Three Practical Tips For Working Remotely While Traveling Internationally
If you are a small or solo business owner who wishes to travel internationally while continuing to work, the following three tips should help you do this as efficiently as possible while minimizing disruption to your operations:
1. Have The Right Type Of Accommodation. If running your business is important to you while traveling, you should not hesitate spending extra $30 -$50 / night on a hotel room or an apartment with better internet and a comfortable desk for you to work from. Few things are more frustrating than not having good internet and phone connection while being thousands of miles away and not being able to do anything about it for days. Before you book that hotel or AirBNB spot, read their reviews and see what people say about their internet and cellphone reception. Some destinations, especially the most exotic ones, are still not suitable for being able to easily work remotely due to lack of access to fast internet and good phone reception. On the other hand, there are plenty of places that cater to remote workers, including all the many cities around the world that have super fast internet, countless internet cafes and great cellphone reception everywhere. This might be an important factor in your choosing your travel destination.
2. Use The Time Difference To Your Advantage - some of your work is probably urgent while other work can wait. For many solo professionals returning new or potential clients' phone calls and e-mails is the most urgent part, while working with existing clients on ongoing matters is less urgent. If you are traveling in Europe or Asia, you can spend the first hour of your waking time there returning phone calls and e-mails, as it would be the end of the day in the US and you will essentially be getting back to people, who called you earlier that day, within the same day. This is especially easy to do during your first days away since you will naturally be waking up super early due to jetlag. You can spend another hour catching up with calls and emails in the evening, before you go out, as that will be morning in the US. This will allow you to always respond to calls and emails within 24 hours or less. You can enjoy your trip and sightseeing during the day time and incorporate your less urgent work into afternoons.
3. Make Sure You Are Fully Dialed Into The Time Difference With Your Calendar. Even though calculating the time difference isn't a rocket science, people routinely miss important meetings when they travel. Sit down and spend some quality time with your calendar before you depart for that trip, and make specific notes of when the events calendared will actually take place as per local time at your destination. When you arrive to your destination, look at your calendar again at least a few days ahead and make a specific plan of how you will make sure that you are available and are located at the right place when you need to attend to those phone calls and zoom meetings. Make a mental note of the upcoming days - of what you will be doing during those days and how you will incorporate your work obligations into those activities.
1. Have The Right Type Of Accommodation. If running your business is important to you while traveling, you should not hesitate spending extra $30 -$50 / night on a hotel room or an apartment with better internet and a comfortable desk for you to work from. Few things are more frustrating than not having good internet and phone connection while being thousands of miles away and not being able to do anything about it for days. Before you book that hotel or AirBNB spot, read their reviews and see what people say about their internet and cellphone reception. Some destinations, especially the most exotic ones, are still not suitable for being able to easily work remotely due to lack of access to fast internet and good phone reception. On the other hand, there are plenty of places that cater to remote workers, including all the many cities around the world that have super fast internet, countless internet cafes and great cellphone reception everywhere. This might be an important factor in your choosing your travel destination.
2. Use The Time Difference To Your Advantage - some of your work is probably urgent while other work can wait. For many solo professionals returning new or potential clients' phone calls and e-mails is the most urgent part, while working with existing clients on ongoing matters is less urgent. If you are traveling in Europe or Asia, you can spend the first hour of your waking time there returning phone calls and e-mails, as it would be the end of the day in the US and you will essentially be getting back to people, who called you earlier that day, within the same day. This is especially easy to do during your first days away since you will naturally be waking up super early due to jetlag. You can spend another hour catching up with calls and emails in the evening, before you go out, as that will be morning in the US. This will allow you to always respond to calls and emails within 24 hours or less. You can enjoy your trip and sightseeing during the day time and incorporate your less urgent work into afternoons.
3. Make Sure You Are Fully Dialed Into The Time Difference With Your Calendar. Even though calculating the time difference isn't a rocket science, people routinely miss important meetings when they travel. Sit down and spend some quality time with your calendar before you depart for that trip, and make specific notes of when the events calendared will actually take place as per local time at your destination. When you arrive to your destination, look at your calendar again at least a few days ahead and make a specific plan of how you will make sure that you are available and are located at the right place when you need to attend to those phone calls and zoom meetings. Make a mental note of the upcoming days - of what you will be doing during those days and how you will incorporate your work obligations into those activities.