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Coding Out of a Van in New Zealand

Mike on November 07, 2019

We all know about remote jobs and how productive you can still be outside of an office setting. But what about working remotely? And I mean really ...
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Sponno - AskNicely

Hey Mike,

When you come by auckland you should come say "hi", I run a software company in Ponsonby Auckland and have some pretty fast wifi outside my house if you are keen to park on the street for a night or two.

I also have working from a van (a bit). I bought a van earlier this year and have been loving travelling around NZ! I'm heading to the south island over xmas this year for a few weeks, so I might take some inspiration from your photos.

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Mike

Hey Sponno,

Thanks for the gracious offer! I might take you up on that if I swing by the area. South Island is going to be amazing down there! I spent the tail end of the winter there, and it was still a tad chilly (in the negative C). Cheers!

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Sponno - AskNicely

Hey Mike,

Awesome, swing by when you are back here. follow me on Twitter (@sponno ) and we can message there.

Looking forward to your updates. John.

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Carlos Garcia ★

My experience is not as extreme as yours, but a job that lets you work remotely or "from home" is a beautiful benefit. I live in Mexico and I've had the chance to travel my country and work from different big cities, small towns, the beach, and I even got to travel abroad, know different places, and keep working anywhere. I even got to visit Sweden!

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Mike

Glad to hear it! The world is too large to stay in the same spot for too long.

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Ryan Dunn

Hey Mike,

I really enjoyed this, I've done a fair bit of hiking and living out of a van in my life but never combined it successfully with my software dev work. It's really inspiring to see something like this, especially when my life is so ingrained in the city right now, so thanks.

I'd love to know a bit more about how you made the transition to working like this if you get the time.

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simz • Edited

Hi mike,
Nice post, i'm currently in new zealand looking for a job as software engineer .; well , i'm not interested to go back in europe; if never you know some opportunities.
I work with reactjs / apollo / prisma and gatsby . I know Vue as well, and develop on it now for 1 Year
github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/tree/ma...

Thanks

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Ben Fox

Well done, that is awesome :). I've done 2 years remote but I was switching AirBNB places up every 3 months or so and only did a month out of a van in NZ. Props to you as this is a great post!

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Mike

Thanks Ben! I enjoyed staying in airbnbs in large cities where getting around was no issue, but I couldn't sit still in New Zealand! Where have you been in your two years?

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bwb profile image
Ben Fox

Yep, I hear you, so many amazing things to see :)

I did 2 years where I did the first 6 months between Panama in a small town for a few weeks, a month in Cusco Peru, two months in Buenos Aires, and a month in Chile. Then I met my brother for a year in Melbourne Australia. Followed by six months, with a few weeks in Hong Kong, 2 months in Split Croatia, 2 months in Freiburg Germany, and a month in Scotland.

When my wife and I got married we did a year two, with 3 months in Nice France, 3 months in Split Croatia, 3 months in Nottingham England, and 3 months in Vienna Austria.

Great times :)

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Sebastian Linares L.

Wow, this was kind of an "inception" for me, lol. Loved the photos in your IG 👏🏽📸

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Mike

Haha thank you!

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Chris Bertrand

Awesome! kudos for doing it, and for writing this post! Inspirational!

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Mike

Thanks! Just hoping to inspire a few!

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Christie Metson

This is epic, thank you for sharing Mike! I've dabbled in remote working, but this is next level. Were you freelancing or working for a company full time while on the road?

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Mike

Happy to share! I've been with my current company for the past 5 years, only have been remote for the past 6 months - but yes! Still full time.

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Cornea Florin

Woow, awesome lifestyle!

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Edwind Richzendy

Awesome! thanks for sharing your experience, how about the social relationships there? why you don't use co-working places?

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Mike

I've got some friends luckily in the Auckland area. Aside from that, I've been meeting a ton of tourists from around the world and hanging with them for a few days to a week at a time. I probably have 20+ connections from Germany alone so far!

Co-working It's a bit tricky in New Zealand as there are not many large cities aside from Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington. And keeping mobile for photography is one of my motivations in staying in a van. I did do quite a bit of co-working in Australia when I was more city-based.

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Dana Ottaviani

Very inspirational, thanks for sharing.

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Robert Kingston

Nice photo up on Roy's peak!

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Mike

Thanks! Woke up at 2am to hike that to catch the sunrise...but was worth it!

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Nick Ardecky

Great share. I can only imagine how good "CamperMate" sounds being said with an accent... I'm from the states.

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Mike

Oh yeah, it's even better when you extend that mate. CamperMaaaaate.

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spuccia

What a wonderful job!

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Alex Valdez

that's cool. how long do you plan to stay in nz?

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Mike

Not too much longer! Just finishing up 3 months and off to the next adventure.

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Catherine Edwards

Hey hey Mike! Inspiring and excellent post! If you're ever in Wellington, would love to host you :)

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Mike

Hey Catherine! Oh Wellington is amazing! I don't think I'll be stopping by again on this trip, but will touchbase if I'm back in New Zealand!

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Drew Town

Great pictures! NZ is one of my must visits. I can't say camper life is necessarily for me but I could probably do a few days in one. 😊

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Mike

Thanks! I'd definitely give it a go for a few nights. NZ is very spread out and the campervans allow you to visit remote places. That being said, there are some quite luxurious campervan/RV options and some nice resort-style campsites with amenities.

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Marcelim Rondón

This is amazing, can't wait to hear more about your journey!

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Hossein Nedaee

So amazing
Hope for buying a van and a remote job

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Nienke

WOW! Goals :) I love NZ, would love to move there.