Tag Archives: digital nomad

Tips for finding a place to work and sleep in Algarve, on the south coast of Portugal

2018-01-03

These tips were written with digital nomads and remote workers in mind, but the travel guide where the tips have been extracted from (Algarve, Southern Portugal) features much more information on accommodations, sights, beaches, villages, culture, activities, food, and towns.
Houses on the coastal cliffs of Algarve, Portugal.
Professionals who can work anywhere as long as the supply of electricity and decent Internet access are guaranteed have discovered Algarve’s pleasant climate and peaceful lifestyle. Lisbon and Porto are the business centers of Portugal, but the whole point of staying in Algarve is to manage a business remotely.

Even though the region lacks big cities, the largest towns have nightlife, and popular pubs have crowds from lunch time onwards. Internet access in coastal towns is relatively reliable, but having a backup connection, like a mobile data connection for Internet access, is imperative.

A wide range of hotels and holiday homes are available for short and long term stay in Algarve. If you want to stay in large towns, like Albufeira, Lagos, or Portimao, the chances are that the best selection and best prices are for rooms in apartment blocks. Townhouses, bungalows, and other types of places with a terrace or a small garden are easier to find in small towns or villages, such as Luz or Carvoeiro. In addition, villas are available for rent on the outskirts of towns and in the countryside.

Many apartment blocks built for tourism come with a community pool. In winter, the pool may be closed. Another nice feature with recently-built apartment blocks is that they tend to have spacious balconies. For instance, a place where I stayed on the outskirts of Albufeira was a one-bedroom apartment with three balconies. The kitchen, living room, and bedroom had their own balconies.

If you love to watch television, here is an important tip. Verify the channels that can be viewed in the place you are going to stay. If it is only RTP (Portugal’s public broadcaster), you may have to do something other than watch television during your stay. I stayed one month in a place with only RTP channels, and I could only find one show that I could understand and watch: “The Voice of Portugal” singing contest every Sunday.
Apartments for tourists in Albufeira.
If you are looking for a place to stay and work for a few weeks, month, or more, I recommend getting in touch with local real estate agents. First, book a place for a few days only – perhaps via an online service. It will be your base while you search for a long-term place. You should have an idea of the area where you want to stay. If not, hire a car and drive along the bumpy roads of Algarve and explore. Once you have decided on the area, contact a real estate agent in that particular district. They will show you the places available at your price level. For instance, I once dealt with an agent who handled the maintenance and rentals of apartments for entire buildings in a particular section of a town.

The important thing in this whole process is that you actually see the place before you pay. The big, ugly problem with booking a long-term stay via an online service is that you have to pay without seeing the place. When you open the door, step in, and find that it is not like the web pages, you have already lost. In that situation, the only thing you can decide is what kind of loss you are going to take: money, time, or both. Maybe you grit your teeth and decide to stay, demand reimbursement from the landlord, or negotiate with the online service. In any case, you are going to lose precious working time with the hassle – and even more time if you have to start searching for new place to stay.

The better way is to research the area, contact an agent, and ask the agent to show you the place you intend to rent.

Even if the apartment where you are going to stay comes with Internet access, always get a backup connection. This is ridiculously easy to accomplish. Walk in to a mobile phone shop (for instance, Phone House) or a mobile network operator shop (MEO, NOS or Vodafone), ask for a data only SIM card, and choose your initial data amount. There are no formalities. After you have used the initial amount of data, you can top up online, at an ATM, or in a post office. I managed to top up my SIM card at a post office (cash only accepted).

The travel guide Algarve, Southern Portugal is available in all major bookstores, such as Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks, and Kobo.

Ebook news digest: ebooks in metro, tips for headlines, how to start travel photography

2017-06-10

News on ebooks, writing and photography

New York Public Library turns subway cars into mobile ebook libraries
Boing Boing

Some New York metro cars have been equipped with Wi-Fi signal that connects commuters to the city library for ebooks. Nice idea, since under the ground it is rare to get a mobile network or Wi-Fi signal at all. Library has come to the rescue of all the people who want to read, but haven’t downloaded any books beforehand on a smartphone or tablet.

