3. Keep Work and Play Separate
Since there’s no clear separation between office and home when working remotely, it’s disturbingly easy to work from morning into the evening hours (repeat ad nauseum).
Separating your work from your personal life when on the road might look means different things to different people, but some examples are:
- Giving yourself specific working hours (and sticking to them)
- Taking time during the day to enjoy wherever you’ve traveled to
- Communicating clear boundaries to colleagues
- Setting availability on your work calendar to ensure you’re not using your flexibility to over-commit to work
4. Utilize Smart Booking Practices
Traveling full-time can be quite expensive, and wreak havoc on your budget. Not only are there often additional fees attached to flights and other purchases, but you’re often paying a premium as a short-term renter.
- To reduce the overall expenses associated with travel, you can:
- Think ahead, to plan your journeys in alignment with lower-cost travel seasons
- Negotiating wherever possible (you’d be surprised at how easy it is to negotiate by simply calling front desks or messaging Airbnb hosts)
- Subscribe to deal finders, like Scott’s Cheap Flights
5. Roll With the Punches
Life rarely goes as planned, and this includes travel!
Recognizing everything won’t go as planned will help you have a positive attitude towards the hiccups that inevitably come up while traveling. I’ve been stuck in planes, without promised wifi in the mountains, found myself snowed-in, in a canyon… take joy in the journey!
Tip: Add pockets of buffer time to your calendar on travel days, to help alleviate stress and anxiety when things go awry.
6. Know Yourself
We’re all different and many of the tips I share here may not work for you or need to be adapted. The most important thing to do while traveling is reflect on what you need in order to be in a headspace that will allow you to have fun in life and do well at work.
If you’re traveling with a friend or partner, this might mean coordinating your work schedules so that you find the right balance between spending time together, having enough focus time at work, and being able to fully unwind on a regular basis.
7. Less Is More
This one is highly context-specific, but when traveling and working at the same time, I’ve found that it is often nice to spend more time in fewer places than less time in more places.
Although, perhaps the nature of your travel is to knock out all of Western Europe in the summer to learn where you want to settle down in autumn!
8. Establish Your “Why”
I have found it helpful to define why I’m traveling to a certain destination and what I hope to get out of it (especially when solo traveling, which is what I do most of the time).
It is easy to get lonely, have difficult days and nights, and ask yourself, “Why did I come all the way over here and spend all this money?”
Defining why beforehand helps remind you what you set out to do, and find the motivation to get back to doing it!
9. Make Sure Food Is Nearby!
There are times when you may find yourself in a food desert, with no grocery store nearby and no way to grab a quick bite to eat. This is especially a problem when you don’t have a car (often the case for longer-term international travel). Be mindful of this and make sure you have at least one quick option or a plan!
10. Your Circadian Rhythm
Potentially the most important item in this list: it’s crucial for you to be mindful of what your schedule and life are going to look like against your work calendar.
Here’s an example: if your company is aligned across the Eastern Standard Time Zone and tends to schedule meetings in the afternoon, life looks very different when you’re living in Europe versus the West Coast of the United States.
In this scenario, you would end up spending your European days out and about, but spend the latter half and evening on calls and meetings with your team. But if you travel to the West Coast of the United States, you would be expected to be in the chair early, but have the rest of the day to yourself.
How Do You Plan On Traveling and Working Full-Time?
What works best for you? Only you can decide! If you take anything away from this, be intentional and kind to yourself, and make sure to have fun along the way!
Interested in working remotely? Here are a few more resources for you:
