Work geography is dead. Long live Life geography.
First off – This isn’t some Tim Ferris garbage about how you can live on an island and only work between 5:48pm and 5:49pm. If you don’t love what you do, this isn’t going to help you, stop reading now, as geographic location is the least of your worries.
I LIKE work. Hell – I LOVE what I do. I’m fortunate enough to have a good paying career in an industry that I love. I supplement my main career with a speaking career that’s quickly becoming a second full-time career – Finally, I consult to companies all around the world on marketing, social media, and customer service. So believe me – I’m busy. But the difference here, is that I’m busy from anywhere I WANT to be. That’s the ADHD version of this blog post – and what I hope you’ll take away from it: You too can work just as hard, or just as little – as you always have – But you can do it from wherever you want. Yes, you. YOU. Specifically. Yes. You.
Because to be honest, I can’t imagine anything scarier than waking up on my deathbed, wondering where my life went outside of the office.
I started my trip a few weeks ago in Omaha, Nebraska, keynoting a conference. From there, I flew to Miami to run the Miami ING Half Marathon, then, after a day of meetings in Miami, headed to Nashville, TN, where I spoke at another conference. From Nashville, I flew to New York City for one evening, and then boarded a flight from Newark to Los Angeles, where I connected on a Qantas flight to Sydney, Australia. I’ve just spent the past seven days down under, both for meetings and pleasure, and I’m now writing this on a flight from Brisbane, Australia, back to Los Angeles, where I’ll connect to New Orleans to cover Mardi Gras for 72 hours, then fly to Newark, onto Frankfurt, wake up on the plane in the morning to connect to another eight-hour flight to Bangalore, India, where I’ll be speaking at a conference. I’ll be home on or around the 23rd of February for about two days, after which, I’ll fly to Sacramento, CA, to speak at an SPSA event, then fly to LA for meetings with several film and TV agents. I’ll be home again Saturday, the 27th, to enjoy my first weekend in my apartment in approximately a month, prepared to defend myself against a 24-hour assault of “where were you? We’re hungry. Pay attention to us” from two overweight cats, looked after by both my wonderful assistant Meagan, and from time to time, my mother.
Over the entire month of this massive trip, I never once went into an “office” to work. Yet, I launched the new HARO, sold over $50k of advertising on the new site, accepted seven new keynote speech requests, two consulting jobs, and sent presents to three people, two for birthdays, and one as a thank you.
Additionally, I paid all my bills, from my rent and mobile bills, to my incredibly overpriced attorney. I signed my lease renewal forms (after negotiating a substantial rate decrease over the phone) and was able to have a prescription faxed to a pharmacy a block away from a hotel in which I was staying.
I didn’t miss an episode of 24, Burn Notice, or Dollhouse thanks to iTunes subscriptions, and I followed the Superbowl from 12,000 miles away on my Blackberry, getting as frequent updates as I would if I was in my office during the game.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Geography has officially died and been reborn. Let us mourn it briefly, and move the hell on. Good riddance to the old, I say.
Work geography is dead. Long live Life Geography.
What follow are the new rules of Geography – How to live, work, and play, while being as mobile as you want – from one day a month out of the office, to deciding to take four weeks and work from Whitsunday, QLD, as I’m contemplating doing sometime later this year.
Rule One: In 2010, no one gives a damn where you are, and rightfully so.
I had a phone call with a HUGE potential HARO partner while I was in Sydney. I held the conference call at three in the morning, from my desk in my hotel room, via Skype. My COO was in Scottsdale, Arizona. The only reason anyone on the call knew where I calling from was because they followed my blog. One of them said he was amazed I was on the call, to which I replied, “I’m surprised you’re in your office – I hear it’s snowing something fierce in Chicago.”
The rise of the mobile revolution has given us tremendous power. You think the Blackberry is an electronic leash, and the mobile phone a tool to keep an eye on you? You’re thinking about it totally, totally wrong. These are the tools of freedom, like a pick-axe or overturned verdict is to a convict. The fact is, the majority of bosses do not care from where you work, as long as the work gets done, on time, and exceeding the quality expected. One of my editors, Laura Spaventa, was producing the HARO out of her parents’ place in Philly. She’s since moved to New York City, living on her own for the first time. The only reason I even know this? Meagan reminded me to buy her a housewarming gift. She’s never slacked off on her work, her work quality continues to get better, and for all I know, she could be producing the HARO with Ariel, under the sea. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as she gets it done, which she does, perfectly. She has a Mac, a wireless card, and power. That’s all she needs. Location is irrelevant.
If your boss doesn’t agree with this, perhaps it’s time to find a new boss. Remember the wonderful quote: “If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around you.”
How to convince your boss…
If you work for someone else, the key is under-promising and over-delivering. Your goal is to prove that you’re so valuable, your work so awesome, that it doesn’t matter from where you do it. In fact, you want to prove that you’re even MORE valuable when you’re let go from your office chains – You’re more creative, more aware of deadlines, more able to get done that which needs doing when you’re NOT bound to a desk in an office park. Some easy ways to ease your boss into it without him or her knowing he or she is being eased:
a) Start producing your work and emailing at different times of the day. Project due at 5pm on Thursday? Submit it via email at 3:45am on Wednesday. When you walk into the office in the morning, casually mention to your boss that the project is in his email, waiting for him.
b) Start setting up more video calls, less in-person meetings. The more you can get people used to not physically sharing the same space with you, the less they’ll care when you’re not actually there, but rather, calling in from Pongo Pongo.
c) Start small: Get an afternoon project out of the way in the morning, and spend your lunch hour in a spin class, or a run around the local park or gym. Come back a little bit later – End result is, the afternoon project was already done light years ago, right? Take your berry, but chances are, you won’t need it.
d) Email, email, email. Instead of popping down the hall to Bob’s office, shoot a quick note, drop an IM, a BBM, again, anything that doesn’t require your physical appearance.
e) This is key: When you DO make an appearance, make sure you’re noticed. Remember – You’re working just as hard as everyone else – probably harder –yet there will ALWAYS be some dumbass in the office that notices that you’re not there as much, and tries to give you hell for it. Your goal is to counter by again, over-delivering. Try “Hey boss, while I was skiing this weekend, I had a few hours by the fire to look over those financial statements and noticed a few spots where we could tighten and save the company some cash. I’ll email them over to you later – I guess a fireplace just makes it easier for me to work.”
You’ll never convince everyone that working out of the office is for them. Your job is to make it clear that it’s for you. Screw them.
Rule 2: Even the Aborigines have mobile broadband.
Mobile Internet is everywhere. I mean, everywhere. Next month, Continental Airlines is rolling out GoGo inflight internet, becoming yet another of a growing number of major carriers to offer Internet in the air. Laptop 3G and 4G cards are available on incredibly cheap plans, ($50 a month, give or take) and they work virtually everywhere, as well. What can’t you do from a coffee shop in Berlin that you can do in the office? Seriously. Tell me in the comments, and I’ll tell you why you’re wrong. The only answer I’ll accept is “shake someone’s hand” – and I’ll get to that later.
When I was in Asia last year, I discovered something awesome – AIM, Google Chat and the like, all work on your blackberry or iPhone. Just keep yourself logged in. Respond if you have to, just like you would at a desk.
Rule 3: You’re not as damn important as you think you are.
Rule 3 corollary: If your Blackberry is shut off for seven hours, the world will continue to spin.
This Australia trip was one of the first times I actually went truly off the grid for periods of time greater than the time it takes me to ride the A train from Columbus Circle to West 4th Street. It’s kinda hard to thumb while rappelling down a waterfall or snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, and so, for the first time, I didn’t. (I know at least three people who are jumping up and down right now and shouting praise to the heavens after reading that.) I got to the start of the reef tour at 7:15am (5:15pm New York time) and shut off my berry around 8:30am, when I lost signal. I didn’t turn it on again until around 5pm, (2am EST) – I had about 30 emails that came in during that time. I replied to the ones that mattered, and no one felt like they weren’t being taken care of because I took a few hours to reply.
Truth be told, this is probably the hardest rule to swallow, especially for die hard connected thumbers like me. If we can’t tweet it, it didn’t happen. If we can’t Facebook it, it doesn’t exist. If the email comes in and we can’t answer it within four seconds, it won’t matter.
To an extent, I still believe that – But I’m getting better. Just because I’m off the grid for seven hours or so, doesn’t mean I can’t post the photos, tweet the funny story, or answer the email the second I come back into range. I tried it on this trip. Holy cow, was it freeing. I mean, really, really freeing. You know what it’s like to not be afraid to get soaked by a wave from your boat because you don’t have anything electronic on you? IT’S FREAKING AWESOME!
Rule 4: If you really need to shake someone’s hand, then armed with nothing more than a credit card, you can truly be anywhere in the world, from anywhere in the world, in less than 29 hours, and usually, in much less time than that.
I left New York City on a 3:30pm flight to LAX, arriving six hours later. I had a three-hour layover (where I could email and work) and then a 15-hour flight to Sydney. 24 hours total, 21 of which I was incommunicado. Within a year, all airlines will have wi-fi, so those 21 hours won’t matter anyway.
You need to be somewhere else tomorrow to solve a major crisis that just popped up? Doesn’t matter where in the world you are – if you need to be, you can be. It’s that simple. Show up at the airport, ask the first gate agent you see to help you plot a course – or – even smarter, have a credit card with a travel concierge, who will do it for you, for no additional charge, even before you leave wherever you happen to be. These people route other people for a living – They’ve gotten me connections that I didn’t even know EXISTED. They’re like FedEx Human Transport – They can get you where you need to go, when you absolutely, positively, have to get there overnight.
