Best Freelancers' Destinations To Live In?

[andesmandes]

There is a healthy dose of posts, both here and on other public digital venues, which are about:

• Do I need a VISA to travel to...?
• Can I exchange my pesos to...?
• Can I use my Argie CC in....?
• Can I bring back...?
• Will I be held in customs if I....?
• Can I take out with me...?
• Can I cross the .... border with an Argie car?

While for sure these questions are common to travellers going anywhere in the world, the weekly "what's the latest update on..." is kinda scary, it makes you wonder "what will they make up next?" all the time.

Have you ever tried traveling across the border? Not sure where the problem is. I travel to Chile a lot and never had to declare my mobile phone (or my laptop). No problem taking my car across the border either (I am a resident). And I have never had any problems with customs. In fact often I did not have to pay the import tax even though I was over the $150 USD limit. Bought quite a bit of electronics there at competitive prices.

 

[SherbertDip]

Berlin or Amsterdam

 

[dspt]

Idk, in my head I don't want more on my mind at customs because last time I got a lot of guff for repeatedly coming to AR for 5 months with visa runs in the middle of each.

Really I'm just hoping the person at migration isn't having a bad day and sends me back. My recurring nightmare... :X

I'm surprised you would get hassled about this since AFAIK you can be in Arg on a tourist visa for 180 days a year completely legally!

As for the original question, it totally depends on what you value personally, whether you have dependents, if you like cities or beaches, etc. Probably anywhere could be justified as a freelancer destination except for places with extreme cost of living like San Francisco, NYC, London. It'd be completely irrational to move there for no compelling reason, when you can replicate the experience in other cities for drastically cheaper.

Another issue is timezones. Taiwan is beautiful, cheap, interesting culture, wifi everywhere. I would love to spend an extended stay there. But if you need to constantly wake up at 2 am to answer calls from US and UK clients then that could put a damper on things.

Tax issues aren't so relevant I think since you can incorporate in places like Panama or Hong Kong which can give nice tax breaks without being physically present.

 

[Patagone]

A good friend of mine is in the same position with work and clients and moved from the Netherlands to the Antilles (Curacao in his case). Costs of living is not so cheap, but there are large safe houses to rent, good life if you like tropical and carribean lifestyle and I think expats pay only 2% tax, which absorbs the higher costs. He wanted to stay 2 years, but after 3 years is still there and will stay longer. Cheap access to Europe, US and SA as well, we went there a few years ago.

 

[Patagone]

We are looking at Spain, Portugal and possibly Germany. Ona side note, we are discussing spending a year "trying out" Berlin and London before settling in a cheaper country like Spain or Portugal. A sort of sabbatical (we would be working!) to try the best of Europe.

Have you considered Amsterdam? It is not the cheapest place to live (rent is expensive, groceries cheap). I lived there for 15 years, still love it every time I go there. It is a giant village where you cycle everywhere, can dine on food from a hundred+ countries in the center alone and loads of innovation going on.

 

[Girino]

We haven't considered Amsterdam, though we have visited it a few years ago and appreciated the possibility to go by bike anywhere. I was mostly disappointed with the food (besides herrings, nobody was able to point us other local dishes). I think Amsterdam is pretty cold in winter, and I remember it was very modern and avant garde but possibly as expensive as London. The language is awful (sorry) and could be a serious barrier.

Berlin - we have never been there but always heard positive things: modern, young, moderate prices.
I am no fan of Germany myself, to be honest, I'd rather go to Austria, though it is slight more expensive than Germany. I don't speak the language (my husband speaks some) and that's what puts me off the most. We visited Munich and it was not my kind of city, so I don't know what to expect from Berlin.

So far, we have discussed the following:

• Living in the city is more expensive, but gives you access to the international community and more cultural events
• Living outside the city should be cheaper, and we would have our car so transportation is not an issue. However, you are likely isolated. The language could be a barrier in a smaller town.
• We like the nature and we would love to have a place with a veg garden of our own, tough maybe at this stage is not compatible with the social life we are seeking.
• We like travelling, so being within a reasonable distance from an airport would be a plus.
• To keep costs low, a place where heating is not on most of the year wins hands down.

Thank you all for your suggestions, keep 'em coming!

 

[SherbertDip]

Have you considered Amsterdam? It is not the cheapest place to live (rent is expensive, groceries cheap). I lived there for 15 years, still love it every time I go there. It is a giant village where you cycle everywhere, can dine on food from a hundred+ countries in the center alone and loads of innovation going on.

Groceries are not cheap in Amsterdam unless you shop at Lidl etc.

 

[thorsten]

Berlin is very different compared to Munich - in fact, many people consider it not even a typical German city (that's why it's one of the two cities I could imagine to live in Germany...). However, prices in the popular areas went up significantly in the recent years. Probably still possible to find a nice apartment with decent value in a nice suburb, but not like 10 years ago.

 

[TheBoom]

- but you do have to get a 10 year reciprocity thing before you can enter ~$100

please clarify

 

[Ceviche]

Interesting cities to live in as couple, if you work on the internet not looking for work where you live ( in no particular order) :-

a. Hong Kong
b. Brisbane
c Auckland
d. Medellin
e. San Salvador
f. Goa
g. Puerto Plata