- Quick facts
- Total days on the road: 586
- Currently in: USA
- Miles Driven: 36821
- Countries Visited: 17
- Days Camping: 389
- Days Indoors: 202
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How Working Changes our Travel Style
{jcomments lock}Here at Team Life Remotely we travel a bit differently. Not because we are trying to be better than others, but because we are attempting to maintain our jobs on the road. Our short 15-hour work week may seem insubstantial (and ideal) but it makes a big impact on how we travel.
Here are a few things we’ve had to change to keep the pay checks coming in:
Planning, Researching, and More Planning
Travelers debate this all the time. Is it better to throw caution to the wind and just go where the road takes you, or to struggle with a bulletproof itinerary? Generally, we’re the type of people to read a lot, ask a lot of questions, but commit to pretty much nothing. Personally, we hate itineraries, but they've become a necessary evil.
Daily Struggles of a Digital Nomad
{jcomments lock}We’ve been traveling full-time for eight months now. It has been nothing short of incredible, but not without hardships. Our travel-related struggles are usually self-inflicted and end up making for a good story a few weeks later. However, because we are attempting to offset all of our travel costs by working online, we have an entirely new set of problems that come up time and time again. For those of you looking into the digital nomad lifestyle, here’s a look at what you’re in for:
Internet
This struggle has so many facets, it’s not even funny. I thought finding internet would be the only issue. Turns out, finding it is easy. Making sure it’s reliable is the hard part.
No Signal
You know how every conceivable type of accommodation advertises free wifi these days? Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. The only problem is, it rarely every reaches where you want to work, especially in big hotels and campgrounds. A good strong signal is hard to find.
Travel Work Days: How do they Work?
{jcomments lock}We have designated work days during our trip down the Pan-American. Every Tuesday, no matter where we are, how hot it is, or how hung-over we are, there is a work day.
I use this time to work on client projects, Kobus works on his online classes and Jared usually updates this website.
Here are a few frequently asked questions about our working schedules.
What’s a work day?
A work day means we don’t go anywhere. We find a good campground or hostel with internet and we stay put. We arrive the day before and stay the night after.
Scheduling Work While Traveling
{jcomments lock}One of the hardest parts of freelancing is scheduling projects. Most freelancers learn the meaning of the phrase “feast or famine” the hard way. When there are clients knocking on your door, saying no can plummet you into a month of famine. On the other hand, saying yes too quickly can lead to back-to-back 80 hour work weeks.
Scheduling clients while traveling presents a totally different set of challenges. Not only do you have to keep clients coming your way, you have to do it from the other side of the world. And you may have the additional challenge of reduced work hours.
Here are a few tricks we've learned about scheduling work to keep our clients happy and ourselves sane...
How to be a Successful Telecommuter
{jcomments lock}To find success as a telecommuter you must go above and beyond your employer’s expectations. Prove that you can be more successful when working away from the office. Then use the trust you’ve gained to further your professional goals.
Be prepared to work extra hours in the beginning. Not having to commute or take a company lunch break means that you should have extra time on your hands. Use that time to deal with the new logistical challenges of telecommuting so that you can exceed your employer’s expectations with the work you’re assigned. Make use of your new flexibility and find ways to work smarter.
More Articles...
Subcategories
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Online Tools
Online Tools
As internet services continue to grow, online tools are becoming a great asset for location independent professionals. Here you'll find information about the various software tools we use while working and traveling. From managing documents and sharing files to ensuring your precious work stays safe while you're far from home.
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Managing a Business
Managing a Business
The life of a digital nomad presents unique challenges. Whether you are a freelancer, telecommuter, or an entrepreneur, working and traveling forces you to change how your business is managed. You have to maintain the books, pay taxes, write checks, pay bills, collect money and find customers, all without a permanent address. Below you’ll find our advice for dealing with these issues, and articles about how to balance work and a location independent lifestyle.
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Freelancing
Freelancing
This section addresses how to transform an existing freelance business into one that can be done remotely from around the world. How do you manage clients, get paid, work with time zone differences and not get fired when you are potentially thousands of miles away?
The Life Remotely team consists of a graphic designer, web developer and a software developer. We have such a huge variety of clients that we’re confident this advice will apply most all freelancers.
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Getting Started
Getting Started
Becoming a full-time digital nomad is a daunting task, there is much to consider and plenty of mistakes to be made. You should be willing to accept a few risks and plan for flexibility. Getting started as a location independent professional is not much different than starting a long-term travel adventure. Your goal is to combine and simplify many aspects of your life and to plan for the additional burden of working remotely while you travel.
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Cruise Ships
Cruise Ships
What is it like to live and work aboard a cruise ship? This question we have heard over and over again. In this category we hope to demystify some of these questions.
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The Lifestyle
The Lifestyle
Want to know what being a digital nomad is really like? In this section we delve into the nitty-gritty details of day-to-day life. Learn how both your work and travel habits will change. As well as logistical details like how to schedule work, maintain a work/life balance and what challenges to expect.
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Telecommuting
Telecommuting
The rise of the internet age has allowed many professionals to work remotely. Telecommuting continues to be a growing trend for a variety of careers. If you spend your day on the phone and behind a monitor, chances are your job can just as easily be done from home, or while traveling.
The articles in this section outline the types of jobs that can be done remotely, and provide helpful resources for professionals who wish to transition their jobs to telecommuting positions. We’ll also give you some advice for being a successful telecommuter and what you can do to keep your boss happy with your new lifestyle.
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Staying Connected
Staying Connected
Staying connected with your clients, friends and family is one of the most logistically challenging aspects of becoming a digital nomad. At the same time, you don’t want to be tethered to technology, whether you need to check emails, manage a project, upload files or just make a phone call. Here is some advice for maintaining your availability while keeping cost and stress to a minimum.