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Comment by walterheck | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, I wasn't expecting this. It's an idea that is in my head that I want to make a reality, but only if there is enough interest. I can promise you I won't do anything with those emails except keep you up to date on what happens next.

Now that it seems like there is enough interest, we can go to the next phase: figuring out wether it would be a paid thing or a sponsored thing. Opinions welcome...

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You need to go to cahuita costa rica. They have villas with wifi for crazy cheap (less than 25 a night), and a beach that is probably where that picture comes from. Plus if you want to recruit any ticos, intel and hp are some of the countries biggest employers. Consider it, message me if you want help, I've done business down there. http://www.google.com/search?q=cahuita&hl=en&client=...

I've been to cahuita. The chances are bigger that this will take place in Southeast Asia actually.

Who are you targeting? Are you targeting hackers and devs from Southeast Asia only?

If you are targeting developers from US or Canada, you are going to have issues with passports and all other travel complications like shots (vaccines), visa's etc. Unless, if you do it in Hawaii you will not have any of the above issues.

Great idea nonetheless. Good luck with everything.

in reply to csel: We're planning to do it in Southeast Asia indeed, and target people from worldwide. Many countries around here have very decent visa policies, and vaccinations are not that hard to get either.

I am in SE Asia at the moment (Chris Travers-- signed up on the site). If you need ideas regarding places let me know. I have contacts around, and there are great places like Lombok. The question becomes though how remote is remote.

There are nice islands near Padang, Sumatra too (and Padang is famous for its food). In terms of SE Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia both have lots of tropical islands, but there is always the Maldives and the Philippines too.

Remote is not in a village, but with decent internet (microwave FTW!) and an escape route for the weekends or off-days when you need them..

Again, feel free to email me. I will look around. Last time I was in Lombok the internet connections weren't so good, but that was 8 years ago, and I would expect that there are major improvements.

Would you be willing to provide just a general overview of your experiences in Costa Rica?

Any negatives or things you have to give up by being there? I've heard great things about it from several people.

Excuse me. That picture comes from Bidong Island, Malaysia. I know that because I took that picture during my last diving trip. We also have beautiful tropical islands in this part of the world :-)

You should offer more than just the trip. Preferably have some mentors/advisors available to the group. There is no point in spending thousands going to a tropical island to do exactly the same you can do at home, that's just spending money on a fake vacation.

That is exactly what we hope to achieve, but that all depends on how we shape this idea next..

Paying these mentors would bring up the cost though. Travelling to a remote island and renting a villa doesn't sound cheap to start with.

Yeah, well, that's where things get interesting. These villa's are pretty decently priced, for 500USD/person/month you have something very nice.

If you are considering doing it in Vietnam (islands like Phu Quoc or Con Dao) then I may be able to help with logistics.

hey this sounds awesome, let us know how you progress with this idea! I'm starting a project involving developing a social media tool and have been learning coding lately. Doing this exclusively for 2 months in a collaborative environment sounds ideal.

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