How to keep your files backed up on the road
by Jeremy on April 30, 2012
When working from the road, one of the big dangers is losing your data when you are hundreds or thousands of miles away from home. Laptops get stolen, hard drives crash, and computers get infected with viruses. Given the amount of client work I have on my laptop, I can’t risk losing my files. That’s why I have a backup system in place to ensures that I never lose my files, no matter what happens.
This is how we do it: Read the rest of this entry »
6 Features I want in a Coworking Space
by Jeremy on April 23, 2012
Working from home can be great, but after a while I tend to go a little (read: a lot) stir crazy. I’m not alone here, it’s a pretty common refrain from remote workers. One of the great solutions to this problem are Coworking spaces. I have worked in a number of these spaces in a few different cities and countries – sometimes for a few days, other times for a few months. The quality of these places varies considerably, offering a huge range of experiences. So…after doing this for a while now and seeing what there is to offer, here is my wishlist for the owners and managers of these spaces: Read the rest of this entry »
Quick Tip – How to create mini citywide WiFi network
by Jeremy on November 1, 2011
This tip has saved my ass more than once. If you are traveling with a smartphone, get the wifi password everywhere you go and connect your smartphone to the network, even if you aren’t using it at that moment. Later, when you run of out credit on your phone or don’t want to use expensive international data roaming, you have a little network of hotspots all over town. Even if the place is closed when you return, you can usually huddle near the wall and get some signal.
How to use an iPhone while Traveling Abroad
by Jeremy on October 21, 2011
Spending a significant amount of time abroad with the need to remain connected can be difficult. More to the point, it can be really expensive. The iPhone is an amazing device, so it makes sense to want to continue to use it while abroad, especially if it is part of your workflow. But using an American plan in a foreign country can get costly, quickly. AT&T, the predominant US carrier of the iPhone, charges up to $20 per MB of data usage while abroad (yeah, you read that right). By default, iPhones (and most other phones) are locked, meaning the software only allows you to use them with your own carrier.
Here are a few ways you can deal with using your iPhone abroad:
1. Jailbreak and Unlock
Taking the Plunge – Apartment Deposits, Overseas Money Transfer, and Blind Faith
by Jeremy on October 14, 2011
For the next leg of my travels, I am headed to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica at the end of the month. Given the nature of what I do for a living, I need to be able to move into a fairly turnkey solution. In short, a furnished apartment with fast enough internet to handle Skype calls. It is necessary to move into a place right away in order to avoid disruption in my workflow, which requires finding an apartment before departing. And in order to secure an apartment, the owners will likely want a deposit.
This means blindly sending money to someone I’ve never met in another country.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
by Jeremy on October 5, 2011
It’s hard for me to imagine another person that I have never met who has had such a profound impact on my life.
Thank You Steve.
How to Use Craigslist to find remote work
by Jeremy on October 2, 2011
There is an often overlooked Craigslist feature that makes looking for remote work easy. Here is how to do it.
1. Head to the Craigslist site of the city that will more likely have the type of work you are looking for. For example, if you are looking for web design, check out San Francisco, Boston, New York, Austin, etc. Because it is remote work, any city is fair game.
Required Reading – Vagabonding
by Jeremy on October 1, 2011
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel
This travel classic by Rolf Potts is a great overview of long term travel. He gets into not only the mechanics of it (how to get started), but some of the general philosophy of travel as well. This book acted as great inspiration for me, and I hope it will for you.
How to get a Free 8 GB of Dropbox Space using AdWords Credit
by Jeremy on September 28, 2011
Dropbox is an amazing tool for digital nomads. Not only does it allow you to both easily share important files with clients, family, and friends, but it also is a great way to create an automatic remote backup of your critical files.
One day not long ago, the mad marketing mind of Robby Choate and I were lamenting the fact that we were running out of space in our free Dropbox accounts. We needed more space, but paying for it? It just seemed crazy. So, instead of paying for it (that IS crazy), we tried out a scheme to get us some more space for free. It worked so amazingly well, we thought we’d pass it on to you. Enjoy.
The Premise:
The Dropbox referral link coupled with Free Google AdWords Credit. Dropbox assigns you a referral link, which you can send to your friends. If they click that link and sign up for Dropbox, you both get a free 250 MB of space as a thank you. You will create a Google Ad for Dropbox using your referral link.
This Is How We Do It:
1. Find Your Dropbox affiliate link
Log into your Dropbox Account, and on the home screen, click the link in the bottom left of the page that says “Refer Friends to Dropbox”
