A recruitment slideshow for vagabonders

Students giving a presentation. Photo: Tobias Toft / Flickr

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a slideshow is worth a novel. Nomadz.nu, a partnership of two Belgian women, created this excellent presentation: Don’t be rich, live rich – one year on the road – the good and the bad.  This would work well as an “orientation” film for new vagabonders ready to head out into the wider world.

The whole thing is well-structured, a sign of that these women, Ine and Catherine, are marketing pros.  The first section has stunning photographs and tidbits about the grand adventures they had.  Then it goes into the step-by-step planning process they took.  You get to see decisions they made, and why the made them.

Starting at slide #39, Ine and Catherine talk about “The Hard Stuff.”  Their frank honesty is greatly appreciated, because a lot of people don’t realize the challenges of long-term travel.  For trips of that duration, you often have to be more independent and do more things yourself, rather than relying on a tour company to take care of everything.

Although the fantasy of remote working is typing on your laptop at the beach, the reality doesn’t always turn out that way.  The two of them realized they actually were more productive in an office setting.  As a result, they once rented space in Buenos Aires so they could get more done.  The irony is that a cubicle can be a “productivity retreat” from your journey.  Still, that’s more preferable to have short bouts of work while traveling, rather than short vacations from work in the 9-to-5 world.

For the digital nomads, you might want to jump ahead to slide #53.  In the following slides, Ine and Catherine reveal the gear and apps they used to take care of business while on the road.  For more cool stuff, visit their website at Nomadz.nu.

What lessons have you learned while working during your travels? Please share your experiences in the comments.