The crisis that really isn’t: When you snorkel and watch fish, you have a lot of time to think. I imagined a crisis brewing while I was out of contact. Let’s say it was 2pm. I’d be back on land by 4:30pm. If something happened, I could catch the 6:50pm from Whitsunday Airport, landing in Brisbane at 8pm, then I could work all night, and if I really, really needed to, could grab the first Qantas into LA the next day. And chances are, I could solve whatever crisis occurred from my hotel room, using Skype and email. Think about it – Really think about it – When was the last time your physical presence was truly, TRULY required to solve a problem? You see all the movies where the boss or head of whatever jumps out of the helicopter that just landed on the roof, and is being briefed as he’s walking down the stairs to the boardroom. If you’re really that important, chances are you have a full office on your private jet, and don’t need to read my blog.
Rule 5: A conference room looks the same, whether in Boston or Bali, Brisbane or Bangalore.
I know this for a fact. Based on the rules above, if you’re somewhere you’ve never been, take a few extra hours, hell, a few extra days, to explore. Why rush home? You’re already in the new place! Why waste it?! Full disclosure – I used to! I’d rush to the airport and head to the security of the President’s Club lounge – I felt safe there, wouldn’t miss my flight, etc.
What’s the point? Why not take a few hours and do something? Almost every city or town, at the very least, has a walking tour, a downtown tour, an anything tour – It’s something to do, you can learn a bit more – and you leave a bit more fulfilled then when you got there. At the very least, find a new jogging trail and go explore. The only thing I’ve ever learned at the President’s Club is which people talk the loudest on their cell phones.
Rule 6: Entrench yourself with the tools, and life becomes cream cheese.
These are my tools. They allow me to work anywhere in the world, at any time, day or night. You might use some, or all, or different ones. (If you have ones I’m missing, tell me in the comments.) Most of them are technical in nature, but not always. Some are basic things that you never associated with the way I’m going to explain them – some are common sense. For more specific tips on how I travel, see my post from last year: “Tools of my Travel Trade.” And of course, these are in no particular order.
a) Worldwide mobile phone with data and voice (AT&T seems to have the most decent coverage overseas for now.)
b) Laptop that works everywhere, and is strong enough to put up with my daily abuse
c) World-wide current converter
d) My Canon G10, Flip HD, and Panasonic HDC-HS300
3) A Timex Ironman watch with multiple city settings. I always keep #1 on NYC time. #2 is where I am. It makes me feel like I’m never far from what I know.
f) Ogio backpack and luggage
g) Scott-e-Vest for travel and getting stuff through security
h) Skype
i) $100 in local currency. This helps more than you could ever know – Will get you back to the airport quicker, too.
j) FourSquare and Twitter – I met someone in Manly Beach, Sydney, that I never met before. We were in the same bar in the same hotel, and found it out via FourSquare and Twitter.
Bottom line? This can be done. You can work from anywhere. You can love what you do, and do it from a place you love. I’m living proof.
Do you do it? Have you done it? Tried to do it? Leave suggestions or stories in the comments – Top two win – One an Ogio bag, and one a Scott–e-vest.
February 14th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Great post Peter, Happy Valentine’s Day wherever you are! My best tip is that although I mainly work in one location, my staff and my clients are located all over the world. This has enabled me to gain new insights, tap into top talent, and have more fun than ever before. It’s a small world after all, let’s appreciate it, and each other! Cheers!
February 14th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
As always, your post is top notch, fantastic advice/knowledge. I do work from my house (or Starbucks) which makes me around for my kids in ways that I wouldn’t be tied to an office. But somedays, I think about it, the only part I miss is the guaranteed paycheck, paid sick days, paid time off. But now, I can go wherever, whenever I want. Do we want to take the kids to Disney? Let’s go. But for now, I have to say that the best part of this post is the fact that your mom is on Twitter
February 14th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
All decent tips and advice. This sort of mobility & connectivity is what allowed me to turn a planned 1 week jaunt to Sydney last August into a month long trip (not easy to leave the Great Barrier Reef, is it?). It’s important to note, however, that very very few people are fortunate enough to have the resources and flexibility we do. So while it’s great that you can offer it, I don’t think we’re anywhere near a point that we can expect it from others.
February 14th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Also, 6(i) is a very good idea. Much to amusement of friends who have seen it, I have literal bags of money* stashed in a box. I usually try to end every trip with about that much in local currency, so the next time I’m back I don’t have to worry about airports and ATMs. Just the cab (or whatever) to the hotel.
*Well, not all bags. It’s just a couple of notes, for Yen. But try to keep $100 worth of Indian rupees in a few notes, and you might as well have nothing (or end up paying for an extraordinarily expensive autorickshaw ride . . .)).
February 14th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
When I first started freelancing, it was the late 1990s and people still wanted face time. Edits via email? Shocking. Fast forward a decade and some of my best clients are people that I’ve never actually laid eyes on.
I don’t travel nearly as much as you do — I have a 3-year-old at home and it does change your priorities — but I’ve worked remotely from all over the world, plus a wide array of Silicon Valley coffee shops in between onsite meetings. Nobody knows where I am, they just know that I get the job done, on time and on budget. And that’s the only thing that matters.
February 14th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Excellent post Peter! In the late 90’s early noughties I would travel a hell of a lot, overseas and Australia-wide travel, as a political adviser. Getting connected and staying connected for anything more than a few minutes at a time was, either damn expensive or damn frustrating. Your posts tells how it can be, if one can ‘break-free’ from the cubicle and just get out and ’smell the roses’ rather than ‘the bulldust’ that accumulates in an office. There’s something in your post for everyone to learn, if only they would take action rather than just think about it. And, for the record I still have wads of foreign currency in readiness for my return to far-flung parts of the world.
February 14th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Great advice, Peter, and I’m glad you finally started appreciating the beauty of discovering local places when you travel!
When I was a corporate slave, I used to intentionally book my flights to arrive earlier in the day than necessary and leave on the latest flight that got me home when I had to be back. That gave me plenty of time to tour historic homes, museums and other cool places, try out all the local restaurants I could squeeze in (recommended by the locals, of course), and see what little locally owned shops I could find that had cool stuff to take home with me. I may have been a little sleepier the next morning at work, but have never regretted that strategy.
BTW, did you ever make it out to that Titan missile museum when you were in Tucson last year? Out of the way, but definitely worth the visit!
February 14th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
@Mark in Oz – ah, those were the days. Thank god for IBM Global Connect, eh? I still have a bag of phone jack and modem adapters that always seemed to be insufficient. And now my laptop doesn’t even *have* a modem . . .
February 14th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
What you’re saying here is so true. Technology is responsible for shattering bricks and mortar “rules” for working. Your post is helping me move past one of my own barriers AND I’m sharing it with my own readers!
Thank you and happy traveling.
February 14th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
You are so right, Peter! I complained bitterly for years that my boss just ‘didn’t get it’ because we had ridiculous hours, etc. for FULLY COMMISSIONED EMPLOYEES! They didn’t understand that it didn’t matter where we worked or how many hours…it only mattered if we sold what needed to be sold! Finally the world is catching up to the obvious! Great for working moms, especially, I might add…
February 14th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
I love your blog — it’s my first time reading it — and I agree with you about working from Anywhere (although I in Bulgan Olgi in Mongolia, I could not send email, and I a great deal of what you do (i.e., travel constantly). BUT, I simply do not understand this line, Peter: You say: “Additionally, I paid all my bills, from my rent and mobile bills, to my incredibly overpriced attorney.” I guess you don’t necessarily mean you let your incredibly overpriced attorney pay your bills (you can pay them yourself ON LINE FROM EVERYWHERE).Or, did you mean you are additionally paying your overpriced attorney?
Margie
February 14th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Yep. Everything and everyone is low-jacked by now. But seriously. You make a good point. This generation is being “programmed to believe anyone can communicate with everything. Once that becomes second nature,the enemy will start using ELF pulses to knock out everything.
February 14th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Peter, first and foremost I have loved your posts from Australia. My husband and I did 3 weeks there and 1 in New Zealand about 8 years ago and we itch to go back. Now, I know all the stuff we need to do next time around!
I am all about harnessing the power of available technology to live life on my terms. I don’t feel chained to my Blackberry, but rather freed by it. I can spend my summers poolside and sitting on Second Beach with my toes in the sand. I miss nothing and my clients are no worse for the wear! I take conference calls from the car when the scenery is too noisy or too beautiful and I am learning where every wifi hot spot is located, much like my toddler knows where every public toilet can be found! I won’t be bound by geography, work schedules or dress codes. My best work happens after 10 pm in my pajamas and if you know and work with me then you love me for it.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with the masses – a true Valentine’s Day gift for those love our lives and want the rest to join in the fun!
February 14th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
So true are your words. Geography is really geoexperience — borders and cultures are blending, swirling and melding into a reality unimaginable just five years ago. I am currently reading ELSEWHERE USA by Dalton Conley. Conley’s content on American society and the ‘intravidual’ and your content on international geoexperiences and the mingling of multicultures are ricocheting around my cerebellum. Soon the notion of where will be less a place in space and more a sense of mind. We are where we are simultaneously in time and pseudospace. I sit in Tampa right now while sharing with my sons in Chicago and Manhattan. Our lives are closer in some ways than ever before — not physically, but in an intangible, wonderful way. Geography is transcending and we, as beings, are transforming.
February 14th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
You’ll need some tools with you too: I recommend a Swiss Army utilikey or prybaby, just make sure that you put it in your checked luggage while flying. I also recommend making an Ubuntu USB key for times when your laptop dies or if you need to borrow someone else’s PC. I also have minimal USB cables to recharge my phone, tether it, or use it as a USB camera. The flash on my blackberry also makes a good impromptu flashlight.
Check out http://edcforums.com for other ideas.
February 14th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
On January 1, 2010 (010110! I began running my second virtual company. The first was a consulting firm I helped start (but did not own) in 2001 and ran it until 12/31/2009. All employees of that company worked from home or wherever. The new company, Task Team, I started with a wonderful woman I worked with during the last 5 years. Our new company is designed around women who work from home (or wherever). The best part of my story is the idea of Task Team came to me while reading HARO queries one day shortly after seeing you speak in Michigan in October. This was at a time when my now partner and I knew we needed to make a change but were struggling about what kind of change. So, having run a virtual office already for 9 years, one of the services we now provide is helping small businesses set up virtual office applications so their employees can work wherever and whenever.
