If you have the dream of living the ‘laptop lifestyle’ where you basically work anywhere from your laptop, you’ll be glad to hear that in 2018 that lifestyle is easily more attainable than it ever has been in history.
But still, this doesn’t just mean that you can hop in a plane with your laptop and jet off to some remote destination in the world and expect everything to be rosy. There are mistakes that you can easily make, but fortunately, you can easily avoid these mistakes as well.
Here are the top three mistakes to avoid when working remotely while traveling the world:
Mistake #1 – You Don’t Bring Your Own Wi-Fi Router
The term ‘laptop lifestyle’ is slightly misleading. It should really be referred to as the ‘laptop and Wi-Fi’ lifestyle because you can’t submit work without internet.
You would be very wise to have your own portable Wi-Fi router that you bring with you literally everywhere that you bring your computer. Yes, airports, hotels, libraries, coffee shops/bakeries, and restaurants will usually have Wi-Fi, but it’s not always guaranteed that the connection will be strong depending on where you are in the world.
Play it safe and invest in your own router.
Mistake #2 – You Don’t Prepare Yourself For Emergencies
As a traveler, you simply have to be prepared for emergencies. This means several things. For one thing, it means investing in travel insurance so you can be kept financially afloat should you land in a foreign hospital or have valuable possessions lost or stolen.
It also means that you need to have some cash on hand of whichever country you are staying in, which you can do through a money transfer service such as Remitly. One more thing it means is to always have physical copies of your most important documents on hand as well as more copies uploaded on your computer.
Mistake #3 – You Begin Traveling Before You Can Afford It
If you think you can just quit your normal day job now and start traveling, assuming that you’ll pick up freelancing work online soon enough, you’ll really be off to a bad start financially speaking.
Instead, you’ll need to make sure that you are well established before you leave. This means that you should have more than just one steady job under your belt (three at the minimum would be preferable if you’re pursuing the freelancing route), along with having built a name for yourself as well so that securing future work, if necessary, won’t be extraordinarily difficult for you.
Working Remotely While Traveling
Traveling the world while making a living is definitely something you can do because millions of people do it already. At the same time, you just don’t want to fall for any of the mistakes outlined and discussed above.
A portable Wi-Fi router is a good idea!
This was such an interesting post. It’s a dream of mine to be able make a living by working remotely. I would love to see a post on how to do so (tips?) and also different routes people can take in order to start working remotely. Great post Corinne xx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com