A couple of days ago there was a bit of a crisis at our home base here in Haiti. The town we’re in, Gonaives, had run out of gas and a car was sent to Port-au-Price to get some more. Unfortunately, we discovered that there was none to be had in Port-au-Prince either. Aaah Haiti.

We use gasoline to power our generator which, in turn, powers the internet, our electronics and the water pump, among other things. The lack of water would have made us all pretty gross but I’m sure we would have found a way to get water in buckets from nearby pumps. The idea of having no internet or power for a long period of time is what really scared me and it got me thinking about other hurdles that have led to unexpected periods of me being unproductive.

• Travel adaptor breaking in The Philippines - I found myself stranded in legaspi after a four hour flight delay. I had wanted to go to a nearby town called Donsol to be ready to swim with whale sharks the next day but, instead, was trapped in a super crappy hotel. I had brought my laptop with the intention of doing some offline work and was ready to sit down and get loads of stuff done when I realised that my travel adaptor had shat itself. At first I thought it was my power cord so I was releived that it was only the adaptor, but it meant that I couldn’t get a thing done that night because my laptop battery was dead.
• Ordering a meal in a place with broken wifi - This happens all the time but there was a spell in Chang Mai where I kept heading into cafes or restaurants supposedly with wifi, ordering a meal, and then opening my computer to find that the connection didn’t work and nobody knew how to fix it. I seem to get a lot done in cafes and restaurants and I’m always in the mood to work so it’s frustrating to not be able to get online and then have to eat a meal before heading on to another place to try again and order more stuff.
• Wifi but no powerpoints - Hong Kong airports is pretty much devoid of powerpoints except for one I found around a corner near the Ben and Jerry’s place after you go through security, I think. I had a dead battery and needed to get online to get instructions on how to get to my hostel and spent about 30 minutes wandering around the airport looking for a plug in vain.
• Power falures in Bangladesh - The town I was volunteering in in Bangladesh had pretty sporadic electricity and it would usually only be on from about 6pm until 9pm. Even then, it contstantly cut in and out. If my phone and computer were charged I could still do work in the dark but my computer screen would get dive bombed by bugs which made working pretty difficult and sort of gross.

So far these little mishaps are the worst hassles I’ve faced that have caused me not to be able to do the work I wanted to. All are out of my control and annoying, but none are realy that bad and I’m pretty thankful of that. It’s always frustrating when you’re ready to work and some silly thing stops you from reaching your desired results.

Have any of you been frustrated by a silly, small thing on the road that meant that you couldn’t get your work done?

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First up, happy New Year to everyone! I had a great night here in Gonaives, Haiti after a bit of a crazy day getting back here that you can read about on Wanderstruck if you like.

Sorry I haven’t written in a little while, I’ve been taking a break from the mud and have just returned from a week in the Dominican Republic in a small tourist town called Cabarete. The place is everything someone who has been in Haiti for two months could want – easy, organized, stocked with great food and drink options, and equipped with a beautiful sandy beach to relax our sore bones on.

I left the computer behind and enjoyed a week of doing nothing but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t considering it as a possible working destination. On the plus side you have the beauty of the place, cafes and hotels equipped with reasonably fast wifi, lots of people around and decent nightlife, plenty of activities to keep you busy when you want to escape the internet, and a large number of rental options from hotels to apartments to a surf camp hostel.

On the downside, Cabarete is very touristy and accommodation is expensive and food was a lot more than I expected. I attempted to find accommodation on the internet but couldn’t find much for less than $17 to $20 per night. Once we arrived in town we found a place smack in the middle of the action and across the road from the beach for $10 per person. Cheap by most standards but not the bargain that Asia can offer. Plus, to get this price we crammed four people into two double beds. Had I been travelling by myself, I think I would have been lucky to get a place for $10 per night unless I tried to wrangle a long term deal or stayed in the off season.

All up, I had a great time in this place and it was the perfect way to unwind from the craziness of Haiti. Cabarete is small enough of a place to feel like a town rather than a tourist resort similar to the ones that can be found all around the Dominican Republic. People seem friendly and I think a stop here would be worthwhile, especially for people who are into kite or wind surfing.

