My Remote Work Story

Three years ago in Brazil, I met a girl in a hostel who explained to me that she was a digital nomad – she didn’t go to an office, but instead worked remotely from her computer and cell phone and travelled full time.  

This was the coolest thing I had ever heard of.

 Never being a terribly great saver, I knew quitting to go travel probably wasn’t in the cards for me (at least not anytime soon).  But working remotely seemed somewhat viable!  

My boyfriend and I applied to Remote Year and got in.  But I didn’t have a remote job, so we had to put our acceptance on hold.  And for years, I dreamed of a remote job.  

Fast forward to March 2019.  I had been at my job for 2 years, and although I loved my team, I began to feel major burn out.  Then our parent company makes the decision to close all our operations.  I was asked to stay on until September to help wrap up our existing programs, but I can (miraculously) work remotely!  

I had a few other companies interested in making me offers, but I decided to stick with my company to the end.  The opportunity to work remotely – something I had always dreamed of – felt too good to give up.

My first action as to contact the friend I met years ago in Brazil and find out where she would be upcoming.  After all these years we had kept in touch on social media.

She was planning to be in Lisbon and thought there was space in her Airbnb!  I immediately checked and discovered a week available in the same Airbnb (different room) and booked it!  

I made plans to first visit her in Lisbon, then go to Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, and finally see a friend in London.  

Europe turned out to be the absolute perfect work/travel destination for me.  I don’t need a lot of sleep, and the time difference allowed me to have a full day of sight seeing and then begin working at 5PM or 6PM depending on which city I was in (which would be 9AM in LA).  

I obsessively made sure I was reachable at all times and had multiple wifi backups (local sim cards, pocket wifi device, strong wifi in Airbnbs, etc). I didn’t want anything to suffer because I wasn’t in the same country/time zone as my colleagues or clients. I was on every call and worked 40 hour weeks during this time.  Sometimes I would work on presentations earlier in the day/on weekends so I could go to bed a touch earlier, but other than that everything remained the same outwardly.  I was committed to making sure this was a viable and successful way to work.

My client even commented “do you ever sleep!?”  Because I seemed to be always on, responding to emails day & night lol.

After spending some time back in LA, my next trip was Panama.  The time zone was a little less advantageous, but it was still a great trip nonetheless. Only 2 hours ahead of LA, I had to confine my sightseeing activities into the early morning (which usually meant a hike or bike ride starting at like 7AM).  And I’d often take a lunch break and walk around the city as well, just to soak in a little more of my surroundings.  

The wifi in Bocas Del Toro was very weak so that was a little stressful, but I found a coworking space that had great wifi and I used that as my base during the week. 

Panama was also a little harder than Europe because I made more friends – friends who didn’t have to work while they were there.  It’s hard to watch your friends all go off to sight see while you have to get down to work. But I just reminded myself that it’s the price I paid for this wonderful opportunity and lifestyle.  Better to be working in Panama than working in an office, right!?  At least I could go to the beach in the morning or stare out at the water from my workspace. 

And the funny thing is – I began to love my job again.  Having a change of scenery made me feel so much more energized and happy than I had been in a long time.  The work that once made me feel so drained, all of a sudden felt good again.  The work didn’t change.  In fact, no one but my boss knew I was traveling while working. But my environment and scenery changed and that made all the difference.  

So when the opportunity arose to continue contracting with my client after my old company closed, I jumped at the opportunity.  And I feel so grateful every day since for this job!  

I know working remotely isn’t for everyone.  Some people function best in an office type setting.  I, on the other hand, LOVE working from home (or wherever in the world).  I don’t mind being “always on” – sending emails early and late - if it means I have the flexibility in my schedule to get the things done that I need to get done. Simply cutting out the 1.5 hour commute means I got more life back to exercise, spend time with family, etc.  And that’s just wonderful!

Happy people produce stronger results – and this is without a doubt the happiest I’ve been in my working life J  I’m so excited to continue on this remote work journey, and see where life takes me.

<3