Remote Working from Anywhere
I know it’s not summer for everyone reading FreelanceSwitch right now, but up here in Canada it still is. And one of my favourite things to do in the summer is to camp, but this year it was a little bit different, since this was my first summer as a fulltime freelancer.
Sure, I could have gotten way ahead of my projects, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, I figured it might be possible to tether my iPhone to the laptop, and keep connected while everyone else was making smores. We’re back home now, and other than a slight campfire smell coming from the laptop, it’s pretty hard to tell that I was not at my office all week. The clients were communicated with, the articles were uploaded, and the invoices were sent – all while enjoying way too much junk food, liquid refreshments, and beautiful hikes through an amazing forest.
Funny, I think I showered as frequently at the camp as I have been at the home office. Might need to fix that for the future…
Sitting at a picnic table and putting the final touches on a new website helps your spouse realize the possibilities that freelancing can provide. We’re already thinking about finding a trailer and cruising through the US. I promise to shower before we stop in for a visit.
Where is the best place that you’ve been able to freelance from? Any tips and tricks to make it seamless to your clients?
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I tethered my iPhone at the dog park once which was wonderful. The only thing I don’t like about working outside is the screen glare.
Depending on where in the dog park you are, tree cover helps cut down screen glare immensely.
As far as locations goes I have been on a few vacations where I had to log a few development hours from. Places range from Florida, Arizona to Minnesota… but the situation that sticks out most is when my wife and I’s house flooded in 08, we weren’t able to move back into our house for about 5 weeks so we went between staying at her parents house and mine. all I had was a card table and my PC to get keep my projects going! had I been working for an agency i would have never been able to work on my house all day for 5 weeks and go in and work on client work at night!
Thanks to Skype, I feel like I can pretty much work from anywhere. Aside from the obvious utility of having my phone system via laptop from anywhere, the iPhone app allows me to take and receive calls through my Skype number, chat, check voicemail, etc. Probably the most cost-effective purchase I’ve made for my business was my Skype number and subscription.
Die hard freelancer. born and raised in Chicago. Love to sit down by the lake or see how many different Caribou Coffee’s i can located throughout the city.
And that is one of the most persuasive arguments I’ve read in favor of freelancing!
I have been able to remotely work from both Managua, Nicaragua and London. Right now, I work remotely in Miami, and its great!
Very jealous Josh – sounds like you are living the dream!
Nothing as out there as camping, but I was able to pack up my dog and my laptop to visit a friend across the country for three months when she was having a crisis. I wish I had been better with my time management during those months, but I was still almost eerily productive considering I was running my business from her couch inbetween errands.
Good point about the time management.
We’re considering a trip to the east coast of Canada in the new year, and I’ve got 2 pressing concerns – internet access (cell coverage is “spotty”) and family drama. I’m hoping to set a schedule early, and stick to it.
hope your friend appreciated the effort
I recently had a client in Washington, D.C. with an “emergency” deadline while I was vacationing in Colorado. I was heading out that morning for a hike up a local mountain and, since I was on vacation, I told the client that I’d do what I could, but I couldn’t guarantee anything for a few days. I borrowed a friend’s iPad (since I had left my laptop at home), and wrote the fix for his website while sitting on the summit of Engineer Peak (12,968 feet above sea level). I emailed the fix to a friend and developer to upload as soon as I got back to town and received a call from the client as I was finishing up that night’s dinner. The best part of the whole ordeal was that the client felt so bad for “interrupting” my vacation that they paid me a nice bonus (enough to cover dinner anyway!).
Love it!
Very inspiring!
Great article!! Craziest place I ever worked remotely from was at the train station (sitting on the floor!) in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, while waiting for my train (crazy deadline); Funnest place was from Lake Como, Italy, in a cafe, overlooking the lake; Most chaotic was taking a conference call on the streets of NY near Houston St. Let’s just say, thank god for the mute button and my headphones! I suppose this is all apropos considering I’m an urban design consultant and the city is my lab.
sounds like there might be an interesting story there – love to hear more about it!
With the launch of Andriod 2.2, finally I can tether a netbook and external HDD to program.
I used to freelance on the train on my way to work before I was a full time freelancer.
Good timing — I had just written an entry called “being productive on the road” with some tips along those lines.
In terms of pure tools, a Verizon MiFi, a netbook and a (more substantial) laptop go on the road. I’ve worked hard to integrate tools to keep all three computers in sync, such as Evernote and Dropbox. I can grab any of the three machines (when you count my desktop) and have full access to everything I need. It’s working quite well, though I refine the setup all the time.
Here’s the full post I wrote about that:
http://www.mickmel.com/blog/201008/being-productive-on-the-road/
I usually have the netbook for in the car, in a restaurant lunch meeting, etc. The laptop is for when I need to set up shop away from home and can sort of create an “office”. I usually bring a second monitor with me for that as well.
