Have internet, will travel. That’s the idea, anyway, behind enjoying a location independent lifestyle. With that, we tend to put a lot of faith in the technology tht makes it all possible.
Now, I’m a geek at heart and i love the fact that with laptop and an internet connection I can set up shop on a beach in Thailand or the jungles of Ecuador. However, I’ll be the first to admit that this same technology puts this lifestyle at risk.
Push-Button Wonders
See, we’re obviously comfortable with technology and the push-button wonders it gives us. But that’s also part of the problem. It becomes easy to get too comfortable technology.
In the States high-speed internet access is omni-present, electronices stores are located next door to your favorite eatery, and “free wifi” is the marketing buzz phrase for every coffee shop.
Obviously, it’s not expected to be like this in all parts of the world. With that knowledge, though, comes a greater reliance on the technology you do have available. It’s got to work everytime. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
My Essential Tech Gear
For my trip to Thailand I thought I had all bases covered. With safety nets, even.
- Netbook computer
- 200 GB backup drive
- 2 USB drives loaded with Portable Apps, passwords, and bookmarks
- Essential docs hosted on Google Docs
- Software backed-up on a private FTP server
Yup, all looked good. With the Netbook I’d be able to work from beach or bungalow, backup that work on my drive, transfer the work to USB drive for use at an internet cafe, if the Netbook got wonky I could do a system reset and grab my software from my FTP, reinstall and be good to go. I even purchased a shiny new phone that would act as an internet tether for my Netbook in both Thailand and Laos.
The Two Weak Links
The two main components to my “location indepedent workspace” were, of course, a computer and internet.
On week two the harddrive to the Netbook corrupted and crashed. No system reset was going to help me out of that jam. As shitty as this was I was still okay. Work was backed up and I had my USB drives with Portable Apps to turn any public PC into my work station.
The rub was that I couldn’t sit beside a jungle waterfall and work. More of my time would have to be spent at PC cafes. This, obviously, cramps the whole “location independent” thing a bit.
What I was quick to discover, though, was that two out of 5 times the internet at any given cafe was down. Or would go down as soon as I clicked “send” on an email.
The other thing that became painfully obvious was that in the States we have a very different definition for “high speed”. For the most part, high-speed connections seemed a grade above dial-up.
Tech And Location Independence
As you can see, the ability to be location independent greatly relies on the technoogy on hand. And oftentimes, that technology we put so much faith into can impede your ability to truly be a digital nomad.
On the plus side, you do have the freedome and versatility to pick up and hop to the next country over and see what their connection is like 
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I just wanted to say you have the best email responder ever. And I hope you weren't eaten by tigers, because where else would I get such great marketing advice?
HA! The Thai technology is the bane of my existence. I've heard good things about Bali, or even that the cities in Malaysia are faster… But, For NOW… I have to be content being a Digital SLOWmad. It is working, just a bit slower than I thought. Much like life…
LOL gotta have some cheekiness or else things get to boring and sterile. business… guerrilla-style
as we've talked about, it's been rough staying on top of my business as much as i'd like. i'm not complaining too much about it right now because, well, let's face it… every hour away from the computer is an hour to be had at the beach or jungle