I’ll post my December earnings tomorrow and I hope 2009 will see a turnaround in my sliding earnings. All the best in 2009!

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Being able to work from anywhere (cheap) in the world means that I’m always on the lookout for potential places to live for longer periods of time. That paradise island with free fast wifi, great bars with live music, a lively expat scene, easy access to other interesting areas etc etc etc. Everyone has their own set of ‘must haves’ and I would always compare this list in my head with the places I was in to see if it coule be somewhere I’d like to unpack my back for awhile.

Besides Beijing and Bangaldesh, I didn’t spend longer than a week in any one place which is kind of surprising given my love of lazing around and taking things slow. I came across a couple of places I could have seen myself staying a long time in but it just never worked out that way. So here is my shockingly small list of places in Asia I could definitely live in for much longer than a week.

Yangshuo, China

This place is a total tourist town but it’s beautiful and has a lot going for it including a large population of expats, lots of bars and restaurants, plenty of countryside to expore, and good internet connections (for China). It’s also relatively (again, for China) close to hong Kong for making any visa runs. Plus if the internet earnings start to take a dive or if I wanted to save a bit more money, there are lots of opportunities here for English teaching. You can even volunteer to chat with students for a couple hours four nights and week in exchange for food and accommodation if you want to cut your costs.

Pai, Thailand

This is aother touristy place but I loved it. Like Yangshuo, there is a lot to keep you busy in the areas around town and some really good live music at the bars. There are loads of restaurants and bars around town and a few expats around too. Lots of the Thai people in Pai seemed to be from somewhere else and they’re pretty friendly so if you make an effort it would robaby be possible to end u with a nice group of Thai friends. Especially if you play an instrument or like reggae. Most of the restaurants and hotels have wifi (sometimes free, sometimes not) that is pretty fast and there seemed to be a few signs offering up houses for rent but Im not sure of the prices. Chang Mai is about 3 hours by bus and Myanmar and Laos are nearby too for any visa runs. I got loads of work down here sitting on the balcony of my bamboo hut watching the river flow by.

Manila, Philippines

This one is probably a bit of a shock for most people but I had a great time in Manila. But it was less about the city and more about the people I met there and where I was staying. I made friends with the guy who runs Friendly’s Guesthouse and had a group of people to hang out with at night (and play poker). Manila is a great example of how the place you are might not matter as much as the people who are there with you. I could have stayed there for a lot longer than I did. Fast net connection, great working area on the hostel’s roof top, nice people to keep me company and have a beer with and, though the city isnt really known for being that nice a place, I started to warm to it in the end.

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Every once in awhile bloggers like to make little posts about their work spaces. They post photos of their massive monitors (sometimes two), super huge desks crammed with important looking things, and sometimes even a strategically placed snowboard or some other cool type thing in the background.

Sadly, I have no workspace. Happily, I have many! So I thought a post with photos and little blurbs about my workspaces so far might be interesting. Some of my working spots so far have been inspiring, some have been depressing, but the beauty is that I didn’t have to be at any of them from 9 to 5. One thing I have realised though is that working from anywhere isn’t always practical.

Here they are, most recent first:

Airport - Shenzhen, China
China never ceases to amazing me with its free wifi and airports always seem to have a free signal floating around which is great. Too bad I spent most of my time trying to nap away a hangover rather than getting work done. I wish other world airports would get going witht the free wifi thing… come on Heathrow!

Mix - Soho, Hong Kong
This place is great. Fresh fruit juices, healthy, tasty food, free wifi, comfy chairs, air-conditioning, friendly staff, and there are loads of other wireless workers here too so I don’t feel like a big nerd sitting by myself and typing away. They even have a guy playing live guitar on Saturdays. If there’s one in Beijing I am going to have to find it.     

