nomad 'insider' forum where you have
to pay simply to chat with other digital nomads. I'm not a cheap person, I
just want to keep SV profiteering out of digital nomad land. There are some
main culprits, individuals, that come to mind (nobody I'm going to name)...
but oh well, what can you really expect?

On the bright side, there's a huge opportunity for someone to sweep through
all of this and just offer free concierge services for digital nomads. I met
someone working on this, I imagine there are others. That will ultimately take
the day when someone gets that formula right. Something more of the spirit of
couch surfing.

I'm ranting. Anyways, if you can manage cheap rates at really cool pads, in a
way that's better than just splitting an AirBnB with other nomads, then that
is something pretty cool.

~~~
ashark
From the outside, the blogging culture for "digital nomads" already seems like
hopeless, sell-out garbage. Frequent low-content posts that have the same
promising-but-never-delivering feel as "long copy" marketing, blog-format
where something more like a privately-editable Wiki or simple traditional
informational site (do people still do those?) would be far more helpful (but,
crucially, may have worse SEO to drive traffic to their "funnel"! [vomit]),

"Sign up for our newsletter!" pop-ups.

"Learn how I make money to travel using credit card affiliate links (spoiler
alert: it's by writing articles about how I make money from credit card
affiliate links)".

"Buy my awful book! Here's a crappy CG render of what it might look like if I
had even bothered to on-demand print it!"

It's like all those "growth hacking" marketing sites that started popping up a
few years ago. Or Mister Money Mustache, for that matter ("how I live free and
cheap and don't even have a job! Spoiler alert: it's by already being kind of
rich so I avoid most of the expenses _and risk_ that poor people have, and in
fact I work three part time jobs, one of which is this website, so that was
simply a lie. Click my affiliate links!") I haven't read Timothy Ferriss, but
I see him referenced all the time in relation to these sorts of things. Is he
responsible for this explosion of cynical, manipulative, garbage websites that
now infest the Internet, or is someone else to blame? The whole thing feels
like Amway.

To sum up: speaking as someone on the outside of all this, I'm not sure
throwing a few start-ups in to the mix could make the digital nomads' public
online presence much scummier[1].

[1] NOT saying even a substantial fraction of people living this life are
scummy, mind you!

[EDIT] Tim Ferris -> Timothy Ferriss

------
d13
I live on the India/Nepal/Thailand "Digital Hippie" circuit and can confirm
the following living costs if you're doing it on your on your own without
booking anything else in advance:

Thailand (islands like Koh Tao or Koh Phangan): $700/month. Kathmandu/Pokhara:
$300-$400/month. Big cities in India (Pune, Bangalore, Calcutta): $1000/month,
small towns in India (Goa, Dharmsala, Naggar, Leh): $500/month. These costs
include apartment, food internet. All my luggage is carry-on and check-in
baggage under 20kg.

I've been doing this for 6 years with occasional runs to Canada or South
Africa to visit friends and family. I'm usually in Nepal for the trekking
season, India for the Indian classical music season, and Thailand between
those gaps.

~~~
archagon
Man, those are some nice prices. I'm currently traveling in Europe (mostly
Western) and my monthly spendings hover around $2100/month on average. (Would
be a lot less if I didn't go out to eat so much!) How is life on those
islands? Is there a social scene?

~~~
notahacker
There's as much or little social scene as you want, including (to an extent) a
choice of whether to hang out with tourist-friendly locals, medium-term
Western freelancers/divers/hippies and travellers/holidaymakersof all levels
of maturity

Those beach bars and boat trips can drive your monthly spend up quite a bit,
but eating out certainly won't blow your budget.

------
archagon
I think this might make me sound like a jerk on this site, but my main concern
with NomadHouse (and the previous TheCaravanserai) is that they sound very
"startuppy". Is the goal to get VC funding and spin them off into multi-
million dollar businesses? I fear this might infuse them with a particular
kind of Silicon Valley culture that many of us would in fact like to get away
from.

There's also my fear that this strategy will make it more about the business,
not the people. At least with Airbnb, the hosts still retain all the control;
Airbnb only functions as a distant rental agency and insurance provider. With
the startup model, will these communities be able to make their own decisions?

