From what I read on this sub, the focus seems to be in developing countries or Eastern Europe. Just curious as to why US/Canada isn’t as popular as DN?
I get that it’s more expensive but there are ways around it. I think the beauty and stuff to do in such country tops a lot of places!
Just being curious and would like to know your point of views, not trying to take away anything from other countries :)
It should be possible to get a rental car and hop-around different accommodations, road tripping on a fixed monthly budget of 3600 USD in Canada and maybe US?
Um, the cost, that’s why
Also the visa situation for anyone outside the 11 or so countries that have visa on arrival options is probably a nightmare.
Absolutely the cost for me. I grew up in London but live in the French Alps most of the year now. I had a hankering for living in a big city again for a bit and, just out of curiosity and knowing it was very, very silly, I looked up prices in New York. I always wanted to visit and it seems like the kind of city I’d really like. As soon as I saw the prices I confirmed to myself it was a complete non starter. I ended up in Mexico instead and it was fantastic - and cheap.
Mexico instead and it was fantastic - and cheap
And unsafe. You forgot that one
I never felt unsafe there. I’d feel safer walking round Mexico City at night instead of West Croydon.
Why are you comparing the best part of Mexico with the worst part of the UK. Way to skew things.
Why do people get such a hard-on claiming that Mexico is unsafe? They always go out of their way to say something about it and it’s always the ones who have never actually been to Mexico lol
And that’s a big category, as it’s not just the cost of food and lodging, it’s also things like healthcare, insurance, transportation, and so on.
You can’t do 99% of that cool stuff without a car and spending $500-1000/weekend just on those little side trips.
Yet the US claims to be the best country in the world lol
When 2 hours is a short drive and you’re making it between multiple destinations it just becomes sooo long too. You need 3 days to go to three “close” destinations. The US is massive and the sprawl is real. No car? Sucks. On a tight budget? Sucks. Tight on time? Sucks. The USA has some of the prettiest places on earth but we kinda make pretty places hard/expensive to get to. And when you’re there you have people who saved for 50 weeks to go there for 3 days and so everything is massively crowded.
It can all be done and accommodated but it isn’t as easy as small/walkable/cheaper European countries.
Most of US cities are not walkable, on top of being prohibitively expensive.
I liked Montreal as a more affordable city. It’s also one of those rare North American metropolises that is actually walkable to some degree, with decent public transportation.
Most of US cities are not walkable, on top of being prohibitively expensive.
What does that have to do with anything? Renting a car in the US is dirt cheap
Define dirt cheap? Also what happens if you have an accident? Health insurance in the US is twice as expensive with my nomad plan.
Some nomads like me also don’t like car-centric cities. I like being able to walk everywhere (or at least use public transportation), and if there are cars around me, they shouldn’t have priorities over pedestrians. By that I mean that traffic lights turn green more often so you don’t have to wait for several minutes to cross the road, the speed limit is controlled, etc. It’s a personal preference, and many cities in the US don’t really fit those criteria.
I had a great time in the US as a tourist, but I don’t see myself living there.
Terribly bad take lol it’s so expensive in the US, where the heck do you live
From where?
I’m Aussie spending around 8/9 months a year in MTL as my home base and I think it’s an awesome place to live…. Just not in winter
Montreal is quite expensive to rent monthly, like ridiculously expensive… otherwise, love that city!
Oh for sure, I spent 4 months there in summer, but I wouldn’t stay in winter. I came to terms with the fact that there was no perfect place on Earth a long time ago. Montréal came close for me, I made lots of friends very quickly.
It’s a thing in outdoorsy areas away from people. Think Newfoundland, Alaska/Yukon, Montana, Utah, Arizona & Vancouver Island.
Also ski resorts: Canmore, Revelstoke, Colorado.
As far as cities go, the only appealing place is Montreal, but it’s not quite as expansive as what you’d find elsewhere in the world.
rent still going up like everywhere else, though.
expANsive
Renting a car is not complicated in the US at all.
But it is expensive these days
what about renting a fully furnished RV as a non-resident?
Because digital nomads aren’t real ballers. Most of them just make something similar to a full time job in western world. Because they don’t have to go to a office they’ll live like ballers in developing countries where prices are cheap. You can’t afford to live like that in USA, Canada, etc…
Correct, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that
The draw of DN is not to see the same five chains in every American city but to experience the entire world at a much more affordable price. I’ve been to almost every big American city and a ton of medium-sized ones. They are largely all the same with the same generic bars, restaurants, shops, and generic downtown attractions. American culture is boring. I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m trying to eat street food every day and live in a walkable community in a country I’ve never been to.
