So, you may have seen that I am currently on a month-long road trip around my home state of Queensland, Australia. If you’re not familiar with the geography of Oz, that may seem like an awfully long time to spend on one state… but when you realise that you could fit the ENTIRE UK into Queensland over 7 times, you may start to get a sense of the scale of this great state of mine.
Nick and I packed up our van – ‘The Luggage’ (Discworld fans will get the reference) and hit the road yesterday. While we’ve wrapped up and closed the jewellery business for the duration of the trip, it’s still a ‘working holiday’ for me, because I’m running Create & Thrive as per usual, as well as working on the content for our new ecourse (This site/resource is no longer available). In between a lot of hiking, yoga, exploring, reading of novels and general lazing about, of course.
So, I thought I’d pop in and share a few tips for running (or at least maintaining) your business when you’re travelling.
1. Have the Right Tools
Plan ahead so you have all the technology – and cables and cords! – you need for your trip. Do you need your smartphone, tablet, laptop, camera, diary, notebook, pens? Do you have your SD cards? Have you got all the right cords to charge everything and connect everything that needs to be connected? Do you need a power adapter if you’re going overseas or into another country?
It’s no fun to get going and realise that you’ve left something important (and expensive!) at home that you need to do your work.
2. Have the Right Apps
Make sure to have any apps or software you’ll need pre-installed (or updated) on your devices BEFORE you leave home. You don’t want to be downloading that stuff with your mobile internet allowance!
3. Use the Cloud
If you’re going away but know there’s stuff (photos, files etc) that you’ll need that are currently stored on your home computer, ensure you’ve uploaded them all to some sort of cloud software before you leave.
Try Google Drive or Dropbox (or the i-equivalent) to ensure you’re not stuck without that crucial document during your trip.
4. Take Advantage of Travelling Time
There will no doubt be lots of travelling time on your journey – whether that’s time in a plane, train, or in the passenger seat of the car. If your stomach allows it, that’s a great time to get the bulk of your work done, so that when you’re stopped at a destination, you can fully engage with your family and friends and really enjoy yourself. Another good time is early morning before you head out for the day, or late at night once everyone’s tuckered out and asleep.
When we’re roadtripping, I do the vast majority of my work in the passenger seat while Nick’s driving. This works well for us, for while we both like driving, he hates being in the passenger seat – so I just take that place and get my work done, and when we reach our next destination, I can relax and enjoy just hanging out with him.
5. Don’t Stress too Much…
… if you don’t ‘keep up’ quite to the level you usually do. There will be times when you think you’ll have internet reception and you won’t. There will be times that you come across a random adventure and that hour you set aside to answer emails just doesn’t happen.
Let yourself off the hook a little and just enjoy the moment. Don’t spoil it by stressing about the work you ‘should’ be doing. It will still be there when you get to it. People will understand if you take a little longer to respond to emails – especially if you’ve publicised that you’re travelling.
Those are a few of my tips for working from the road – I’m sure I’ll probably come up with some more as the month progresses.
Have you worked while travelling? What advice would you give others about to do the same?
P.S. No, the image above is not my campervan, it is not quite that cool You can see mine on my personal instagram – @JessVanDen if you like!
