Interview with Cody McKibben, Nomadic Entrepreneur

Cody McKibben popped onto my radar a few months ago and his way of life quickly resonated with my own goals.

For all the details about who Cody actually is it’s probably best to just read his own mini autobiography, but for the lazy out there, here’s the gist of why he’s such an interesting fellow:

• Moved from California to Bangkok, Thailand, and has been living there for 9+ months
• Runs a location independent consulting business and shares his thoughts on a blog
• Is living the life he wants to lead

…oh, and he also makes for a damn good interview too, as you’ll see with his very detailed responses.

Having lived in Thailand for quite a few months now, what advice would you offer to people interested in living there for the first time? Do you have any money saving tricks or things you’d wished someone had told you before you’d arrived?

In 2007, I quit my office job and started working as a “digital nomad”—doing freelance WordPress development from home, the coffee shop, or on the road. For the last 9 months, I’ve worked with clients around the globe and chose to run my business and live here in Bangkok because I had a long time interest in Thailand, I’d wanted to live abroad somewhere as different as I could for at least a year, I’m close to a beach-side paradise when I need an occasional escape, and my close friend Dwight Turner (founder of In Search Of Sanuk) is nearby.

The cost-of-living here really is extremely low, and especially if you can live out of two backpacks or less, practice a minimal lifestyle, and enjoy the Thai-style living standards and street food for instance, you can really experience a rich lifestyle for very little here. The biggest cultural differences to be aware of are probably the relaxed “mai pen rai” attitude, the non-confrontational nature of Thais, the stupid crazy driving habits on Bangkok’s roadways, and very different concepts about gender roles and sexual identity (which can be very off-putting at first but you get used to it). Thailand is much more developed and Westernized in many ways than I expected it to be, and at the same time both extremely Buddhist and reverent to its King (you will see temples, monks, and portraits of the King everywhere). It is a fascinating, confusing place that continues to provide fun mysteries and adventures for me! There are a few basic phrases it would be wise to learn if you plan to stay here very long, and some social norms you should be respectful of, but in general it is very easy to get around without knowing Thai language, and the people are very friendly, helpful, and understanding of the vast cultural differences there are with the West!

How is Thailand, and Bangkok specifically suited for a location independent lifestyle? What is your internet connection like (and how do you stay connected?) and have you faced any unexpected technical problems because of your location?

If you’ve read Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Workweek and you’re interested in some of the unconventional strategies he recommends, I’d say that Thailand is one of the best spots to run a location-independent business and experiment with geoarbitrage: when you earn in a strong currency like US dollars, Pounds Sterling, or Euros, and live somewhere where the cost of food, rent, and goods is much lower. My rent is about $250 US and I can live very well if I’m able to earn a minimum of just $750-1000/month, so I actually have much more free time where I can choose to focus on my passions that don’t generate income—travel, great time spent with friends, writing, and volunteering.

The infrastructure here is nothing compared to North America or Europe, if you’re used to that. So staying connected can be challenging at times. But, if you settle in one place—as I have, by keeping a small apartment in the center of town—it is easy to get a fairly reliable high-speed DSL connection. Bangkok and many more developed parts of the country also have a solid EDGE mobile data network if you bring along an iPhone or smart phone. The pace of business here is much more relaxed and much slower than the West when things go wrong, so always have a plan B, always know where you can find an internet cafe or co-working spot, always back up your files, and always have something productive you can focus on if you lose your Wifi connection for a bit.

What are your gadgets of choice and how have they affected your travel? Do you ever feel bogged down with your gadgets (specifically your laptop)? What are some ways you make sure you actually see and experience the countries you visit, instead of getting completely lost in your work?

