If you can work remotely, Barbados want you to come and stay for a year

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/09/if-you-can-work-remotely-barb.html

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“Your work can be done remotely, but your money will be spent physically. Here. In Barbados!”

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What are the internet speeds?

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That would be my first question, too. I’m effectively a “digital nomad” for about half of any given year, and while this has sparked my interest as an option for the winter months it would be a non-starter if they don’t offer decent broadband.

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I had a friend that did this. The island is very small. He loved it. But he was very happy to get back to the mainland.

It was getting on to be decades ago, but he mentioned something like the feeling of if something went wrong … there from hurricane or natural disaster … where would he go ? There is no where to run to in emergency.

And I seem to remember but am too lazy to look up that the lack of an armed rebellion for independence has left a very peaceful vibe on the island.

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21 miles in length, up to 14 miles in width, 167 square miles. Population 287,000.

That’s… maybe too small of an island for my taste.

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Yeah I seem to remember him talking about driving on “the road” on the island.

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Yeah, right.

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And with a year’s residence, your income taxes?

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Is that the German equivalent of a Rick-roll? :wink:

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Isn’t that St Lucia in the picture?

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I don’t really understand what they are offering other than an invite to “go and stay”. That can be done “anywhere”. Do they make Visas easier? What about income tax? Or will they arrange for a place to stay? What?

Sounds like they’re letting you stay for 12 months visa-free. Most countries I’ve visited only let you stay 90 days at a time without applying for a visa (or, even if you have a visa, often there’s a limit on how long each visit can last for visitor/business visas).

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Click-through for sites like Numbeo included.

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Okay, but what’s in it for me? All right apart from the sun-kissed landscape, the cool laid back-way of life, the pace, the sunshine from morn till eve, the warmth of the island and the people, the dusky maidens who are of course autonomous beings in their own right. Apart from that, what’s in it for me?

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Way back when, I had an offer to do some IT work for a financial services company that was based somewhere warm and tropical - I honestly can’t remember where but I’m sure it was a tax haven. I’m fairly certain it wasn’t Barbados. If you hear alarm bells going off, I probably should have too, but I was in my early-to-mid-20s and the idea of making good money living in a tropical paradise was hard to say no to. Fortunately, I did have the good sense to track down someone who worked there who would give me an honest estimate of what it was like. The summary was basically “It starts out fun but then you realize that there’s nothing to do but go to the beach, get drunk and sleep with tourists. Everyone who works here is a divorced alcoholic”. The last part was probably an exaggeration for comedic effect, but it was enough to put me off the idea.

Again though, I am pretty sure it wasn’t Barbados, so maybe Barbados is awesome.

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That’s so hot. Autonomous beings are the sexiest beings!

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Hmm, I think you’re right. I thought I remembered Barbados being a lot flatter, not that I saw all of it. (Although as others have mentioned, it’s pretty darn small, so one would probably have a hard time not seeing a mountain of that size).