April 19, 2024
Destination Bulgaria: Entrepreneurs & Digital Nomads Head To Bankso, With Uwe Allgäuer
Today we travel to the Eastern edge of the Remote Work Europe territory, to the heart of Bulgaria's digital nomad revolution. I chat with Uwe Allgäuer , the mastermind behind the Bansko Digital Nomad Festival, and business formation service My Start Bulgaria. We discuss the transformation of a quaint ski town into a bustling hub for entrepreneurs and adventurers. Uwe's personal voyage from the high seas to pioneering a co-working community in Bansko, and an annual festival which gets bigger and better year on year.
We also touch on Bulgaria's enticing fiscal regime, discussing the nitty-gritty of setting up shop in this welcoming country. Whether you're an EU citizen or from further afield this episode is a treasure trove of insights on how to seamlessly integrate into the digital nomad lifestyle.
The core of our conversation steers toward the practicalities and perks of making Bansko your business base, or home away from home. Uwe generously shares his wisdom on overcoming bureaucratic hurdles to access Bulgaria's favourable tax rates. We emphasize the significance of planting roots with a paper trail and tax residency somewhere, for those unforeseen twists in life, while also celebrating Bansko's emergence as a year-round sanctuary for the digitally inclined. The town's unique melding of serene nature and a vibrant community creates an environment where both personal and professional connections flourish.
To wrap up we anticipate the 2024 Bansko Nomad Festival – an event where the entrepreneurial borderless spirit is showcased against the town's stunning natural canvas. Hear about the serendipitous collaborations and spontaneous businesses that spring forth from this gathering of minds.
If the promise of rich face-to-face networking and a diverse array of experiences (including a keynote from Maya on remote collaboration) appeals to you, then get over to https://www.banskonomadfest.com/ and use the discount code MayaRWE_bnf24 at the checkout for a 10% discount!
And do connect with Uwe at https://www.linkedin.com/in/uweallg/ to keep up with all his exciting projects and announcements.
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Chapters
00:05 - Bansko Digital Nomad Festival Interview
11:00 - Establishing Residency and Business in Bulgaria
18:11 - Nomad Fest in Bansko
27:34 - Exploring the Charm of Bansko
Transcript
WEBVTT
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You're listening to the Remote Work Europe podcast, the show formerly branded as the Future is Freelance.
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The name has changed, but our values have not.
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We're still the podcast for solopreneurs, digital nomads and slowmads, consultants, remote workers, e-residents and everyone living a life without traditional boundaries.
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We're here for people who defy categorization, those who make a living and a life their own way in Europe and beyond.
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Fortnightly, on Fridays, we're serving up expert tips, inspired insights and stories from the frontiers of freelancing and the remote work revolution to help you achieve success with your borderless business and liberated lifestyle, whatever success means to you, as you live life on your own terms.
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Today's episode takes us from my home in Western Europe, in Spain, right over to the other side of Europe, because .
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I sit down with , whose name I really hope I pronounced correctly, who is the organiser of the Bansko Digital Nomad Festival.
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Now, the Bansko Festival is in Bulgaria, in a beautiful little village.
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It takes place every year, but I will let Uwe tell us a lot more about that and why this little town in Bulgaria has become such an exciting hub and a magnet for digital nomads from all over the world.
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I think you'll find it very interesting as well to understand a little bit more about the remote work culture in Bulgaria, and particularly the fiscal regime might be very interesting to anybody looking at cross-border business and migration.
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So sit back and enjoy this interview with Uwe and maybe I will see you in Bansko in June.
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Welcome, uwe.
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Thank you for joining us on the Remote Work Europe show.
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It's great to have you with us.
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Thank you for having me, Maya.
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Well, I'm looking forward to learning all about the remote work scene in Bulgaria and Bansko, but first of all, can we learn a little bit more about Uwe?
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Tell me about your journey to what you do and where you do it right now.
00:02:01.263 --> 00:02:02.325
Absolutely so.
00:02:02.325 --> 00:02:02.846
Originally.
00:02:02.846 --> 00:02:04.409
Originally, I'm from Austria.
00:02:04.409 --> 00:02:10.292
I grew up in the most Western part of Austria, so in the mountains, I'm used to mountains.
