[tayo42]

Still car limited. I like doing work-cations but I have a similar issue with the working space. A real chair, external monitor, key board is really essential for work more than a week. Flying anywhere with that is unrealistic.

Ive never seen an airbnb or vrbo listing with office equipment in it. Would be cool and useful. It would probably get robbed though. My wife and I usually go through tons of listing photos looking for an somewhat adequate working space.

Im curious how other software people do it.

[gsa]

Airbnb has a "dedicated workspace" filter which is actually worse than not having the feature. Most of the listings I have come across are properties that have nothing more than a dining table, often a round one and paired with really awful chairs. Airbnb could _make_ it work properly, but it doesn't seem to be their focus.

[tayo42]

Interesting I never noticed some how, but I took a look and see what you mean. Not useful in practice.

[wharvle]

Wireless keyboard and mouse, MacBook, 12.9" iPad, adjustable folding stands for both to put them around eye level. Gets you dual monitors (plus the iPad's better for use in an economy seat on an airplane, than a laptop). External keyboard and mouse, no craning your neck down at the laptop. All that can fit in a normal laptop backpack or even a not-that-big satchel bag, with room to spare for chargers and cables and miscellaneous carry-on stuff (even a Switch or Steam Deck, to round out your electronic-junk needs all in one bag). iPad doubles as a drawing pad if you've got a Pencil, plus does the other stuff an iPad's good at, isn't just an extra monitor, can do more to justify its weight and bulk.

A big monitor rather than a pair of laptop-sized (but pretty good!) monitors? Yeah, that's tough. And no solution for the chair.

[tayo42]

didnt know that about ipads, i only use apple stuff for work for the last few years. ill look into that!

[wharvle]

There’ve been apps to use them as a second monitor to a Mac for some time, but as of a few years back, it’s a built-in feature.

Last I checked it does require the iPad to be signed in to the same iCloud account as the user on the Mac, which may present a problem if, say, you want to use a personal iPad this way with a work MacBook, or if you use separate accounts for different clients on your MacBook and don’t have them all signed in to a single iCloud account. But, if that’s not an issue, should be fine. Some of those other apps may still exist, too, and I don’t think they have that restriction (I think Apple’s is that way because it’s more tightly integrated with hand-off features and such)

[sytelus]

That's what I was thinking... Car and trailer pulls you down to local places and too cumbersome. A much better option is just fly to some place, rent something for 1+ month (or even a hostel if you want to go really cheap) and live there like a local. Staying in one place for at least a month (ideally 3-4 months) is very important so you don't have urge to checkout everything in short period and get distracted from the work. The idea is to be local and live like local.

For computer setup, I would highly recommend 17" laptop + portable monitor (for example, https://www.amazon.com/UPERFECT-Resolution-2560x1600-Raspber...). I also get beefy laptop with GPU with 4k display. I usually add iPad as my 3rd display for music or whatever.

[zztop44]

I have the exact same problem. I’ve tried carrying portable monitors and VESA mounts but it not the same. And it doesn’t solve the desk and chair problem. That’s the main thing stopping me and my wife spending half the year remote.

The two options I’ve thought of are (1) buying a couple of houses in different parts of the world (maybe with friends/family who want to do the same thing) (2) start a specialist Airbnb-style marketplace for working-focused holiday homes where desks, external monitors, chairs, cables, wifi speed, etc are listed in detail.

[jauntywundrkind]

I use a x86 tablet or two and a gooseneck arm (Tryone brand has been reliable) for cafe coding. 2880x1800 12" screen, but I can position it perfectly floating above my keyboard (Lenovo Trackpoint BT keyboard).

I don't find the coffee shop tables to be problematic (although the gooseneck will shake some if the table doesn't sit well) but yeah nicer chairs would be nice, for sure. There's a lot of nice venues around me with picnic table style benches, and folks doing work but usually fairly hunched over: I strap a Crazy Creek camping to my pack so I can lean back/have back support, and that makes a surprisingly decent all-day setup of it. I'd love to see a high tech version but just adjusting the chords giving you adjustable lean-back is surprisingly flexible.

