I hit the road this summer. Here are my takeaways.
A lot of people who read DNW have immense flexibility. They can live and work from wherever they want.
Both my wife and I own our own companies and can work from wherever we want, but it’s not something we’ve taken advantage of much. Having a kid means we need continuity in education, but there’s still summer break that we can take advantage of. Despite this, I think the longest time I’ve been away from home in the past decade is just a couple of weeks.
This summer we decided to try something different. We spent an entire month in Seattle and worked while there.
The benefits are obvious. One day this was my office:
But there are challenges, too. Here are some of the challenges I faced.
1. Separating work time from fun time.
Since we weren’t true digital nomads on the road for good, a large portion of our time was spent doing vacation things. I generally worked for a few hours in the morning and then relaxed in the afternoon. Separating this time was tough, especially since I tend to write a lot of timely/breaking news. GoDaddy releases earnings? Gotta write about that, even if it’s in the afternoon.
Also, since Seattle is in the Pacific time zone, I felt behind every day when I woke up. Some days I would write a post and schedule it for early the next morning.
2. Working from my laptop.
All I technically need to work is my laptop and an internet connection. But I work best when I’m at my desk, docked into my dual monitors, keyboard and mouse:
It’s hard to replicate this on the road.
3. Recording podcasts on the road is difficult.
You’ll note that my workstation also has a good setup for recording podcasts. I have the mic on the left, a camera on top (when needed) and acoustic sound panels.
My wife is also a podcaster so we brought a mic with us. Still, it was hard to get good sound. While we were on Bainbridge Island we had birds in the background. While we were in Capitol Hill we had city noises to contend with.
There are a few things I would do differently next time regarding podcasts.
First, I’d try to record as many “evergreen” podcast interviews as possible in advance. I can then record the intro and news part while on the road.
Second, I’d hit up people who live/work in the area to use their equipment/space.
Third, I’d consider renting professional studio space. In fact, I came across this sign one afternoon:
4. Overcoming feelings of guilt.
If I’m only working a few hours a day, am I neglecting something important? Should I do more? For example, I posted only two of my website builder reviews and didn’t get around to completing the others yet.
This was a constant struggle for me. If I travel like this again next summer, I’ll double down in the weeks leading up to my travel by pre-writing as much evergreen content as possible.
Of course, we weren’t true digital nomads on our trip. We returned to our home. It was more like an extended working vacation. But the definition of digital nomad is expanding; you can think of it as just the flexibility to work from wherever you want.
As I mentioned at the top, there are lots of DNW readers who enjoy this flexibility. It’s one of the perks of doing what we do.
Matt says
I share the guilt, even if I’m away for two nights. If I could manage to have three solid morning work hours while away it would work out so much better than spreading work throughout the day and checking emails while waiting for food at a restaurant.
Although I haven’t podcasted yet, I recently bought a omni directional lav mic (AT803b) and thought a bit of ambient sound might be a good thing…
Bob says
Sounds like a great experience Andrew, as for guilt if you worked 24H (and I’m sure there are times when you do) you’d prob still feel bad about the stuff you didn’t get to.
There was a great episode on NPR about digital nomads, Lisbon has become a hot spot for that work style with relatively low cost of living, great quality of life, Mediterranean climit, and a surplus of really hip workspaces. Maybe you should try that next summer?
Andrew Allemann says
I might give that a shot. A friend spent a month in Budapest this summer (incidentally #1 on this site) and said it was a great experience and inexpensive.
Doron Vermaat says
You’re trying to take a break (aka – a holiday) and comparing it with digital nomad’ing.
I’m writing this from a hotel in Germany where I will be until the end of the month with my wife and daughter and honestly, I only get the most basic stuff done (emails) because we’re here to do fun stuff. Before our daughter was born, I traveled around and worked remotely for more than 12 months. And delivered – super productive I should add.
Digital nomads settle down someplace in the world and then find a location to get stuff done. Often that’s a co-working space or some sort of place where they can really focus on shipping code, content or whatever it is they’re doing.
Michael Curving says
You should interview Grant Shellhammer of DIgitalNomads.com. Met him at this year’s NamesCon, seems like a genuine guy.
Adam says
I’m personally not concerned with your “birds/city noises in the background” production issues when I listen to your podcasts. I also know that your view on the Godaddy earnings call can come a day or so late and still be relevant. . . .maybe even better if not rushed to be first.
It sounds like you had a good time. Been thinking about trying a new city for a summer with the family. Maybe Austin next time you guys leave 😉
Andrew Allemann says
Summer is not the time to come to Austin 🙂