00:02:10.292 --> 00:02:16.747
But, however, I started sailing and I really fell in love with sailing.
00:02:16.747 --> 00:02:17.990
It became a passion of mine.
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And on a sailing trip, there was a project by the name of Cobo, so they delivered the boat from the maledives to thailand in order to refurbish the boat and get nomads, uh, to sailing and to work on the boat, and so on and so forth.
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:49.506
Um, and this was the first time this was in 2014, the first time that I met digital nomads, actually and I was so fascinated by, by the people and I immediately realized this is my tribe, I need to be amongst these people.
00:02:49.506 --> 00:03:07.920
And that brought me to a very different journey, and Matthias was one of the sailors you know like when we sailed this boat from the Maledives to Phuket, and he and I then decided to start a co-working or co-living space.
00:03:07.920 --> 00:03:13.472
We didn't know at that time, and that's the idea was born on the boat, so to say.
00:03:13.472 --> 00:03:30.889
And then we realized that, um, yeah, somehow we were drew into bulgaria, to barnsko, as this is also a ski town, and this is when we started a co-working space because I do like travel, but traveling and living out of a suitcase is not my style.
00:03:30.889 --> 00:03:39.786
The idea was to invite people to me rather than I follow them and try to travel with them, and so the co-working space, co-working Bansko.
00:03:39.786 --> 00:03:46.288
Actually, that is how everything came into place in 2016,.
00:03:46.389 --> 00:03:52.573
Actually, Wow, so that's a long time in the evolution of remote working and co-working.
00:03:52.573 --> 00:03:54.828
You've been there from the very beginning.
00:03:54.828 --> 00:04:00.667
What was it about Bulgaria and Banska that attracted you then, if neither of you are native to the area?
00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:02.366
Yeah, that's a very good question.
00:04:02.366 --> 00:04:18.783
We were looking actually in Austria because Matthias was living also in Austria at that time and, um, but we couldn't find anything, or we couldn't get a deal, or it just didn't work out in Austria, until a friend of ours came and said hey guys, have you looked into Bulgaria?
00:04:18.783 --> 00:04:23.228
And we were both shrugging our shoulders and we had literally no idea.
00:04:23.228 --> 00:04:31.117
And then we gave it a good think and we saw you know, like, what places would we be interested in?
00:04:31.117 --> 00:04:35.331
And this is when we realized there is a ski area, a ski town by the name of Barnsco.
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And then we got, yeah, we put a delegation of six people together and came to Barnsco in summer 2016.
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And we immediately it has this very special vibe here.
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It's a rural little town, it has a very special vibe and the summer is actually amazing.
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And we immediately fell in love.
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And one thing came to the other and, yeah, by the end of the year, we basically opened our co-working space.
00:05:04.810 --> 00:05:05.391
Amazing.
00:05:05.391 --> 00:05:08.910
So was it easy, as a foreigner, to start a business in Bulgaria?
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Then Did they make it easy for you?
00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:28.766
Yeah, you know, like, within the European zone, within the Schengen zone or even Bulgaria wasn't Schengen at that time it's very easy to travel for the Europeans in the European zones, very easy to travel for the europeans in in the europe, in the european zones.
00:05:28.766 --> 00:05:30.913
And so we, we came here and for us it was just very easy to establish everything here.
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Um, and later on we realized, you know, like how this place actually, how, how attractive this country actually is, especially for entrepreneurs, because it has very low taxes, one of the lowest taxations in Europe, and you know like it's in Europe it's generally very bureaucratic to open a company and Bulgaria seemed very easy in that sense.
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So it was very fast, very easy, very affordable to open a business.
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And, yeah, living here, realizing that, you know like it was just easy to move here, actually I never thought about it.
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Right, that's interesting.
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Yeah, so it wasn't challenging with the language and the alphabet and everything being different.
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Yeah, well, the language.
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There is a gap, unfortunately.
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Yeah, how is your Bulgarian?
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Not so well, not so good, unfortunately.
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Yeah, I try to learn here and there.
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Then you know, like we always have international groups, so we have people from all over the place, um, they come from new zealand, they come from australia, they come from, um, I don't know south america, every place you can imagine, and so you know like we talk definitely english to to our audience.
00:06:45.874 --> 00:06:56.552
But then you know, like, um, as this is this key area, people are used to uh, help people with, with, especially, there is a lot of people from england coming for holidays and so on.
