Travel and work – can they coexist?

Now that telecommuting is gaining popularity, more and more people are seeing that long term travel isn’t as distant and far-fetched as they thought.  After all, you can go on the trip of your dreams and still make money.  Location-independent freelancers, such as former Vagablogging writer Lea Woodward, travel the world while earning online.  Other professionals such as archeologists and travel writers go on trips as a part of their job.  On a smaller scale, a telecommuting employee can live in another state for a month and still keep their position in the company.

Despite these available options, some people are still hesitant to take the leap.  Who can blame them?  Working while traveling has its own difficulties.  Internet access isn’t always stable, and some clients or supervisors might think that you don’t value your work.

Also, it might be hard for some people to enjoy traveling if there’s work involved.  Until you have a system in place, your work will always be at the back of your mind during the trip.  Even then, something unexpected is bound to come up and throw your system askew.

One thing I’ve learned is that if you’re passionate about both traveling and your work, these difficulties are easier to overcome.  You’ll want to spend time on both, not neglecting one or the other.  You’ll do everything you can to make sure that you’ll have both of these things in your life.  Without passion for both these things, it will always feel like your work is taking out the fun in your trip, or that your travels are detrimental to your work.

I think travel and work can coexist, but finding the right balance between the two takes some time, experimentation, and the existence of passion.

Have you ever worked while you were on a long term trip? Can you complete work tasks without lessening your enjoyment of traveling?

Posted by | Comments (4)  | November 20, 2008
Category: General


4 Responses to “Travel and work – can they coexist?”

  1. Mohammad Says:

    I made a decision to quit engineering and study photography in the UK for a year (if accepted Inshallah) … I plan to travel the world and tell stories… hopefully be able to combine travel, photography and work … the key is to always believe to keep moving forward..