9 tips for writing stronger headlines
Poynter

If you are fed up with headlines Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and similar organizations feed us, here is some level-headed advice to writers for composing their headlines. The advice is valid for headings featured in a non-fiction book as well.

Travel Photography Tips for Beginners
Nomadasaurus

The digital nomad couple has learnt their photography skills on the road during several years. The post features plenty of valuable tips and not only for beginners, but for all travelers who have realized that improvement is required in order to share the snapshots on social media.

7 Things I’ve Learned So Far, by Kristen Lepionka
Writer’s Digest

An author shares a few lessons on the business of writing and working like a professional.

The Gems of Nice and the French Riviera
Klaava Travel Guide

A travel guidebook to southern France shows the best destinations to visit and the nicest places to stay.

The New 10.5 Inch iPad Pro | Bigger, Better, Faster, Smoother
SLR Lounge

A new Apple iPad tablet 10.5 inches in size that has the same physical dimensions as the 9.7 inch model. Confused? The display extends from edge to edge, making the screen surprisingly large. Many other improvements implemented in the new iPad, too.

Recommended Travel and Digital Nomad Blogs
Become Nomad

A categorized list of travel and digital nomad blogs.

It’s Not You, It’s Me: A Writer’s Reflections on Rejection
Bob Eckstein

If it is any consolation for a rejected writer, everyone, even the brightest stars have been rejected at some point of their careers. The article gives advice on managing the difficult time of rejection.

Ebook news digest: why write a book, importance of manuscript editing, nomad culture

2017-04-24

News on ebooks, writing, publishing and travel life

What are your publishing goals?
Kindle Press

Thinking and deciding on your goal – what are you really trying to achieve – for your planned book is one of the best questions to answer before even starting to write.

The Guardian pulls out of Facebook’s Instant Articles and Apple News
Digiday

This is big news in the business of digital media – knowing that other big publishers, like The New York Times have quit Facebook as well. Actually, it is simple: news organizations are publishers who select their distribution channels based on the business opportunity. The same applies to ebook publishers.

The Digital Nomad Life: Combining Work and Travel
The New York Times

The New York Times has followed and interviewed digital nomads who participated in organized around the world remote work trips. Typically, they stay one month in a destination. A participant regarded that it was an excellent way to live like a local and experience local life.

Self-Publishing, Distribution, and Writing for Wealth with Author Joanna Penn
Tara Gentile

Non-fiction author and entrepreneur Joanna Penn talks about her business that was started by her books. Marketing tips for authors.

How to Be a Writer Literary Agents Want
Writer’s Digest

In some markets, a writer needs an agent to get in touch with a number of publishers, and the article shares good tips for it. In many markets, publishers don’t require an agent to represent the author. For instance, if you are planning a non-fiction ebook, read this first.

Meet Susan Hughes – Editor
Life as I Know It

Editing is an elemental part of the process of writing a book. Plan enough time for editing when you start your project. Susan Hughes shares other valuabe tips as well.

Traveling to North Europe? Try Finland, join the nation’s 100th Independence year celebrations
The Lighter Side of Finland

The author of the entertaining ebook believes he has discovered the secret for Finns’ wellbeing.

Considering moving to, or working remotely from another country? These are the healthiest countries in the world

2017-03-11

Usually expats live and work in a country where they have been sent to for a few years, whereas digital nomads may move to a new country after a month. Nonetheless, the status of health services and the quality of the environment in the destination country are major factors when considering where to move. InterNations conducted a large survey where they asked people who have lived abroad their opinion about the health situation in countries they have lived in. Here are the results.

The ranking of the top 13 healthiest countries in the world includes 7 European countries and 6 countries from other parts of the world. Austria was ranked the number one country, followed by Taiwan and Finland.