February 14th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
First off, at the risk of blowing my chances of winning the contest, Ferris does a lot of the same exact thing you are doing here: Opening up peoples eyes to new possibilities. Yes, a lot of his stuff is overly hyped, but he is if nothing else a great marketer and he makes people think in new ways.
I live in Phoenix AZ where of course the summers SUCK. So, I have designed my life to be able to work where ever I want. I agree….no one cares WHERE you are as long as you “deliver the goods.” I have spent my summers living in downtown Chicago the last few years and may do Denver or somewhere else next summer. Anywhere but Phoenix. It’s unbelievable how many people seem amazed that I can pull off leaving all summer…without being a grayhaired snowbird. I just laugh inside because it’s really not that hard to pull off, but most are stuck in old ways of thinking.
I think one point that could have been mentioned was that with the social networks like FB / Twitter, your “presence” is the same no matter where you are…thus lessening the feeling that someone is not available. In other words, I feel much more connected to friends in other states who are active on FB than non FB friends who live in the same city that I have not seen or heard of in 9 months.
February 14th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Peter, I’ve been enjoying reading your blogs. Although I’m presently unemployed, I’m seeking the position that would keep me out of a traditional office.
Your Rule #5, if I had to travel (and believe that it would be rewarding if I did), I’d do that same thing, take extra time to actually see the area you are in. You may never get there again and others love to see pictures, read blogs, and watch video of an untraveled place.
Keep up the great work and if you’re ever in Denver, tweet me!
February 14th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Hearty endorsement of the Utili-key. Countless flights with it in my carry-on (we have established that none of this travel should take place with checked baggage, right?), and not a single problem. http://www.swisstechtools.com/.....75GDTdP68A
February 14th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Peter, you inspire me! I read and reread your blog. I plan to forward these awesome insights as a random kind act for lucky ones who stumble upon my FB and twitter posts. Thanks for falling in love with life and being kind enough to show others the way. The world needs more people who are living an authentic life, one that they love. We all have a gift to give. It’s up to each of us to discover our gift and then GIVE it. You give freely and without conditions. I’m thankful for your willingness to share the gift of your life with us. Way cool, indeed!
February 14th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
I’m relatively new to this whole working for myself thing; so I still twitch a little when I go for a run in the middle of the afternoon or pick up on a Wednesday to go to Mexico for a few days. I lost sleep for days at the thought of telling one of my clients that I wouldn’t be on-site that week. But you know what? They didn’t flinch. And the work got done anyway…poolside.
Having said that, there are many things that cannot be done remotely (like teaching Pilates, for example). But for those things that require creative inspiration mixed with passionate communication – like writing, design, marketing, and PR, to name a few – doing them from “out in the world” makes them that much better.
February 14th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Welcome to the concept of “Workshifting” (see also client blog: http://workshifting.com ). We talk about the mobile and distributed workforce. It’s a concept that I’ve been LIVING for the last handful of years, but you’re right that it’s getting a lot more real for us information pirates.
February 14th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Peter what you advocate here is exactly what Tim Ferriss does in 4HWW. The title of the book was more a product of him figuring out what title garnered the most interest, not necessarily the end result he expected people to shoot for.
It’s all about doing what you love and not being tied to any geographic location to do it. The Internet and more specifically HI-SPEED Internet access made most of the mobile lifestyle possible. You couldn’t do this on a 28.8K modem 10 years ago.
And folks wondered what we would do with all that unused dark fiber…
February 14th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Oddly enough, my animals care where in the world we are..twice a day. They have yet to figure out a way to feed livestock remotely.
Honestly, though, I’m good here. I so enjoy reading about all your travels and I wish you the best. Hope you had a great valentine’s day!!
February 14th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
This is so true, especially in a line of work where what you know is your bread and butter. For years people have complained about knowledge work going overseas (or hell, even across town if there are freelancers working from a home office) instead of looking at how technology can help them to strive towards what you’ve achieved – the ability to work from where they want to. Now people are trying to play catch up as these ideas start to dawn on them.
I enjoy traveling, even for business. I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like to but I’m hoping that changes in the future. And another thing for bosses to consider is that people are more productive when they are working from someplace they enjoy and can relax while they work. On a small scale, I notice my co-workers and I crank out better stories, plans and video pieces when we are working away from the office. It’s the boss who usually still needs convincing.
Even on my honeymoon last Nov. I was able to keep tabs on a semi-crisis that was brewing at the university I work at and call in (once, it was the only work call the Mrs. let me make) to see how things were going. I think the fact that I was relaxed and at Disney World gave me time to really think and come up with more creative ideas on how to address the problem, instead of slaving away in the cube mines.
Congratulations Peter, and I hope you are having a wonderful time across the globe.
Benson
February 14th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
This type of Technology has allowed me to have complete freedom of my employers mansion and very sweet cars living in it and using them as though they were mine. I always said if you can’t afford a mansion or a Bentley then why not get paid to live in and use someone else’s, they are so mobile, someone needs to stay home and make it appear lived in. All of this ofcoarse comes with a high level of resposibility for someone else’s stuff, they invited me to use most of it, but not steal it or break it or let anyone else get hurt on it. And when the boss is home and sends you somewhere, you travel first class on his/her private jet equipped with credit cards, so if you must work for someone, I highly recommend it. Tech keeps the Boss away !
February 14th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
My husband is a contractor and I am self-employed, usually doing business from my home office, occasionally in my leopard-spotted jumpsuit. My clients don’t care…as long as I am providing great service. Sometimes I can join my husband on the road. My smartphone, my laptop and a good Internet connection (Hampton Inns and Panera Bread are consistent and everywhere) keep me on top of everything. I find hotel rooms just exotic enough from my usual surroundings that I am a more creative writer in them. I accompanied my husband to Australia couple of years ago. While there, I Skyped with my client based in France and coordinated an Internet radio interview he did with a show based on the West Coast. Canberra-Paris-San Diego. I knew then that my business was unfettered…hopefully forever.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Hi Peter, try convincing an out of work, 53 year old woman who’s facebooking, skypeing, tweeting, blah blah blah that this is a “brave new world”. Sorry, it’s not the “real world”. I need more convincing and money.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
I’d like to propose Rule #7: An awesome pair of hand-knit socks, especially if you knit them yourself, goes a long way toward making sure you are a.) comfortable, b.) warm, and c.) have an instant topic of conversation (because everyone knows someone who knits). –Annie, the knitter in Las Vegas (Ragan SocMedia conference 2008)
February 14th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
I’m inspired to say the least.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Peter,
Thanks for the great post. I can’t imagine not working even as I near what is considered “retirement age”. I feel I have about another 40 years to go still.
I’m embracing this new technology as fast as I can. I am now changing my focus of my business from being transactional to more internet marketing so that I can work anywhere.
I loved your “Tools of your Travel Trade”. I was suprised how many of them I use already. And I absolutely love the Scott-e-Vest. What a cool piece of clothing-definitely on my list to buy.
I would love to hear how you assess a Sky Diving School/Business before you go skydiving. One of my goals this year is to skydive. And also how you deal with jet lag.
Thanks and thanks for all the great posts.
Betsy
February 14th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Peter,
I think that many are just now discovering something working moms have known for some time. Whether out of necessity or guilt (not enough time with kids), sometimes just plain determination, working mothers who either needed to maintain high salaries or cared enough about their careers to forge ahead, have been forging ahead without regard to geography. Until recently, many of us did not always reveal the fact that our work locations were not standard.
Nearly 7 years ago I started a virtual agency. Some of our most talented, amazing employees are people I have never met in person. PR people at the tops of their careers, those with real, deep experience – who could not or would not be chained to a specific office or specific hours – are among the most valuable out there. Ever look around a pr agency and wonder what happens to people over 30? Often they go corporate, but more and more… now… they go stealth. And I am not referring to those who are freelancing a few hours a week.
Our clients range from small start ups to really big deal Fortune 100s and every single client has come to us based upon referral. What does that mean? That means that it doesn’t matter if you work from a tree, under a rock, Starbucks or your toddler’s bedroom. If you really rock and your work really rocks, good things will come.
However – I will say that the great increase of people working from ‘wherever’ has created a bit of a problem. When only a handful of people had the advantage of working evenings, weekends or from the movie theater, we seemed to always be a step ahead. I fear that as more and more people blend work and life … those with lives outside of work will spend too much of their quality time (whether reading bedtime stories or snorkeling) worrying they have only moments, not hours or days … to respond to the blinking, beeping, buzzing that beckons.
My prediction as an early adopter (had a blackberry in 1999) is that this will continue to be the era of blissfully blending work and life… and then there will be The Big Burnout. What will follow? That’s the fun part. It will be up to us to decide, again, how to reinvent personal and professional success.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Awesome post, I agree on all points. How does Google Talk / AIM work in Asia if you stay logged in? I assume that counts for data roaming?
BTW, I think TMobile is the best for international roaming right now. $24.99 unlimited blackberry mail, anywhere. I was on a cruise ship for 2 weeks in the Med last summer and able to check mail from the pool. Tethering worked too. Does AT&T have that plan?
February 14th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Great article! I’ve really been wanting to try out that Ogio bag! The Scott-e-vest hoodie looks nice too!
I organize and lead tours to Europe, and as a husband and a father of two, I need to not only be able to work form anywhere, but be ‘HOME’ from anywhere.
Skype is a lifesaver, as is video iChat on the MacBook Pro. Saves loads of money too!
I have Euro plugs for all my devices, so I no longer need the converter/adapter, which saves some luggage space.
