 |
|
As somebody who runs a business whilst travelling permanently (and blogs about it), I keep tabs on other bloggers who do or want to do the same thing.
One thing I’ve noticed recently is a trend towards people thinking about ditching their own laptops and instead working from USB data storage keys which have their main applications & data stored on them. They simply plug these into computers in internet cafes and that’s basically their office.
The other trend is towards using online applications only, meaning they simply log in to each service from any connected computer and once again, they’ve got everything they need at their fingertips.
I have to admit, I haven’t tried this way of working and I have my doubts about how effective it is to run a business like this. Perhaps for freelance writers or other professions where you can just plug & play, you might be able to do this but I’m not sure it would work for the business I run (a branding & online marketing consultancy).
The other concerns I have are the quality of internet cafes you may have available (have you ever tried working in one where your fellow users are all teenage gamers?), the fact that you never quite know what’s on someone else’s computer (key tracking software, for example) and the fact that I’d much rather sit on a terrace surfing wirelessly on my own laptop than in some dingy internet cafe working for the day.
But I’m interested to hear from any of you who do travel and work without your own laptop and how it works for you…
April 17th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Hey Lea, I’m in that position now - not voluntarily, though. (Thanks, hackers and virus-creators of the world.) Anyhow, I’m getting by with some heavy use of Google Documents, but it’s not ideal. For one thing, wireless is generally a lot cheaper - if not free!
April 17th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
hi lea! i started out my six month trip planning to use a 8GB flash drive loaded with portable apps in order to maintain my blog while on the road. 4 months into my trip, i’ve had to ditch the flash drive because of the numerous viruses i’ve gotten from those internet cafes you mentioned - the type full of kids playing internet games. i ALMOST wish i had my laptop, although having to worry about it getting stolen and just the extra weight (even though it’s only 4lbs!) is enough to make me reconsider. i’m currently only carrying a bag which weighs in at a whopping 10kg, so i dont really have enough room in it for my trusty laptop. so unfortunately, it’s internet cafes for me!
April 18th, 2008 at 7:25 am
I’ve been using this software called Roboform that’s pretty cool. It keeps all of your log-ins and passwords on there so you’re not exposing that data to anyone in an Internet cafe. I think there are a few similar products out there, but this one has allowed me to go laptop-less for short trips and I can still get all my work done. Here’s a review of the roboform2go. I have a small laptop that’s less than 3 pounds though, so that helps otherwise.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I like using a combination of both…. I usually take my laptop with me..but a alot of the applications I use are online. Therefore, If I am traveling..I can leave my laptop in the room if I want to… I think just not feeling attached is what I was looking for. Also I try to automate or delgate as much as my business task as possible. I focus on the 3 activites that produce Income. This lessens my depedance on my laptop even greater.