InterNations is the world’s largest network of people who are living and working overseas. InterNations asked the members of the network to rank their health and well-being in the countries where they are living or have lived. This particular question was part of a wider survey on the quality of living abroad.

They asked 14,300 people living overseas to rate 43 aspects of life in their new country. Respondents represent 174 nationalities who are living in 191 countries or territories,

These are the 13 healthiest countries in the world according to the InterNation survey.

1. Austria.
Is it the Alps, Mozart, ski slopes, Vienna or something else that makes Austria do so well in quality of life surveys like this? All of that and good healthcare.

2. Taiwan.
Taiwan and Japan were the only Asian countries ranked high in well-being in the survey. Stray dogs and beggars roam the streets of the capital Taipei, but in general expats were very happy with health services.

3. Finland.
Finland is a country where everything works, and that concerns healthcare as well. While expats thank the reasonable cost of medical care in the country, the nation is in a process of totally renewing its healthcare system (because of high costs).

Fish market at Market Square in Helsinki, Finland.

4. Japan.
Japan is quickly aging, and it is the reason why the country leads the world in the development of personal assistant robots. The other parts of the health system work fine as well.

5. Israel
Perhaps it is surprising to see Israel ranked so high on wellbeing, but if you forget the serious issues with personal safety and security, it has other positive things on its side.

6. Denmark
Denmark and its capital Copenhagen have been voted as the best places to live many times and it shows in this survey as well. Health services in the former Viking country are regarded excellent.

7. Germany.
On autobahns people may sometimes challenge death by driving as fast as their Porsches and BMWs go, but maybe they rely on country’s reliable health services.

8. France.
Tax rates in France are among the highest in Europe (if not in the world), but the locals say that they are so proud of their excellent welfare system that they don’t mind paying their taxes.

9. Costa Rica.
Expats are happy with Costa Rica in general and health services available in the country.

10. Spain
When an expat is sent to Spain to work in an air-conditioned office from 9:30am until 7pm, people who don’t know any better, wish him or her sunny vacation days on the beach. Nothing could be further from the truth. In any case, high quality health services are readily available both in public and private institutions. Spain’s climate probably adds points to the well-being ranking.

11. New Zealand
Not only one of the world’s most exciting vacation destinations, New Zealand has a high living standard and welcoming people.

12. Canada
Canada is the only North American country that made it to the top 13. The country’s large cities have consistently been ranked high in the best cities to live in surveys as well.

13. Sweden.
The mother of welfare states continues to welcome immigrants and refugees while maintaining its health services in top condition.

Via Independent.

Ebook news digest: travel blogging vs writing, publishing vs self-publishing, best travel camera

2017-02-26

Ebook news digest February 26, 2017

Published Author Book Writing Tips
(Heidi Cohen)

Heidi Cohen has compiled the best book writing tips from successful authors into this article. If there is one thing that caught my eye in these valuable tips, it was the fact that so many authors emphasized two things: ensure you have a clear message or goal for your book and start marketing instantly when you know that you are going to get the book published (one way or the other).

Best Travel Camera 2017
(Mel365.com)

Many travel writers (and writers of other genres) take their own photos for their articles and books nowadays. Writers may not want to dive deep into mysteries of photography technology, but capture moments, facts and sceneries with decent equipment. What is the best camera for travelers is the question that the long article answers in many ways.

Pros And Cons Of Traditional Publishing vs Self-Publishing
(The Creative Penn)

Joanna Penn’s article on traditional publishing and self-publishing is almost like “Everything you ever wanted to know about book publishing” in one article. An excellent article to read, even if you already have published a book. I would categorize Klaava Media as a hybrid publisher, because we take every author and ebook as an individual project and tailor the co-operation with the author accordingly.

