I work remotely to maximize my time outdoors.
WifiBum is a collection of resources and in-depth reviews from personal experience.
For example, I lived in my Springbar and Kodiak canvas tents for months before writing a review.
In addition, I write about other topics about working remotely while enjoying the outdoors. These include portable power stations and how I power my gear, how I find spots to work remotely, and how all this gear performs.
I love the outdoors, but also have intellectual goals whether it be my career, learning new things, etc.
This is my outlet for balancing those conflicts of interest.
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- My Gear Lists
- Discount Codes
- Free Camping Guide
- & More
About WifiBum
A guy from the midwest gets obsessed with the mountains and outdoors in general, but still wants to save for retirement.
I am not an influencer(@iWifiBum).
I am not trying to glamorize van life (tent life) or being a “digital nomad.” I tend to actually be more pessimistic to help cancel out the influencers that act like it’s always awesome and fun.
I’m simply trying to enjoy the outdoors while maintaining/advancing a career.
At this time, I have a full-time job as an accountant.
I also dabble in e-commerce with a small business (I sometimes actually bring inventory on the road with me to ship out!).
Then I have this website that siphons money from my bank account on a monthly basis. So, if anything I wrote was useful, please try and use one of my affiliate links where I get like 3% of the sales price (at no cost to you). It at least helps cover the hosting and apps I use to run this site.
I have used most products I talk about or try to disclose the ones I haven’t.
I enjoy documenting my trips for my own reference and yours.
I wish this website existed when I first got into working remotely while prioritizing outdoor activities. Hopefully it helps if your goal is to explore, camp, and work productively.
My definition of a WifiBum is someone that loves the outdoors, but their professional life requires some connectivity to be productive and to earn an income.
This website was initially created to document some of my shananigans.
How WifiBum.com Started
I am currently not advertising who I am since I have a corporate job. Although they probably don’t care, I want to write without worrying about it for now.
In October 2017, I left a great paying corporate job as a financial analyst to work for a smaller firm.
The firm was going to allow me to work remotely after the first 2 months. (edit: wish I knew all companies would allow this a few years later ha)
It came with less responsibility and less pay.
It was a trade-off I was willing to make as I slowly became pretty miserable living in the midwest after I had a taste of the mountains with a few vacations. I knew I needed to be closer to the mountains.
I began working remotely in January 2018, before covid made it the cool thing to do.
On December 30th, 2017, I made the drive from the midwest to Utah with the intention of traveling in monthly increments.
However, my flatlander psyche was enamored with the Wasatch mountains and the ease of accessibility that I stayed for over 3 years.
It turned out to be a great home base for exploring the surrounding states and there is a ton of public land in the area which allows for free camping and cheap exploring.
Although most of my trips will be west of Colorado, many of the planning and gear can be used all over the U.S.
I created WifiBum because I couldn’t find anyone that worked “real” jobs and traveled. I’m a sucker for good health insurance and reliable income.
I’ve ran into a ton of ski bums that work low paying jobs to “get by” but never have a long-term plan.
I’ve ran into full-time travelers but they were living off savings and didn’t have a plan on what happens when those savings run out.
So this is my attempt to balance working and playing outdoors. A stereotypical boring job spiced up with activities and mingling with side hustles.
Everyone’s situation is unique, but you’ll probably enjoy following this if you love the outdoors, but also need to be connected a decent amount of the time to earn a living