Bitcoin LN node for travelling
Let's take this use case scenario: you are traveling with family abroad and just want a quick solution for pocket money. Yes, you already have a home LN node bla bla but you do not want to involve that one, for many reasons.
What do you want for this?
- a simple LN wallet for spend and receive LN payments
- quick inbound and outbound liquidity, separated from your home node
- disposable node, temporary use without hassle
- you maybe travel to places where you cannot access you home node or you cannot have access to a VPN etc @BTCLNAT this case is very interesting for you, in Cuba, with the shity connection you have there. Can be a solution (but not for long term).
- you want to put a max spending budget to your LN node wallet
Here I tested for you a VERY QUICK SOLUTION!
Rizful remote nodes + Alby Go
Thanks to @rizful_com and @Alby for this wonderful quick solution!
- Go to https://rizful.com/ and create an account
- Start a new node in few clicks. Read the very well explained documentation here https://rizful.com/docs. Very simple and straight forward. The node is better to be private, with private channels.
- Buy an inbound channel (see docs) of the size you need for your travel, 500k - 1M - 2M whatever is suitable for you. The bigger it is, less fees you pay. And remember is better to start with an inbound channel. Why? Because you do not have to do 2 onchain txs, but just ONE over LN. Yes, you pay for opening an inbound channel over LN. Fast, cheap, private (you do not need to use any of your UTXOs).
- Configure your personalized LN address (see docs, very well explained)
- Configure your NWC for send & receive (see docs), in few clicks you have it ready.
IMPORTANT!
Save all this information into a password manager (just in case you need it, SHTF case etc):
- login page and account
- nodeID, Node pubkey, nodeURI, NWC string
- nostr pubkey/privkey in case you use it.
- Open Alby Go on your mobile device and add a new wallet (top right - wallets).
- Paste the NWC string from Rizful for send & receive (not just receive, you want to be able to do both ways)
- From any other LN wallet you have or your own LN node, send the amount of sats you need for that travel to your Rizful LN address or create a LN invoice directly from Rizful node and pay it. You will see the sats in a moment into your Alby Go app (it take a while to refresh or just close the app and restart).
DONE! Now you are good to go.
Optional: you can connect this node using NWC (send & receive) with your SN account too. See here instructions.
Optional you could connect Alby browser extension using the same NWC string into your laptop browser.
With the same NWC you can use it also on nostr, with the LN address too.
HAPPY TRAVELLING LIGHTNING !