With the adoption of the remote working culture in most business organizations in the world after the coronavirus era, it will interest you to hear some experiences of employees who now work remotely. So many of them now have the opportunity to multitask and still deliver on their assigned duties. I once heard a hilarious one. He had to use the restroom by all means and was also supposed to be in a compulsory meeting. He took his laptop to the restroom and had his meeting successfully! While that sounds hilarious, it is good to know that you can do almost anything else while working and one of the extras is traveling. Here are some things to know when you travel and work simultaneously.
You can rent a temporary office space
Sometimes, you will need an office environment in the course of your journey to take care of some of your job activities. If your hotel accommodation is not giving you enough, you can quickly rent an office space to use temporarily. It could be for just that day but it sure gives you the environment you would need at that time to concentrate. A friend was traveling from Croatia to America last month and had to work at the same time. When he touched down, he had to rent one of the office spaces in Los Angeles near his hotel accommodation. He needed the work environment for better concentration and it was an awesome experience for him.
Unlock your phone to accept any sim card
You may not see the importance of this until you get to a location that has no source of internet and you need to provide one for yourself to work. Imagine knowing that you have to get a local sim card to solve your immediate problem and you discover that your phone is locked to all other sim cards apart from the original service provider’s. Make sure to unlock your phone before you travel so that you don’t fall into this trap.
Have a good source of internet
This is necessary if you are going to be sending emails and corresponding with your team throughout your journey. Very good and stable internet is needed and since you may not be sure of the safety of public wifi even if there was, you may have to make some efforts to provide your own internet connection. Prepare to buy a new sim in any location and subscribe to the internet data that would favor you.
Check your company’s policy
This is very important as some companies have a different policy on how long you can be away from the country where your office is located. I once learned that Nielsen IQ has a policy like that. For some companies, you may not even be allowed to leave the country or State at all. Some others do allow you to work for some weeks or months out of the country. It will interest you to know that there are also companies who don’t care about your location at all. They are only interested in you being available online regularly.
Take all you will need along
There are some things you cannot afford to forget at home if you must work successfully while traveling. First of all, you will already know that you wouldn’t be able to work at all if you forget your laptop. However, there are some other things that could ruin your plan to work if you forget to pack them. The chargers for your devices are very important. You should also not forget your phone. You can also get a universal adapter to avoid buying different adapters whenever you change your location.
Join a travel and remote work program
This is one way to stay away from the overwhelming endeavor to navigate flights, find coworking spaces, and get accommodation. Remote Year is one program that can help with providing all of the things that you need to work remotely while traveling. They embrace taking your job on the road and help you to make it worth the while.
Create and stick to a work schedule
This is very important so that you do not lose track of your working hours or deliver less on your assigned duties. You need to be consistent with your work time and prepare a pre-work routine that would work for you. Sticking to this routine requires a lot of discipline, especially because you could be distracted with your travel activities.
Maintain your relationship with family back at home
It is very possible to forget about family and friends when you are concentrating on your journey and working at the same time. You need to keep in touch as much as possible with them as they may be worried about your wellbeing. Checking on your family especially especially your wife and kids or your husband as the case may be can help you focus more mentally if you will be away for quite some time. Staying in touch while working abroad doesn’t have to be difficult if you make it a plan to achieve it.
Pay attention to time zones
When you are traveling to a foreign land and working remotely, it is important to check how the time zones of your location or locations will affect your work. Communicating through different time zones can be frustrating and may cause your business to lose some hours. So, you have to choose and set up a time that would align normally with your work in your home country. If you will be collaborating a lot with team mates, you will need to take this more seriously.
Be aware of immigration laws of your proposed location
Though you can remain a resident of your nation while on a tourist visa in another country, it is also possible that you are liable for taxes because you are in another country. This is because some governments like to believe that you are employed in their country regardless of your physical location. So, you should do your research very well before you travel to avoid unexpected bills and taxes.
Final word
Traveling while working can be a rewarding experience if you know what you are up for and prepare very well for it. During it, you can open your arms to meeting new friends and create a fun time that you will not be forgetting in a hurry. Apart from these tips on what to know about traveling while working remotely, you can make more inquiries from those that have embarked on such adventures, hopefully to the location you are planning on.
Cover photo author: © Clay Banks from Unsplash
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