Work and travel – experiences

Since this is not a travelogue, I cannot and will not write to you about the beauties of the island of Vis and our dear, brotherly Croatia, about wonderful beaches and underwater caves , wonderful Mediterranean cuisine and sailors who sing on the waterfront when unbelief forces them to moor or anchor… For those purposes , you’ll have to settle for pictures. 🙂

This is my experience from a trip where I tried the work&travel concept. I will share with you and, let me tell you right away, I highly recommend this way of organizing life and work. Of course, all provided that your workplace and other important factors (family, financial, cultural…) allow you to think about it at all.

Hearing about a new category of tourists that has appeared in the last couple of years – IT (digital) nomads, I thought about how perfect it actually is. You can go wherever you want, work as you would from the “warmth of your home” and before, and especially after working hours, get to know the place you are in, local specialties, cultural heritage, people or whatever suits your will and sensibility.

I decided to try the work&travel lifestyle when I had the opportunity to stay on the island of Vis , in the town of Komiža (for those who don’t know, the movie Mamma mia 2 was partly filmed there). As I already had a regular summer vacation planned (and announced) (and shortly before that I was on Easter-May Day vacation), I thought that maybe the solution was to “work and travel”. After several consultations, searching for additional information, moving the date of departure, I managed to get organized and set off on my journey.

Not to make the story too long, here are some observations that may be of use to you if you decide to do this type of work yourself. Consider that I’m talking about an experience that lasted “only” five working days, in a country that belongs to the same time zone and that it’s a stay in a seaside place, in the pre-season.

• Don’t try to “hide” that you don’t work from home or out of the country. If you know that you will complete all tasks on time, attend all meetings, always be available to colleagues and available for all information, you would think that you might not need to “report” to your superiors that you are leaving your place of residence… I very much disagree. We are not in school.
• Go on a trip and return from a weekend trip. That way, you won’t be absent from work or use a day of vacation.
• If you are not traveling alone, get a separate room for yourself. It will happen that the company is sleeping or in the stage of preparing breakfast and packing for various activities at the time when you have meetings. Not to mention the consequences of possible bad weather and forced confinement of everyone in the apartment.
• So don’t forget your laptop headphones. 🙂

I don’t like to talk about anything from a bad perspective first, but I would also like to end this blog on a positive note. Therefore, below are the pros and cons of my work and travel experience. You don’t necessarily have to read them in that order. 🙂

• As much as they convince you that the internet is good, it’s never like home. Small problems are inevitable that will stress you out and make you feel guilty. Fortunately, you can always buy internet for not-so-much money, which you can use to compensate for the low flow.
• If you are not alone on the trip, the company you are with for the first few days will not be able to understand that you really need to be at the computer and work. And that you can’t just go down to the beach and work from a cafe that “has some internet”. Don’t even try to explain security protocols and the dangers of “hanging” on a public network. But, on the third day, they will no longer call you and convince you. They’ll just wave you off…
• If you are an early riser like me, you can use a maximum of two hours before and a maximum of 4 hours after work (until dark) for other desired activities.
• You will miss out on serious tours of the destination you are on. You’ll be sorry when you hear about where the others have been and what they’ve seen and experienced in those 7 and a half hours of your work time. After all, when you prepare for the trip, you will understand yourself what you will not be able to visit. 🙁
• You have to limit the night time that is taken for granted when you are with the company (who is on vacation) considering that you have to get up early in the morning for work, which is to make the most of this blessing called – remote work.

• Your “office” can have a view of the sea. When you leave the “office”, you are not on a boulevard in Belgrade, but on the waterfront or beach.
• If you are an early riser like me, you can use even two hours before and even four hours after work. Yes, this was also in mana just with a different adverbial clause for quantity. 😊
• You can swim and sunbathe both before and after working hours, which is mostly unimaginable to anyone who doesn’t live by the sea (or by the pool).
• When working from home, the dress code is relaxed. The dress code on the trip is completely relaxed. In the case of a seaside destination in the summer and an apartment with a terrace, well… you can imagine. 😊
• Society will look at you with completely different eyes when they realize how hard you work and how responsible you are.
• You will return home completely rested and relaxed, and you will have worked as you would from home. You will be satisfied and spiritually richer, enriched by new experiences and knowledge.

If you already have to be “closed in the office”, let your office be at sea. 😊

Additionally, I propose that the term Work from home be completely replaced by the term Work remotely. You don’t have to work from home. Or… you can declare as home any facility where you are temporarily, longer or shorter… As long as it has good internet. 😊