I use my jailbroken iPhone, paired with Skype and a cheap local SIM card, to stay in touch with local friends and clients around the world via email and Twitter. Thankfully, I let my best friend talk me into getting one of the new one-piece aluminum Apple MacBooks, which has saved my ass on more than one occasion when I’ve dropped my laptop or it’s been roughed up. It’s lightweight and sturdy, two important characteristics you should look for if you plan to carry a laptop around with you in your travel backpack, work on the beach, or anything like that. I also carry an external backup hard drive, as well as use Mozy to connect remotely and do web-based backups.

Speaking of working from the beach, it’s not all hammocks, palm trees, and cocktails on the beach. I still want to leave a big, positive impact on the world, so I work hard, just like anyone else. I do get to travel much more frequently than I did back home, but you have to be very disciplined to get your projects done, you have to budget, and you have to set deadlines and stick to them, and then set aside certain times when you can explore your foreign surroundings or go for a short trip—I get to travel abroad at least once every three months to see things like the Angkor Wat ruins and the remnants of the Khmer Rouge killing fields in Cambodia, the futuristic skyline of Hong Kong, or the Petronas Twin Towers and delicious nasi kandar street food of Kuala Lumpur, and I’ll go on occasional road trips within Thailand to spend a few weeks enjoying the gorgeous white sand beaches and limestone cliffs in Krabi, or visit an orphanage in Chonburi and spend time with the kids.

Is there an average day for Cody McKibben? What general patterns do you follow in terms of both work and general life? Are there times where you disconnect from your business or do you follow the always-on approach?

If I’m not running around traveling, I do tend to work at least a few hours almost every day most weeks. I keep funny hours since I’ve never been able to wake up before 10am and remain happy. I am much more productive in the late evening and early morning when there are fewer distractions, and I can be available for customers in the western hemisphere if necessary, so I’ve embraced my late hours and will frequently work until 3–4am. Most mornings I try not to jump immediately into my email inbox; I try to catch up on some reading, some local news, and check in on distant friends via Facebook or Twitter. Then I’ll set aside 2 to 3 solid hours at a time where I try to keep laser focus on work and cut out distractions. In the evenings I frequently have a delicious street food meal with friends—spicy fried basil and pork over rice, or fried flat noodles with chicken, greens & egg. Sometimes I’ll grab a beer at one of Bangkok’s many watering holes with friends I’ve made through the Bangkok Tweetups, Couchsurfing, or Beercamp, and then I tend to return home and do another few hours of laser-targeted focus on writing or turning out some productive work. On weekends, I frequently help my friend Dwight organize and promote Twitter meetups, charity mixer parties, and other volunteer-related events around Bangkok through his organization In Search of Sanuk.

How did moving abroad affect your business? Were you motivated to maintain your lifestyle and therefore work harder/smarter or were you distracted by the new and exciting environment? Could you share solutions to any problems you faced?

If you select the right destination and leverage that idea of geoarbitrage, I think you are working smarter already. I’m able to live a much fuller, richer lifestyle here in Thailand than I could back in California, for a much smaller price tag. I’m able to spend more time making friends, organizing events, traveling, and giving back through volunteering.

The biggest challenges for making a move to location independence for me were mostly in my head, and I found that the problems were easier to overcome than I thought they would be. The single biggest obstacle in my transition was actually just thinking about it so much before I actually did it. I turned my move abroad, and taking my business with me, into this insurmountable mountain of a goal and made it a bigger challenge in my mind than it actually was.

I think most people will find that once you just get going, get on the road, you’ll increase the rate at which you learn, you’ll be forced to become more resourceful, and it will be easier to get used to your new surroundings than you initially thought. New surroundings, a different language, and different social norms are things which you will learn through necessity, and I think travel and expat life will actually make you think quicker on your feet, be more creative, and more open to new experiences and new people. One of my biggest fears was that I would spend a year in solitude here—but instead I found that there are tons of other people all in the same boat, and that as expats living outside our home country, and as travelers, we tend to be more open to each other, helping each other out and making friends with a wide range of interesting, diverse folks you might not typically befriend back home. I actually have an even bigger, stronger network and some really great, influential friends I wouldn’t have had if I chose not to travel abroad.

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