The ability to work remotely opens up exciting possibilities to combine work and travel. With careful planning, remote employees can build lives that incorporate work, adventure, and fulfillment.
However, balancing a remote job and frequent travel takes thoughtfulness and discipline. Without an intentional routine, work can begin to suffer, leaving you stressed and unable to fully enjoy new destinations. On the flip side, if you become consumed by work, you’ll miss out on experiencing all that travel offers.
The key is structuring a remote work routine that supports both priorities. With the right strategies, you can thrive professionally while having the freedom to explore the world and pursue your passions. This article will provide tips for remote workers seeking to blend ambitious careers with frequent travel.
Assess Your Remote Work Needs
Working remotely while traveling requires some advance planning and consideration of your unique needs. Start by taking stock of the requirements of your job in terms of required hours, availability, and technical needs.
- Required Hours: Do you need to work standard business hours or are you able to set your own schedule? Understanding the hours expected by your employer or clients will allow you to build a routine that aligns.
- Availability: How available do you need to be for meetings, video calls, responding to messages etc? Determining if you need to be constantly connected or if flexibility is possible will impact when and where you can travel and work.
- Technical Needs: Make a list of the hardware, software, data security and internet capabilities you need to be productive. This could include laptop, secure wifi, VPN, access to collaboration platforms or proprietary software. Identifying needs ahead of time allows you to troubleshoot potential issues.
Taking the time to reflect on your unique circumstances will provide the foundation for crafting a remote work routine that enables both productivity and travel. Focus on the hours required, availability expectations, and technical prerequisites to inform the schedule and locations that will work best.
Craft a Flexible Routine
When working remotely and traveling often, it’s important to build flexibility into your routine. A rigid 9-5 schedule likely won’t work when you’re crossing time zones and exploring new places. Instead, aim for a routine with core hours for meetings, collaboration, and deep work, plus flexible hours you can shift as needed.
Core Hours vs Flexible Hours
Designate set hours for meetings, calls, or focused work when you need to be available and engaged. Treat these as you would if going into an office. Outside your core hours, be more flexible to accommodate travel or exploration.
Maybe your core hours are 10am-2pm to overlap with your team. Or you do deep focused work from 8-11am before sightseeing. The rest of the day can be flexible for where you are and what you want to do. Just communicate availability with colleagues.
Routines for Focus
Remote work while traveling takes discipline. Create daily routines and rituals to maximize focus and productivity during core hours.
Have a morning routine to start your workday intentionally rather than just diving into email. This might include exercise, meditation, breakfast, and reviewing your top priorities for the day.
Schedule deep work time when you can zero in on important projects without interruptions. Turn off notifications and avoid context switching. Set a timer to stay focused.
Take regular breaks to recharge. Step away from your devices, stretch, hydrate, walk outside, or do a quick meditation. Come back refreshed and refocused.
Establishing consistent routines will help you stay productive on the road, while the flexibility enables you to fully experience your travels.
Optimize Your Workspace
As a remote worker who travels, you likely need a mobile, flexible workspace. Invest in laptop stands, wireless keyboards, noise-canceling headphones, and other portable tech accessories to create an ergonomic and productive work-from-anywhere setup.
A reliable internet connection is also key. Look for accommodations or coworking spaces with strong WiFi. Bring your own MiFi device as a backup if you’ll be traveling outside major cities. Test the internet speed before settling in to work to avoid losing time to spotty connections.
Coworking spaces can provide the collaborative environment you may miss when working solo on the road. Plus, they offer amenities like printers, conference rooms, and coffee you likely don’t have access to in your hotel room or rental. Scout locations in advance and get day passes so you can easily drop in and get to work.
Optimizing your mobile workspace will allow you to maintain productivity and minimize disruptions, even as you change locations. With the right gear, tech tools, and workspaces, you can recreate your office environment anywhere in the world.
Manage Expectations
While remote work enables the freedom to travel, it’s essential to ensure you meet (or exceed) your team’s expectations when it comes to availability, productivity and engagement.
First, have an open discussion with your manager about the need for flexibility and work-life balance. Explain your desire to sometimes work outside a traditional 9 to 5 schedule. Make it clear you aim to get your work done, meet deadlines, attend key meetings, etc. regardless of timezone differences. Invite their feedback on any potential issues to address upfront.
Second, set boundaries and communicate them clearly to colleagues and clients. For example, just because you may work late at times doesn’t mean you’re available 24/7. Let people know your general hours and when you plan to be offline. Also set guidelines on response time – such as responding to non-urgent messages within 24 hours.
Third, overcommunicate when you’ll be unavailable and reiterate how you can still be reached in case of emergency. For instance, if traveling between destinations, give plenty of notice about potential lack of wifi access and provide alternate methods of contact like messaging apps or phone in the interim.
With the right expectations set, you can maintain productivity and strong working relationships even when you’re on the go. The key is being proactive, transparent and flexible.