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So the english here is is widely accepted.
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People speak english.
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Yes, for the basic needs, it's very easy sadly, that is the case throughout the remote work community, isn't it?
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It's because the Americans got to the internet first.
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Everybody has to learn English to work online.
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Pretty much we can't change that, but we just have to work with it.
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I guess that's right, I mean you know, from that perspective and I really appreciate you saying this, I would love to be able to communicate in Bulgarian.
00:07:27.430 --> 00:07:34.865
Then it's very hard language to learn and, as you said, you know, like, the alphabet is Cyrillic, so I learned the alphabet so I can read, you know.
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Whether the words make sense is a different question.
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So, yeah, I think you know, like I also travel a lot and makes it even harder for me, especially I'm not a language how can I say superhero?
00:07:48.766 --> 00:07:51.228
So for me, language is always tricky, you know.
00:07:51.762 --> 00:07:52.526
Yeah, same here.
00:07:52.526 --> 00:07:58.392
And it is a problem with working remotely that you don't go outside that bubble professionally.
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You just stick with English.
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So, right now you mentioned it's very easy for people to move to Bulgaria.
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Is Bulgaria in Schengen?
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Now?
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I've lost track of where that line is.
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Yeah, at the moment they were just introducing Schengen in March, and so there's still some adaptation going on and it's a bit tricky at the moment as they are just in between.
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But yeah, so the newest news?
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I I don't know exactly, but uh, it is schengen zone is is definitely coming.
00:08:31.204 --> 00:08:37.043
It was only by air for a certain period of time and, um, I think now also by land.
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I'm not too sure about that, but, um, maybe we can give your audience also some links to to look this up later yes, it's obviously a moving target at the moment.
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I know a lot of British nomads used to use Bulgaria as their reset.
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Their visa run to hop over the border before the 90 days or 180 days or whatever it is ran out.
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That's right.
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Via air, this is not so easy anymore, so they have to go a little bit further To the east.
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what would it be?
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I don't know, Montenegro, or somewhere.
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Turkish border?
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Yeah, maybe Albania.
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Well, it's quite easy to travel, Right.
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Okay, yeah, well, it's all accessible, isn't it?
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It's good motorways and you can travel, hop over the border for a bit and then come back.
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Absolutely, absolutely.
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There is buses, there are airplanes, you can also relatively affordable rent a car and and so on and so forth.
00:09:37.447 --> 00:09:47.581
As I said, serbia, for instance, belgrade, you know, like um these are targets for nomads, they are very well known, I believe and um, frequented by by nomads.
00:09:47.581 --> 00:09:58.836
So there is lots to do and and uh, yeah, also from Bansko, you know like Bansko is basically on this axis of the Eastern European side.
00:09:58.836 --> 00:10:06.572
It's very close to the Greek border, so it's like from Bansko two hours and you are on the shore in Greece.
00:10:06.572 --> 00:10:09.549
And it's also on the axis towards Istanbul.
00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:18.850
So Bosporus, if you like to go there, it's not that far and there's public transport, it's very accessible actually.
00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:24.908
Fantastic, and you mentioned that it's also accessible from a business point of view, which is something I'm really curious about.
00:10:24.908 --> 00:10:34.232
My business is in Estonia, because I didn't want to have a business in Spain, but I think the Bulgarian is very favorable in terms of the tax regime for business.
00:10:34.232 --> 00:10:37.067
Can you explain a little bit more about that and how easy it is?
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Do you have to be resident in Bulgaria to have a business there?
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How does it work?
00:10:40.924 --> 00:10:43.330
Yeah, that are very good questions, maya.
00:10:43.330 --> 00:10:50.965
So actually and this is one of my businesses I started a business since many people came to me in the co-working space and asked me hey, uwe, how does this work?
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And so on and so forth.
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I started a business by the name of MyStartBulgariacom and I help people with residency service and company information.
00:10:59.191 --> 00:11:06.830
So for a business to answer your question you don't need necessarily to have a residency.
00:11:06.830 --> 00:11:09.419
However, bottleneck are the banks.
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Due to this very restrictive money laundering restrictions or laws or regulations, whatever you call them it is very tricky to open a bank account, which you need.
