How to work remotely and travel? As the pandemic forces us to live by the day, remote work is the magic key to keeping stability and planning new projects. With the rise of virtual opportunities and digital nomads, working remotely and traveling has never been easier! 

However, you need to do research and plan before leaving. Let’s have a look at the most important things about being a digital nomad and the best practices to travel and work remotely at the same time.

What You Should Know About Remote Work And Traveling

According to statistics, most digital nomads visit between 5/10 countries each year, staying in one place for 1 to 3 months. In addition, you should consider that most remote workers (28%) earn around $25,000/year – more or less half of an average US salary. That is to say, when you plan your life as a remote worker traveling the world, there are two crucial factors to keep into account. 

First, accommodation, food, health insurance, and transport are consistent and stable expenses. If you are constantly moving around, you will spend a lot of money on transportation and hotels without accessing deals for long-stay travel. Second, working remotely means you need a quiet space to get your work done.

As impressive as it looks, probably working on a beach for 8 hours with a laptop isn’t that great – especially at lunchtime. So, a clean desk in a hotel room with a conditioner sounds like a better workplace. Moving around too much means never finding an ideal spot to focus and be productive. 

So, you need to be innovative and plan things to get the best out of your virtual job. So, without further ado, let’s look at how to work remotely and travel! 

How to Work Remotely And Travel: 9 Best Practices

1. Cost Of Living  

Traveling while working from home means budgeting all the time – simply because not all the places you can call home have the same living costs. For example, moving to Amsterdam will be way more expensive than Prague. 

So, before picking your destination, you need to consider how long you can survive with your savings and salary and where you can have the best lifestyle. Where is the point in traveling to cool places if you cannot even afford a pint out?

To make your final decision, you can calculate the average living costs of each city by considering: 

• Accommodation: price for a night, week, or month 
• Transports 
• Average food costs – and for a pint of beer, always the most important thing!
• Co-working space and studio rent 

Once you have a general idea of your monthly expenses, you can plan your stay and destinations. Consider that some places are expensive to reach but cheap to live in and vice-versa. So, do your planning wisely! 

To recap, the most expensive cities to work remotely and travel to:

• Tokyo, Japan
• The Netherlands and North Europe 
• Singapore
• North America
• Seoul, South Korea
• Dubai, India 

And the cheapest destination to travel and work remotely: 

• Hanoi, Vietnam
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Medellin, Colombia
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Eastern and South Europe 
• Midwest and South America

2. Destination And Time Schedule 

Another thing to consider is that traveling and working remotely is different from holidays. Indeed, most remote workers (21%) usually take 11-15 days of holidays for the year. Just consider the average for US workers is 16 paid holidays and for Europeans around 30! 

Besides budget, consider when you have work deadlines, team meetings, and holidays to plan your schedule. For example, you can plan an extended stay of 4/5 months when you have hard deadlines and keep weekends to relax and visit other places. In addition, you can spread your holiday days based on weekends and future destinations. Extending your free time according to your traveling will allow you to have more time for yourself and work abroad.

3. Wi-Fi Deal 

You can’t leave without sorting out a good Wi-Fi deal. As simple as that. If you work remotely, you need to ensure a good connection every day anywhere. What if your manager needs a last-minute call? And the hotel Wi-fi isn’t enough? Make sure to have enough data always to have a solid Internet connection to work – and look up new destinations!  

4. Communication With Your Team And Managers 

You should communicate with your team and managers about your traveling planning. First, you need to share your time zone and work schedule. You can’t travel too long in countries with inconvenient time zones, or you will end up waiting all night long for regular meetings. Second, you need to consider how much work you can do if you travel and organize the workflow with your colleagues. 

5. Set Up A Private Office 

As we mentioned initially, it’s crucial to have a quiet spot to work and be productive. The easiest option seems to be a co-working space. However, only 7% of remote workers rent a coworking space because they are expensive. Most remote workers (78%) work from home to save on budget. So, you can check daily passes for desks and cafes to work. Wherever works for you, find a quiet and clean spot to focus and get the job done! 

6. Personal Working Schedule 

If you work and travel, you want a flexible but organized schedule. So, make sure to save a chunk of 3/4 hours of work and organize the rest of the time to visit the city, go to some cafes, or enjoy your stay abroad. If you don’t follow your schedule, you will end up late on deadlines and won’t visit anything. Especially in the beginning, make sure you don’t leave tasks behind to enjoy most of your free time. 

7. Exercise 

Working remotely and traveling isn’t an excuse to skip exercising. Especially in a new city, you can have a long walk around, hack on the weekend, or swim in the Ocean. Just keep yourself active and don’t follow a lazy routine. 

8. Pack All The Necessary 

Pack the necessary tools for work. From chargers, cables, and headphones, make sure to have everything you need. Tech equipment is expensive, and if you forget something, you will be out of budget at the very beginning of your trip. So, consider travel insurance for your work equipment and check back at least three times before leaving! 

9. Find Friends! 

Finally, it’s time to have fun. There are tons of opportunities to meet other professionals while having fun, from digital nomad villages and retreats to remote work travel programs. Once you settle your budget and workflow, it’s time to discover new places and meet new people, making this experience unforgettable! 

So, get on your laptop, keep in mind these practices, and find your way to work and travel worldwide!