Planning to become a Digital Nomad

[tsilb]

I'm married with no kids (present or future). My wife has some but they don't live with us, so she goes and visits them from time to time. Work has prevented me from going with her to a lot of the places she wants to go, but not for long.  I'm asking her to live in exactly the opposite way from what she's always wanted, so she said she wants a year to adjust before we make the big move. That was probably 4-5 months ago, so we're well on the way.  I'm using the time to make sure the van is as prepared as it can be, while trying to leave some wiggle room as I know everything goes out the window when real life kicks in.

I work a full-time job. Some weeks it's 40 hours, some weeks it's 80. But I work exclusively from home (I had to go into the office twice this year), so I have the freedom to do my job from anywhere with power and an Internet connection. I've told my bosses and coworkers a 30,000-foot view of my plans, and they're very on board with me taking the job on the road.

I'm a software developer. Specifically, lately, I focus on back-end automation, integration with other systems, and databases. Using the Microsoft stack, the company I work for builds B2B solutions for a specific industry.

I want to go into the backcountry, but with my need to be connected, that doesn't seem like it will be much of an option for me most of the time. So far it looks like I'll be restricted to sites within a few miles of a highway. I also want to explore all the National Parks, and there are many of them out East, where USFS and BLM land are more sparse.  You good folks are helping me ensure I can stay self-contained (except Internet of course), but I have to concede I'll probably end up stuck at campgrounds more often than I'd prefer.

So with a bunch of research on CRVL,  Technomadia, and the vast breadth of Google and YouTube, I picked a van, bought it, and started the camper conversion project. I have a blog, Twitter, and YouTube channel where I'm chronicling some of the project, but I'm not linking them for now as I don't want to seem spammy.  Just look for "Drifting Rover".

So far I've got:

1. The walls, doors, and ceiling insulated and paneled, ranging from R6 to R15 depending on van shape. Mostly R12. I couldn't find good mounting points for a front wall / partition, so we'll probably just drape a thermal blanket from a tension rod.
2. The bed constructed and installed (the kind with alternating beams that slides in and out)
3. Rain diverters so I can crack the windows and run propane if I need to (fan will come later)
4. Cargo racks on the roof, and an awning mounted to some angle iron
5. Currently building a kitchen / galley (which name is more accurate here?).
6. Office is next, then electrical / solar. Thinking 500W / 400-600 Ah.

I also have a bunch of equipment sitting in my garage, waiting to be put somewhere. A buddy heater, cell and wifi boosters, Yagi antennae, emergency jump starter, portable tow trucks, etc.  A lot of this will probably continue to live in Sterilite buckets under the bed.  I pack the things I think will be useful when I go camping.

I've been camping a lot lately. I've tried to do proper boondocking, but every time, it seems I chicken out a mile or two down the road. It gets washboarded, or the mud is too sloshy, or I get briefly stuck in sand. Fortunately, every time this has happened, I've found something else nearby, free or cheap, and almost as scenic. 

I was very happy to find Colorado Parks and Wildlife has free campgrounds with no amenities. There was no signal where I stayed, and it was crowded due to the holiday weekend, but it was perfect other than that.  I could tolerate the crowd for a weekend. There was a diesel pusher next to me running their generator; with all the insulation, I could barely hear it once I closed up the van.

I want to see every National Park before I die. I'm planning to use them as destinations, but waypoints along the way will be decided by other NPS units, State/County Parks, and just plain beautiful scenery. I roughly expect to be at a given campsite for about a week or two at a time before moving on. I'll probably need to move camp a few times just to explore Yellowstone!

Bob has done a great job in explaining Man's connection to Nature, and what happens to us when we go without it. Now I'm even starting to explore something they call "pantheism". Without going into detail here, it's a small religion that seems very compatible with backcountry van life.

Thank you Bob, for all your hard work; and thanks to everyone else here for building the communities that made this possible.

