People call them digital nomads. Remote professionals who require little more than their computer to do their jobs. They can work just as easily from a café in Paris as they can from their basement. It’s an almost romantic notion for a generation of people who have been moving away from the demands of a traditional 9-5 desk job for some time.
People want flexibility and the technology to give it to them is finally here. The problem?
Not that many people are doing it. A recent survey revealed that only about 25% of remote workers are taking full advantage of their newfound freedom to travel. The rest are doing the same old thing from their house instead of the office. How can you make the most out of a remote work opportunity?
We’ll explore that question below.
Table of Contents
The Problem
The main issue with the “digital nomad,” narrative is that it places too an emphasis on how office buildings were restricting people. Yes, the need to go into an office building for eight hours a day is naturally restricting. But it’s also not responsible for all of your other time constraints.
You still have to actually do the job. If you were going to travel, you would need to fit the trip in with your work responsibilities. You’d need to have the money to pay for it. And if you have kids? Forget about it. That’s an entirely different realm of travel considerations that don’t suit the “How about this week I work out of a cabin at the base of Mount Katahdin” narrative.
Here’s how it tends to go: If you were a spontaneous person prone to travel before you pivoted into remote work, you’re probably loving the newfound freedom and taking advantage of it.
If you were the sort of person who considered going to the grocery store for milk during its evening rush a major outing, you’re probably not planning a trip to Yellowstone right now.
Modern life doesn’t naturally favor nomadic tendencies. If you want to travel, you need to arrange those circumstances for yourself. How?
Identify Barriers to Travel
The first thing you need to do is determine what is keeping you from traveling. The answers will probably come quickly. Traveling costs money. You have local responsibilities that extend beyond work. Would it even be fun to travel if you have to spend all day at the computer anyway?
Once you understand why you aren’t traveling it will be easier to pick spots where a little bit of wandering will be more appropriate.
For example, if you have kids in school, the obvious thing to do would be to wait for summer and take longer, working vacations than you might have when you were bound to a desk job.
If your job itself is the problem— too demanding to allow you to take advantage of travel opportunities— that’s a different barrier. Below we explore how you can juggle remote work responsibilities with a nomadic lifestyle.
Manage Your Time Zones Effectively
This is actually something that many remote workers are already doing. Because remote work makes it easier to build teams from all over the world, people are naturally forced to coordinate schedules over different time zones.
That’s difficult in its own right, but the job gets harder when your own time zone is continuously in flux.
As you plan travel destinations, think about how the new time zone will influence your working life. Will it force you to get up really early or work through dinner? If so, you may not enjoy the trip as much as you were anticipating.
Accessing Mobile Office Equipment
We earlier reflected on the appeal of being able to work with only a laptop and a positive attitude. That’s not quite the reality of remote work for many people. Your computer bears much of the burden, but you may also need access to printers, fax machines, scanners, etc.
You probably don’t want to travel the country with an entire office in tow. Is there a solution?
Pay-by-the-day office spaces are readily available in many locations all throughout the country. They are particularly accessible in large cities.
Do be mindful of the ensuing expense. Traveling will cost money in its own right. You don’t want to expound the problem by working from a location that eats away at your day’s pay.
Some employers will provide a stipend for remote workspaces. See what opportunities are available to you.
Work with Your Employer
If you really want to travel while on the job, you should disclose that fact to your boss. They can help establish realistic expectations and set mutually beneficial boundaries. They may be able to point out times of the year that are more conducive to travel, or even help arrange circumstances to make travel easier for you.
WIFI
Above all else, you need to make sure you have solid access to wifi if you are going to be traveling. Make sure that the place you are going will have a consistent connection, but also have a couple of backup plans handy.
If it turns out the house you are renting has really spotty access, that could derail your entire trip. Know ahead of time what you will do when your connection breaks.
Make it Sustainable
Final step? Once you’ve established all of the conditions necessary for traveling the country, make sure you take a little bit of time to plan out the sustainability components as well. It’s not enough to pick a location and download a bunch of awesome podcasts for the drive-over.
Many digital nomads work hard to protect the places they want to visit by working on ways to reduce their fuel consumption. Keep in mind also that the longer you stay in a location, the more bang you get for your buck from a carbon emissions standpoint.
Having the opportunity to travel is great. However, like so many other things in life, it is important to approach this consideration from a balanced, responsible perspective.
