Guide to Transitioning to a Remote Work Lifestyle by Eric Morrow

Photo from writing my book while surfing in the canary islands.

Photo from writing my book while surfing in the canary islands.


Working remotely


My love affair with working remotely began when I was kid and ordered magazines about setting up a home office. Over the years, the dream of a home office has morphed a bit, turning into the desire to work from whatever part of the world I happen to find myself in that month. Since then I've been lucky enough to open a laptop on five continents.


The first real go


After graduating college, and then law school, and then being laid off from my first lawyer job in the downturn of 2008, I was at a crossroad. I didn't want to go back to being a lawyer - but what did I want to do next? After taking a year off to travel and live with some friends in South America, I came back to New York City and joined a friend's software company as a marketer. At Datacap, I worked on building new digital channels to acquire leads for our sales team to call.


Start with little bits


The secret to most things in life is to experiment with small ideas first. So at Datacap I would take a Friday here and there to work remotely, particularly if I was going somewhere out of town and wanted to beat the traffic. The key to early remote days is to be even more productive than if you were in the office! With these small tests, I was able to ask for the big kahuna.


World Cup 2010 - South Africa

Long before joining Datacap I had bought tickets to the World Cup in South Africa. No way I was going to miss that for work! So I asked my boss if I could take two months away from the office to go down and see some games. Luck was on my side because he said yes and I was on my way.

Working from that far away from the office requires a regular rhythm. People in the office need to know when they can reach you and when they can expect a response. The time difference makes talking on the phone hard, so we ended up using email and our internal message boards a lot. Ultimately though, the main thing to do was to keep the work product high. Digital marketing is a great field because there are so many metrics that can be tracked to indicate how well you are doing your job. The baseline metric was whether the sales team had enough leads being generated to keep busy.

Since Africa

Shortly after I got back from Africa the company was acquired by IBM and I was moved to full-time remote, since the team I was working on was distributed around the country. With no expectations of ever being in an office, I took full advantage and started traveling a lot. I ended up really enjoying living in Europe. It allowed me to spend my day time hours however I liked and then work in the evenings with my US colleagues. That's great for a guy who likes to explore the outdoors! It also allowed me to build a lot of connections in Europe, since I could see them during their working hours.

I left IBM last year and struck out on my own. In some ways, being entirely responsible for your own income makes it less easy to be remote than working for a large corporation, since I need more face time with my clients. So I'm a little more settled now but still find time to take big trips. Earlier this year I spent a month working from Thailand and it was a great place to be! 

Readings

Still interested in being a remote worker? I recommend reading two really great books - the Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and Rework by Jason Fried. You can find more about me and other book recommendations on my website: ericmorrow.com. Happy travels!

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Remote Year is a great way to travel and have the security of a paycheck and awesome community.  To learn more, go to www.remoteyear.com

Travel while you’re young

By Adam London (@al0nd0n)

This is the time for small paychecks and big memories. This is the time for travel. We are about as attached to one location as we are to our favorite Chinese take-out place. We know what we like about it, and we take comfort in the familiarity, but that’s about it.
- Jessy Tapper

Last June, Jeff Goins wrote an essay for Converge Magazine titled, “Why you should travel young.”

Spoiler alert: Jeff is a staunch supporter of travel.

Although the message is not new, I found myself nodding in fast agreement as I reached the heart of his writing:

While you’re young, you should travel. You should take the time to see the world and taste the fullness of life. Spend an afternoon sitting in front of the Michelangelo. Walk the streets of Paris. Climb Kilimanjaro. Hike the Appalachian trail. See the Great Wall of China. Get your heart broken by the “killing fields” of Cambodia. Swim through the Great Barrier Reef. These are the moments that define the rest of your life; they’re the experiences that stick with you forever.
Traveling will change you like little else can. It will put you in places that will force you to care for issues that are bigger than you. You will begin to understand that the world is both very large and very small. You will have a newfound respect for pain and suffering, having seen that two-thirds of humanity struggle to simply get a meal each day.
While you’re still young, get cultured. Get to know the world and the magnificent people that fill it. The world is a stunning place, full of outstanding works of art. See it.

