Traveling the world, seeing different parts of the world and enjoying the different cultures, is a wonderful experience. But it isn’t cheap! That’s why more and more travelers are seeking to utilize their talents while they are on the go. And, in the new world of remote working, this seems to be a reality that is almost within touching distance. It’s quite the seachange if you think about it. If so many of us can now work from home and give our employer just as much dedication and productivity, then why can’t we do so while we are jet setting around the world? It just doesn’t make any sense for any traveler to not ask themselves this pertinent question. We looked into what the challenges would be and if you could be up to the task.
Take-away talent
Not every job can be done while on the move. You may be a day trader that needs to keep their eyes on the ball. You could trade while you are on the train, in the hotel or at breakfast. However, we know that we need to be in our zone to be operating at our highest level. This is why we have to ask ourselves, do we have takeaway talent? But what kind of criteria to tick all the boxes?
Can you access your tasks? In other words, can you access the cloud system where your reports, assignments and tasks are placed for you to do? You need a hotspot that will allow you to download documents.
Are you able to do detailed work? You need peace and quiet to do certain tasks, such as Excel charts, graphs and reading financial reports as an accountant. Can you do these things while moving around?
Can you work at all hours of the night and day? You need to be able to work after hours and keep up with the job that you have been hired to do, regardless of whether or not you’re forced to sleep at the airport.
Chasing clients
You know as a freelancer that you have a touch-and-go relationship with some clients. Some are just shady and they seem to want to shirk on things like, oh you know, payment! It’s horrible when it happens but most of the time, it’s because you didn’t run them through your own invoice process. But you need an invoice in the first place, something which many freelancers don’t have! Use this invoice template and design an invoice that suits your needs. Just type in the seller information, the item, service, or product you provided, and the sales tax and bill, etc.
Tell them about your process, i.e. tell them when you will bill them. This isn’t always based on a time schedule or even when a task has been complete. You may need time to send over the invoice as you do them all at the end of the week or something. Just let them know this, so they keep an eye out for it.
Next, you should tell them that you will send them an invoice! They shouldn’t be sending you an invoice that they can cope with, they should be using your template. Allowing the client to make their own invoice template is just asking for all sorts of trouble. As ever the devil is in the detail!
Is it worth it?
Aah, this is the question, isn’t it? Is it worth it? Working freelance as you travel, to pay for your travel seems to make perfect sense. But for the traveler that actually wants to travel during the day and sleep at night, without fail, it’s not for them. You have to be ready to explore just 4-6 hours out of the day and then spend 4-6 hours working. This can amount to a 12-hour day which is not for the faint of heart. This is even more compounded when you are jet-lagged or sick due to a foreign illness. So you have to balance your priorities. Maybe you can work things out with a client, and travel for 4 days out of the week, then work 3 in a cheap hotel somewhere. It’s really up to you but you must think it through and decide if you are willing to set aside hours in the day to stop exploring and get working.
Traveling and working can mix if you are willing to do these things. But for some people, it can be like oil and water. We suggest that you at least try it to see if you can.