00:11:20.261 --> 00:11:23.711
Actually, in order to establish a business, you need to have a capital bank.
00:11:23.711 --> 00:11:27.610
There are ways around this, so you can buy a shelf company, for instance.
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That will allow you to get the business without residency.
00:11:31.827 --> 00:11:39.105
However, if you want to start a freelance business, so to say, if you want to start as a freelancer, you need to have residency.
00:11:39.105 --> 00:11:41.427
For non-EU citizens, it's a bit more complex.
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There are possibilities to do that.
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However, they're usually a bit more costly than for EU citizens.
00:11:51.075 --> 00:12:07.190
For EU citizens, it's very easy to get residency, as well as to start a company or buying properties also very, very easy to do, even for non-EU citizens, and the prices here are amazing at the moment.
00:12:07.190 --> 00:12:16.784
I mean they have been rising the past two years but still it is very affordable to buy property here in in vansko uh, bulgaria interesting.
00:12:17.005 --> 00:12:23.749
So just do you find that a lot of people who maybe come as a digital nomad they end up settling and becoming a long-term remote worker.
00:12:23.749 --> 00:12:27.365
Is there a remote work visa or digital nomad visa for bulgaria?
00:12:27.605 --> 00:12:30.730
no, unfortunately, there was something in the pipe.
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They wanted to do a digital nomad visa and but that somehow never came to fruition and uh, yeah, that said, you know, like you have to be aware of the visa regulations and everything and um with schengen, it's very likely that this changes.
00:12:48.184 --> 00:13:01.336
However, if you decide to get your foot into the European zone, basically it is still very affordable, although maybe for non-EU citizens a bit more complex.
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In the end it's 10% profit taxes, 5% dividend tax, so it's very affordable in the end and if you reckon, in the long run this might spare a lot of expenses.
00:13:16.421 --> 00:13:19.909
Yeah, I can see why that's attractive, as I'm a Spanish tax resident.
00:13:19.909 --> 00:13:25.327
So that's amazing rates, that's very favorable.
00:13:25.327 --> 00:13:34.403
But it seems that, despite everything that the diversity of Bulgaria has to offer, people are converging on this one little town of Bansko in a big way.
00:13:34.403 --> 00:13:37.711
You started, you set up your business there and you're co-working.
00:13:37.711 --> 00:13:39.886
But what tell me about what's so special about this place?
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I do know a little bit, because I was there a couple of years ago and not everybody will have heard of it.
00:13:44.005 --> 00:13:46.231
So why should people come to Bansko?
00:13:46.432 --> 00:13:46.854
absolutely.
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I mean, you know like, in the beginning, when we started out here in 2016, there was no digital digital nomad, there was no location independent person here.
00:13:53.253 --> 00:14:02.548
I mean maybe the occasional one or two, you know like on a ski holiday perhaps but other than that, when we arrived here, we really had to.
00:14:02.548 --> 00:14:14.990
I mean, matthias had a big network, I had a big network and we invited basically our friends, you know, to come and visit us, and this is how we started this place and now, I think you know it, it is on the map.
00:14:14.990 --> 00:14:41.280
So we have a huge remote work, digital nomad, location independent business entrepreneurs community here in barnsco, which is really, like, you know, as a nomad when you travel, it's, it's amazing, this, um, this freedom, this lifestyle, to to explore and to experience this and, and many people are really excited about this and so on, and I totally understand.
00:14:41.280 --> 00:15:02.879
However, on the other hand, you know like, you miss a little bit the connections with people or or the grounding, and I think barnsco offers, uh, this possibility to the people, to A, you know like, buy property very affordably, which helps also in the wealth creation, respectively, wealth protection topics.
00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:10.342
So, you know like, owning real estate is, I think, a good thing and I am, you know like.
00:15:10.462 --> 00:15:18.634
Maybe you have heard about Christoph Heuermann no taxation, no paying, no taxes and so on and so forth, perpetual traveling and so on and so forth.
00:15:19.020 --> 00:15:34.745
I am an advocate for having tax residency somewhere, as this, later on, it may play out if you don't pay any taxes and you do this perpetual traveling, you may come into a situation where it gets very, very tricky.