I disagree. I think some american culture is interesting. Its also such a vast country with different cities, climates and cultures. Seattle vs San Diego vs Austen vs New York all have different things to offer. I think a lot of people might share your opinion because they themselves are from the US, and want to see other places in the world, but the us does offer a lot of national parks, good food, different climates, etc.
American culture is at best boring and at worst terrifying. There’s the obvious things, like guns, violence, racism, police brutality, politics, nationalism and celebrity worshiping that make it pretty low on most people’s lists of places to go.
When bother when the world has so many cool places?
This. It also frankly sucks here. I get the feeling most of the posters in here ARE Americans wanting to escape this distopian place and explore the world on the cheap. I’m an expat living and working in America (used to be a work visa, now GC) but I honestly can’t stand it here. Everyone I’m friends with at work feels the same way. But the money. The money is just too good. Like really really really good. So go perm remote and travel to other countries is the only way to survive and keep your sanity. Been doing it for a few years now and couldn’t imagine living any other way now. I get depressed every time I have to return to the US for a while.
Yeah I get the sense that there’s a ton of Americans here as well. Americans themselves can be cool and there are definitely cool things to see and do in America but going there for an extended stay as a digital nomad? Hell no. Like you said, the money is appealing but otherwise it’s super dull. Australia (where I’m from) is the same.
What major cities have you been to? I’m from NYC and I found all the cities in the US so different. Can’t compare Brooklyn to SF to New Orleans to Scottsdale.
People usually go to places that:
- offer good value for money
- offer an exciting, culturally-rich lifestyle.
The US and Canada offer neither. They’re expensive and the only culture they offer is capitalism.
They’re expensive and the only culture they offer is capitalism.
Sounds like something only an American would say
Uh, no. Most of the people I talk to don’t really have a strong interest in going there for the above reasons. Maybe New York for a visit, but that’s it.
Oof. You need to travel more
Lol classic anti American reddit take. Saying the US doesn’t have culture is moronic.
Not a culture I’m particularly interested in but you do you.
Its “culture” is pretty bland
and it pretty much revolves around money
Montreal & Quebec City are the closest you’ll get to 2) in Canada and the US and actually, also 1), comparatively.
Well, I have lived in a subaru outback for a few years in the California area. Main reason was cause I loved hiking the Sierra region. The main obstacle I would think is internet connectivity- which can be resolved by starlink (not available at that time) - but I had hotspots and yagi antennas to pull signal. Then i drove into Mexico and lived a couple of years hoppping cities and volcanoes. Then South america. The point is that its doable.
No idea how your brain works but yes, to rent a basic studio as a foreigner in LA, you need $2500 minimum, anywhere in SEA or South America, you’re living like a king/queen on that budget - likely a small villa, eating out daily, doing whatever activities you want.
Visas are also more tricky in the US, at least for me as a European.
Not forget the health care system in America that‘s based on scamming the people.
So many services in the US are a complete scam lol
So many people in this sub are brokies. That’s all I’m seeing.
No visas that would allow such a thing
Let’s be fr, most of the people working remotely in SEA countries don’t have the correct visa to do so. Visas are not the reason why people don’t become DNs in America, it’s cost
Most of us want to be DN’s specifically to travel abroad and have more affordable living.
Americans see a lot of it growing up here visiting friends and family. The only stuff worth seeing is public lands and ghost towns since every town is the same series of strip malls and box stores. There are a few worthwhile cities as well, mostly the priciest.
So either you’re a devoted outdoors person when here or you don’t see much of the good stuff
Oof. Need to travel more. There’s plenty else to see
There’s an entire section of the country that Americans like to call ‘the fly-over states’…
And you’d be foolish to believe it. Those same types of people would never visit southeast Asia
From California. It costs me more to fly from hometown to SF, than it does to fly from SF to Asia. I’ve eaten plenty of solo meals at home for what I’ve paid to fly to whole ass other countries. Living in the US is a scam at every turn. We have absolutely horrid public transport and getting from one destination to another via car can take multiple days which most visitors don’t wrap their heads around until after they arrive thinking they can drive from NYC to the Grand Canyon in a day or something. Probably the biggest reason against the US for most though is that we have by far the most expensive healthcare in the world. If you have to seek medical attention for any reason at all, you better pray you have really great insurance or be prepared to drain your life savings and be in debt until the day you die paying it off.
Please just have even basic health insurance. Don’t be like Mary Lou Retton who for some reason didn’t keep up her premiums, got that rare pneumonia and then had to ask the world for money.