Where to Work While Traveling

I’m no stranger to working remotely.  I haven’t had a full-time job in-ofice since November of 2013.  It’s been about the same amount of time since I’ve gone on a trip without my laptop even if just to stay up to date on e-mails or complete a few hours of work (note to self: I should do that).

I like to think that over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at working remotely.  So when I embarked on my 3 months of domestic and international travel earlier this year, I underestimated the difficulty of working while traveling full-time with no home base.  It was different, more challenging than working remotely or working on shorter trips.

There were mornings where I’d wake-up not know what city I was in, let alone where a good place to get coffee and work would be.  Figuring out an effective approach to working while traveling took a lot of trial and error. During that process, I tried out a lot of different types of travel work spaces.  Here’s what I learned about each:

On the Beach

Working at a table on the beach looks really sexy.  Working on the beach feels hot.  There’s also the added problem of potential glare on your laptop, blowing sand, and the distraction of people who are living it up, work free.  I still recommend working on the beach once, if only to  post a photo of your laptop in a beautiful setting with the #digitalnomad hashtag.

Hotel/Motel

 

Most hotels and motels have some sort of table or desk space that you can work at.  Most also have free coffee.  I’ve lived in studio apartments for the past 2+ years so for me, it’s a lot like working at home.  It’s nice to have no one else in your space but having your stuff around, even when it’s just a bag or two, can be distracting.

Check-out times present time constraints if you’re not staying at the lodging a second night but you can usually get an extra hour or two in your room just by asking for it.

Hostel

Working in hostels can be heaven or hell.  In one hostel in Vietnam, I got on a roll and hammered away in my quiet solo room until midnight.  In other, in Cambodia, to connect to the internet, I had to either sit downstairs in the noisy lobby, jealously watching others drink beers or try to get lucky by sitting on the floor with my laptop proposed on a chair pushed against the door to get closer to the signal.

The key to working out of a hostel is to read the reviews, something I hate doing but have learned the hard-way (see above) to do.  Look for information about three things: (1) internet quality – faster is better; (2) hostel vibe – avoid “party” hostels; and (3) private room availability – having your own room helps ensure you have a place to retreat and work.

Library

Libraries are one of my favorite places to work when traveling in the United States.  They are free, have internet, and virtually every town in the country has one.  Larger libraries often have stands or cafes where you can purchase coffee and a snack.  Some even have views.  (You can watch the sunset over the ocean from the Encinitas, California library)

Unlike coffee shops, you can stay at libraries for hours without the awkwardness of wondering how much time purchasing a $2 coffee at a coffee shop gets you.

When working at a library, you can also be certain that there will be excellent people watching opportunities on your breaks.   At the public library in Tempe, Arizona, I saw an adult shamelessly working on a massive puzzle in the middle of the day on a weekday.

Coffee Shop

I’ve worked in a lot of coffee shops.  They typically have the two key ingredients for getting work done: caffeine and WIFI!  They also have noise and distractions.  As with hostels, some are better than others for getting work done.

In the United States, particularly in large, techy metropolises, coffee shops are widely used by remote workers as office alternatives.  In these areas, many coffee shops have even begun to cater towards remote workers by providing worker friendly layouts (think tables for one instead of loungey couches), plugs a-plenty, and speedy internet.

However, not all coffee shops are appropriate for use as free work space.  There are many coffee shops in the United States and the world where working for hours in a coffee shop simply isn’t appropriate.  For example, many of my favorite coffee shops in Vietnam were teenie-tiny establishments where it would have been rude to monopolize a table and inconsistent with the atmosphere as a place to simply sit for a few moments and enjoy coffee and perhaps conversation.

Bar or Restaurant 

By far the most fun and the least productive place to work is a bar or restaurant.  They aren’t a good venue for getting difficult, critical thinking work done but enjoying a beer while managing e-mail or beginning a creative project can be surprisingly relaxing.  Since I was traveling alone, just having other people around was sometimes a nice alternative to sitting alone in a hotel room.

Vehicle

It can be done, but unless you’re living out of a van or RV (I’ve seen some that are nicer than where I live), I don’t recommend working out of your vehicle.  I finished one project this year while hot-spotting off my phone in a strip-mall parking lot in some a random California city along my driving route.  It was uncomfortable, it was hard to focus, and I probably looked like a hacker but I was in a bind and it got the job done.

Co-Working Space

I fell in love with co-working spaces while in Asia.  They are the best of all worlds.  For those unfamiliar, co-working spaces are shared office spaces where you pay a fee in exchange for work space shared with others.  All of them provide an environment conducive to working with speedy internet.  The other amenities vary.  One in Bangkok had a rough top garden while another in Hanoi had a bean bag chair lounge to take breaks in.

As working remotely becomes mainstream, co-working spaces are available in a surprising number of places.  Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I found two in Siem Reap, Cambodia, a city that still has dirt roads in a lot of areas.

Whether you need to get 30 minutes or 30 hours of work done while traveling, I cannot recommend co-working spaces enough.

No matter the workspace, working while traveling is an adventure in itself!  It can be funny, frustrating, and inspiring.  I’d love to hear your travel-work stories.

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