00:15:34.745 --> 00:16:06.586
And in order to avoid that and in order to avoid problems later on, or back taxes and so on and so forth, in my opinion it's much better to choose a country that offers a good trade-off between low taxes and services that may be interesting to you like maybe, for instance, health care, health insurance and so on and so forth and where you're established and later on, whatever happens, if you decide to go back to your home country or for whatever you know, life happens and we never know.
00:16:06.586 --> 00:16:28.870
So in that sense, it makes much more sense to have a place where you know okay, I do the due diligence, I pay my staff, and later on you will not have any issues Because you have evidence that you paid your taxes and that you're established somewhere, although you can enjoy the free lifestyle and travel and do what you like.
00:16:28.870 --> 00:16:29.272
You know.
00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:30.966
Yes, I agree.
00:16:30.966 --> 00:16:37.169
I'm a big advocate for having a home base and also for having a fiscal residency and a track record.
00:16:37.169 --> 00:16:39.302
One day, you're going to want to even retire.
00:16:39.302 --> 00:16:42.269
You might want to buy a property, you might want to finance something.
00:16:42.269 --> 00:16:45.505
You need to have that paper trail, and I do.
00:16:45.505 --> 00:17:04.943
Sometimes I meet digital nomads who have spent several years, often living a very complicated life because they're constantly counting days and visas and you know, I've got to leave this country before I trigger this and it's, it seems, like a full-time job in itself and at the end of the day, you think, well, this is what's going to happen long term for you.
00:17:05.084 --> 00:17:07.010
yeah, absolutely, I totally agree.
00:17:07.010 --> 00:17:21.400
And also you know like, if I would have the feeling, and you know like this this becomes always more so the regulations always get more and it becomes more tricky, you know, to avoid those systems that are set in place by governments.
00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:26.313
It's not that I like particularly these regulations.
00:17:26.313 --> 00:17:35.844
However, if you try to avoid them, it's a job in itself and also you might not have the peace of mind because legislation constantly changes.
00:17:35.844 --> 00:17:39.109
So how can you see, be up to date?
00:17:39.109 --> 00:17:43.924
How can you be sure that you navigate in the legal realms?
00:17:43.924 --> 00:17:45.327
So it's much easier.
00:17:45.327 --> 00:17:51.526
I always say you know like, and sometimes I visit, I visit my coffee maker, this is how I put it.
00:17:51.526 --> 00:18:08.193
It so, therefore, having a base for me is a no-brainer and I think it's much easier to establish such a life situation where you have less this urgency or maybe something can go wrong or something like this.
00:18:08.193 --> 00:18:09.645
It's a peace of mind, basically.
00:18:10.201 --> 00:18:11.559
Yes, 100%.
00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:15.544
And also things like schools and hospitals and roads do have to be paid for.
00:18:15.544 --> 00:18:21.205
Nobody likes paying tax, but if you want to use these things, then somebody has to be contributing somewhere.
00:18:21.205 --> 00:18:28.667
So I think we have to pick a pin in the map yes, unfortunately, in one way or the other.
00:18:28.688 --> 00:18:36.548
Uh, they want to have access, so, but you can freely choose where to pay taxes, and I think that's a big advantage as a, as a location independent person.
00:18:36.548 --> 00:18:38.373
Um, so you can freely choose.
00:18:38.373 --> 00:18:42.228
Okay, I, I rather pay 10 than 40 or 50 percent.
00:18:42.228 --> 00:18:50.092
Um, you know, like there's switzerland, there's cyprus, there's bulgaria, there is um, I don't know how the portuguese.
00:18:50.092 --> 00:18:52.156
They have also changed the regulations.
00:18:52.156 --> 00:18:57.828
It was very good for location independent, but I think that system has changed now as well.
00:18:57.828 --> 00:19:01.825
Yeah, there is plenty of other countries where things are very good.
00:19:01.845 --> 00:19:02.948
Yeah and people can.
00:19:02.948 --> 00:19:09.921
You can travel around, you can pick the one that you think you want to live in long term, and then you make your choice based on all the different factors.
00:19:09.921 --> 00:19:17.770
I feel like we pay a heavy sunshine tax in Spain sometimes, but it's better or worse.
00:19:17.770 --> 00:19:23.207
This is where we fetch up, but I'm looking forward to coming back to Bansko in a couple of months' time?