I’m looking forward to seeing other tips in the comments…
Can’t say I’ve freelanced anywhere *too* exciting. But as the owner of a brand new laptop (been desktops up until this point) I’m excited as all hell to work in the most obscure places possible
Not sure what the coverage is like in Portland, but here in Victoria, it’s pretty hard to go anywhere without finding some kind of wireless – good luck!
I have almost hit the 2 year mark freelancing while travelling. So far it has been fine, I don’t have a phone I can tether my laptop to, but finding internet has never been a problem.
Every hostel and hotel has it, or I can always go to a coffee shop or mcdonalds to check my emails. This works quite well, as I can do all design and development work offline, then send any updates/emails etc when I do get online.
I don’t need to work fulltime, though freelancing can easily pay for constant travel if you are smart with your time and money
Hi Lachlan,
I’m wondering what type of work you do. I’ve been considering trying to make the work-while-traveling model work for quite some time. I’m a graphic designer, and figure as long as I wasn’t in an expensive country I could sustain my travel with 10 hours a work per week. Do you have constant clients? Or just pick up new work as you go? Any advice you have for others attempting to make this model work?
Thanks in advance.
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
I do mainly web design, with a bit of html/css/wordpress thrown in as well.I have a bunch on constant clients, some I got while I was home, and picked up some while I have been traveling. Though I have never met any of them in real life.
I agree, I could easily keep traveling on 10 hours work per week. Though you would want a large amount of savings to fall back on if you things got quiet for a while. It seems to me that the busy+quiet patches are much more extreme when you are away from home, but that is probably all in my head.
I would try and get a few good clients who are happy with you working while traveling, luckily mine we all fine with it. Although it is good being able to earn money, the holiday is a lot different because work is always in the back of your mind, but it is still worth it.
currently staying in lisbon for a month, earlier this year I’we been freelancing from vienna and bucharest. it is awesome!
My God, I must find a way to afford a laptop
I’ll answer that in a few weeks when I pick up my 4G WiMax modem. Pretty soon, I’ll be connected from anywhere in the city! XD
This is the number one reason I chose the freelance path. I spend a LOT of time outside, and I love to travel, so being able to do the latter and still be able to work is amazing. I didn’t participate in this, but it shows that the possibilities are endless: http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2006/12/chamonix-branch-office.html
excellent story Alec – thanks for sharing!
I enjoy using my 3G modem and working from up in the clouds at the local skifields… it makes for a good break in the middle of the day
The best place I’ve freelanced from when I am not working on my balcony here in Vancouver is at the Cabin on Hornby Island: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tyleringram/3694076929 that’s the type of scenery I have to deal with. Rough eh?
We are blessed here on the Wet Coast! Nice pics, Tyler
I’m currently a Digital Nomad, working for UK clients in Argentina on my way up through South America. We sold all our stuff and are travelling indefinitely.
Best place to work so far was coding a site on the island of Ilha Grande in Brazil, although the luxury spa in Cafayate was a close second.
As for clients, while I’m setting up the job I tell them the truth about where I am (if they Google me, they’ll find out anyway) and I make sure to answer emails within 24 hours and offer a Skype call to build confidence.
I also run a password protected testing server that I update regularly so they can watch their site being developed as we go along. That seems to give them quite a bit of confidence – every client I’ve had so far has come back for more work.
That’s by far the nicest location(s) so far, sounds like the ideal way to fund travelling. Some of the pictures on your site are pretty amazing!
love the concept, love the transparency, love the results.
nicely done, Simon
Jason looks like you had a lot of fun!
Its probably a bit of a cliche, but my favorite RW spot happened this summer at the beach. I was tethered to my iPhone from my work laptop and since 90% of my co-worker interaction is via IM or email, no one knew the difference. (The key to beach work is an umbrella or a tent…and avoid conference calls)
I have to agree with an earlier commenter, Skype is the way to go for dealing with the occasional conference call from the beach.
I dunno – but to me, cliche means old and tired.
not sure if RW from teh beach would ever get old or tired!
I’ve become a big fan of skype over the past few months – very handy/
Best place I have freelanced from this year would be I was staying in a batch (beach cottage) across the road from the beach on the Coromandel in New Zealand in Dec/Jan. Catching surf during breaks and spending time with family. A number of clients thought I was in Toronto, Canada suffering with the cold snow. Thanks to internet and skype no was the wiser.
Hey Jason, when you are coming on down to the US, let me know if you stop in Maryland.
Homemade dinner on me!
Be careful Matthew – I might just take you up on that. Maryland is on our “to see” list, and it’s virtually impossible to resist a homemade dinner!
Haha, there isnt a whole lot to see here in Maryland, but people usually pass through from DC to NY. No worries though, just give me a shout and its on!
same offer as matthew only you have to drive to central iowa haha…
I work remotely quite a bit. My husband periodically travels for his business, so I tag along. The travel day is usually the only day I don’t work as much, but I plan for it. I work late the night before and schedule emails to go out from that work at 8 am on the travel day. That way, my clients will think nothing of it if I don’t talk to them for the rest of the day. Then, when we get where we are going, I get caught up on emails and schedule them to be sent out 8 am the following morning.
