Top Australian travel bloggers NOMADasaurus aka Alesha and Jarryd dish out top tip advice on how to travel and work (and actually make it work!).
If 2020 has taught us all anything, it’s that a lot of work can be done from anywhere in the world – not just at the office. For us, we figured that out years ago.
We’ve lived a nomadic-lifestyle for the past 12 years – all while holding down full-time jobs as digital content creators. Finding a balance between work and travel can be difficult, but not impossible. We’ve pulled together our top tips for making work work on the road.
Create a productive workspace
Working on the road offers a huge amount of freedom but isn’t without its challenges. Creating a productive working environment is incredibly important to stay on track and keep up with deadlines.
For us, our biggest tip is to find an environment that becomes your dedicated work office. It could be a quiet cafe, a co-working space, or in our case – the inside of our campervan. It’s important that once you decide on this dedicated work office, you stick to it. This will create a sense of routine and accountability.
We park the van somewhere with good reception and (ideally!) a nice view. Then, we clean everything around us, put on some electronic or jazz music that doesn’t have lyrics, burn essential oils and have plenty of coffee and water on hand so we can focus.
Prepare your vehicle for the trip
While the thought of simply jumping in the car with a laptop and going seems appealing to many, it’s important to spend time preparing your vehicle for a long drive. Make sure you check your vehicle in for a full service and have any maintenance completed before heading off.
When you’re set to drive off, check your tyres, motor and vehicle condition – this is paramount to vehicle safety. For us, it’s essential to have quality tyres to keep us both safe on the road and get us to the next destination because the idea of receiving a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere does not sound like fun!
Structure your working day
We allocate days that are going to be specifically for exploring and days that are just for working. If we go a few days without opening the laptops, we make sure that we make up for it with a day where we don’t have any non-work activities planned. This way, we can quickly finish the jobs that need to be done.
On the days when we have to combine travel and business, we set aside a block of time where we can get stuck into work. This is usually first thing in the morning before we hit the road, or sometimes in the afternoons once we’ve arrived at our destination.
Draw up a work schedule and stick to it. It doesn’t have to be nine-to-five – depending on your employment type – but have some structure to your weeks so that you’re productive.
And don’t forget…
Slow travel is key. Don’t move around every day. Instead, spend a few days or a week in one place, so you don’t feel rushed to see everything.
Make time for your health. Don’t forget to exercise, meditate, read, learn new skills, eat well and look after yourself in general – rather than only travelling and working.
Get a phone plan with plenty of data so that you can hotspot from it – and pick up a prepaid SIM card with another phone provider so you can swap between the two if one doesn’t have any reception.
Stay connected with colleagues and clients. As you’re not seeing these people face-to-face every day, it’s easy to accidentally cut back on communication with them. Make sure you stay in constant contact to maintain good relationships.
Working from the road is a dream for many, but not everyone has the discipline to pull it off! However, if you can make it work, it will be one of the most rewarding and thrilling experiences of your life.
NOMADasaurus are brand ambassadors for Continental Tyres. Follow their journey to see how they travel and work at @NOMADasaurus and on their travel blog nomadasaurus.com
Feature image: NOMADasaurus
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