 

[mpruet]

It's fortunate that you are in software development because that can be done remotely.  I am retired, but worked for IBM doing development on databases.

It's also a bit unfortunate that you are a member of a development team because that will require a large amount of bandwidth due to all of the necessary conference calls.  I'm guessing that you are thinking of using some form of virtual desktop with VPN to hook into your home office.  I used real.vnc to create a virtual desktop in the lab. That will also also require a large amount of bandwidth.

I had always worked remotely at IBM.  When I was working from home, I had cable based wireless with high speed connectivity.  But when I was working from my condo in Colorado, all I had was DSL through CenturyLink which had much lower speeds.  Also when working in my RV I had slow speeds - using my cell tethered to my laptop using pda.net.  I was not able to use the VPN connection to the home office to do all of my work.  It was just too slow.  Each key stroke took about 3 seconds to  echo back to me.

(I lived in the RV for a year in Houston when our first grandchild was born as my wife was acting as a nanny.)

Since our builds could be done in a linux environment, I installed vmware client and built a redHat server on my laptop.  Our development was done in clearcase so I would create a point in time private view in the lab that I could used for my coding. Then I did a point-in-time full extraction of the needed source into my virtual linux system. I periodically would update the timestamp and to a partial extraction of any files that had changed. I then created a checkout/checkin set of scripts which would keep track of any of the changes that I did to my local system.  As I made changes, I would periodically merge those back into my view in the lab and merge the code.  Also every few days I would extract the delta changes which had been made in the lab by other coders.  The net result of this was that I could do most of my development completly locally while merging my changes back into the main code line periodically. That significantly improved my productivity. 

By doing delta extractions periodically, I was able to minimize the number of bytes that I had to transfer to have a current copy of the code. I would use the full copy as a base for about a month before the delta extractions became too big. 

Now for the 'reality check'.  You will need to have multiple cell carriers otherwise you will have problems in many areas. Also when using your cell as a modem, you're going to have problems making phone calls, and that's going to cause issues with conference calls.  I ended up using Skype from my laptop as my phone so that I didn't lose connectivity when in a con call. 

You are probably going to still need much more bandwidth than most nomads - including those with youtube sites.  And you will have a greater requirement that connectivity be 24-7.  This will limit you to those locations where you can be assured that you have connectivity.  You won't be able to just look for a starbucks to download/upload stuff.  When I was relying on my cell as a router, I regularly used 250Gig per month and that was while using the delta extractions.  Fortunately I was grandfathered into a true unlimited data plan and was located where I normally had 4 bars LTE.  This means that you are not going to be able to spend a lot of time in the more remote boondocking locations.

 

[VanKitten]

Please post some pictures here. We love pictures of builds!

Remember, a lot of us do not have the kind of wifi access to watch videos...etc.

 

[mpruet]

I want to go into the backcountry, but with my need to be connected, that doesn't seem like it will be much of an option for me most of the time. So far it looks like I'll be restricted to sites within a few miles of a highway. I also want to explore all the National Parks, and there are many of them out East, where USFS and BLM land are more sparse.  You good folks are helping me ensure I can stay self-contained (except Internet of course), but I have to concede I'll probably end up stuck at campgrounds more often than I'd prefer.

I wouldn't count on much network connectivity in the National Parks.  The ones that I've visited had poor service and then generally only in the information centers.

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome tsilb to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you. highdesertranger

 

[tsilb]

I'm guessing that you are thinking of using some form of virtual desktop with VPN to hook into your home office.

Actually I wasn't thinking about it... I am now... 
I work for a small company. They might be open to me moving my desktop computer from my server rack to theirs, and remoting into that. Sadly it would be the best computer they have. It's also probably more powerful than most laptops; I'm not sure, as I haven't been keeping up with what modern laptops are like.

 

[tsilb]

Please post some pictures here.   We love pictures of builds!

