Personally, as I'm about to embark on a similar life, I find these articles (as in, the articles on this blog, as well as this specific one) extremely interesting.
It's good to see numbers that prove that it's possible to leave more cheaply in an idyllic location while still working on my start-up, blog, etc.
I wonder why more start-up founders don't take that option. What ties you to a specific place? For me, until recently, it was a relationship..
Relationships are a big one. Not just dating, but being isolated from family and friends can be hard (I lived in Beijing for 4 months, and enjoyed it, but it does get lonely).
Also, not every one is ready to live somewhere foreign. Especially if they don't speak the language.
I guess I feel that less since I jumped country (from Switzerland to the UK) once already, so I feel less attached to where I am (though I do have many friends around here).
With respect to language, it seems to me there are so many ways to learn common languages these days, that this should not really be an excuse. Anyone can go on Bit-Torrent and download some language courses, and speak a language passably well in a few months... (well, unless it's a ridiculously hard language like Chinese...) Btw, for that, I recommend a combination of the Pimsleur courses, + a book about grammar, followed by reading a fiction book in the target language, before actually moving there.
It's very easy to speak a language passably, it's much more difficult to speak it well enough to have friends and in-depth conversations. It can get alienating when you feel like you're not in on the joke everyone else is.
I moved abroad and have the hardest time explaining to people (principally family and friends back home) that I feel really, really attached to the city I landed in, and the little slice of life I carved out here. I miss being closer to my family, but sort of perversely I feel like I fit in a lot better here than I ever did in, e.g., the city I went to college in.
Dating someone who speaks the language (before, as well as while you are there) is also very, very helpful. (I didn't do this in China, but my friends who did definitely had a leg up).
If you do this, beware that some languages are enough different for male and female speakers that you may end up learning lots of gender-confusing idioms. I've read that English-speaking men in Japan sometimes end up speaking fairly fluent "Japanese girlfriend" rather than the Japanese they'd be speaking if they'd mimicked other males.
Very simply: some people like where they live enough that being a 'traveller' isn't very appealing.
I make a distinction between "travelling" and "being a traveller." The former means you like to go places on vacation for a short time. The latter is actually living in a location for a while long enough to assimilate the culture, live like the natives, etc. and requires much more time.
Besides, who would feed my chickens while I was away :-)
Besides, who would feed my chickens while I was away :-)
The thing that dissuades me the most from a nomadic lifestyle is the inability to engage in long-term hobbies like planting/tending fruit trees long enough to enjoy the results.
It's good to see numbers that prove that it's possible to leave more cheaply in an idyllic location while still working on my start-up, blog, etc.
I wonder why more start-up founders don't take that option. What ties you to a specific place? For me, until recently, it was a relationship..