People trust me to lead them (and often times, their kids) through Europe. I get emails and calls at all hours, so when I’m traveling, it’s important that I get back to them right away. I need people to feel safe with me, and not returning calls or emails because I’m traveling could seriously jeopardize my business. The iPhone is my tool for being available.
Spot on with the Tim Ferris comment!
February 14th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Amen to everything you wrote.
February 14th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
The concept of life geography is great for someone who travels extensively but is actually just as valuable for someone like myself who is running a virtual agency while still raising children. I left NY after 911 to refocus on family and now run a small agency out of a coastal town in NC. On any given day I can be presenting creative to a client in Chicago using Go To Meeting, texting a developer in Eastern Europe with revisions to a website we’re building, or running a conference call from the playground – with my finger poised on mute in case the noise gets out of hand. On occasion, since we live near the beach, I actually am working while sitting in the sand. My main tool is my iPhone. I can view PDFs, read email, Twitter, Facebook, Text, Phone, Google Chat and more – with a single device. It’s defnitely not as exciting as your life Peter, but it’s my life geography and it’s exactly where I need to be.
February 14th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Love this post..thank you! My thought is that we are in the relatively early stages of this new connectivity, social media and techno-geographical age. For me, it can certainly be overwhelming with all of the new choices… do I learn what whrrling is, or buy a FLIP thing and figure out You Tube and 12 seconds? I tweet, FB and blog…yet it’s difficult trying to prioritize what to learn next. That being said, the prospect of success combined with the freedom to integrate life and workstyles is exciting. Yes, it may be difficult not to feel ‘chained’ to our Blackberry’s at times, but it comes down to this…the choice is ours to make. When working in an office setting, there are no choices with location or schedules. Living with a traditional spouse who works a traditional schedule, he will never have these options available to him (manufacturing, requiring hands-on availability to the product.) This will be the last group to ‘come around’ so to speak at the value of “life geography”…he just doesn’t get it. I will, however, continue to appreciate and follow the pioneers of new technology. The juggling, learning new methods, etc. will always be an obvious choice over the hell of 9 to 5.
February 14th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
I am an artist and my medium is wood. It is not easy to travel with a bunch of logs and a lathe but even I can be away from the studio, off the grid and make money. My Facebook posts, and blog let my clients know I am alive and they know I am likely in the studio. My online store is always open for business. I was “away” for 4 days around Christmas and aside from a coupole of hours answering messages, life and work went on. Now, once I get into doing more wholesale work, it will be even better as I will be able to go off-grid for days, knowing that the order is in hand and my clients know I will be working on it.
February 14th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
It’s taking me a while to learn to not be so accessible with my Blackberry. But I do love the satisfaction that comes from checking emails when it has been turned off for a few hours. What I am seeing more and more is that people are finding answers to their questions on their own, instead of short-cutting and coming to me for the answer. Not only am I doing myself a service, I am making them more resourceful.
I have not gotten into foursquare, but after reading your great connection story, I might give it a try.
February 14th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
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February 14th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Peter, great write up! I think it is definitely becoming easier and easier some people, in some roles to work whenever and wherever they want. It does take some investment in technology and some flexibility, but it can be done. You kind of touched on it, but another tough factor is plain old jealousy. Whether it is from coworkers, vendors, clients, or even your boss. May see the freedom you have and want the same…not realizing it often takes more work to accomplish that freedom. Some people can handle the lack of structure..some, like yourself, event thrive it in. Others, it can lead to complacency or even laziness. It works well for some..but when it does..it rocks! Keep on keeping on, Peter!
February 14th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Working with tons of surveys from market research here is what works for me.
1. Timbuk2 Hemlock Backpack
2. Canon PIXMA iP90
3. fujitsu scansnap s1500
4. Sprint Mobile Broadband USB Modem by Novatel
5. ftp site
6. Fedex/Kinkos
February 14th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
At the other end of the shelf is the Local Geography Bookend, if you will.
Reading your post had me Aha-ing as an unexpected realization that I was doing what you suggest within my own city: I travel around using a month-long-unlimited-transit-metropass; my berry is my now my laptop & camera & video camera with of course city-wide voice and data; I balance debit card transactions with cash payments, yes cabbies do get you there quicker with paper money; I hop online with wifi & netbook when necessary, netbook being so light I forget I have a full windows computer with me often enough.
It may be my Mongolian genes acting up with this inner-urban nomadicness.
That or something along the lines of “Long Live Neighbourhood Geography.”
HiMY SYeD / Toronto
February 15th, 2010 at 1:48 am
As a freelance gastroenterologist who is trying my level best to realize the mobile lifestyle, I’m open to suggestions for getting radioactive barium isotope solutions through airport security. And here’s a tip: endoscopy snares are great for slicing carrots in your in-flight snack box!
February 15th, 2010 at 3:58 am
Hi Peter — Thanks for the great post. I can definitely relate, as a contributing editor to several architectural publications, primarily covering the U.S. building and construction industry from… Jerusalem, Israel… for the past 7 years!
After marrying and relocating to the Holy Land, I basically took my career, launched at Cahners/Reed Business Information in Chicago, along with me. Thank G-d, my husband and I have been blessed with 4 little girls, so I’m basically a “stay-at-home” Mom, working a few hours in the mornings and evenings. My research is all on-line and my interviews with U.S.-based architects, engineers, contractors, and consultants were initially on the phone, and now are predominantly done over e-mail. I’m in regular e-mail contact with lots of PR folks in my industry, who are wonderful at sending me relevant sources, based upon the topics I’m covering. HARO is also a great tool!
In any case, if you had asked me several years ago if I had thought it would be possible to help support a growing family, several thousand miles from the “Mainland,” I would have thought you were crazy. But in today’s day and age, it’s an amazing thing. I call myself the ultimate telecommuter. Best of luck to everyone in the same boat
February 15th, 2010 at 6:29 am
Nice to read about someone doing something positive while “Up in the Air” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/ imagine you sharing the good news when you get to 10 million miles and Sully Sullenberger sits down to give you the gold pass.
February 15th, 2010 at 7:55 am
Just what I was looking for, before we take off for 7 months this year! On our agenda: live in Chiapas, Mexico for 3 months and try to learn some Spanish (and catch up to our 5 year old who is in Spanish Immersion school), then a month in Zambia outside of Lusaka, then possibly Kenya / Zanzibar / Mozambique, then South Africa for a couple of months. Can’t wait to actually live in a couple of different countries/cultures.
Since I run a small business with limited resources, I got a Blackberry Tour where I can just stick in a new SIM card in every country I’m in, buy airtime, and be ready! Cheaper than roaming all over the globe.
The only glitch is that I’m a one-person-company, and someone needs to mail the t-shirts once they are sold! Time to find an employee…
We’re already planning a trip to India in 2011 – can’t wait! Thanks for the inspiration!
February 15th, 2010 at 8:00 am
Master Getting Things Done!
February 15th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Hiyas Peter,
There is also the paperless business card that has all these things in one and it’s quickly becoming popular…it’s a POKEN. I already have one. You carry it around with you and instead of carrying around business cards you just “high4″ the other person that also happens to have a Poken. I can’t wait to read more adventures from you.!!!
Marci
February 15th, 2010 at 10:14 am
That’s great, sort of the rise of The Creative Class by Florida. However, many employers don’t see it that way. They’re still following the old production industrial mode. Including some high profile companies.
Recently interviewed for a job that included an extensive personality test, the company markets them as well. Now, I know my personality, independent, cynical, skeptical, etc. I’m a former journalist. But, I was curious., and needed the interview practice. But, the company is still doing the how much are you producing each hour model.
Right now, the geography free option is limited, and only open to the upper and maybe middle-class, well educated.
February 15th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Unfortunately, there are still professions that require hands-on physical presence. As a nurse leader, I have to be there and my nurses have to be there, too. Maybe someday we can do everything remotely, but until then, we have the hospital…
February 15th, 2010 at 11:52 am
I am disabled and do much of my advocacy work online.
I love my Sev Travel vest as I can organize my travel putting key items (travel documents, contact info for accessible transit, transit fare etc) in each pocket.
Especially handy when I cannot bring my attendant or if my attendant has to deal with luggage or finding me emergency chocolate.
I am researching ebook readers now to see if I can downsize to one thus eliminating a gadget.
February 15th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Peter:
First, I’d like to add to the kudos-brigade by saying “Great article!” If I’m ever able to advance myself to a position where such flexibility is allowed it is my hope that I’m able to capitalize on your words of wisdom to their fullest.
Second, I’d like to suggest a few more toys to add to your tech arsenal:
1) Although you and (hopefully all of) your readers are tech savvy enough to be sending and receiving content in the digital world, sometimes we still have to deal with the prospect of receiving “hard copy” documents. This is fine if we’re in a facility that has a facsimile machine to which we have access. But what if we don’t? Most hotels are on digital phone systems – plug your laptop into a digital phone port and you have the potential to do bad things to your modem. Because of that, I would recommend looking into an eFax (www.efax.com) account (or suitable competitor). Accounts allow the sending and receiving of documents over TCP/IP connections so you can get and give documents thought LAN and WIFI and never have to worry about having a free phone line.
2) By the same token, let’s say that you HAVE to get a “hard copy” of a document to someone electronically and the same fax machine is still inaccessible AND you didn’t bring your AIO printer from home. You could buy a portable scanner to lug around in your laptop bag. But if weight is a premium then I would look into getting a scanR account (www.scanr.com). Assuming your cellular phone has a camera, you can take a picture of the documents in question, send the pictures to scanR.com and scanR will turn the pictures into either a PDF file or a fax!
3) Should your Timex Ironman ever “give up the ghost” and you feel like treating yourself – I recommend you look into the Citizen Men’s Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Titanium. Yes, it costs a pretty penny but – It’s synch’d into an atomic clock via radio for accuracy, solar powered so you never have to worry about batteries and it’s titanium casing means it’ll be pretty hard to destroy.