Ask a Digital Nomad: How Do You Choose Where to Go Next?
(The Ramble)

Digital nomads who have traveled and work for a year or more talk about the places they like to stay. How do they choose their destinations, why and how long do they stay in one place? Many nomads agree that moving too often is not the best way to go, but where they go is a surprisingly wide and open field. I am waiting for the moment when a digital nomad says he or she has spent a winter in Lapland.

3 Big Differences Between Travel Writing and Travel Blogging
(Travel Blog Success)

This article gives plenty of insight on the freedom of blogging and on the realities when working for someone else. That’s the fundamental difference, and truly understanding it will save many writers from a lot of agony.

Ebooks news digest: nonfiction writing prompts, best photos of 2016, breakthrough of remote work

2017-01-01

Ebook news digest January 1, 2017

Plan Your Year: Nonfiction Writing Prompt #52
(Write Nonfiction Now!)

Writing a nonfiction book or article requires planning. Often, the hard part is to decide what to include and what to exclude, even though sometimes, a writer has already processed it at the back of his or her mind before the actual writing starts. The article has many other good tips for writers.

Best Photos of 2016
(National Geographic)

A gallery of National Geographic’s 52 best images of 2016. It was curated from 91 photographers, 107 stories, and 2,290,225 photographs. Amazing images – if someone can afford to take more than two million frames, some of them better be really good.

Get to the point! Avoid these words and keep readers happy
(Articulate)

An excellent list of today’s hype words that are forgotten tomorrow. Avoid them and avoid yesterday’s empty phrases as well, such as “don’t get me wrong”, “fast forward to…”, “like … on steroids”.

What Does a Literary Agent Want to See When They Google You?
(The Write Life)

Yes, literary agents will search you on the Internet. The interesting thing is what they are looking for. An agent is not required in many countries outside the U.S., but writers can approach publishers directly. Many publishers have instructions for book proposals on their web pages. Nonetheless, the publishers are more than likely to do the same as agents do: Google the writer. More in this article.

The number of news stories on digital nomads in news sources was so high this time that I decided to list a few articles about the topic alone (it looks like remote work and digital nomad concepts have been discovered by major media companies now):

Why I quit Yahoo and Gmail when I started traveling (Klaava)

Figuring out “Remote Work” Is Figuring out “Work” (Accidentally in Code)

100 Little Things That Happen When You Become a Digital Nomad (The Sweetest Way)

6 Difficult Countries to Be a Digital Nomad (The Nomad Guru)

The 10 Best Cities for Digital Nomads (TransferWise)

Ebooks news digest: dealing with a big publisher, writers conferences, tips from Hemingway

2016-12-21

Ebook news digest December 21, 2017

Why I still won’t review for or publish with Elsevier–and think you shouldn’t either
(Tal Yarkoni)

Scientific publishing is a vast business sector within the publishing industry. The biggest publisher of the sector is Elsevier that has been often accused of acting like a monopoly. Tal Yarkoni highlights so many issues with Elsevier that it is almost scary. In many countries, published authors can join an association (non-fiction and fiction may have separate associations) that can represent authors when they feel they have been mistreated by publishers. In many European countries, associations employ intellectual property rights/copyright lawyers who know how to deal with often complex cases. Tal Yarkoni’s strategy, however, is crowdsourcing: using the power of the scientific community to pressure the publisher.

Which Writers’ Conferences are the Best to Attend?
(The Write Life)

An introduction to writers’ conferences in the U.S in 2017. Whatever the conference, it is good for a writer to occasionally mingle in real life among real people and talk – not just write.

My 5 Top Complaints about Being a Digital Nomad
(Julie Ewald)

If an article or a book manuscript includes the phrase “don’t get me wrong” or even worse, it starts with that useless phrase, it is not a good sign about the quality of the story. Julie Ewald’s blog post, however, features so much valuable practical information for traveling digital workers that it makes an exception. Read the article if you are planning to hit the road with a laptop.

