Working While Travelling: Balancing Work with Personal Life in a New Location
Remote work, in theory, offers the freedom to work from virtually anywhere, whether it's a bustling city, a quiet village, or a tropical beach. However, balancing work with personal life in a new location comes with its own set of challenges, and they can be a far cry from the nomad-FOMO Insta-lifestyle imagery would suggest…
So I wanted to suggest some practical tips for working while travelling, including maintaining a routine, fulfilling responsibilities to clients and employers, and debunking the myths of the glamorous digital nomad lifestyle.
The first thing to check is whether you CAN legally work from wherever you want to go. This is something to figure out between your employer if you have one, your passport, and your visa status.
Don’t be a ‘stealth nomad’!
Remote work of any kind depends on trust, which is why it’s crucial to discuss your work-while-travel plans with your boss or manager to ensure transparency.
Check your employment contract first, to see if it is covered in there, or any more recent appendices. For example, you may be specifically allowed to work from another country for up to X days per year - or you may not. It may not have arisen, so the lack of a policy or contract clauses doesn’t mean it’s out of the question. Propose your plans with the employers’ needs in mind - explain how you will remain fully productive, contactable, available, etc.
Communicating openly about your location and work schedule helps set clear expectations, prevents misunderstandings, and aligns your work hours with team and project needs. Failing to do so, often referred to as ‘stealth nomading,’ can risk your employment contract. Stealth nomading can lead to legal issues, breaches of company policy, and all kinds of disruptions - such as finding out you have no health coverage in an emergency, or no one can fix your busted laptop.
Definitely don’t risk lying about your plans if you get a hard no. You will read all sorts of advice about what you can get away with using VPNs and Smart DNS systems, but It’s far too easy to get caught out. Check out our employment resources and let us help you plan your next move if need be, because there are people who will respect your desire to work remotely while travelling.
Working While Travelling - Things to Consider
Once when you have squared it away with the boss - or you are your own boss - travelling while working can be an enriching experience, and unlock more blended travel opportunities than traditional work with an annual leave allowance ever could.
The possibilities are endless:
Spending extended time with family in different countries.
Tagging on a week to explore and enjoy after a business event.
Trialling a home swap in a place you might want to live one day.
Sharing a co-living experience with fellow remote workers…
Once you remove the location requirement, to any extent, the world is at your feet.
However, it requires careful planning and discipline. Here are some tips to make it work:
Plan Ahead
Research your destination thoroughly. Understand the time zone differences, local working conditions, and cultural nuances that might affect your work. Use a service like Nomad365 to scope out friendly accommodation and hospitality online ahead of your trip, to save yourself a ton of time figuring things out locally when you arrive - and if you use the code RWE at the Nomad365 checkout, you will get a cool 10% discount too 😎
Reliable Internet
Ensure you have access to reliable internet. Check reviews of accommodations for their Wi-Fi quality, and consider coworking spaces. Having a backup option, like a mobile hotspot, can save you from unexpected connectivity issues - but make sure you don’t get burned on roaming data costs. An eSIM is a great solution.
Set Up a Workspace
Create a dedicated workspace wherever you go. It helps to separate work from leisure and maintain productivity. This can be a corner of your hotel room, a café, or a coworking space. If you’re staying with friends/family who may not have dedicated office room at home, you may have to gather up and put away everything at night, but in an ideal world you’d be able to set up somewhere for the duration. Maybe you can trade homes with other remote workers, who understand your crucial concerns.
Stick to a Schedule
Establish a consistent work schedule that aligns with your clients' or employer's time zones. Consistency helps manage expectations and keeps your work-life balance in check.
Communicate expectations with fellow travellers
If you’re travelling with, or visiting with, friends and family, then set clear expectations about your need to work. You don’t need their sympathy or their blessing, but you do need their understanding! Maybe you can work around special days or meals or outings, or perhaps you can work early or late in order to accommodate everyone’s needs. Try not to let it become a problem for everyone, and remind yourself that it’s probably your ability to work flexibly which is making the trip possible in the first place…
Maintaining a Routine to Work While Travelling
You might be the kind of person who loves flexibility and spontaneity, however a routine is often very helpful for staying productive and maintaining balance, especially in a new location.
Here are some tips to help you create and stick to one while working on a trip:
Streamline and Minimise: Be acutely realistic about what you can get done, what you must get done, while you are travelling. Front load and clear your essential tasks down before you go, and then delegate, drop, or delay anything which is simply not suitable or viable to achieve while travelling.
Daily Planning: Start your day by outlining your tasks and setting clear goals. Use tools like digital calendars or task management apps to stay organized. Making sure you can capture thoughts, messages, and ideas on the fly (e.g. a reminders app on your phone) will help you to flourish and make the most of all the creativity unlocked by travelling, without that nagging worry that you’re going to miss something because of your lack of routine.
Work-Life Boundaries: Set clear boundaries between work hours and personal time. Avoid the temptation to check emails or work outside your designated hours. Manage your notifications and apps accordingly, so you don’t get bugged about work stuff during time you have set aside for pleasure.
Regular Break: Schedule regular breaks to rest and recharge. Short breaks during the day and longer breaks for exercise or leisure activities can boost your productivity. This is the moment to embrace your new location, with a quick energising walk or swim, and remind yourself that you’re somewhere new!
Healthy Habits: Incorporate healthy habits into your routine, such as regular exercise, balanced meals, and sufficient sleep. These are vital for maintaining your physical and mental well-being.
Responsibilities to Clients and Employers
Maintaining professionalism and fulfilling your responsibilities is key to a successful remote work experience, and if you’re new to exploring the possibilities, then you really want to make sure it’s considered a success by everyone - including those who are paying you.
So make sure they are not negatively impacted by your travels in any way, and that you take full responsibility for your connection, deliverables, getting the timezones right, and all those things. You do not want your choice of travel to have any discernible impact on your work for them, which might make them inclined to have an opinion about where you may or may not best work in the future. While you have been 100% transparent about your intentions and location, the ideal outcome is that they actually forget you’re not working from home as usual, as your service and communication is so impeccable while you’re on the move as to be unnoticeable.
In fact, I would go as far as to say, you want to be more productive, more efficient, more on the ball, than ever before… And that should not be hard, because travel is fun, inspiring, energising, and exciting.
However, not everyone understands this, and they might see travel as synonymous with slacking. They might not have the same choices you do, for a whole range of reasons, both related and unrelated to work. Or they might be regretting their current situation.
As such, your working while travelling, must always feel like a win-win - and that’s going to be largely on you, to make it so.
It’s worth it!
The Reality of “WWT” - beyond Nomad Instagram
The image of a digital nomad working under a palm tree with a cocktail in hand can be alluring, but it's often far from reality.
Ultimately, unless you’re retired or independently wealthy, work comes first - and the hammocks and coconuts have to fit in around that. Remote work requires discipline and focus, which means you can't always work from picturesque locations. Reliable internet, a comfortable workspace, and minimal distractions are more important.
Frequent travel can disrupt your routine and impact productivity. Finding a balance between exploration and work is crucial. Managing health while travelling can also be challenging. It's essential to prioritize your well-being, maintain a balanced diet, and get regular exercise.
But as I mentioned before - it’s worth it!
Balancing remote work with personal life in a new location amply rewards the careful planning, discipline, and a realistic approach. By preparing adequately, maintaining a consistent routine, fulfilling your professional responsibilities, and understanding the realities of a blended working life, you can enjoy the benefits of working remotely while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
The freedom to work from anywhere is a privilege, and with the right strategies, it can lead to a fulfilling and productive lifestyle.