4) In your particular case, having Skype is a major boon. And should it not be functioning you still have your cellluar phone as a fallback. But for those rare occasions where Skype’s not working well and you’re not in an area with great cellular reception, I recommend you get a Google Voice account (www.google.com/voice). Granted, it’s usable only in the United States (for now) – but for those of us who only travel domestically in that country it can be a very powerful tool. Should someone call you at your GV number, it’ll point to whatever and however many dial locations as you want. Lost your cellular (or it suddenly died) and you had to buy a pre-paid phone to get by? Log into your GV account and change your cellular number location. Staying at a friend’s, have horrible cellular reception but don’t want to give out your friend’s number? Add their house number (with their permission, of course) to GV and it’ll ring when someone calls you (just be sure to remove it when you leave). Google Voice has lots more features, and it’s FREE!
5) Finally, if you’re going to take your laptop with you on the plane and you really don’t want to watch the in-flight movie, I recommend you pick up on DVD/iTunes/ripped media the movie “You Can’t Take it With You” (Although I am partial to the Jason Robards production, you can only get the Jimmy Stewart version on iTunes). Why am I recommending this movie? Well despite it’s contrarian title to your article, the movie’s morale is all about what I think you’re trying to promote:
Do whatever you’re going to do, as long as you enjoy doing it.
February 15th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Totally agree with your thoughts – certainly for a subset of jobs anyway (kind of hard to do if you’re working on a production line
). I actually find I’m way more productive when _not_ in an office a lot of the time. Much prefer seeking out a coffee shop / bookshop etc.
BTW – given the nature of your post – kind of ironic that when I tried to sign up for HARO there’s only geographical options for US timezones and states (I’m in Australia)
February 15th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Unrealistic for anyone that doesn’t work for themselves, or for anyone in PR whose client wants them on-site once or twice a month.
It works for you, but just like you scoffed at Tim Ferriss for being unrealistic, this falls into the same camp.
February 15th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
I couldn’t agree more! Call it what you will — working from anyhere, telecommuting, cloudworking, virtual workplace, geographically neutral — but it’s all becoming much more common than people might think. I run a job site, FlexJobs.com, which is dedicated to helping people find telecommuting jobs; even though we’re pretty well versed in the general types of opportunities out there that embrace telecommuting, our staff of researchers regularly come across ones stun even us. Remote neurosurgeon? Check. Agronomist? Sure thing. Toishanese Interpreter? Yup. Renewable Energy Technology Correspondent? Pretty cool. We’ve even had Car Dealer Negotiator jobs.
I would encourage people to keep an open mind about working from anywhere jobs… there are sooo many benefits ranging from economic, work-life balance, environmental, that it’s just one of those things that makes sense. Which means it’s hopefully going to stick around.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:03 am
I just took severance from my job, and feel totally unhinged for the first time ever. I booked a flight to Texas to see family, and a friend handed off a contract gig that I’m working on here. Your post hit at just the right time — it is making me re-thinking what my next role(s) will look like, and how I can live my life.
The non-profit/social services sector is a different animal – it’s very high-touch, very localized. And yet, I read what you are saying and think that I can live my life with all its adventures, and still be an incredible local contributor.
Thanks, Peter, for helping me think about my balance just a little more!
February 16th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Love the article! I’m working from my In-laws house in NJ because I’m snowed in!!
February 16th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Peter,
I’m working on a presentation for a major company about remote teams and virtual work.
I love this piece. I’m currently collecting resources to help the management folks who want better workers and need to manage virtual workers better. I’d be happy to share those with you and your readers when I’m ready.
Howard
February 16th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
So true, Peter. Although I loved geography in school and out of it, too, our work location today is prety irrelevant.
I work in the unusually named town of Saugerties, NY (next to more famous Woodstock). Yes, it’s Dutch, and means “sawyer.”
Kepe on truckin’.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
As last week’s snowstorm proved, working remotely can be a huge advantage! Our power was out for two days, but I escaped with my family (and laptop) to our mountain house. I didn’t miss a beat (or a conference call) thanks to wireless networking, but I did manage to squeeze in some great after-hours ski runs!
February 16th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Love this post Peter! I am doing this – I’ve been working for the International Lawyers Network for over five years, and since we’re a two-person team working for law firms all over the world, we just have to have internet access and be relatively close to an airport to do our jobs. I work from home most days, and since home is a mile from the beach, some days I’m answering email while sunning on the sand (though not lately, since we’ve had quite a lot of snow here). Technology helps me network and find great new opportunities for my company and my lawyers, answer phone calls and emails from anywhere at anytime and helps me to be more efficient with my work day. I have a video conference on my mac with my boss (who’s also my dad) every morning and because he’s both tech-savvy and confident in my work ethic, he and I are a great team and work much the same way you do (though definitely with less travel
). And I couldn’t agree more about taking time to visit the city you’re in – we do tours with our lawyers at our conferences for that reason, and we’ve found that some great business happens and relationships are built BECAUSE we do that, not in spite of it. I love the way business is changing!
February 16th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I just love HARO.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
I live down the street from my biggest client, who is an in-demand restaurateur and chef. She and I both appreciate my home office and my flexible work schedule, which meshes easily with her challenging and changing schedule. I agree with other posters: As long as the work is done well and on time, who cares from where?
February 16th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Great ideas. I also recommend having a virtual desktop so if your computer disappears to looses it, you still have access to your desktop and all your files. My virtual desktop also includes a soft phone so I can always call home – even if the cell service is bad.
Keep em coming, Peter.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Hi Peter,
Great post! I am grateful every day for the technology that allows me to build a global community and serve clients anywhere in the world. It also affords me the opportunity to access the very best services available for small businesses, wherever they may be. I found many of them through you actually (Freshbooks, Pixability, BatchBook, Mailchimp)! While I can use these services along with IM, Go-to-Meeting, and Webex to interact with my clients, my kids use Skype to talk with uncles in Australia and Thailand, and their dad who travels 95% of the year and could be in Alabama, Costa Rica, or Poland at any given time. All this from our little city of Victoria, B.C. on Vancouver Island in Canada.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
I learned that you can take your work with you when I was doing freelance writing and editing for the World Bank, in particular writing or editing executive summaries. My father was dying of lung cancer in Los Angeles at the home of my aunt, and I spent his final three months caring for him. Much of the time he was sleeping, and Bruce Ross-Larson (who sent me most of my work) seemed to know that I would have time on my hands. A huge and important project came through in which a summary had to be written for all of the pieces. I used by aunt’s Correcting Selectric (one of the early ones) and some weeks Bruce fed-exed materials to me almost daily. I either fed-exed summaries back or had them faxed through a service. We didn’t do email then. I made more money in those three months caring for my dad than I ever did, and that made him feel better–that he was not only not taking me away from “my work” but making it possible to get more work. I associate those days clacking away on that rather noisy Correcting Selectric with a very positive experience helping my father, and growing closer to him. With a laptop, this would have been even easier, but most important is adopting the spirit that you can do the work anywhere. Dad got a good send-off, and in the end I was also asked by an editor at the Literary Guild to put together an anthology, DYING: A BOOK OF COMFORT, still available, through a special website: .
– Pat McNees
February 16th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
That website is http://www.comfortdying.com
February 16th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
This should be a way newspapers and other media save money -let writers work from their home office and just come in for editorial discussions that can’t be done otherwise.
I’ve worked in newsrooms (like in DFW for instance) where half the staff is in one newsroom, the other over an hour away in another. Meetings worked perfectly – so why not just ditch the office all together.
I currently do work for both online and printed media – all from my home office. I’ve never met any of the folks I currently “work” with in person – and it’s all good.
As long as workers CAN and DO work independently, meet or exceed deadlines – home office work or working form the road is a win-win for everyone. (Not gonna lie- I do know some people that couldn’t handle the freedom and structure of going into a work place. They wouldn’t get up or meet deadlines without the structure an office provides)
February 16th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I find that working electronically is a MUST these days…whether it’s sending out quick news tips while on the move or emailing photos to a media contact.
Wish I could convince our “powers that be” of the value of telecommuting. I’ve shared this great article with some colleagues and would love to put a link on my Facebook and Twitter pages, but we have a firewall block on the sites at work. Arrgh!
For me, living electronically means those wake up moments at 3 or 4 a.m. when I update our company Facebook page from home — where I do have access — or using my personal iPhone, which is the one piece of technology I can’t live without. I’ll probably need a 12-step program if I ever need to be weaned off of it!
Happy and safe travels! Keep sharing the great info!
February 16th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Thanks for another great post, Peter. You are absolutely right. Before I launched my own business, I worked for a big corporation that had no part time employees, demanded everyone work in office at least 40 – 45 hrs a week, etc. However, I did a bang-up job for them and they knew it. I started working in office 2 days a week and at home 2 days, then progressed to 1 in office and 2 at home and after a few months I was working from anywhere on the East coast that I happened to be. I was the only employee who did anything like that then and I hope that’s changed now. The more people doing it successfully will open more doors for others…
February 16th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
hi peter. love your post and usually get a kick out of you. I’m a fishaterian, 2 years ago i was looking for a product on Long Island and emailed the manufacturer, in China. Shameless self-promoter that i am, I signed the email with my usual signature – the one with the link to our boutique advertising, marketing and design firm in Montauk. (Not quite as far as Australia, but…) What happened. I got the product info, and the owner who had responded to the email, had clicked on the link and we also designed a logo for two of his new products! He was in China – we are in Montauk, NY. Pretty cool. Our firm is lead by two former Madison Avenue creative directors who unlike you, got tired of traveling around the world and tired of the havoc that created for our loved ones . We take beach walks almost every day, write radio spots on nature trails and actually came up with a campaign for the New York Islanders on horseback! Does one need to be tethered to the office, no way! Some clients do want face time – but all clients want results. And we can deliver those from anywhere.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Years ago, I worked on site at a trade magazine covering the textile industry. I took 2 weeks off to go on my honeymoon. Before I left, my boss frantically said that he would need my contact phone numbers. I told him I didn’t think there would be a textile emergency. This was 20 years ago, and I didn’t have a cell phone. The great news was that I was on the island of Bali, and there was no working internet connection or working phones to the states. Sometimes, it’s great not being found. For the last 15 years, I have worked as a freelance editor, blogger, and writer. I occasionally do face-to-face meetings, but the majority of my meetings are held online (there’s google wave) or on the phone.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
I loved the comments –
1) it’s still fun to have a workplace.. IFF it’s a good one. The more people can choose where they are, it will become harder to have crappy workplaces
2) as one commenter suggested, this works even if you never leave your immediate area.. and
3) remember the hullaballoo in the 90s about “lone eagles” who work/live anywhere they want? A lot of them went to places like… NYC, lol.
