How to Find a House for Remote Work & Slow Travel

Hello from home!

It’s almost a week since I left Bir. I’m spending 2 weeks at home in Rajasthan with my parents before flying out to a new country for a new adventure.

Today, I want to talk about a question people ask when they think about living and working from a new place.

I understand the anxiety behind it. Finding a house somewhere new is tricky, especially when you’re looking for a short-term rental.

Booking a place for a month in a town you’ve never seen, from photos that may or may not be honest, is risky. So you tend to lock in an expensive month-long Airbnb before you arrive, just to feel safe.

I do the opposite. And it’s given me better homes, for less money, every single time.

I never rent a house before reaching a place.

Because photos lie, maps lie, descriptions definitely lie. I’ve stayed in “mountain view” homes where the mountain was technically visible if I leaned dangerously far out of the bathroom window. I’m sure you have too. And I’ve learnt that no amount of online research can tell me how a place feels.

So I do these 5 things to find a place that feels like home in a strange city:

I book an Airbnb, hostel or homestay for the first 3-4 days. Somewhere central, cheap, easy. This is base camp to hold my bags while I go find a real home.

This is probably the most important step.

I walk to understand the neighbourhoods. A lot. The streets that feel noisy, cafes that attract remote workers, areas that feel safe, houses that get beautiful morning light, how far the market is, how eerie it gets at night. You only notice these things by walking.

And while I’m walking, I also keep an eye out for “To Let” signs.

I found my home in North Goa in 2023 this way. Saw a building while walking randomly, went inside, asked the owner and liked the house!

The auto driver, cafe owners, grocery shopkeepers, the person next to me in a workshop. I tell everyone, "I'm looking for a place to rent for a month or two, know anyone?"

In smaller towns, word of mouth beats every app. My house in Bir came to me exactly this way.

This has become one of my favourite hacks.

Almost every town with a traveller or remote-work scene has groups for rentals, buy-and-sell, or local communities. I post what I need and wait.

Within a day or two, I usually have several leads. Sometimes people even send homes that haven’t been listed online yet.

This is how I found my beautiful home in Mysore last year.

I ask the host for a monthly rate, offline.

Many hosts are happy to offer better monthly rates if you book directly instead of through Airbnb. They save on platform fees. You get a better price. Everyone wins.

This is how I booked my first home as a nomad in South Goa in 2020.

Now, you may be thinking,

Fair question.

The honest answer is: I never commit to a house I haven’t seen in person, and I never ignore my gut about a neighbourhood or a person. Those first few days of walking are not just house-hunting — they’re how I read a place.

Does it feel calm after dark? Are there other women out and about? Does the landlord’s family live close by? By the time I lock in a house, I’ve observed so much around it that I feel confident in my decision. So, in my opinion, arriving in person is a safer option.

Also, finding the house is how I meet the place.

Walking unfamiliar lanes, asking strangers for help, getting lost — that’s settling in. By the time I’ve found my home, I already know the town a little. I have a coffee shop I like. I’ve had my first real conversations. I know where to go in case of emergencies. The house comes with roots already attached.

If I’d booked everything from my laptop back home, I’d have a roof but I’d arrive a stranger. So if “but where will I stay?” is the fear keeping you from your first work trip, let me take it off your plate:

You don’t need the whole month solved before you go. You just need the first three nights.

The rest, you walk into.

Moving is about trusting that you’ll figure it out once you arrive.

Until next week,

Love,
K