What is Location Independent all about?

Location independence is the future of living, of work and the world. Being location independent means that you are not tied to a particular place, you are free to move, travel, live wherever you want, work wherever you want, and your ties to a location are minimal. Its a lifestyle choice more than anything, and because its relatively new and not quite understood by general society, a new culture and community has sprung up around it.

An almost interchangeable word for location independent is “digital nomad” and this term has become really popular online as an umbrella term for this lifestyle. Personally, I dislike the term; the essence of location independence doesn’t have to be 100% digital, and the word “nomad” implies that you are wandering aimlessly about. This site aims to be your guide to becoming location independent, improving your life and giving you the tricks and tips needed to find new destinations.

Why has this movement happened now?

The location independent movement has been around for some time, but its a culmination of factors that now make it easier to jump in and get started than ever before.

Some of the factors include: Access to the internet and rising global internet speeds, globalisation, the affordability and rise of cheap travel, the on-demand economy (AirBNB, Uber), the digital age of office work, Skype, FaceTime, emails, 4G smartphones, automation, startups and new thinking around productivity and employee happiness. All of these things mean that doing your office-based job can actually be done from your home. And once you can do it from home, what stops you doing it from a hotel, the beach or a coworking space. And then what stops you doing it from a location that is 1 mile away or 10,000 miles away.

The content on this page was written in 2015, many years before the worldwide pandemic. All of it still rings true, all of it’s still correct.

Who are you?

My name is James and I’m currently a location independent entrepreneur. I run several online businesses in various industries and I love coding. I’ve been travelling around since the end of 2014.

I’ve been running my own location independent businesses on and off since 2003 but for various reasons I was pretty much staying in the same place – London. I love London, but I did get a little bored of the grind and city life. For a few years, I was part of a startup, but I realised that life was too short to spend it commuting, living in an expensive city, working for someone else… Personally, I had very few commitments and no dependents. I’d already found minimalism so had very few possessions. It all seemed right to get on the road and combine creating, travelling and self-discovery all in one hit. I felt that I would be stupid to not take this chance and experience a new lifestyle.

Why did you start this website?

I love helping people out. I’m an admin of several Facebook groups about this lifestyle, and I try to answer any questions I can. I contribute to some nomad communities. Very often when trying to help people, the blogs I found were out of date, or only including partial information, or just a way for the author to include affiliate links. I felt it made more sense for me to put my answers in to a blog format myself.

Being from the UK, it annoyed me that every blog I read listed prices in $USD like its the only currency, every packing list was filled with links to Amazon.com or Target.com, every visa question was based out the States, every business or tax question mentioned FATCA… I’d had enough! They didn’t care about people from other places. After a google search, it turns out that no-one really cared about UK folk, as there weren’t many blogs out there at all! So I thought I would start a UK-focused resource, focused on helping UK residents travel, explore, become location independent and discover better ways of doing things. Anyone can read this blog of course, but my priority is helping UK folk. Ask me a question or drop me a message.

Rules and ethics of this website

• If I recommend a product or service, its because I use it myself. Its not because that product has an affiliate system that is paying me money. If I use an affiliate link, it has not affected my opinion of a product or a service.
• I only review places I have been to. I know so many bloggers who fill their pages with “top 5 must do things in X” and have never even been in that country. No link juice or bullshit here.
• I want to help you out. So if you have a question or want me to write about a particular thing, get in touch or leave a comment.