But, Peter, what you are saying needs to go that one step farther. you LOVE New York. I love Boise & the West. We can find where our souls belong… and woprk there… LIVE there. (OK and travel anywhere)
Here’s to everyone’s souls belonging!
Norris
p.s. don’t ScottEVest products rock? (of course, he’s another Idahoan)
February 16th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Thanks for an excellent post! I left my last agency job in 2001 to go on my own and it’s the best career decision I’ve ever made. None of my clients (ranging from small start-ups to huge corporations) care if I have a big flashy office – all they care about is great results (and without the overheads of a fancy office I can offer the same results for a lot less). With my iPhone and macbook I can work anywhere, and I have – from airports to the beach, US to Europe. It doesn’t much matter. One thing everyone who works with me knows is that I’m almost always available.
I feel very fortunate to have this flexibility and the work-life balance it offers as I realize this arrangement isn’t realistic for all.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I’m a travel author, writing primarily for The Globe Pequot Press, and my specialty is the outdoors and America’s national parks. Imagine my delight, then, when I had WiFi on the patio of the lodge at Big Bend National Park, in the Chisos Mountains at 5,800 feet, and 45 miles from the nearest town! I’m in touch with my clients no matter where I am, and I can write and send materials from some of the most remote spots in the country. You haven’t lived until you’ve completed a news release and distribution to the media from Badwater Basin, the point at the lowest elevation in the United States, at 282 feet below sea level. And I got a life bird at the same time (my first-ever Common Poorwill)! I love living in the future, even without a jet pack.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Peter, wonderful observations and discussion. As part of my responsibilities, I also serve as a public information officer for our employee volunteer fire department. Our service area is large and communications equipment non-existent in the field. I use a netbook with wireless along with a portable printer. Along with an inverter, I can turn my vehicle into a mobile office, when needed. Put it all in a rolling carry-on bag with some office supplies, personal hygiene goodies, safety vests, digital camera and BlackBerry in hand and it all becomes my “go” kit. I can also grab my Polaroid POGO printer for business card photo prints. I did this when in Egypt and made some life-long friends.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Great information, as usual. I also recommend having a virtual desktop – just in case your computer goes on the fritz. That way you can still get your information from any computer connected to the internet. With my service I also have a virtual phone built in so don’t have to worry about a dead cell battery.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
As the founder and president of You Go Girls!, I not only spend time on the road, I also enable others to do the same. My ‘women only’ tours provide a safe and fun way for women to see the world.
My office is in Portland, Oregon but my clients are from all over the country and I am able to service them from anywhere with my iPhone, netbook. I love that I can answer my phone while wrapped with a towel as I step out of the shower, I love that I can answer an email before I go to bed or sit in bed with the netbook with a cup of coffee in the morning composing my next newsletter. Best of all, I can do it from Antarctica or India.
I AM THE LUCKIEST PERSON ON EARTH.
Technology has makes it possible but there are non-tech items that I cannot live without on the road. My favorite (after Purell) is the $1 cotton bandana I use for over a hundred uses. It dries hands, catches sweat, becomes a placemat for a picnic, filters dust…the list goes on and will be in my book of travel tips for women.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Great points. It would be fascinating to tag along with you, Peter, for a few weeks. But that’s not the industry I work in right now.
That said, the bigger point is the more important one. I may not have the opportunity or need to visit Bangalore or Sidney or even Evansville, Indiana, but there is no particular reason why I must sit at a particular desk in a particular building in downtown Atlanta, GA to get my work done. To be specific, last fall we had biblical floods that closed the roads and prevented me from sitting in the office and a month ago we had an ice storm that did the same. All the work got done, all the meetings were attended, and all the goals accomplished – using nothing more than a Blackberry, GoToMyPC, a phone and a home computer.
The big challenge is getting business schools to teach how to effectively manage workers who aren’t physically present and managers to realize that letting workers work where and when they want as long as they’re hitting their deadlines is an effective management strategy that can increase productivity and job satisfaction. It’s clear you’ve figured it out Peter, now we just need to write the business cases and get the academics to put it in the curriculum.
The handshake issue? Well, probably not necessary for business, but I wouldn’t want to try substituting all the IM’s, Skye calls and everything else for time with my wife. For business it’s great, for family, being physically present at least some of the time really helps.
Great ideas and a great discussion. Thanks.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Excellent thoughts Peter – thanks for sharing!
It is fantastic and CAN be freeing IF balance is a priority in life. My concern is that the electronic connection NEVER is far and true relaxation comes rarely (if ever) for many.
My favorite part of your post was how “freaking awesome” it was to not have fear when soaked by water because nothing electronic was on you!
Keep that in mind when the world gets smaller and constant connection is expected by all. Those “freeing, non-electronic” moments are essential for health and well-being.
Having said that – Bon Voyage!
February 16th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Hey Peter! Love your stuff! Right now I’m sitting at my kitchen counter with my sweats on. My laptop is poised before me; outside the windows I can see about three feet of drifting snow piled up, with more on the way. I’m nursing a chest cold that makes me sound like Pat Benatar on steroids. But all that is inconsequential . . . because it doesn’t matter where you are as long as you are CONNECTED!
February 16th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
I should add that working from my home office isn’t limiting. I work in my backyard, on the road at the park, at restaurants, at hotels – wherever I’m writing about. I can work at or near the location to provide further inspiration. I really can’t imagine working any other way, despite the first decade of my career as a journalist being based inside a cubicle.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Agree 100% – I love technology for the freedom it has given us as business owners and how the internet and sites like HARO have allowed people working from their homes to compete in an international market place – soo cool! And we have more time to LIVE! I can leave my house and take a walk – come back check emails, play fetch with the dog etc – I have worked from the beach on a sunny afternoon. The business world has changed! AMEN!
February 16th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Outstanding! The tools we have that let us work where we need (or want) to be for life really can open up a whole new world of possibilities.
At the moment, I’m in the office, but leaving to pick up the kids and work from home in a few minutes — well before the traditional end of the work day.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
I couldn’t agree more. I work wherever I need to. Usually that’s in my home office. But sometimes it’s in a coffee shop, in the car, on a plane (very good, uninterrupted time), in a hotel room or by the pool. I’m not the kind of person who is happy in a corporate environment or punching a time-clock, so I created a work situation that makes me happy. When I’m happy, I’m much more productive. When I’m productive, it takes less time to get through projects – leaving more time for fun.
February 16th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Great thoughts Peter! Thanks for sharing. Where am I working from you ask? My apartment in NY at the moment, working from Mexico tomorrow for a week, back to NY for 2 days, then Malaga (Spain) for 3 days, then London for 3 days, the Dubai for 3 days, then Brisbane for a week, Sydney for a week, Abu Dhabi for 2 days, Geneva for a day, Bern for 3 days and Zurich for 3 days, back to Spain (Madrid) for a week and then home to NYC. I’m starting to feel like you Peter!! Do I think it matters? NOT AT ALL!
February 16th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
As a life-long Miamian, I’d rather be virtually anywhere than out on the Miami streets. Especially with a Toyota in the rearview mirror. “Location, location, location” is a concept who’s time has come and gone.
February 16th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Peter, I concur with all your points. I’ve been mobile since May 2009 and in my fourth country and leave for the fifth tomorrow. Have nearly lost count of all the cities and just looking back at 2010 I’ve averaged a new place each week. My schedule is constantly changing and still getting used to sometimes not knowing where I will be iving in a week’s time.
Between Skype, Telestial Prepaid SIM Cards, and wifi, all communication options are covered at a decent price. I also look at the increased waiting times at airports as a good chance to work and no longer get frustrated at watching the clock.
Can also vouch for the quality of Ogio products as I have been carting a bike around in their Monster golf bag. Had to leave it in Florida though as not much use for a bike down here in the Caribbean.
February 16th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Peter, I’m so glad you wrote this – it’s one of my personal thrills to know that I can get my work done from my iPhone & netbook anywhere I go. It allows me to work as a consultant and personal assistant while I also travel to teach all over the US. I honestly believe that I have learned more about myself, and FAR more about other people and how we all interact while working on the road than I ever learned in cubicle land…and I can bring so much more of that to the table for my clients & students. I don’t want to travel as much as you do – but I can travel when I want to, where I want, and know that it doesn’t mean that I’m not in touch!
February 16th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Peter – I am an independent meeting planner. I did this years ago and imagine many other have, too. So it’s not a novel thought. I work out of my home and work pretty much when I want. One huge benefit – I do my best work in the late afternoon and at night until about 11.0pm. When all the office dwellers go home I am doing all my projects. When they show up at their offices at 8.00am everything is magically awaiting them in the in boxes. I still see clients, jump on planes and call Panera my satellite office. It really doesn’t matter where you are as long as the projects get done. Love it and hope I never have to go back to office sitting!
February 16th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Wow, I could not have seen this post at a more oppotune time. I currently have an office 9-5er and do freelance writing on the side, and have been brainstorming how to gain more freedom in my everday routine. This morning, one of my freelance writing clients offered me a telecommuting part-time gig which I was THISCLOSE to turning down because it isn’t my dream job. But after reading your article, I realize that you make your job what you want it to be … not the other way around. I ended up taking the job – which, admittedly, will be time-consuming and challenging, but will be a great reference and brings me closer to my ultimate goal. HARO works! Peter works! Thanks
February 16th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Once again Peter you make me put on my thinking cap. Great post. I am equally impressed with responders who have taken on this role of happy vagabond – valderi – valdera – Ha, Ha…. Happy Trails!