~~~
atudoute
Thanks for the feedback. I'm not into investors and I would like to keep this
startup on the track to get more and more houses around the world.

~~~
archagon
That's good to hear! I'm very much looking forward to what you'll have in
stock for London and Berlin.

~~~
jonbai
Exciting stuff indeed :)

I also wrote a while back about what me & a bunch of other people in London
have in mind..

[https://medium.com/nomad-house/nomad-house-london-
project-58...](https://medium.com/nomad-house/nomad-house-london-
project-5826d0916e39)

------
joshcrowder
I'm loving the whole Nomad theme going around at the moment. Its made me
really think about where I want to be and I have a feeling its going to be
anywhere and everywhere.

What I haven't seen much of is horror stories on working remotely --
specifically from people traveling around the world. Does anyone have any
links?

~~~
JacobAldridge
I'd also be interested in any horror stories - I suspect they mostly don't get
written.

What I rarely see (which is part of my vision) is nomads successfully
travelling the world with: 1) A Significant other / spouse 2) Children, and/or
3) Assets (eg, a house in their home country they rent out; a business that's
worth something because it's more than them) [1]

Most seem to be single people in their 20s / early 30s, who talk of 'living on
the road forever'. I fear (but again, this is linked to what I am creating for
myself) many wake up one day and realise they have built nothing in their
lives - true, the experiences are priceless and may be worth it, but I don't
want to discover at 40 that I have no close friends, no family, that even if I
knocked someone up tomorrow I'd still be in my 60s when the kids moved out,
and while I've lived off $20,000pa for the last 15 years I don't intend to
retire into decrepitude in Thailand but have zero net worth put aside to
support me.

I guess I hope that comedown for those who experience it doesn't take away
from the awesome life they've led for many years. But when they talk of doing
it forever, maybe they're not appreciating the moment as much as they could.
Maybe I'm just getting old.

[1] Loving these guys
[http://www.escapingexpectations.com/](http://www.escapingexpectations.com/)
because they actually tick all 3 boxes. Would love to hear of more.

~~~
anonnomad
throw-away account, because i'm a lurker.

There is some selection bias, the people that are busy doing stuff, typically
don't write blogs "How to live with 500$ in chiang mai".

to give you some perspective: i've been doing the "nomad thing" for 5 years,
although I'm not actively travelling around much, and mostly based in an asian
city. All my belongings fits into one suitcase and 2 duffel bags - 80% is
clothes. I am earning above 100$/hour coding, typically as remote contractor
with the occasional onsite visit, not simple CRUD-stuff, but interesting and
challenging work. I usually do full-time contracting with one client
exclusively for about 1 year. Two years ago I spent 3 months exclusively on
open source work (that itself opened up very attractive work opportunities
itself). My living cost is also pretty much the same as back in Europe, but I
live a life in luxury here.

Most DNs eventually "settle" down, and stay in one place for a longer period
(think months), and everyone seems to have their default city/place, where
they often return to because of friends, they like the vibe etc.

What I found was the close friends you have at late 20ies, you won't lose
them, when you go back and most probably you will go back at some point.

Re 1: There's quite a few digital nomad couples, or people who find their
significant other. 2) Children not so. Re 3: These all exist, but it's not
(yet) the majority.

Re: Horror Stories: I have not yet heard of something worthy the title of a
horror story, and i am somewhat involved in the digital nomad community.

~~~
nnd
How do you find your contracting gigs? Is it from your offline networks or did
you find them online?

~~~
anonnomad
First one, was a classical onsite job, which i transitioned into a remote
thing. Second big one was offline network, there too it started with onsite
for a few months, now quite remote. It helped here being nomadic, as employees
were already spread out geographically. I had smaller ones in between that i
found online, but they were not fulfilling.

------
westi
Looks like a less polished version of
[http://www.thecaravanserai.co/](http://www.thecaravanserai.co/)?

Which was previously on HN -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9022311](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9022311)

~~~
JacobAldridge
Thanks for the links. They're actually linking to NomadHouse as "something
more immediate and affordable" in their section on comparative costs.

------
hackerboos
At the very least you should inform potential customers that they require the
correct paperwork in order to work in the countries specified.