Not a huge fan of keyboard typing on the lap but parks with a Moonlite collapsible chair can be fine. I'll lay my bike on it's side & clamp the gooseneck to that.

I could probably go a couple weeks with these setups, but yeah, the chair situation seems the hardest to deal with to me. Portable monitors seem to have gotten a lot better (thanks INNOCN &al) but mounting them still seems super shaky; I wish these gooseneck arms and these panels would work better together!

I really really like the idea of the flying desk the author tried out here. A good chair, a sunshade, and some kind of adjustable desk would be great. An old house of mine had a great umbrella and I used to love computing or gaming under it while it was raining. The author complained about brightness, and that seems like a very real issue, but with mini-led's we are seeing even consumer gear capable at 1500 nits and more. Cinema monitors are pricey and usually only 1080p and 19 or 24 inches, but are built for outdoors, over 2000 but. Commercial signage is often $6k+ but how awesome would a 75" 3000 nit 4k display (Philips 75BDL3003H) on the back of your cae with a floating desk be?

[hot_gril]

I use a 16" MBP without peripherals even though I'm often at home. Basic wooden chair or whatever the common spaces in the office have (which I'm not required to go to). Software doesn't really take multiple displays, it's a distraction if anything, but I do need a good laptop.

I've also traveled while working for some time, it wasn't great.

[bethekind]

Wouldn't this be the ideal solution for we-work? Digital Nomads come and go as you please office solutions? (We-work doesn't have beds and the like tho)

I know that most hotels have a survivable desk and chair, but that probably isn't an optimal solution.

What would an idea solution look like? Airbnb but with a gaming setup room?

[xp84]

WeWork is great and would be far more economical than paying day-pass rates assuming (big assumption) you are okay with working in major metro areas only. For instance there is 1 location in Sacramento and nothing else in Norcal outside the immediate Bay Area. For me I kind of like cities, but I suspect the author of this piece would feel pretty hemmed in by that footprint since he seems to like to actually be in nature daily (which is cool!).

I haven't tried to do any coworking in smaller cities or towns, but I guess maybe there are indie coworking spaces in places like say, Santa Rosa or Auburn.

TBH if I was designing a nomad project for myself (and wanting a significant nature/non-urban aspect to it) I think i'd do a literal van and have a real desk and chair in it. 5G internet isn't the greatest but I think it'd be easy enough, armed with a van, to seek out places within the area I want to visit with a good enough signal to make it workable.

(Obviously add rooftop solar panels and a Jackery or whatever to satisfy power needs all day.)

[wesleytodd]

I full time'd for nearly a year with just three cell devices and the Open Signal app. The only time I had issues was when we watched some shows and used our bandwidth "cap" on our unlimited plan and it throttled me the next morning. I picked up the third device (an att mifi type thing) after that and haven't had a problem since. The only restriction was that we check cell coverage where we were planning to stay before booking if I was going to be working and without easy access to a coffee shop or RV park WIFI.

[fragmede]

With Starlink it's workable.

[tayo42]

>What would an idea solution look like? Airbnb but with a gaming setup room?

Without the rgb led, pretty much. That would be nice.

[zztop44]

Most coworking spaces or serviced offices don’t have external monitors included, unfortunately. And of course, you’re then limited to cities and have to commute.

Airbnb but with a gaming room (or two?) and fast internet sounds ideal for my needs.

[hot_gril]

I'm fine with a hotel desk and chair, problem is it's very expensive and also annoying to check into sometimes.

[ghaff]

I’m not sure how realistic a “real” office space is in the general case. A digital nomad feels much more like a laptop wherever you are. That’s certainly been my situation when I’ve taken multi-week business trips.

That seems like part of the trade off. I don’t expect my home office wherever I am in the world.

[soupfordummies]

small external kb/mouse and then hdmi it to the TV? IDK, just a thought. I'm mostly content to just use the laptop as is though.