Travelling While Working: The Engineer’s Survival Guide

We know how boring desk jobs can sometimes be. The need to just get away, have a vacation, get out of the system and unwind; catches up to almost all of us. As engineers, when all you do is bleed one code after the other the mental exhaustion can be even more draining.

So, don’t you just love the concept of always travelling and making a living as an engineer simultaneously? What if I told you that it was doable? Why can’t you work remotely, travel when you want, carry your laptop and the essential software, plugin at any café, sip your finest coffee and churn out the code? Yes, it is doable and it will keep you sane because the charisma of being in a new place, meeting new people, and still doing the same job means that you are never going to let the monotonous feeling creep on to you.

So, here is your travelling hack for software engineers.

Timing the travel

Ideally, the travel length should be nearly three months. Here are my reasons for doing so. 

·      It usually fits the tourist visa duration

·      The time gap is enough to allow you to explore the city along with working on your freelance or remote projects

·      You can unwind by exploring and learning the local culture

What to carry?

When you are off on such a work-related adventure, it is also important to have a list that encompasses the important things you need to carry with yourself. Let us throw light on that now.

·      The laptop: Of course, as you will be working simultaneously, your laptop should always be with you.

·      Smartphone: ideally, we recommend taking a local sim card for the nation you are currently at. Alternately, always have the phone with your permanent number so that your close peeps and the bosses can always trace you.

·      GPS: you don’t want to get lost every time you hop to a new country. So, have the best of GPS devices handy.

·      Charger: you don’t want to lose out on your work because either the phone or your laptop is down. So, have a quick and effective travel charger handy.

·      The documents: have all the important documents like your identity card, Passport, insurance card, business cards, and visa handy with you. The last thing you want is to run into trouble, get fired from work and be jailed in a foreign nation.

·      Medicines: have some medicines handy for those emergencies wherein you need to be your own doctor.

So, if you are hit by the wanderlust bug but also love to make an adventure while working, start living out of a suitcase. Go the extra mile, plan vacations and wrap your work schedule around it. The best thing about remote working is that all you need is a chair to sit on and a table to work on. A café, a motel or even an airplane (with Wi-Fi) works just fine for that! So, make a sound plan and see how life takes you on a thrilling ride.