~~~
atudoute
Thanks, I'll add it now. It's a legal gray area for sure and it will take some
time for the law to catch up on the reality that many more of us will start
traveling and working from different places.

~~~
benologist
Customs and immigrations everywhere provide official processes people can
follow for living and working in a country. Enforcing this stuff happens on a
country-by-country basis and detecting it can be slow and difficult or not
even close to a priority but that does not make it a gray area. Here in Costa
Rica they've made many steps in the last few years to address "perpetual
tourism", it used to be easy to live here on renewable tourist visas and many
people took advantage of that.

[http://blog.therealcostarica.com/2009/08/13/the-new-costa-
ri...](http://blog.therealcostarica.com/2009/08/13/the-new-costa-rica-
immigration-law/)

~~~
hackerboos
As in your example, I don't see the situation as the law playing 'catch-up'.
At least not in the sense that Nomads wish - which is legality.

It's more likely that Thailand will continue to tighten the tourist visa rules
in order to prevent people staying more than a few months.

People should remember that Thailand is protectionist, xenophobic and cares
very little of it's foreign population.

------
doctorfoo
In case you are still watching this and want more feedback, let me quote
someone else here:

> it's like airbnb but with less privacy?

A lot of these "nomad" ventures have a huge focus on networking,
socialising... I'd like to see something catering for introverts as well.
Something that ticks all the boxes - self contained room + kitchen, Wifi.
Desk, with chair.

Kind of like Airbnb apartments but with a more razor focus, a place with
quality control where I know I can get work done. The Airbnb of (small, low
budget!) serviced apartments.

General "serviced apartment" facilities might fit this, however they all
appear to focus on the premium end - large spacious apartments fit for well
salaried business travellers, not freelance tech guys just scraping by.

Heck, all I want is a sound proofed box with Wifi, bed, and a tiny Kitchen.
Somewhere I can work in absolute peace, self cater if I wish, but also venture
out from now and then.

I understand this is not what you are aiming for, but if you ever need any
other ideas... ;)

------
nnd
I'm getting sick of this whole nomad thing. Brand it for "nomads" and you have
another way to sell stuff to travellers. Even more ridiculous is the idea of
building an online community for "digital nomads". What could you possibly
have in common? The fact that you work online while travelling to a foreign
country?

~~~
O____________O
_The fact that you work online while travelling to a foreign country?_

That alone represents a huge swath of possibilities. Which countries have no
problem with foreign workers on tourist visas? Where are co-working locations?
Who's a good, affordable tax accountant who can deal with the intricacies of
money earned while outside the country? Where are the best locations for
connectivity vs. price?

You'll find heavily trafficked websites for all sorts of foreign working and
expat situations (e.g. retirees in Thailand, teachers in Japan), so surely the
"nomadic" tech workers would have a lot to talk about.

~~~
nnd
_Which countries have no problem with foreign workers on tourist visas_

Working on a tourist visa is illegal in most countries I've been to. If you
talking about working online on a business which is not tied to the country
you are staying in, then you can do that on a tourist visa for a short period
of time, but eventually if you are staying longer you are no longer a tourist
and need to somehow justify your presence in the country. As much as those
laws don't make any sense to people working online, that's the current legal
framework in most of places.

 _Where are co-working locations?_

I don't see a point of working in a coworking space. Wouldn't you rather
explore nice cafes in the area? The only benefit of a coworking space for me
is networking, and this is huge, this is what distinguishes a "I'd rather go
to a coffeeshop" coworking spaces from "I belong to this community" type of
coworking places. Those are extremely difficult to find, and in my experience
are impossible in high-traffic nomadic locations, due to their nature
(travellers just pass by).