00:19:23.227 --> 00:19:34.079
Absolutely yeah, I'm looking forward to see you again, Well tell us a little bit about why I'm coming and the way that this little town changes for a couple of weeks every summer.
00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:42.223
Now this, the Bansko Nomad Festival, is getting bigger and better every year, but how did it start and what are you looking forward to this year?
00:19:43.105 --> 00:19:44.569
it was only logical.
00:19:44.569 --> 00:19:51.990
You know like, having this amazing people here, having the community here, you know to start something that is more flashy.
00:19:51.990 --> 00:20:09.047
You know like, in a way, and um organizing an event, of course it becomes with it comes with a lot of challenges, but on the other hand, you know like it's amazing to really hang out with a bigger group of people and have this serendipitous, um, uh, encounters.
00:20:09.047 --> 00:20:10.891
You know like it's so amazing.
00:20:10.891 --> 00:20:17.705
I I love to tell this story as I think it reflects very well the vibe and atmosphere of the nomad fest.
00:20:17.705 --> 00:20:27.196
So, for instance, in in the last event, virginia and philip, they met for morning coffee and over the coffee they developed a business idea.
00:20:27.196 --> 00:20:36.971
And in the evening they were a group of seven people, they had a website online, they had a company already running and they sold tickets for nomad trail.
00:20:36.971 --> 00:20:43.528
So they developed the idea in the morning over coffee and in the in the evening it was basically up and running.
00:20:43.528 --> 00:20:53.548
You know like, in a way you cannot imagine, and these are the serendipitous moments and encounters you have at the nomad fest, where everything seems possible.
00:20:53.548 --> 00:21:25.329
There is people coming from, they're starting out as digital nomads, they don't know exactly how and where and when and what, and there are people that are very well established, and this all happens in an atmosphere, you know like, where we have professional speakers, we have unconference sessions, so where people can host their own sessions, and we have this I call it a playground for entrepreneurs, you know like where people meet and exchange in a very easy way.
00:21:25.529 --> 00:21:27.961
It happens every year, uh, end of june.
00:21:27.961 --> 00:21:35.387
So end of june is the where the change, so winter season is done and it's just before the summer season.
00:21:35.387 --> 00:21:39.790
This year it happens on the 23rd until the 30th of June.
00:21:39.790 --> 00:21:43.349
It's a one-week event where we have different tracks.
00:21:43.349 --> 00:21:50.991
For instance, we have talks in the morning and then there is a park, like a green park in Barns, co.
00:21:50.991 --> 00:21:57.847
Where we meet in the afternoon, have the unconference sessions, and we have um, like parties in the evening.
00:21:57.847 --> 00:22:05.330
Um, and lots of you know like you can, whatever you're interested in, you will find it in the park at some point.
00:22:05.330 --> 00:22:16.955
You know like there is from meditation, yoga, wellness, health, uh, business, so all these topics and all the people who are interested in these different topics.
00:22:16.955 --> 00:22:18.445
There is something for everyone.
00:22:18.506 --> 00:22:22.351
Basically, it started small, of course, and it started in 2020.
00:22:22.351 --> 00:22:28.112
So that was a bit tricky due to restrictions of traveling and so on and so forth.
00:22:28.112 --> 00:22:38.646
However, we had a small group gathering here I think it was a little bit short of um 70 or 80 people and um, it developed over time.
00:22:38.646 --> 00:22:44.964
Last year we had, uh, 750 people coming and this year we reckoning with thousand people.
00:22:44.964 --> 00:22:56.875
Um, yeah, we joined the nomad fest and I think it's an extraordinary event where, yeah, where people meet and there's so much positive energy in the air.
00:22:56.875 --> 00:22:58.445
I totally like it.
00:22:58.445 --> 00:23:04.631
I can highly recommend it, just to feel into this and get this vibe and understand.
00:23:04.631 --> 00:23:07.035
You know like, hey, what are these people doing?
00:23:07.035 --> 00:23:08.184
How are they doing this?
00:23:08.184 --> 00:23:15.074
You know, like, if you've never seen that before and if you're regular, you know you know why you're coming.
00:23:15.074 --> 00:23:17.452
It's a way to hang out, you know.
