I’ve always considered myself a person of habit which means that I’m very fixed-minded about the conditions in which I work in. I like them to be as optimal as possible and under control, so going to work from a different place each day is not something I am very fond of.

But this past August I spent the whole month out of Seville, partly working, partly on holiday, taking advantage of being a remote worker. And I must say I found it way less traumatic than I thought at first it would be. Anyhow, there are several things you must take into account before doing this. After my experience, and giving it some thought, here’s a list of things to take into account when doing this:

Make sure the internet works:

Do it in advance, the place where you’re going to stay should have a good internet connection. Or at least locate a place like a café where you’ll be able to work from. You need to be ready to answer swiftly to the question: ‘What do I do if the connection fails?’

Worst case scenario, having a 4G USB drive can save the day, so it might be a good thing to consider to have one ‘just in case’.

Travel during the weekend

Arrive at your new home early in the weekend, get to know the place and the surroundings, do your grocery shopping, and have it all ready for the next normal workday.

Find your spot

Find somewhere at the place you’re staying where you can work comfortably, without interrupting or being interrupted by your travel mates (if any) or other guests.

Go out moderately

Being in a new place calls for exploring and looking for new places to have dinner or a drink, that’s normal. But remember you have to work the day after, so it’s better to keep it under control.

Also, don’t feel bad if one day you’d rather stay at home after work because you’re tired, you’re not obligated to go out every day! Although you are on a trip, you might need to keep some of your ‘home routine’ during your working week.

Have some free days

The point of travelling around is getting to know new places, right? So if you’re going to be a digital nomad, try to have some days off work so you can enjoy the new city you are in, and make up for the previous point.

Use your Co-working VISA

If you usually work in a co-working space, you can make use of the Co-working VISA, which allows you to work up to three days for free from a co-working space in a different city. Being able to do this depends on space availability and both co-working spaces being inscribed in the Co-working VISA participants listing.

Conclusions

Mixing working, travelling and holidays is a great experience if properly done, so I recommend it greatly, even as ‘training’ before diving fully into the ‘digital nomad’ lifestyle. This post contains just some basic pieces of advice that I hope you find useful, even though they’re mostly common sense. Have you got any advice you’d like to share? Share it in the comments or ping me on Twitter.

Picture ‘Torre do Control Maritimo no Porto da Coruña’ by Jose Luis Cernadas Iglesias in Flickr, user under CC BY 2.0.