The Work-Travel Balancing Act

by Ricardo
I was watching an episode of “Family Guy” recently, the one where baby Stewie ridicules people who strive to be seen in public (eg: Starbucks) with their notebooks open—perhaps tapping-out that promising screenplay. Though the tot doesn’t blow the heads off of the coffee-gulping remote workers (the cartoon character tends to get extreme at times), the scene does illustrate the point of remote working becoming a sort of cliché these days.

What I’ve found in the nearly seven years of nomading the world is the increased misperception of those who choose to integrate their work and home life with their lust for travel—versus those who simply like to demonstrate to others that they can finish up their projects down the street from the office (such as the ubiquitous coffee shop that supports wi-fi). And that misperception is understandable. These days, it is no longer unusual to find overseas backpackers huddled in laptop sessions at the cheap eateries or guest houses. Where they once sat around watching pirated video tapes of Bay Watch on the establishment’s television, they’re now watching pirated movies on their personal LCD screens while updating their blogs. The trading of paperback books has been replaced by the trading of DVDs, MP3 files and MySpace URLs.
Is that a bad thing? Probably not. Sad and pathetic? Hmm.

Aside from the reality that real nomads tend to do their work in more productive, if not appropriate, working environments (eg: rooms with great views), one must also find their balance. One of the harder disciplines of living this sort of work-travel life (I’m going to list two of mine now) is finding one’s center. Pardon me if I sound like Zen Master Ricardo, but if you’re traveling the world and finding yourself behind the screen (be it notebook, BlackBerry, iPod, mobile phone or other handheld device) as much or more as when you were stuck in your home country, then maybe you’re missing out on the whole nu nomad travel thing. Travel is about “getting out there,” not becoming a mobile version of the bored, introvert you were at home. At least that’s how I see it.

So what’s the advice? It’s sort of simple: set boundaries. Okay, you don’t need to be anal about it, but do try to look to the horizon for your next travel destination—as opposed to, let’s say, over the lid of your screen to the cute person at the next table. When out in public, leave the hardware in your (secured) room. If you’re in nature (hell, the town center even), pull those ear buds out buddy and listen to the sounds around you. Simply steer your life from gadget man (woman) to care-free traveler.

This brings me to the other discipline: refraining from buying too many gadgets. Not only does having redundant and superfluous equipment distract, but it weighs you down maak-maak (that’s Thai for much-much). The selection process of what you really need to be mobile, yet get your work done properly, is a judicious process. And as one of the bigger offenders of this rule, with my two laptops (one is an overblown desktop replacement and the other is an ultra-ultraportable machine for weekend excursions) I am now moving to trim down. So I ask myself: “Ricardo, do I need to have an MP3 player when I have a laptop for my music and movies? Do I need a Palm Pilot when I already have easy Internet access and a small GSM mobile phone? Do I need a travel printer when I rarely print to paper any more and when there are printing services at the cyber cafes. The truth is that I can do my work with one good machine (I’m looking into the new Lenovo ThinkPad X300.
—which is similar in design and weight to that of the MacBook Air). As for my MP3 player, my bulking Creative Zen unit is going to be replaced by an iPod Nano. And since my full-feature camera is already very compact (Canon PowerShot A710), I can concentrate on buying a new guide book (for either Laos or Hungary). And the money I’ll save from not buying all “cool tech stuff” I can spend foolishly while on my journey abroad.

So, now that mobile technology for the real road warriors is trimming down we too can take advantage of less weight and increased (physical) mobility. And if you need a little more advice on what may be necessary for your nomadic travels and not, Quit Dreaming and Go! (our handbook on how to nomad) has a comprehensive section for you to pack with.

Comments

[Leigh]

Great article on work life balance with location independent professionals. I've been wondering about some of these same issues in my quest to become an LIP. The art of keeping an eye on the amount of time spent in front of a screen versus out in the world is not always easy to learn. Thanks for keeping us conscious of this .