I’ve had these moments and I’ve felt these emotions.

The Khmer Rouge killing fields?

Two years ago I stood there in silence, unable to talk to two of my closest friends. I stood in sadness, moved by the terrible crimes and atrocities that occurred on the ground in front of me.

I stood frozen, thinking of the men and women and children and the pain they suffered. I thought of my Grandfather and his family—my family—and all they suffered through during World War Two—fighting and struggling and persevering to survive persecution of their own.

I stood in disbelief, selfishly considering the site’s affect on me. I was painfully aware of just how ignorant my world view was. I realized that growing up just north of Chicago I was never taught about the crimes that were committed here or in many other areas of the world.

Through that naivety I became aware of just how large the world can be.

I was a witness to how much there is to see, experience, and learn.

And I promised myself that I would continue to value travel and exploration.

One lifetime is not enough to experience all cultures. But travel, especially while young, is an essential step to becoming more aware of other cultures and people (it’s also an opportunity to see the beauty of the world around us.)

I've heard countless excuses as to why people do not or cannot travel.

Many of my young friends believe that it’s too expensive. Others argue that they can always travel later in life. Some suggest that it hinders career advancement.

Let’s immediately take the expense question out of the equation.

I have a good friend who traveled the world-–from hikes out in the western United States to South American trips to an adventure on the Siberian rail-–on a grad school budget. I have friends who have financed travel while traveling (they worked remotely or found local jobs.)

I've crossed the Vietnamese/Laotian border by van, driving over a road that was literally being built as we traveled.

Did it feel cheap? Yes. Was it scary? A bit. Could I have paid for it with the proceeds of a lemonade stand? Definitely.

Simply put: Finances are rarely a prohibiting factor to travel.

To the second point, that many people put off travel because “they will get to it later.” The Jeff Goins’ piece provides a fantastic answer.

In summary: it’s far more likely that someone will travel first and then come back to achieve great things (secure a graduate degree, fantastic job, start a new career, etc.) rather than the reverse.

It’s now or never to make travel a part of your life. You say you’ll get to it later, but if it’s not important now–-when you’re young and limited in your responsibilities–-when will it be?

Finally, people believe that any travel will limit career advancement.

This couldn't be further from the truth.

I have worked in two fairly corporate cultures to start my career. Both organizations stressed the importance of international experience. You need to have experiences in foreign culture in order to advance at these successful, global companies.

International exposure makes you valuable. It will fast track you within your own company or give you the opportunity to pivot into a new position (often with greater responsibilities.)

A final point about excuses…

I have heard these excuses used for more than long trips and opportunities to live abroad.

I have many friends that hesitate to take a week or long weekend off of work. Believe me, short trips won’t hurt your career or wallet for every reason listed above and many more.

Take that quick trip to another country when the fare drops. Jump at the opportunity to travel to a new city domestically or to an old location to catch up with a friend.

Travel is an experience, it knows no limits of time or geography.

As the world becomes increasingly connected your excuses become increasingly futile.

There is more value to be gained by embracing travel opportunities than avoiding them. An understanding of the world—of other cultures, people, ideas, and beliefs—has never been more important. Exploration—developing empathy and the ability to learn from and deal with the unknown—has never been more important.

Find the balance of travel that’s right for you. Take every opportunity to make that travel an important value in your life.

Move abroad. Spend 12 weeks backpacking. Travel for a month straight. Take a road-trip. Plan a weekend getaway.

Go explore the neighborhoods around your city, travel to states that border your own, or take a trek to an exotic location halfway around the world.

Do it while you’re young; set a precedent.

Small paychecks and big memories…right, Jessy?

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Remote Year is a great way to travel while you are young and have the security of a paycheck.  To learn more, go to www.remoteyear.com