Here's the answer: http://www.pc2paper.co.uk
A very nice service. Send and recieve snail mail online :-)
Even add a printer driver to do it! Wow, a very nice service
17 Aug 2009
9 Apr 2009
Addressing the problem of the address
A major problem for many is the address system.
Generally an address is a big part of the identity system. Yes, there are other ways to identify people, but the address tends to be the lowest common denominator.
How do people deal with this problem?
Certainly look on the expat focus website and others.
What options are there?
1) Own a home and rent it out to people you trust. On paper it remains your place of residence however. Post can be sent there as if you are living there all the time.
2) Parents and relatives. This is what all the gap year students do.
3) A friend. If you don't live somewhere it's hard to get someone to agree to take your mail for you. The best answer I can begin to think of is to actually live there. It all comes down to money. To reduce costs you could rent a place for just a few months a year but use this all year for correspondence. Alternatively rent a space much smaller than you normally would and use it mostly for storage.
Once you have somewhere what is then useful is having someone to open mail for you and possibly email it onwards.
4) Group together. A group of 10 people want to go traveling for a year. Why not rent a small flat together. This brings the cost down by a factor of 10.
But don't forget you have to trust these people as much as you trust people you would live with. The more people involved the more risk. You get what you pay for.
What about paying a company to act as your address and forwarding mail?
Generally this isn't legally fully possible. When a form says `You address`, it means legally your address. A company isn't generally allowed to offer this service because, by doing this they would be saying you live there when you don't.
Generally anybody acting as your address needs full trust with what is essentially your identity.
That is a big risk.
The risk can put people off. However, while it is something that needs attention don't let fear control you. Remember most people are honest.
Generally an address is a big part of the identity system. Yes, there are other ways to identify people, but the address tends to be the lowest common denominator.
How do people deal with this problem?
Certainly look on the expat focus website and others.
What options are there?
1) Own a home and rent it out to people you trust. On paper it remains your place of residence however. Post can be sent there as if you are living there all the time.
2) Parents and relatives. This is what all the gap year students do.
3) A friend. If you don't live somewhere it's hard to get someone to agree to take your mail for you. The best answer I can begin to think of is to actually live there. It all comes down to money. To reduce costs you could rent a place for just a few months a year but use this all year for correspondence. Alternatively rent a space much smaller than you normally would and use it mostly for storage.
Once you have somewhere what is then useful is having someone to open mail for you and possibly email it onwards.
4) Group together. A group of 10 people want to go traveling for a year. Why not rent a small flat together. This brings the cost down by a factor of 10.
But don't forget you have to trust these people as much as you trust people you would live with. The more people involved the more risk. You get what you pay for.
What about paying a company to act as your address and forwarding mail?
Generally this isn't legally fully possible. When a form says `You address`, it means legally your address. A company isn't generally allowed to offer this service because, by doing this they would be saying you live there when you don't.
Generally anybody acting as your address needs full trust with what is essentially your identity.
That is a big risk.
The risk can put people off. However, while it is something that needs attention don't let fear control you. Remember most people are honest.
Many types of Modern Nomad -take heart!
There's many types of nomadic lifestyles. Sometimes you may feel a nomadic way of life puts you into a state of minority.
But that's not unnecessarily true. In this day and age more and more people are enjoying the education of travel.
Here's a few to consider:
1) The backpacker.
2) The campervan time-outer
3) The migration worker. Blue collar. Oil and gas,
4) The Business traveler. White collar. Working for a corporation or self employed generating new business
5) Gap year students. Students in general. Fruit picking in Australia, charity work in Africa. Summer work in Newquay.
6) The semi nomadic. That's me at the moment. A mix of movements.
7) Your traditional homeless person. After speaking to the homeless many prefer to be frezzing to death on the streets than be tied down in provided accommodation with people they'd rather not associate with.
8) Retirees. Most aim to settle down in a new location, somewhere warm. But not all. It also doesn't always work out this way.
9) Live aboard boats and yachts; rivers, moorings and dropped anchor offshore.
10) 2nd homes. I would call this a situation where society ingrained people respond to thier want to move and be free, but aren't prepared to go outside the norm. So they buy a 2nd home in order to have their peers look at them oddly. An easy solution for the rich.
11) The professional / academic sabbatical.
12) Couchsurfers (staying with friends temporally, and inviting them over in a similar way)
These are many categories. All the way from doctors and business owners down to the homeless guy on the street. Most people take an interest in travel. SO take heart!
Some are more nomadic than others. Some enjoy big freedoms of movement, some are a compromise.
You have to find what is right for you.
For some, just a simple campervan to get away at weekends can be enough to take the edge off the rat race. You could then extend this with a day off on a Friday/Monday. And so on.
Personally I have a mix of ways of staying mobile.
- campervan
- stay at a girlfriends
- work at sea
- visit friends abroad
But that's not unnecessarily true. In this day and age more and more people are enjoying the education of travel.
Here's a few to consider:
1) The backpacker.
2) The campervan time-outer
3) The migration worker. Blue collar. Oil and gas,
4) The Business traveler. White collar. Working for a corporation or self employed generating new business
5) Gap year students. Students in general. Fruit picking in Australia, charity work in Africa. Summer work in Newquay.
6) The semi nomadic. That's me at the moment. A mix of movements.
7) Your traditional homeless person. After speaking to the homeless many prefer to be frezzing to death on the streets than be tied down in provided accommodation with people they'd rather not associate with.
8) Retirees. Most aim to settle down in a new location, somewhere warm. But not all. It also doesn't always work out this way.
9) Live aboard boats and yachts; rivers, moorings and dropped anchor offshore.
10) 2nd homes. I would call this a situation where society ingrained people respond to thier want to move and be free, but aren't prepared to go outside the norm. So they buy a 2nd home in order to have their peers look at them oddly. An easy solution for the rich.
11) The professional / academic sabbatical.
12) Couchsurfers (staying with friends temporally, and inviting them over in a similar way)
These are many categories. All the way from doctors and business owners down to the homeless guy on the street. Most people take an interest in travel. SO take heart!
Some are more nomadic than others. Some enjoy big freedoms of movement, some are a compromise.
You have to find what is right for you.
For some, just a simple campervan to get away at weekends can be enough to take the edge off the rat race. You could then extend this with a day off on a Friday/Monday. And so on.
Personally I have a mix of ways of staying mobile.
- campervan
- stay at a girlfriends
- work at sea
- visit friends abroad
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