How to Find the Right Accommodations as a Nomadic Professional (Part 1)
[Since the topic of accommodations is a popular one for us at the Nu Nomad, we thought we’d revisit this subject in two parts. Stay tuned for Part 2 later this week.]
Part 1.
Honing in on Accommodations
by Ricardo
When you’re keeping your business going while you travel the world, the type of accommodations you need will be somewhat different than if you were either traveling for vacation or remaining in a location for years as an expat. As location independents, we often fall into some middle category, staying too long to want the higher rates of a vacation rental but not remaining long enough to want to sign a yearly lease. That said, we often want and need features such as furnished dwellings and internet access.
Getting a furnished accommodation abroad is not much different than acquiring one at home. Most likely you are not going to stay as long as most tenants, and the process of locating a place is not as familiar as opening up your hometown newspaper, but getting a non-hotel or guest house room for cheap and within your terms is as doable as selecting good travel gear.
In order to do so, you may wish to sharpen your focus to the private rental opportunities (e.g.: home stays, spare room or cottage rentals, et cetera) as opposed to longer-term apartment and housing rentals or the hotel option.
Before venturing-off to your new destination, spend some time on the Internet researching room rental or shared apartment opportunities. Websites for the expatriates (expats) of a country are often the first best choice. Then there are home swap sites and Web bulletin boards (which are a fine option for those who have a place to trade).
When you’re in-country, however, seek-out expat haunts such as cafés, bars, (English language) book stores and other social zones. Servers, counter-people, and staff are often very helpful in connecting their regular customer’s with potential new ones. And if you’re planning to stay in a place that you’ve already visited and have met friends in, ask them to help with the search. They may know someone with an extra room or place to let.
A choice accommodation, however, is much more than its brick and mortar (or bamboo and thatch for that matter!). You need to consider the location.
What should you look for in an accommodation?
Carmen and I have the following personal criteria’s for you to consider.
Carmen’s Criteria
For me, as a woman traveling with children, my number one priority is safety. I do a lot of Internet research, especially in travel forums where I can see comments from actual travelers about how safe a particular destination is. I don’t limit my research to just the country, but seek out information on specific neighborhoods where we hope to set up house. My next priorities are Internet and telephone access, because I must have those two features to conduct my coaching business. This is followed by easy access to food, places of interest, or public transportation, since I do not want to rent a car while away for extended periods. After that, I try to live as much as possible like a local. I prefer not to be in heavily touristed areas, but to mix with local people and not be treated as just another visitor. And, of course, I want beauty, quality of life, and interesting things to do. In my opinion, there’s no point in traveling across the world to arrive in another asphalt jungle full of strip malls and Burger King Restaurants even if they are speaking an exotic language.
Ricardo’s Criteria
Like Carmen, I prefer to live among the locals. In fact, the more different it is from where I come from, the more interesting it is to me. I like to find those off-the-beaten-path locations that have found a way to retain their cultural and scenic heritage, while still offering enough social diversions, as well as services that Nu Nomads seek. If the location has other working travelers around, that can be a plus. Visiting/tourist neighbors that you can go to lunch and dinner, play volleyball or kayaking with, help to ease the transition from home to foreign destination. Easy access to reliable Internet service is also extremely important because if I am removed from hi-speed Internet access, it will limit my visit to only a few days (unless I’m on “holiday”). And the location needs to be relatively quiet. Before I choose a place, I check the immediate area for: construction, busy streets, roosters and markets, all of which could undermined my ability to focus on my work—say nothing of getting a good nights sleep. Finally, I look for real value. Developing countries allow me to live far beyond my usual home budget, while affording me the opportunity to bank some savings. But it’s not just about spending less and getting more. I usually find that lesser developed locations breed a more welcoming community.
As for personal safety, I often find that I have nothing to worry about. I’m more concerned about people respecting my space—my desire to enjoy their country without interference. I call it the “hassle factor.” I’ve found in some countries (Morocco, Egypt, India, as a few examples), though culturally and visually rich, I feel unwelcomed and disrespected. I simply do not wish to be continually approached by beggars, dealers and touts. (Though, in their defense, they often have little choice but to glean what they can from “tourists.”)
Your Criteria
Ultimately, you’ll want to develop your own list of what’s important in an accommodation. Here are a few prime “check-list” items to consider:
- Size
- Safety
- Aesthetics (the accommodation as well as the location)
- Public transportation availability
- Are there people in the area that speak your language?
- Internet speed and reliability
- Level of noise outside
- Crowd level (e.g.: how many other tenants in the apartment building, or how frenetic is the location?)
As for the nuts and bolts of how to go from the landing strip to actually signing a lease, that topic will be covered in Part 2 later this week.
Have you ever landed in a far away place and found great digs? Or maybe you’re about to take off and have questions. Either way, leave us a comment and we’ll respond!
