Long Stay Travel: Choices & Tips for Slow Travel
Swapoffi
25 Oct
Years ago, people were lucky to have an annual vacation. Nowadays people like us, digital nomads and remote workers, can live every day on holiday! Thanks to digital nomad visas, digital nomad insurance, wide-spread Wi-Fi and cheap flights, many of us live the dream life of working as we travel.
Many people dream of long stay travel, defined as travelling for at least one month at a time. How do people afford long stay travel? The cost of accommodation is the single biggest cost when it comes to planning travel – this cost can dictate where we travel, how long we stay for, or if we go at all!
What is Slow Travel?
Pre Covid, workers eked out allotted annual vacation days and planned them to the last half day. Bridging your vacation time over long weekends was a common technique to get 10 days off work whilst only using 6 vacation days. Shooting all over the place was possible thanks to low fare airlines.
Those days have changed forever. Remote work means that knowledge workers can be based anywhere. Work is no longer a place. As long as you have robust and reliable Wi-Fi, you can work from anywhere. And so slow travel is no longer solely the domain of retirees or gap year people. If you can do remote work, you can slow travel. You don’t need to separate your work and travel life. You don’t need to cram in weekends away. You can work and travel as a lifestyle.
So, if you are making travel plans for long stays, what are your choices for accommodation for long stays?
Long Stays are Best for Slow Travel
Long Stay Travel for First Time Digital Nomads
If you are new to travel AND you absolutely need reliable Wi-Fi to keep working and keep earning, newbie nomads typically use Airbnb and Booking.com to sort out accommodation in their chosen destination for the first few weeks. This allows them to get their feet on the ground and ask locally about long term accommodation. It can also be a good idea to use some local co-working spaces – most have day passes now – to make connections and get tips from those who have arrived before you.
Long Stay Travel for Experienced Nomads and Experienced Travellers
Experienced nomads tend to prioritise budget over socialising. If they have already travelled for a while, they are comfortable making friends in their own way and at their own speed. They want to maximise their travel budget, as they are travelling for a long time. On average Digital Nomads travel for up to 6 years. So price will always come first when making long stay travel plans.
Hostels are cheap for the first couple of days in a new location, giving time to hustle the local scene to find suitable accommodation.
Long Stay Travel that Works for Everyone
Short term private rentals are always in demand. Why? They are cheaper than hotels for long stay accommodation and many people prefer to stay in real homes to feel like a local rather than a tourist.
There are a couple of constraints with finding short term rental property – availability and legislation. Depending on where you go, legislation can be an important factor to overcome. Cities like Barcelona and New York have introduced legislation with strict rules around short term private accommodation in a bid to protect local people and local property prices. Read our interview with James from 6 years to arm yourself against potential pitfalls that may leave you unwittingly exposed.
Home swaps are the cheapest form of long stay travel, as there are no accommodation costs. Members of home swap communities such as Swapoffi, swap homes with each other instead of paying for accommodation. Swapoffi homes are all different but have one thing in common, they all have a workspace and Wi-Fi. Swapoffi is different to other home swap communities, as we don’t just connect people and homes, we verify them too! Our focus is always on peace of mind for our solo and couple remote workers and digital nomads. It's also important to note that home swapping means you are part of a community of like-minded people. Feel free to ask any questions you want to find the right home office set up, destination and duration you want. It's all free so what’s not to like?
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