Since 2020 and the worldwide pandemic forced people to look at different ways of working, it has become increasingly common for people to work from home or remotely from anywhere in the world.
This has opened up the opportunity to travel while working. For many people, this enables them to travel to new places, meet new people and enjoy new experiences while still earning income.
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Digital nomads come in all shapes and sizes. You might be a travel blogger, graphic designer, yoga instructor, online English teacher, project manager, even a travel nurse or one of the remote employees for your company.
However, trying to work while travelling has its set of challenges.
As long as you put a plan in place to overcome these challenges, there should be no reason you can’t enjoy both travel and remote working.
Let’s have a look at some of the ways that you can travel and still earn an income:
Things to consider before you leave
A bit of planning before you leave will help you heaps when you are away.
Where are you going?
The world is a vast place with so many different countries to choose from. Are you headed to the United States? South Korea? Southeast Asia? Bali? Costa Rica? Mexico? Europe?
How long are you away for?
Are you just working while you are on holiday, or is your trip extended for weeks or months, or is it a new way of life? What do you have to put in place at home while you are away?
Are you able to do your job remotely?
Online work in your home office is one thing, but working remotely with a different time zone, different languages, possibly a dodgy internet connection may take you out of your comfort zone.
You may need access to a printer, a stable wifi, maybe even take your a portable wifi with you. If you are starting out on your digital nomad journey, or just working while you are travelling on holiday, I have written a post of the best digital nomad gadgets I recommend.
Digital Nomad Jobs
If you are not already running your own online business or working remotely for the company you are already with, there are many remote jobs to consider.
If you need free accommodation, you could look at house sitting. This gives you somewhere to live and work while taking care of someone’s pets and doing odd jobs around the house. Trusted House Sitters is the best online platform for housesitting gigs. I have travelled the world housesitting and still working.
Are you cut out to work remotely?
If it is your first time trying to integrate work while travelling, it can be quite daunting. Even the most resilient of us can get overwhelmed with trying to work as well as enjoying the local culture and having a healthy work-life balance.
Don’t let your age be a draw back. While it seems that it is just young people who are travelling to a foreign country while still working, I have been combining travel and remote working since my 40s, doing web design, travel blogging and drone flying.
Are you legal?
If you plan to stay for several months in a country, do you need to have a work visa? Depending on which country you choose, and the length of your visit, you may need a working holiday visa.
It is advisable to research in advance and it could save you a lot of time, and money later.
Keep yourself covered
Don’t forget to arrange your travel insurance. Check if your travel and health insurance covers you and your tech in case of any issues along the way.
Tips to help you Work while Travelling
You have arrived in your new destination! Maybe your first day is spent checking out the area or catching up on jet lag.
Plan Your Time
One of the best ways to successfully work remotely while travelling is to plan your time. If you do not plan your time, you run the risk of not having enough time to see the things you want to see and not having enough time to work the hours you need to.
Often, it is a good thing to make sure you create a working schedule and stick to it as much as possible. Yes, it may be a little bit too tedious working in a great place where you want to explore; however, if you don’t do that work and leave yourself strapped for time, you will end up missing more than you would if you have just put a plan in place.
Set a dedicated amount of hours for work each day, and then you can use the rest of the time to explore and travel to the place that you are in. Be realistic with how long your work will take.
This will be much better than trying to complete work later at night or jumping up in the early hours of the morning to complete or meet a deadline that you have missed.
It might take a few days to get into the rhythm of your new work regime, but it is worth it.
Look At Your Workload
Often, when you work remotely or for yourself, you are in charge of your workload. This means that you can tailor your workload to meet your work-life balance.
A great way to deal with your workload is to decide how to approach it. You can either do a big chunk of work all at once and then have a time where you have free time, or you can split your workload into working half of the day and then having free time in the afternoon or the morning.
Some people like to work a solid two or three full days and get their workload completed for the week. This then leaves them free to have a long weekend or a more significant chunk of time to explore while travelling.
If you know that there are going to be a couple of days where you need to explore more, move between places or there are more things that you want to see while travelling then try to minimize your workload on these days.
If you are still working for a company in your home country, you may also have to keep to their work hours. Time zone differences can have you working into the wee small hours
Likewise, if you look at the weather forecast and you have a few days where you can’t get out and about as much time, it’s a good idea to do most of your work these days.
Unfortunately, there may be times when you have to spend more time at work than you want to. This comes as part of the package of working remotely and travelling.
Make Sure You Have Somewhere To Work
When you are remotely working, you must ensure you have somewhere to work. This could be in your hotel room or a public space, such as one of the many coffee shops around.
If you are in a public space or on the go and using public wifi, you need to make sure that you ask yourself is public wifi safe to use. Consider using a VPN to protect yourself and your information from hackers and prying eyes!
Before you book somewhere, it’s a good idea to make sure that you check the facilities and see if you have somewhere where you can work properly.
From previous experience, there is nothing worse than arriving at your accommodation after travelling and realising that the only place to work is with your laptop on your knees!
There is no good booking a hotel to find out they have no access to WI-Fi or no quiet spaces for you to work. Ideally, you would be working somewhere like your hotel room; however, if there’s no access to the Wi-Fi or the Wi-Fi is poor, you may need to go into a lobby or lounge.
It’s a good idea to check online or email ahead to any accommodation to find out whether they have somewhere for remote workers. Many hotels now have dedicated space for people who work remotely because it has become a popular option for people who travel.
If you are house-sitting, it is worth having a video chat with the house owners to discuss where you can work in peace.
Manage Expectations
If you are travelling with your family or partner, have a chat with them and explain that you will be working remotely and travelling. It will help to avert any pouting lips, tantrums and disappointments.
These are just a few things that you can look at to help when you are travelling and working. If you are able to work remotely, there is no reason you cannot travel and see the world at the same time.
Do you have any other tips that could help? Please share them in the comments below.
Use these Travel Tips to plan your next adventure!
- Get the best deals on flights with Skyscanner.
- Find the perfect place to stay in Booking.com.
- Buy your e-sim before you go with Airalo
- Take your own portable wifi with you
- Explore local experiences with Get Your Guide.
- Don’t forget to arrange your travel insurance.
This is a really useful post. You discuss some really important question like visa, legalities, taxes… I would love to do a bit of work from my travels, and some of it would actually be suitable for it, but I am way too afraid of breaking any visa rules in the country I am visiting.
As long as you do your research and make sure you are not overstaying your visa, you should be okay, Anya. Where are you thinking of going?