Garden Hostel - Kowloon, Hong Kong
It ain’t pretty but it’s an ok place to stay and there’s a garden area to plunk down and do some work. The patio furniture isn’t exactly comfortable but it beats working on my bed. If you need some distraction then there is a martial arts school on weeknights and they bust out the karaoke machine on Sunday afternoons.      

Bingo Hostel - Fenghuang, China
My travel buddy and fellow wifi addict found this place after combing the streets of Fenghuang. I decided to stay an extra five days because of the great working environment. There’s wifi access in the room and space to work and all for 25 yuan per night (under US$4). Their smelly dog wanted to befriend me which was distracting.    

Peasant Hotel - Langde, China
Located in a tiny village that is popular with day trippers, there really was seriously nothing to do at night. So I hid away in my room, enjoyed the silence and typed away. Not the most exciting evening, but it’s good to have some peace and quiet now and then. I had the giant spiders to keep me company and the roosters in the (early!) morning.            

National Hostel - Chengyang, China
This place had no wifi but the rooms were cheap at 30 yuan per night, the setting beside the river was beautiful, and I managed to rig up a desk by pulling a small table over to my bed. The hostel did have a really fast net connection and the hugest monitor I’ve ever seen so uploading work would have been possible.                 

Cafe - Dazhai, China
This place served great food and it seemed like I was the only one ever in there so I got plenty of quiet time. No wifi but the view was one of the best views I’ve ever had while working. I was tempted to spend all of my time just staring out at the rice terraces though.    

Apartment - Yangshuo, China
I volunteered at an English school for a week in Yangshuo and got free accommodation thrown into the mix. The room was equipped with a desk but no wifi. My roommate was an artist and tended to take over the desk most nights but I usually spent my nights at the bars and worked during the day so it was no problem.                 

Apartment - Beijing, China
It seems like all of the wifi I’ve encountered on my travels is faster than what I have in my apartment in Beijing. I always have problems uploading files with FTP. Things seem to stall a lot. But I’m all set up there with a desk in my room, food in the fridge, air-con pumping and access to books and other resources that help me get things done.                 

Yes Inn - Hong Kong Island
This hostel had fre wifi that oozed into the rooms. I made a makeshift desk, sat on the floor and I was in a six bed dorm so had a couple of people around to keep me company. One girl put on some music and it was a great environment to get stuff done, despite my increasingly sore ass from sitting on the floor.                 

Travellers Friendship Hostel - Kowloon, Hong Kong
This place was a hell hole! Terrible staff, scary toilets, prison cell rooms. There was free wifi but you could only access it from the hallway in front of the elevators and there were no tables. I had to plunk onto the floor and use a plastic stool as a desk under the watchful eye of the evil owner. Never stay here!                

Matahari Lodge - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A brand new hostel, this place was spotless. It had what looked like a nice working environment complete with a balcony but I did most of my work from my room. I’m not sure why because working on a bed is never comfortable and the room, as you can see with the modern look, wasn’t exactly inspiring.                 

Father’s Guesthouse - Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
A nice hostel with wifi, lots of spaces to work and some very rainy weather all meant that I got plenty done in the Cameron Highlands with a bit of hiking in between. Having lots of choice of where to work is great. The TV in the common room was noisy but there were lots of other nooks and crannies to escape to.   

D’Lagoon - Perentian Islands, Malaysia
Ah the hammock on a beach shot. It seems to be what people think of when they dream of working from anywhere. Let me be the first to tell you that it doesn’t work. It’s super uncomfortable and attempting to look at the laptop while sitting in the hammock totally killed my neck. But it certainly looks impressive.  

Trekker Lodge - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I really liked this place despite it not looking like anything special. The staff were super friendly and the common area was filled with nice people. It just had a great vibe about it and I was surprised I enjoyed it so much. It had free wifi but I spent more time chatting with people than working.  

Some Hotel - Dhaka, Bangladesh
This place had no wifi but I had my handy, dandy net connection through my mobile phone so that was ok. They had great food and even a Western toilet but staff liked to come in without knocking. The do that in Bangladesh. I got lots done because I didn’t want to venture outside to the chaos that is Dhaka.  

