With the advent of mobile devices becoming smaller and smarter, it can be tempting to bring your work everywhere you go. Why not answer emails on your iPhone while riding the bus? Why not bring your tablet to a lunch date so you can brainstorm on a word processor while you wait for your meal? Now more than ever, working from home is possible.
Image source: theguardian.com
If working from home is possible, why not work while you travel? If you have a limited number of days you can take off, it can really relieve the pressure to travel in a short period of time if you can actually count some of those days as, well, work days.
It can be unrealistic to expect yourself to work effectively in a coffee shop or hotel room when you are used to the quiet structure of an office environment. Instead, try to find a CoWorking space in the city you are visiting. Coworking spaces are offices with desks and internet access that are dedicated to individuals who work remotely, rather than one particular company. These spaces are generally quiet, with structured desk space and internet access. A bonus of working here rather than alone is that you have the opportunity to meet other working travelers. The Coworking Wiki site and the Global Coworking Map are two of the lists of the coworking spaces available to use all over the world.
Coworking space in Berlin. Image source: wikipedia
If possible, try to structure your work time around your home time zone. For some jobs, particularly ones that require collaboration, it is beneficial to work at the same time as the rest of your team so that any questions you email to your coworkers can be answered right away. Sometimes this can be to your advantage. For example, if your home workplace is in the Eastern Standard Time Zone and you are traveling in Amsterdam, you will be six hours ahead of your coworkers. This gives you plenty of time to see a museum in the morning, have some lunch, and begin your workday at 3pm Amsterdam time, just as your coworkers are arriving in their offices at 9am in Toronto. Of course, this isn’t always an option with more dramatic time differences, but it is worth thinking about when you plan your trip and your work times.
Travel icon Nomadic Matt, or Matt Kepnes. Image source: raileurope.com
Finally, for those who are very dedicated to work on the road, there are plenty of travel writers and bloggers who will tell you on their websites about how they turned traveling into their full time job. Bloggers like Nomadic Matt and A Little Adrift can help you with the logistics of turning your backpack into your office.
Don’t let work obligations keep you from traveling, take your work on the road instead!