Thanks!
February 16th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Love it! So many nuggets in there, I’m going to post a link to it on Facebook and Twitter. My “work” M-F is in Vermont, as an administrative assistant. So what? My passion is done on coffee breaks, after hours, on weekends and in the wee hours of the morning when our 3-year-old gets me up before dawn. Here’s another ’so what?’: I do my best work in a stream, from a kayak, or sharing river bugs with local kids in a library, parking lot, or community center. And I’ve been able to connect with scientists in Illinois, Maine, Scotland, even Japan! All from quiet, beautiful Vermont.
February 16th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Peter,
I’ve known you – virtually – for a long while now, since you were wearing a sandwich board and pushing GeekFactory.com and we’ve even met in person a few times. I have a lot of respect for you and what you do – and especially the way you don’t sugar-coat the advice you give.
Normally, I read and simply absorb your posts, but this time I’m compelled to reply with some counter-points to your assertion that “geography is dead.” I know that I’m not going to win any e-Vests here. But I hope you let me be heard.
Your post is the very definition of “ironic” because it literally contradicts itself immediately:
“Rule One: In 2010, no one gives a damn where you are, and rightfully so.”
Really? The folks in Omaha, Miami, Nashville, Sydney, New Orleans, and Bangalore seem to give a damn that you’re there. In fact, they give enough of a damn that they are paying you to be there. I’d say that you are the very definition of geography mattering very, very much. Otherwise, they’d just Skype video chat with you. Presence matters.
“Rule 2: Even the Aborigines have mobile broadband.”
If they have the money. And if there’s coverage. And, despite your experiences of traveling from city to city, in reality, most people in the world have never connected to the internet. Most. There’s about 6 thousand million people in the world. 5 thousand million have never used the internet, much less mobile broadband.
“Rule 3: You’re not as damn important as you think you are.”
In a broad context, yes, this is true. However, in a context where a company isn’t set up like yours, there’s ample reasons why presence matters. Many companies need the leadership of the leader. They are not bad companies, they just are not your company.
“Rule 4: If you really need to shake someone’s hand, then armed with nothing more than a credit card, you can truly be anywhere in the world, from anywhere in the world, in less than 29 hours, and usually, in much less time than that.”
This assumes, wrongly, that free cash-flow and access to capital is not an issue. For many small companies, the costs of travel are not insignificant. I know that HARO is making good money, and your costs are well covered. But for a small business person who is hoping to close a deal for $10,000 or $20,000, spending $5,000 to get to close the deal is a quick path to out of business.
“Rule 5: A conference room looks the same, whether in Boston or Bali, Brisbane or Bangalore.”
No disagreement there, at all.
“Rule 6: Entrench yourself with the tools, and life becomes cream cheese.”
You know, for some reason, I’ve had the opportunity to work recently – and directly – with a few people worth in excess of US$250 million and two bona-fide Billionaires (American billion). And you know what? None of them – not one – carried a smart phone, used IM, Twitter or Facebook. The tools can work against you if you let them overwhelm your life. Also, Cream Cheese is very bad for you, makes ya fat!
I feel compelled at this point in my rebuttal to point out that your post is based on a set of assumptions about how people want to live and work. I know that it’s unfathomable to you that there are people who LIKE having an office, who LIKE having a delineation between work and home, who LIKE the construct of the workplace (and I guess the inverse, the “homeplace”).
I work from home – one day a week. In all likelihood, I could work from home all the time. I know of other people who could too. But if you work from home all the time, are you ever really “off the clock” at all? If where you are is the office, you have to go through the extraordinary steps you did in Australia to deliberately and specifically ramp down and get “off grid” – that’s kind of sad to me, it’s like time off is just another appointment in your iThing.
As to your point after rule 1: “If you work for someone else, the key is under-promising and over-delivering.” That’s the basic idea that has caused Americans to be the most productive workers in the world – mostly because they are scared shitless that they will be lopped off if they don’t constantly under-promise and over deliver. Your point is good, but it’s hardly enough for the guy in the marketing department at some widget maker in Akron Ohio to use that as a starting point for a “liberated” workspace.
Finally, I must point out that your month-long travel blitz, while exciting and amusing to follow on the various sites where you announce your presence and state of mind, sounds like a living hell to those of us with families. I know that I’ve been required to travel to faraway places for work, and there’s nothing more heartbreaking to me that to have to see the faces of your kids on a laptop screen when you’re in some hotel room in northern bumblestan or chicago or helsinki (who knows, they all look as identical as the conference rooms) and they ask you “when are you coming home, daddy?”
I’d like to close with what I see as the real problem with teleworkers and business. The tools needed to telework are robust – broadband, computers, peripherals, software, cloud services – all of these could take almost any office environment out of a fixed location. But there are very few people (much less companies) who know how to tele-manage!
I think that this is the key flaw in your post, and it’s an important one – you – yes YOU Peter, are the catalyst for the entity that is the Shankman empire. And, like it or not, you’re a manager – you’re a boss, you’re the guy in the (virtual) comfy chair that others ask for assignments. It’s not at all common for a manager to be able to tele-manage – the skills, whether technical or operational – are not out there as much as you might hope they are.
So, all in all, a great post, even if I have issues with some of it – I think that it would be interesting for us to have someone outside your organization interview you about how YOU run things and WHY you were able to post: “I paid all my bills, from my rent and mobile bills, to my incredibly overpriced attorney.” There’s more to it than just your technical acumen – but that’s a key part of it. There’s a deeper, more complex management principle at work here, a lot of realization of theory Y in a world where theory X is still incredibly widespread.
Thanks for this post, and I hope you have a great day, wherever you are!
February 16th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
One of the first things I did when I opened my business in 1994 was get connected. I’d been using email since 1985 and knew how valuable it would be. My first computer for my business was a laptop and I’ve kept that tradition all the way along. Between the cellphone and the laptop, I’ve successfully juggled my full time pr consultantcy with my summer fun job as a tourguide showing people around the spectacular Maritime Provinces of Canada. Whether it’s ducking behind the rocks at Peggy’s Cove to edit a story on the Blackjack or rising in the early morning fog in Yarmouth to work on issues management for an Alberta client, or conducting interviews hunched over a table at the Fortress of Louisbourg, my office fits in my tourbag and nobody’s the wiser!
February 16th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Great post and I am establishing that presence now. Thanks for the confirmation. Safe travels.
February 16th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Peter: First and most important is that you didn’t miss “24.” Sorry, I don’t care what you’re doing, or where you’re doing it from, the world does indeed stop for Jack’s desperate search for those damn nuclear fuel rods. You knew they wouldn’t be in the truck, didn’t you? Secondly, you are absolute proof that, with due apologies to the fabulous author, the “world is flat” indeed. But it’s not just what you are doing and from where, it’s the enthusiasm you share with the rest of us! Kudos.
February 16th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Weeeellll…in the US it’s not that simple. I live right outside Boulder, CO, and we *just* got hi-speed internet. 1 mile up from my house, and they don’t have it. No cable, no terrestrial wireless tower, nothing but ISDN, and that sucks…that’s what I used to have to have when I first started working from home. And Qwest has no plans to upgrade the canyon to DSL any time soon, and no plans for Comcast to come in, either. You can try satellite and you can spend the big $ for T1 but they aren’t great solutions and might not be worth it if you’re a freelance writer or such. Also, no cell signal. I guess I can get some kind of booster that works off my internet for that. But no signal in between my house and town. So we’re not quite living in digital paradise yet. Like I said, I’ve got DSL and I work from home, but neighbors 1 mile up are SOL. Which means 6 miles from Boulder, no hi-speed internet. You might be better off in the Australian Outback!
But I’m all in favor of moving in this direction as fast as we can, though we also have to be careful not to go too far and set the expectation that everyone should be always in motion like this. Crappy for people with little kids.
Did you see this great piece on how letting people in the US telework 1/2 time would save businesses enough to pay for universal healthcare?? Not sure what the Austrialian parallel would be, but I’m sure the social benefits are equally enormous. http://bit.ly/9SCois
February 16th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
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February 16th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
You are so right. There used to be a day when the best way to communicate was by letter, then telegram, then telegraph, then telephone. All these were alternatives for the “best” way of communicating: face to face. But that was when we were all single-taskers. As CMO of http://www.Dimdim.com our data is showing us that ad hoc, instant web meetings are quickly becoming the best way to work. People get more done in less time and are able to reach and collaborate with many more people than ever before. Of course, now that work can get done everywhere, it’s harder to separate family life from work life.
February 16th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Hi, Peter, love your post.
I work mostly in my mind, where anything can happen. Then I settle into my home-based studio, in Virginia Beach, and write. For the most part I come and go as I please. When my kids are grown I’ll travel–maybe even sky dive again
February 16th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
I may not be a jet setter like you, but I do this. I left the buzz of San Francisco after the dot com bust and moved to rural Arkansas. Most of my clients are nationwide and I do all of my work online or on the phone. I haven’t met most of my marketing and pr clients, but I get to know them better then I did the people I worked with at the office. I live a pretty charmed life out here in the boonies and you know what, no one cares if I have a suit on or not. I just keep getting better, use my time better, and enjoy this thing called life. Thanks for reminding me why I did this and how great it is!
February 16th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
I couldn’t agree more with this post. My job is flexible with hours and location, so most of the time I’m working from a farm in what most people would call the middle of nowhere. I’m hours from a city of any size, and all I see when I’m working from my preferred spot, the back porch, is acres of farm land and trees. The quiet out here allows me to focus and be more productive than I am when I have to deal with the distractions of office life.