Build in Buffer Time
Working remotely while traveling comes with its fair share of disruptions. Flights can be delayed, WiFi connections can be spotty, and you may need to suddenly stop working to catch a train or check into your hotel.
It’s important to account for these potential disruptions by building in buffer time into your schedule. Don’t book yourself completely back-to-back in meetings. Leave a 15-30 minute buffer between video calls to account for any technical difficulties or delays.
Schedule complex tasks and work blocks when you know you’ll have uninterrupted time, such as very early in the morning before you check out of your hotel. And avoid scheduling long work blocks during times when you may be in transit from one location to another.
You’ll also want to build in some time buffers when scheduling deadlines. Don’t promise to deliver work the same day you land in a new city – jet lag and adjusting to a new location may mean you’re not at peak productivity. Instead, build in at least a day buffer, if not more, between travel days and work deadlines.
The key is to be realistic about how much you can get done when constantly on the move. Build in plenty of buffers so disruptions don’t derail your entire schedule. You’ll be able to maintain productivity while enjoying the flexibility of working remotely.
Make Time for Both
When combining work and travel, it’s important to create space for both priorities in your routine. Set boundaries around your work time so you can fully disconnect and enjoy your travels during your designated non-work hours. At the same time, protect your work hours by minimizing distractions and avoiding scheduling competing activities during that time.
Aim to intersperse focused work blocks with adequate breaks for adventuring, exploring, and relaxing. Build in transition time between switching modes to let your mind adjust. For example, take a walk outside after finishing work before diving into vacation activities.
Look at your travel itinerary and map out when you can realistically work each day based on your plans. Then schedule work time around your set activities and must-do excursions. Be strategic – frontend load work before days packed with adventure, tackling tasks requiring deep focus on less busy days.
With intentional planning, you can successfully blend work and play. Just remember to be fully present and make the most of your time in each realm. Disconnect from work to soak in new experiences and destinations. Then disconnect from travel to show up focused for your remote work routine. Finding this balance will enable you to thrive in both worlds.
Stick to a Schedule
Even while traveling, it’s important to maintain a consistent routine as much as possible. Setting a regular schedule for yourself each day and sticking to it helps you stay productive and focused while working remotely.
Aim to wake up and go to bed at the same time daily, no matter if you’re at home or in a new destination. Having set times carved out for work, exercise, leisure activities, and sleep will provide structure and make it easier to transition between locations.
If you know you’ll be more productive working during certain hours, block those times off in your calendar and protect them no matter where you are. For example, commit to working from 8am-12pm daily. Scheduling focus hours ensures you dedicate time for deep work.
While traveling across time zones, adjust your schedule gradually in increments to minimize jet lag. And when working online and collaborating with team members in various locations, find overlaps in everyone’s availability.
Sticking to consistent hours and routines while on the move takes discipline, but provides normalcy. Having a regular schedule mapped out ahead of time helps you maintain focus and productivity, even as your surroundings change.
Stay Connected
While working remotely and traveling can be freeing, it’s important to stay connected to coworkers, clients, and your company culture. Make an effort to maintain open communication and collaborate effectively despite the distance.
- Schedule regular video calls to catch up with coworkers. Don’t just talk about work – take time to socialize and bond as you would in the office. Video calls can help you stay engaged and feel less isolated.
- Proactively share status updates with your manager and team. Don’t leave them guessing about what you’re working on. Give updates on major projects and flag any roadblocks you encounter.
- Be transparent about your schedule and availability. Let coworkers know when you’ll be offline or unavailable due to travel. Manage expectations and accommodate time zone differences.
- Leverage collaboration tools like Slack, Asana, and Google Drive to communicate, work on projects, and share files with coworkers in real-time despite your location.
- Make an effort to attend important virtual meetings, even if they are outside your normal working hours. Stay in the loop on key decisions and discussions.
- If your role involves client work, maintain strong relationships even when traveling. Over-communicate to ensure excellent service and responsiveness.
- Immerse yourself in your company’s online community. Participate in any virtual social events, book clubs, or activities. Stay engaged with your company’s culture.
- Don’t isolate yourself. When working remotely while traveling, make an extra effort to communicate proactively with coworkers and clients. Maintain relationships, collaborate effectively, and stay in tune with your company.
Conclusion
With the rise of remote work enabling more flexible lifestyles and travel opportunities, building a solid routine that supports working from different locations is key. Though it takes effort to find the right balance, the payoff is huge in terms of increased productivity, work-life satisfaction, and ability to see more of the world.
The most important things to remember are being honest about your needs, remaining disciplined with your schedule, optimizing your setup, maintaining communication, and allowing yourself flexibility. Don’t be afraid to iterate and improve your routine over time as you figure out what works best. With the right systems in place, you can thrive as a traveling remote employee.
To recap, focus on setting reasonable expectations, building in buffer time for the unknowns, sticking to a consistent schedule, designating proper workspaces, staying connected with your team, and making space for non-work activities too. The digital nomad lifestyle may require some adjustments, but can absolutely be done successfully with a little diligence and preparation!