Well, it’s all good. I’ve been doing it for a while. There’s more to simply buying a laptop and going, tho. Taxes are a nightmare. In many countries, you have to pay taxes to the country that you were located in at the time you were executing the work pay taxes in your country of permanent residency.
Sucks, to say the least. Opera singers have the same problem, so do professional hockey players. Now if they would all just treat us like airline pilots, we’d be set!
Interesting point Anna, never considered it, but it’s certainly something to look into
oops …. should read:
you have to pay taxes to the country that you were located in at the time you were executing the work, plus pay taxes in your country of permanent residency.
Not that I’ve had the opportunity to do this properly yet, but reading things like this sends shivers down my spine! I didn’t do much travelling when I was younger due to lack of finances and my parents not being that sort (I got my first passport at the age of 21.) Now I can rely on my own income, or at least am starting to get there, being able to travel and see the world whilst working is something I aim to do. Nothing makes me feel happier than the thought of being able to get on with some exciting creative work after returning from a day of snowboarding in Canada or chatting to a client via Skype from the side of an Italian lake.
Thanks for the post, very morale boosting!
Great article. One of the best parts of freelancing right there. I have enjoyed being able to take a vacation while freelancing and only working when I was at airports waiting for planes. It’s a great way to finish some last minute projects or jump start some work before you leave/get back.
I would love to tether my Droid to the MacBook when we go camping in Oregon, but rarely do I get service from Verizon in the spots we frequent. It is good to be able to hit a coffee shop or tea house rather than be stuck in the house all day.
Once we establish a few more steady clients we (my girlfriend and I) will definitely be hitting the road. That is, after all, why we left the corporate office life.
train station, bus station, airport, on highway when my car broke down(while waiting for help)…this is the beauty of freelancing i guess, the whole world is office
Great article and experiences everyone!
I also work remotely a lot. When I have a road trip I take my proper laptop and work like any other day (at least 3 hours is easily possible).
For international trips I have started taking a smaller notebook with me since it is easier to carry. Last month I was in Italy/Switzerland and before leaving I finished up all my Design work and did the coding on the go (in the lovely European trains I mean).
I also worked in the flight and took care of the communication at nights before going to sleep.
I didn’t even require internet all day since I could completely work offline.
My Blackberry took care of the daily small emails and google maps
No clients had to wait, no project had to suffer. No one even realized that I was not at home/office!
And the icing on the cake is that by the time I returned in 2 weeks I had already
managed to complete the project and win one more project. Enough to cover the whole trip
But time management is an important thing. All this sounds great if you are a lean freelancer and traveler. For people who have fully packed ‘family’ holidays it is much harder to concentrate.
In the name of Freelancing, Cheers!
I’ve spent the last winter (November 2009 – April 2010) living on an island in Thailand. It was kind of hard to work cause the internet connection was terrible (about 100 kb/s! Can you imagine that?) But the rest was great – the sea was two minutes away from home, lots of cafes, beautiful nature, etc.
I’m planning to go somewhere else this winter too and I’m currently preparing for the trip. If you are interested, check out my list of things to do before going to another country – http://andreiverner.com/?cat=71
Two times I worked on fairly big projects while on vacation in Maine, one of which was a camp right on the lake! I told the client I was working remotely so if I was unable to respond to email as quickly as normal they understood and were totally fine with it. I also found that it limited their communications to me as they “didn’t want to bother me”.
Then one time in Paris I was able to communicate through emails to help resolve a last minute problem that came up.
I think if you tell the client you are away but still able to work they usually respect that and can find a good middle ground of getting stuff done, but not taking away all of your time either.
I live in Cyprus.
The other morning, at 8:30am, I was up on the balcony of my apartment, with a glass of OJ, some honey, yoghurt and walnuts, sending invoices out to Clients in the 30degree heat!
And people wonder why I picked Cyprus!
As far as camping goes I think I would simply fear ending up in a location with crappy wireless service. Just have to plan well and cross your fingers I suppose.
I’ve been able to work on my copywriting projects on the plane, train even the bus here in North America…
But this summer I took short trip to middle east, and boy was it is a pain to even do the simplest things… Had to cut the trip a week short. So make sure that you have a reliable phone line and a half good internet connection (dial up 56k is just not gonna cut it) before you plan to work on the go.
I found a nice tea house with an amazing zen garden where you can just sit and type your way ( though you need to get some extension cord to recharge your laptop ). I go there just to relax and meditate on the next creative idea for my freelance project. Now, to answer how I make it seamless in my freelance writing career, I just follow these seven habits to being the most effective freelancer I can be: http://blog.ajeva.com/2010/02/the-7-habits-of-a-highly-effective-freelancer/