 _Where are the best locations for connectivity vs. price?_

You look at the spreadsheet at nomadlist, and some places look like paradise -
live by the beach, very cheap, etc. But in my experience everything comes with
pros and cons. For example, SEA is cheaper than Mediterranean countries, but
the climate is nowhere near as good. USA is better when it comes to
networking, but it's also more expensive. Everything comes with a cost, and
there is no magic bullet.

~~~
O____________O
_Working on a tourist visa is illegal in most countries I 've been to._

It was just discussed the other day that Thailand now allows remote work on a
tourist visa. You've provided a pretty good example of why such a site would
have value in disseminating information.

 _I don 't see a point of working in a coworking space._

Uh. Okay? How is that relevant to the discussion in any way? And what makes
you think that cafes would somehow be excluded from consideration? You
wouldn't find value in knowing what connectivity a cafe offers before
traveling there?

Everything in your final paragraph just further supports the need for sites
dedicated to providing information on these topics.

------
primitivesuave
Nice idea, this seems like something that effectively parcels out an exotic
AirBNB that has good internet for a monthly rate, which is something more
easily accomplished by the traveling tech worker by simply setting search
filters on AirBNB. If there was a way to immediately sign up for a month I see
there being the possibility of someone impulse buying a space.

~~~
archagon
Here's the thing about Airbnb, though. If you compare their typical monthly
rates to a more accurate cost-of-living calculator like numbeo, you'll find
that the rentals tend to be 1.5x-2.0x more expensive than finding a flatshare
the "normal" way. Unfortunately, doing the latter is annoying and somewhat
difficult. And you never know what you're going to get. Is the internet going
to be stable? Is the heating going to work? Are the hosts going to be
amicable?

If the other NomadHouses are going to be as affordable and beautiful as the
Bali one ($1000/month would be reasonable), it'll be a fantastic deal. You get
your own room; a wonderful house; a community of like-minded people to spend
time with; and all with a simple click of a button. Perfect for people like
me.

------
kephra
Moin atudute,

you have !NOTHING! to show, at least not to me from the viewpoint of a search
engine author. You show an empty page without JavaScript.

 _ok_ ... lets be a nice human and allow scripts. Allowing nomadhouse.io:
still blank page. Google maps sounds interesting, when looking at the 3rd
party scripting domains. But still a blank page. Mixpanel, Segment, Addthis,
... _hey_ ... how many evil 3rd party tracking scripts does this site run? And
still a blank page.

Finally: Stripe _w-hat_ ... I need to enable scripting of a payment provider
to view the page?

Where are the google maps, I hoped to see with maps.bigbrotherapis? Or are
they also only include to add an other tracking?

Clicking on Berlin, I get a popup asking for registering a user. So you
basically have a big expensive, complicated landing page, with a lot of
tracking, but search engine blocking, that does nothing but asking for my mail
address.

 _sorry_ ... no bounty. I'm harsh now, but your site fails completely, even if
the service might be interesting. You might get a good peak now with postings
on HN, but ensure your site is accessible without JS for search engines. You
have only a few days time, that good links might result in a good SEO. Change
your site asap.

~~~
archagon
Frankly, the people who want to live in a place like this will figure out how
to work the site. Maybe it's better that way.

------
ashleyp
Hmm, this takes the point/fun out of being a nomad for me. I'm going to
another country to work, effectively rather than going to experience the
country and work on the side. Good idea though, sure there will be lots of
people who will love it.

------
X-combinator
Similar idea on HN a few days ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9022311](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9022311)

------
mikkom
What does that price next to Bali (Ubud) mean? I have no idea and it is not
explained anywhere. Is it a monthly fee? Weekly fee? What?

~~~
atudoute
Thanks for the feedback, there is a tooltip when you hover the price, but I
will make it more visible. This is for one month.

------
phred700
What average house size do you expect for these? Or will it vary by the
popularity of the city?

~~~
atudoute
I hope we will have houses around 5-10 places.

------
nickthemagicman
Is it air bnb with less privacy?

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amazon_not
The site is real buggy and slow on my iPad Air. Also crashes the browser a
lot.

~~~
atudoute
I'm sorry for that, I will add responsive for iPad Air.

------
dates
grammar error you could fix: "We are scouring to globe"

~~~
atudoute
I will fix that.

------
pskittle
the webpage takes incredibly long to load and open.

~~~
atudoute
Sorry for this problem, I will take care of that.

------
spidermanto
Good Article

~~~
atudoute
Thank you ;)

------
zapperen
Good stuff atu!

~~~
atudoute
Thank you