Hemingway’s Advice on Writing, Ambition, the Art of Revision, and His Reading List of Essential Books for Aspiring Writers

(brainpickings)

Hemingway was a strong character who had his own ways of enjoying his success. A Norwegian youngster managed to make friends with Hemingway. The master himself gave the young man writing advice that was later published in the book With Hemingway: A Year in Key West and Cuba. The article highlights some of Hemingway’s tips from the book and shares the background for what happened.

Gift Guide: Books Most Recommended By FORBES In 2016
(Forbes)

Business magazine Forbes recommends both nonfiction and fiction books as gifts for 2016 season. Ebooks can be gifted by purchasing a gift card to an online bookstore. First, you buy the gift card from an online store. Then, you give it as a gift to someone. When the person who got the gift wants to enjoy it, he or she logs in to the same bookstore, finds a book, and enters the code printed on the gift card instead of paying for the book.

Here is our recommended book list.

Ebook news digest: tools for writers, amazing travel photography, experiences of a business nomad

2016-11-09

Ebook news digest November 9, 2016

Top 10 Tools To Develop Your Novel Writing Skills (Lifehacker)

Every author has his or her favorite tools, but a good author never stops looking for better tools that can make the work faster, easier or more efficient. The article features some good tips that we never thought of, but we would like to add a couple of tips of our own: a voice recorder, mobile data access and a camera. They help you get something done when an inspiration strikes.

Top 27 Travel Photos in the 2016 SIPA Contest Out of 50K Entries (Resource Travel)

The Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA) is an international photography contest for professional and amateur photographers. SIPA claims to have the “highest international participation,” with nearly 50,000 images from photographers in 130 countries. There are many big photography contests with great prizes and great winning images, but as far as travel photography is concerned, the selection of travel photos presented in this article is absolutely magnificent.

Understanding How To Thrive As A Digital Nomad (Uproxx)

Real experiences from a digital nomad who is running a business with his partners and traveling the world. Naturally, they are not constantly on the road, but stay in one place for months, at least. As it happens, these nomads are running a travel-related business Triphappy. In any case, the article features tips and information from a digital nomad that has really experienced the nomad life.

Travel Tips: How To Turn Snaps From Your Smartphone Into Terrific Travel Photography (Travelers Today)

What do you see in the vicinity of a globally renowned sight, like Pisa, Eiffel or Big Ben? Lots of smartphones, tablets and cameras raised at eye level, taking pictures. The article highlights a few very simple tips how to improve your travel photos. We would like to add one tip: be quick to take advantage of a moment. The moment can be anything: a boy on a skateboard with Eiffel tower as the background, or an old lady walking along a narrow alley in the old town of Nice.

PayPal study finds two-thirds of eBook buyers prefer format for price and convenience (Talking New Media)

PayPal has conducted a survey where the payment company asked consumers of digital products about their behavior and reasons for their behavior. The survey focused on ebooks and games. We are not convinced that it makes sense to compare ebook buying behavior against digital game purchases, but that’s what the report does. Nonetheless, you may find valuable nuggets of data from the report. The survey was conducted in a number of major markets across the world.

Ebook news digest: ever-important editing, ebooks from grocery store, tools for digital nomads

2016-10-19

Ebook news digest October 19, 2016

As American editors sharpen their pencils, some advice on writing short (Poynter)

We still have great difficulties in understanding how Stieg Larsson’s mega-successful Millennium series books escaped the publishing editor’s wordprocessor. There is a lot of meaningless writing in those books, although the excitement always returns, and again is a pleasure to read. Books and articles usually improve when an experienced editor reviews them. Poynter has some good tips on how you can review your own writing.

Aldi starts e-book service in Germany (Ecommerce News)

Aldi is a large grocery store chain that has expanded from its home market Germany to many other European countries, Australia and to the US. The store concept gives shopppers a simple, no-frills, almost warehouse-like feeling. But the prices at Aldi stores tend to be very competitive. In Germany, Aldi already has a digital music subscription service, and it is now expanding its service selection to ebooks as well. Aldi will offer one million ebook titles in Germany on October 20th. A 7-inch Medion tablet for 129 euros is marketed as well by Aldi.