Hands On Headquarters - Rayenda, Bangladesh
Of all the places I’ve been online, this has to be the most remote. I never would have expected to be able to get online from rural Bangladesh and I was amazed to get a signal from somewhere not even on any maps, not even local ones! The power cut out all the time but I still got lots done.  

Greenhouse B&B - Dhaka, Bangladesh
This place promised a net connection but I never did get it to work. It didn’t matter though because I was online in no time once I bought a mobile phone. The guesthouse was super nice complete with a Western toilet, meals with the family and a huge room with a giant desk. I felt like I was back at home. Who would have thought?  

Enigmata - Camiguin, Philippines
This was one of the most unique places I’ve ever stayed. Built into an old tree with loads of character, it had lots of places to escape to do work. It had great food and friendly staff to party with. The place has a really creative vibe and it’s impossible not to be inspired. If it had wifi I might still be there now.  

Nuts Huts - Bohol, Philippines
Another beautiful, peaceful place with great food and not much else to do besides meet people and get down to some serious work. No wifi here either though but I managed to sort out photos and do some writing. I did most of my work in the cafe which overlooks the forest but I forgot to take a photo of it.  

Frendz Resort - Boracay, Philippines
My first attempt at working in a beautiful, tropical location went well. This hostel was just far away from the beach not to have in tempt me, and had a good wifi connection, nice working area on the front porch of my room, and a bar nearby serving up tasty beverages. The owner is nice and it was a great place to get stuff done.   

Friendly’s Guesthouse - Manila, Philippines
I loved this place. The guy who runs it, Benji, is so welcoming and friendly. He puts on a free wine and cheese night every Saturday and always parties with the guests who all seemed to be really interesting when I was there. The balcony is a great spot to work and meeting people is easy. I’d go back there in a second.  

I wish I had more photos of my laptop poolside or on the beach, but the reality is that working without a desk is really awkward and unproductive for me. Although, that said, I seem to spend an awful lot of time working from my bed which is only good for one thing - easy access to napping. 

What’s the most beautiful, craziest or impractical place you’ve ever worked? Is there anywhere you got a net connection you never would have imagined would be possible?

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The Good: Yes Inn

When I say that this hostel is good, I mean relatively. It’s really not that great a place, just the best of a bad lot. There’s no common area besides a couch in front of the reception desk but it has free internet (including free wifi that oozes its way into the rooms), helpful staff, and the rooms don’t feel like prison cells.

I met a few people here and had a good time at the hostel. It always seems to be booked so if you want to stay here, make sure to make a reservation well in advance. It’s located on Hong Kong island across the road from the Fortress Hill MTR stop so is a bit away from the action. But it’s handy enough and there’s a supermarket across the road to stock up on cheap eats.

Work wise, I was able to get a lot done here. The dorm rooms are pretty small but I made some space on the floor in front of my bed, pulled over a small table and went to town. It helped that there were a couple of other girls in the room who decided to spend most of the day hanging out in the hostel so I didn’t feel like such a nerd and had people to chat to when I wanted.

The Bad: The Entire 11th Floor of Mirador Mansion

This place is a strange one. I thought I booked into Travellers Friendship Hostel but was instead put into a different hostel called New Garden. Both of these hostels are simply hallways going off a main hallway with different names affixed to the hall entrance. Each ‘hostel’ (hallway) has a handful of rooms and one of the halls is used as a dorm room. This is also a walkway to a balcony, the internet cafe, laundry room and only has a curtain separating it from the main hall. I was happy I wasn’t stuck in here.

The ‘reception area’ (main hallway) consisted of a plastic table in front of the elevators. The desk was manned by what looked like a father, mother, daughter combo of the most surly, nasty, unhelpful kind. It seemed like the check-in for all of the ‘hostels’ on this floor were done at that desk. I suspect they have loads of different hostel names to get a bigger slice of the pie when people search for hostels online. If they’ve got 10 ‘hostels’ there is a larger chance a traveller will pick one of theirs. It’s actually a good idea but not exactly ethical.