00:23:17.701 --> 00:23:33.021
I mean, I love working online, working remotely, and I think for a one-to-one conversation like this, to do this via technology is perfect, but for a one-to-many you can't beat that sensation of actually being there, being around People.
00:23:33.021 --> 00:23:35.650
When an event is happening, you learn so much.
00:23:35.650 --> 00:23:45.538
You pick up all those connections you mentioned, like people coming together to form a business, and even outside of the business, the social connections, the conversations, the things that happen in passing.
00:23:45.538 --> 00:23:58.963
If anybody is listening so far and you're already intrigued by this and you would like to know more, I urge you to check out the show notes of this episode in whatever device or app you're listening to this podcast, because you will find a tempting discount in there.
00:23:59.125 --> 00:24:02.798
It's a very low-cost festival anyway because it's very grassroots.
00:24:02.798 --> 00:24:14.905
Everybody organizes their expensive hotels or anything like that you're opting into, so for a week-long festival, it's excellent value to start with, but you can take even more of a discount if you use the link in our show notes.
00:24:14.905 --> 00:24:25.266
Now I'm really looking forward to coming back to Vansco to talk about how the way that we communicate online has changed over my ridiculously long time of working remotely.
00:24:25.266 --> 00:24:29.166
Can you give us a flavor of any of the other themes and speakers anything.
00:24:29.166 --> 00:24:35.605
I know it's early and the program is not released, but are there any teasers you can share with us about what people might expect?
00:24:35.886 --> 00:24:36.588
Yeah, absolutely.
00:24:36.588 --> 00:24:50.398
I mean, you know, like you mentioned, for instance, social connections, and I think you know like especially since we have had this 2020, 2021, very few social connections and whatnot.
00:24:50.398 --> 00:24:55.954
I don't want to go too deep into this, but now you know like having this ability to travel again and to meet other people.
00:24:55.954 --> 00:24:57.215
I think it's so valuable to meet people in person.
00:24:57.215 --> 00:24:58.083
And also you know like having this ability to travel again and to meet other people.
00:24:58.083 --> 00:24:58.622
I think it's so valuable to meet people in person.
00:24:58.622 --> 00:25:08.550
And also you know like, from our community, the digital nomad community, this location, independent community it's like people share freely and willingly.
00:25:08.550 --> 00:25:16.263
You know, like their expertise and their you know experiences and I think this is really the biggest value of all.
00:25:16.263 --> 00:25:19.575
You know experiences and I think this is really the biggest value of all you know.
00:25:20.036 --> 00:25:25.106
One thing that I I can tell is that we have different tracks.
00:25:25.346 --> 00:25:41.395
So some are focusing on health and wellness and in, you know, fitness and and all this, and there are other tracks like that focus more on business, so like wealth creation and wealth protection.
00:25:41.395 --> 00:25:44.891
So, for instance, coin is a big topic nowadays.
00:25:44.891 --> 00:25:52.534
And, yeah, also there is tracks for AI and technologies and stuff like this.
00:25:52.534 --> 00:26:06.332
So it's like we want to curate it better so that you understand, okay, I'm more drawn to this topic, you will find it there, and if you are more drawn to the professional side, you will find it there as well.
00:26:06.332 --> 00:26:23.205
And for each of these tracks we have speakers who are experts in this field and who can tell you more, and there will be lots of groups and lots of possibilities to exchange um, you know contacts, to stay in touch with the people.
00:26:23.205 --> 00:26:41.911
So we have, like you know, like it's a mixed bag of everything, in a way, um, where you can pick and choose whatever suits you, whatever interests you the most, and I think this is one of the things yeah, the Nomad Fest is really known for, you know.
00:26:42.290 --> 00:27:05.569
Yeah, I remember that from when I was there two years ago, this sensation that it's kind of happening throughout the whole town all at the same time, that everywhere you wander around, there might be an event going on here, or there's a couple of people with wristbands over there, and that you're all part of something that's there's a couple of people with wristbands over there, and that you're all part of something that's happening as a kind of general background vibe, even when you're not in a specific session, which was really powerful.
00:27:05.569 --> 00:27:15.104
I'm wondering, though, what do the locals of Bansko think about this happening once a year, all these people descending on their little town, which is quite small and peaceful?
00:27:15.104 --> 00:27:17.388
What do they think of all these nomads rocking up?
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