The best apps and tools for digital nomads (BestTechie)

Not everyone, but many digital nomads are entrepreneurs or freelancers who run their own businesses. Being a nomad means moving from one place to another a few times a year, or even monthly. Time is the most precious resource for a freelancer, and that’s why most of them have understood the importance of having the best tools for the job. Tools for time management, budget management, travel management and even relationship management are valuable. BestTechie’s article has listed a few key apps for digital nomads, but if you want more, see this article.

10 Writing Prompts To Get You Started On Your Next Manuscript (Bustle)

Writing is a creative process – although Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts say that soon machines can write news reports that are as good as humans usually write. Nonetheless, writing starts from an idea about the theme. What to write, from which angle, and what is the message? Bustle introduces 10 prompts to get started on a manuscript, but we would like to recommend them for article writing instead. Writing a book is such a large project that authors think, re-think, and review several times the ideas and concepts what the book will be about. If you have a plan for a non-fiction book, maybe we can help you to take the next step.

Bus driver caught using e-reader on the job (CTV News)

Talking or texting on a mobile phone while driving is not news anymore, but it still is a dangerous thing to do behind the wheel. When a driver is caught reading an ebook on an ereader, that’s news. Even more so because the driver was the chauffeur of a bus full of people. A passenger discovered the bus driver’s reading habit and took a photo to prove it. We have a question to the police: would it be all right for the bus driver to listen to audiobooks while driving?

News report on the bus driver’s ebook reading habit:

Ebook news digest: the birth of travel photography, ereader still rules, Lenovo’s new keyboard for writers

2016-09-04

Ebook news digest September 4, 2016

Why I like my e-reader better than my smartphone (TNW)

Although the days of quickly growing the user base are over for ereaders, many book lovers still make the magic discovery how easy and convenient it is to read on an ereader. Here is a tech reporter’s story.

New European publishing rules could cost Google and Facebook (IT Pro Portal)

News publishers in some European countries, like France and Germany already have tried to get a piece of the revenue that online services, such as Facebook and Google generate from the publishers’ content. Some methods have failed, whereas in some cases Google has agreed to pay something to the publishers. Now, EU has taken the topic seriously and is planning a legislation titled Neighboring Rights that would give full control to the publishers to determine who can loan or reference their content. If this initiative moves forward, it is a dramatic change. It will mean big business model reconsideration for many online services.

Meet the Mother Daughter Duo Changing the Face of Digital Nomads
(The Huffington Post)

An exceptional proposition to become a digital nomad: mother with her nine year old daughter. One year in four locations, each on a different continent. Hopes are high at departure, so we would love hear from them after six or twelve months.

Lenovo launches Yoga Book: A tablet with touch keyboard, stylus that turns written ink into digital notes (CNBC)

A good keyboard is what most writers require from a laptop. You get the feel and the sound of the keys that are clicking and cracking. Perhaps it simply means that something is being done, but it can be satisfying. Lenovo has introduced another option for a physical keyboard: a touch-sensitive keyboard. The Yoga Book is a tablet/laptop hybrid that has a display where laptops usually have a display, but instead of a physical keyboard, there is another touch sensitive display that is used as the keyboard. We can’t wait to try this one.

The birth of travel photography (Daily Mail)

Never thought of it, but of course, images taken in exotic places were among the first photographs people wanted to have for themselves as memories. All right, perhaps selfies and portraits came first, but travel photography must have been a close second. Rare photos taken 170 years ago in Egypt have been discovered, and they were auctioned to the highest bidder. These pictures shown in the article may have started the whole travel photography hobby and business.

If you travel, write and photograph, perhaps you have a book in you that is seeking a publisher?