Because the wifi juice could only be received in the elevator area, I spent several hours parked on the floor in front of the reception desk attempting to work. I witnessed loads of people come to the hostel to check in, ask questions or complain about various problems. All of them were met with a rude reception and the hostel tended to blame most of its booking problems on Hostelworld.com. There were many, many booking problems.

The Ugly: Garden Hostel

Not to be confused with the New Garden Hostel which is located on the notorious 11th floor of Mirador Mansion, this hostel is actually reasonably ok. If doesn’t look like much but the staff are nice, the dorms have air conditioning pumping through them, the sheets are clean-ish and there’s a great garden area in the back complete with wifi and people practising martial arts. I loved working here. There’s something about the rhythm of people practising punches and kicks that really gets me into a relaxed mood.

At HK$70 per night for a dorm bed, it’s pretty affordable for Hong Kong. It’s also located on Nathan Road in Kowloon which is in the thick of all the action and a good spot to be if you have to sort out a Chinese visa. It’s one of the few places with a common area and good for meeting people.

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Village hopping around China is great for relaxation and even better for the budget but not so good for the whole website updating thing. Some places I visited had the internet but none had wifi which made getting much work done pretty hard for me.

So I arrived in Fenghuang (a large village in Hunan under siege by Chinese tourists) not expecting there to be any wifi but still hoping for the best. My Chinese friend I have been travelling arrived a few days before me and, fortunately for me, she’s also got a computer and is always on the hunt for wireless internet. She combed the streets for two days before finally finding a bar called Greenstone along the river with a dubious connection, terrible coffee and a menu consisting of peanuts and popcorn. Not really an ideal choice but better than nothing.

With nothing really keeping me in Fenghuang, I was ready to head straight to Hong Kong to catch up on some work, drink Frappuccinos and figure out a way back to Beijing. But my Chinese friend didn’t give up on her hunt for a good wifi connection in a nice setting and two days ago she stumbled onto a place called Bingo, a cafe and guesthouse set in a supercool, old wooden building and, most importantly, equipped with a great wifi connection. The food is pretty average and the milkshakes are inexplicably warm, but the six bed dorm is empty besides us and there are workspaces aplenty for me to hide away in and get stuff done.

I’ve decided to stay a few more nights because I’m being uncharacteristically productive here. It’s bizarre. I think I got more done yesterday than I did all of July combined. When motivation rears its head at the same time as I find a great place to work, good things can happen so I’m in no rush to move on, especially since I know how terrible hostels in Hong Kong are.

So for the next few days I’m going to be a hermit and I’m not going to feel guilty about it. I’ve found a great place to work so I just need to hope my motivation sticks with me.

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I arrived in Yangshuo this morning and I’m pretty knackered. I’ve been out for a little look around and so far so good except for the ridiculous humidity and nearly getting pick pocketed. It’s a beautiful little place and touristy as hell but that’s ok since having a lively traveller scene usually means a lively bar scene and that’s always good as far as I’m concerned.

I’m hear to volunteer myself as a talking head. I speak English with some Chinese students nightly for 2 hours and in return I get free accommodation, lunch and dinner, and Chinese lessons a couple times per week. I also have to throw in a 50 minute speech on a topic of my choice once per week which might be challenging but I’ve never minded public speaking so it’ll be good to get back into practice. Good and kind of scary.

This morning I was taken to a semi-scary room in an apartment block. It was in a nice enough area but the room was really dingy and musty and everything felt sort of damp. I’ve since been moved to a new room because they need that other room for a couple who are arriving. Ah shucks. So now I’m sharing with a nice French girl in a much nicer room that is part of an apartment shared by some permanent teachers and Chinese admin staff. When I was in the scary, musty room I was sure that I would be booking a hostel instead. But now that I’m in a nice room with an interesting roomie I’m a bit less inclined to want to run to a hostel.

The major problem with boths rooms is a lack of wifi. I will be doing the English speaking thing each night at 6:30pm which gives me the days to do what I want. I plan to do some exploring but would also like to get some work done and the no wifi thing is a killer for me.

