A 2021 curated guide for you to fill your soul while filling your pockets!

It’s always a good idea to travel to new places, explore new places, meet new people, indulge in new cultures. Fill your soul with the best of memories. But well…. Not always can we get a chance to leave our busy schedule and just leave to live a nomadic life, right?

I mean where will we get money to travel from? how will we fill our accounts? , is it worth travelling leaving your job?……
Well what I say that just with a few controls on your life and management skills, you can! You can work as well as travel to literally anywhere you want!

Travel management is undergoing a huge shift, away from deep management and towards trust, transparency, and simplicity.
It takes just a bit of mind planning and control on time management skills to achive that. In a very simple and understandable manner you can balance your work while travelling…..And you have come to the right place!

MANAGING BUSINESS TRAVEL:

To be effective, business travel management can be handful of task but possible and turns out to be fun.

The most valuable way to simplify is to adopt an end-to-end travel management platform that integrates all aspects of travel and expense and is easy for everyone to use. Of course, the platform has to be 100% mobile-friendly because nobody relies on their small-screen devices more than business travelers.

Before hand planning:

A well-considered travel guideline helps to prevent last minute booking and ccancellation fees. Tell your company to give you an overview of the work during the period of travel so you can have a clear mindset as to how much time you need to give for work daily. Take all necessary precautions before booking the trip i.e re check the work schedule, timings, make sure you carry all devices and documents required for work. While booking and planning the trips, make sure it does not clashes’ with your work timings. Book a stay where you get a proper network connection, Wi-Fi, a peaceful work space and not far from the city. This will ensure you to work efficiently. opt for a more predictable travel situation, like a long weekend trip in a hotel with WIFI, or spending a workweek in a big city (with lots of coffee shops, I mean….. you would need your caffeine shots)

Once you’ve tested your wings working remotely from a hotel or well-populated area, think about branching out on more adventurous trips.

Pack well:

Rather than having troubles’ connecting with your employees, better to check and recheck all the important instruments and materials that you would need while working.

Hard drive: Especially if you’re working with media, storing big files on a hard drive protects you in case you need to work without an Internet signal, or you can’t access files in the cloud

Bring extra headphones: Since you need headphones to clock in to meetings on Skype or Google Hangout, make sure to have a backup pair just in case you drop yours in the jacuzzi.

Figure out your tethering situation: Make sure you can login and work from anywhere, even without a WIFI signal. Set up Bluetooth so you can tether to your phone, update your mobile data plan for travel, and consider investing in a data storage device like Karma.

Chargers: It’s an obvious one, but make sure you have a charger and/or connecting cable for your laptop, phone, and hard drive (bring extras).

Clean your laptop: To minimize the risk of total tech meltdown, clean files off your laptop and sort out your cloud storage in advance.

Figure out your tech setup: Will you be calling in to meetings from your phone? Test it! Will you tether to your phone while traveling in a bus? Try that out in advance. Will you bring a tablet and a portable keyboard? Make sure your setup works before you find yourself in the jungle.

SOME ADDITIONAL PLANNING:

Figure Out Your Schedule Ahead of Time.

Look at your work calendar, then make sure your travel plans don’t interfere. If they do, move meetings and deadlines in advance.

It’s also a great idea to check in with the people you’re traveling with to set expectations about when you’ll be available to hang out, and when you’ll need “alone time” to get work done.

Tell Your Team About Your New Time Zone.

When you’re planning your schedule, take some time to send an email to your teammates or clients letting them know what time zone you’ll be in, and when you expect to be available. Also let them know how they can reach you when you’re not online.

BALANCE:

If finding work-life balance is tough on a normal day, it can be even trickier on a workcation. And finding the time to commit to work without destroying your vacation and making everyone you’re traveling with hate you is probably what you’re most worried about.

To be smart and savvy about balancing your work obligations and leisure time, do give this a try:

Work during off hours depending on the time zone. Instead of turning down that hiking journey in Nepal, spend the day on the mountain and spend the evening getting work done.

Do finish tasks while you’re distracted. If you’re lounging on the beach with friends, take that time to do do tasks that don’t take much of your brain power.

Do tasks that require focus alone. If you need to be totally there for a certain task like writing a blog post or attending a meeting, make sure you schedule alone time to get that work done.

Set limits. Don’t be afraid to say, “I need 1 hour to do this thing.” It’s okay to shut yourself up in the hotel for 2 hours if it means you can spend 3 enjoying dinner and drinks later.

Take some days TOTALLY off. Schedule a few days with no work at all, even if it means you have to put in extra hours before or after your trip. After all this double-dealing, you’ll need some time off. Taking some time to rejuvenate will mean you’re fresh and on point when you do clock in.

And always remember if you get your work done and remain calm, chances are, your boss will go with the flow. And if something does go wrong? Let your team know, always keep them aware and up to date to everything that’s happening there. And if incase worse comes to worse, just go and enjoy the trip! You’ll be home soon, and since you work remotely, you’ll be able to catch up on your own time