Remember, a lot of us do not have the kind of wifi access to watch videos...etc.

Imgur album of the build


Imgur album of some trips we've taken so far

Arches NP
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Shoshone NF East of GTNP and YELL
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Sunset at RMNP
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Sunset at a local county park.  I'm into sunsets.
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Horsetooth Reservoir, Fort Collins
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Silverthorne, CO
[img=480x360]http://i.imgur.com/LtIFosx.jpg[/img]

Free campsite south of Leadville.  Bob was swamped with requests to go camping with him, but I didn't let that stop me.
[img=480x360]http://i.imgur.com/oGpKn05.jpg[/img]


Endovalley Picnic Area, RMNP
[img=480x360]http://i.imgur.com/JLbgl9a.jpg[/img]

 

[jimindenver]

Welcome to the forum!

So far this year I have not found a spot that I can not get connected but I am sure they are out there. I carry a hotspot with each carrier, a cell booster and a directional antenna. I generally have enough connection for streaming but it sounds like you need quite a bit more bandwidth. I will say to get a phone with wireless calling so that you can use it no matter which carrier is connecting at that time. By the way having unlimited data on all four carriers except T-Mobile which is unlimited streaming cost me $56 a month.

Now where I am interested in pushing being connected to the limits as far as how far out I can be, you could use carrier maps and user reports to choose your locations to insure you are in good cell signal for which ever carrier you pick. You can still get a grandfathered Verizon account but they charge a lot for them. My AT&T Mobley can be throttled, my Sprint never throttles nor my 3G Verizon. My T-mobile throttles if I use up its data but while streaming it never uses my data or throttles. I had four people using it a few weeks ago because we were in one of the few spots Verizon did not exist. ( the Rockies are why I developed my system and they are a challenge)

Last thing is to make sure that when you do buy a phone or device that it covers all of the bands that carrier uses. An example is T-Mobile uses band 12 in a half a dozen states including three states I travel in. Had I not known it and returned the hotspot sent to me that did not get band 12 I would have been screwed. AT&T recently added bands that make some of my older phones obsolete and Sprint and Verizon have the ability to connect to multiple towers at once IF you have a device that can handle it. On the same note the cell booster and antenna you choose will need to cover those bands and close is not good enough.

I look forward to your progress and how you handle your internet.

 

[tsilb]

By the way having unlimited data on all four carriers except T-Mobile which is unlimited streaming cost me $56 a month.

Where are you finding these plans? Sprint alone wants $115 a month, and throttles down to 2G speeds after 30GB.

 

[jimindenver]

Sprint comes from 4Gcommunity.com They sell you a hotspot and a years worth of service, the next year they only charge for the service. It comes in different varieties, mine is LTE only. Others carry more bands and the ability to combine antennas too.

The AT&T mobley is on their connected car accounts. It is unlimited except that it may be throttled after 22 gigs IF you are on a congested tower. The device was free except for a $45 one time charge. The account is $22 a month with tax.

My Verizon is just 3G and not likely a candidate for you. The hotspots are found on ebay by searching Verizon unlimited 3G. It is unlimited and $5 a month.

The T-mobile is a business account with 4gantennashop.com. It gives me unlimited Binge on and Music freedom streaming and 5 gigs a month of data. I rarely use it for more than streaming so the data only runs out like when I had four people all using it at once. It is $17.71 a month with taxes.

You can find threads on these in the communication forum including With it I have seen hotspots that have no connection not only connect but get a great connection. Sprint gave me 27 down in the Coconino NF between Cottonwood and Sedona, AT&T was kickin 16 down and 7 up in Gooseberry mesa and T-mobile supported four users streaming in the Rockies when the long distance antenna is in the southern Denver metro area. Each time the hotspot saw no signal until it was in the booster cradle with the antenna aimed at its tower.

Last thing is no matter what you get, make sure it roams. Small cell companies control areas all over and you get nothing if you do not roam.