I can be at almost any event for my daughter, and still able to respond to emails via Blackberry. My husband and I also travel often, and my laptop and phone are all I need to bring my work with me. I’ve done my job from airports, coffee shops, taxis and even from a special needs orphanage in a rural area of China.
Sometimes I tell people that this is exactly the life I always wanted. Honestly, though, it’s better than anything I could have imagined, and I’m so much happier now that I’m not required to be in one location for 8 or more hours a day.
February 16th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
[Hand raised] I’m doing it too, mostly from a couch, desk, or Panera Bread though. I haven’t done it in OZ or Bali yet, but that’s on the “to-do” list. I’m scheduled for a trip to the UK in June for a bachelor party, which will be a great test. But there’s no doubt it can be done, you’re living proof, and so are the many commenting here.
The one reason I can think of to work from a physical office is if you work in sales. I’ve been in sales for the past decade, and while I don’t believe there’s significant value in sitting at the same desk 5 days per week, I do see value in stopping by the office at least one day per week to listen to other sales calls going on around you from both a motivation and educational perspective. Nothing gets a good salesperson on the phone quicker than hearing your colleagues close a deal.
February 16th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Sometimes I think I would really like being the person who gets dropped off on the roof getting briefed on the “crisis” from my staff – it looks cool. Then I get back to reality.
Something to add in to your travel tools if you don’t have it already: A mini-office supply kit. I have a zippered pouch that has extra pens, pencils, security safe scissors and a mini-stapler that has a staple remover on it, tape, post-it notes, highlighter, sharpee, etc. It means that anytime, anywhere, I can take care of paperwork (I know – some of us still have it!) and I look great in a pinch when people need an extra pen and don’t have it.
Also when I get some spare cash I’ll be getting a Fuji ScanSnap, the mobile one – have you looked into that?
Also (though my current car doesn’t like it) there’s the power adapters for your car to plug in your laptop into a car. They can be pretty small and might be great if your laptop isn’t too over-powering for when you have rental cars.
An air card though – that’s life changing for me! I can work from almost anywhere as long as my batteries are full (I got the extended lithium in addition to the original one.) – amazing!
Thanks again for another great post affirming what some of us freelancers try and prove every day,
Sheri
February 16th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
It’s hard to convince my boss when I’m the boss. Well, actually you might argue it’s my wife…
I live vicariously through your Twitter stream, but the one thing you don’t have perspective on (yet) is life as a married with kids. Having a family at home kind of ties you down to a geographic location and makes it hard to travel too much.
This of course is the argument for making sure you live somewhere you really like, which is why I live where I do!
February 16th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Hi Peter,
There is a flip side as well. I used to live on airplanes. I am now 51 years old and have severe, degenerative disc and joint disease in my back. The thought of sitting in a seat on an airplane makes me hurt, not to mention trying to get a bag in the overhead. I *can’t* travel any more, yet I am busier than ever, thanks to the connections you describe. I can do my therapy, sleep on my special bed, and use all the tricks and tips that help me right here at home, staying totally in touch with my clients. I’ve had a consulting business since 1986 and have never enjoyed my work as much as I do now — looking out at a beautiful snowfall and appreciating the beauty — rather than worrying about how it will screw up my flight.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Once you get a taste of travel you will likely want to go semi-nomadic. You need one additional tool that does require physical presence in order to be sustainable: mail forwarding. Some stuff you can’t do online and relying on neighbors or friends to handle mail for you does not work in the long term (I know from experience).
Look into a mail forwarding service, many of which will scan/filter your email for you so you can review it online and then choose when and where to forward it en masse. They can also get you out of a bind when you can’t ship something overseas. I had my service forward on a Canon zoom lens from Amazon to Thailand on a trip since Amazon wouldn’t ship there directly.
I’d also say an eFax account or PamFax for Skype (although I have had terrible luck with PamFax) would also be good. Some people are still stuck in paper and finding a fax machine is a real drag.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Amazingly articulated account of the alternative workspace, telephone and internet over geographic brick and mortar, to boldly work how no one has work before . . .
Dr. Seuss said it best “Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!”
Thanks Peter!
February 16th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
“What can’t you do from a coffee shop in Berlin that you can do in the office? Seriously. Tell me in the comments, and I’ll tell you why you’re wrong.”
You can’t work on government projects that require a security clearance.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
You know how I know geography doesn’t matter?
When my clients know they hear my 3 year-old twins yelling in the background and they start talking about the kids as opposed to the work at-hand.
At the end of the day, my office is where I want it to be; my address just happens to be where the mail is sent.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:14 am
AMEN, AMEN, AMEN, AMEN. Thank you Peter for putting this out there in big bold beautiful prose. I have been preaching this lesson for years and living the dream right along with it (albeit not to all of the exotic places you go…). I am so sick of hearing about how technology controls us, that is a bunch of crap – life is what you make of it and if you let the technology define who you are, so be it. My iPhone lets me have days off with my kids and helps me juggle my business and life all at the same time without missing a beat.
Thank you again for the words of wisdom!
February 17th, 2010 at 6:59 am
I couldn’t agree more! I have been doing this since 1998 and reporters, clients and vendors are always really surprised that I am a mobile, in the middle of no-where business, they have always told me that I give the impression of being a big company in a major city – based on my website, marketing materials and how I write! Hysterical! But it works for me!
I work from my home office in the White Mountains of NH on top of a mountain, I did an interview yesterday with the Wall Street Journal and it doesn’t cease to surprise them! I think it is fun and love it!
February 17th, 2010 at 10:06 am
The gap between those who understand this concept and those who don’t is getting wider by the minute. As someone who worked from home/my car dealing with regional businesses for 8 years, many people I ran across found it hard to grasp THAT concept, even though I was never more than three or four hours from home. I often heard “You mean you NEVER go into an office? I’d never get anything done!”
Now that I work with clients from all over the world, those doubters are even more confused. I think the moral of this story is that we have more power to structure our lives in a way that we want to than we have ever had before. If you prefer to work in an office and share the water cooler talk, that is okay. But if you want something different, there are no longer any real barriers in place to prevent you from doing that. Your email address works just as well at a fishing lodge in Saskatchewan as it does at a Starbucks in Chicago. The only thing stopping you is the will and desire to make it happen.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
I traveled to many exotic places when I was CEO of Club Med Japan but corporate travel is certainly different than being where I want to be when I want to be there. Working virtually has changed my life and I love it.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:25 am
I left my job as a government economist in the early 1990’s because I was bored with my job and there was an exciting new PhD program opening up. By the time I was defending my dissertation, I was almost 50. I wanted to be a professor, but I had neglected one thing in my game plan: people don’t hire 50 year olds with new PhD’s. So I had to hire myself. It’s been scary at times, but it is all I know anymore.
I have not purchased a desktop computer in over a decade. My laptop is my portable office. I don’t use all the toys available. I see no reason to send text messages with a high powered telephone or make phone calls with a laptop computer, even though the technologies make them substitutes. It’s strictly a matter of choice.
One of my pursuits, which I am trying to monetize, involves hours in the forest where connectivity is more difficult. I can’t be hiking a trail looking out for rattlesnakes and mama bears while typing or calling anyhow. Lack of attention could lead to disaster. But the modern digital camera and the internet, with its blog capabilities, allow me do do something I could not do a decade ago.
February 20th, 2010 at 10:44 am
So true! In 1993 I had the opportunity to work for the North-South Center of the University of Miami remotely from my home in Atlanta.
I was Associate Director of Publications which meant that I actually designed publications of all types — books, journals, magazines, newsletters, etc. After hurricane Andrew destroyed our home in 1992, we decided to relocate to Atlanta at the end of the 92-93 school year. Due to a hiring freeze and a forward-thinking boss, I was able to keep my job after the move. For the next 3 years using tools such as Apple Remote Desktop, a blazing fast 14.4 modem, a Mac with a whopping 80 mg hard drive, an AOL email account, Fax machine and FedEx, I “telecommuted” very successfully. From that experience, I have welcomed the opportunity to work with and manage freelancers and offsite workers.
Now that even phones can do more than all the tools I used in 1993, it is so much easier to work from anywhere. The PDF has eliminated shipping costs for document proofing, delivery and printing.
Designing web sites is another avenue where I do not need to sit in someone elses office. Seeing my face is less important to clients than seeing the design, update or new web site function on their own computers.
Geography no longer matters in this field. I can live anywhere and still work with clients and publishers in New York, Miami, London or Atlanta.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Peter – Your best blog ever! – Craig
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Here, here! (or rather here, there and everywhere!) I haven’t been chained to an office in 6 1/2 years and have had 2 full time jobs and done loads of consulting since then. One of my jobs had me on the road 100k miles/year and I would have hated myself if I hadn’t taken extra weeks to enjoy Bali and Hong Kong, managed a side trip to Ibiza (meeting up with my husband who happened to be in Berlin) used a little free time to explore St. Petersburg, Costa Rica and Vancouver, had brilliant meals and reconnected with friends in Miami, Vegas, NYC, London and more. It’s slowed down a bit (thank god actually) but as I have always said, as long as I am online, I can do this from a bunker in Kansas. Great advice and thanks for the reminder that we work to live not the other way around.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Wow! Interesting that I stumbled upon this post after reading the book Connect! from GigaOM’s Web Worker Daily. You’re speaking the exact same language.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:27 am
I’m playing social media with an old media brand while it learns how to play the online game. I’m also trying to maintain a life in two cities. The goal: getting them to realize I can work from not-work, and that sometimes, it’s much more efficient that way. We’ll see how comfortable they are in six months – I would love to be spending two weeks here in DC – and two weeks not.
May 18th, 2010 at 5:04 am
[...] One of the things I love about writing is that I can do it from anywhere. Whether I’m perched atop the Himalayas or laying poolside in Vegas, all I need is a pen and paper and a money-making creative purge is right around the corner. That’s a sexy thought, one that has spawned many people to consider blogging as a full-time career as office life dies a slow death. [...]