The net cafe I’m in now is dark which is ok, and quiet which is unlike Asia. The problem is that it’s smokey and they don’t seem to have space for people to work with their own laptops. So I’m still contemplating a move to a hostel and wishing I hadn’t seen the new room because my decision would have been a lot easier otherwise!

Maybe I’ll have a little experiment for the next week or two and see what I can accomplish without constant internet access. I feel like I’ve been in antisocial mode for a bit too long lately anyways so perhaps I should pack the laptop away altogether and see what chaos unfolds both online and in real life.

So if I don’t check in for a few days you know what I’ve decided!

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If you ever find yourself at the airport in Hong Kong with the intention of getting some serious work done I have a bit of advice. If you find a power point, cling to it like your life depends on it. This place is devoid of all power. So while there’s a free wifi connection floating around, it’s not much use if you’ve arrived with a dead battery.

The only one I managed to find is in Terminal 1 and it was sweet. It was behind a coffee place and next to a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream place. Oh ya! Comfy chairs, nice quiet place to work because it’s tucked away and there was a table to spread out on. Only one power point in there though so if someone else is there then you’re out of luck. I had to evacuate to use the toilet and then decided to check in and head into the rest of the airport assuming there would be other places to plug in. Nope. I should have stayed at my secret little ice cream and power point hideaway for longer.

Gotta go. Power… running… out…

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I’m not that big a fan of Starbucks. Actually, that’s not true. I like to think I don’t like Starbucks and globalisation and blah blah blah but the reality of it is that I love frappuccinos too much to ever turn my back on the big ‘Bucks. Now I love their wifi too. I’m a lost cause and I don’t even drink coffee! Oh the shame.

I felt like I was starting to look like too much of a nerd at the hostel, always sitting in the lobby, laptop perched on my lap and looking all busy and stuff. So I decided to take my nerdy escapades on the road and am now sitting in a Starbucks in downtown Kuala Lumpur.

I’ve got a comfy chair, corner location, spacious table and the holy grail of mobile workers - a power point next to me. There are yummy smells swirling around me, chilled out tunes blaring out of the speakers, other nerds all around to detract from my own nerdiness, and access to the finest of all icy beverages, the delightful but expensive mocha frappuccino.

With all these distractions I never would have expected to be able to get much done but it turns out that I’m being pretty productive. I’ve booked some hostels, written a few blog posts, eaten a banana muffin, altered a few images, drank a frappuccino, emailed my mum, read a few blogs, and have even managed to fix some tricky coding type things.

I think I’ll stick around for awhile longer. There’s something about the background noise and hustle bustle of the other customers that makes working here pretty easy. I think I’ll settle in for another couple of hours and see what else I can accomplish.

I suppose I should buy something else at some point. Damn you Starbucks, why do I love you so?

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I’m still amazed each day at how well the internet works here in rural Bangladesh. Power up my computer, plug in my phone and away I go. In theory.

In reality, working here is quite difficult partly because the power goes out for several hours each night and flying bugs attack my computer screen leaving rather offputting smears across the screen when I smoosh them. The main problem, though, is that I haven’t been able to find a work space that suits me.

There’s a recent post over on Working Nomad that talks about being able to work better with people around. I’m the opposite as I tend to get distracted pretty easily when interesting people are around and find myself preferring to join in on conversations rather than sit in front of my computer typing madly. The place I’m staying at the moment houses about 25 volunteers in a relatively small space so finding a quiet space to work is pretty much impossible.

Even worse for me though is the lack of comfortable places to set all my stuff up. There aren’t really many tables around and the ones they do have are all really low to the ground and awkward. I’ve either got to hunch over in a ridiculous position or sit on a cold, concrete floor to be at the same level as the table.

The uncomfortable setup is more of a hindrance because I really like to work in long spurts and being forced to contort into some bizarre position will just leave me sore and fed up after an hour or so.

Crap, the power has just gone out again and I have bug guts all over my screen from squashing mosquitos so I think I’ll call it a night. Another unproductive night… damn.

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