What is a Workation? A Complete Guide to Working While Traveling

Understanding workation 

We all dreamed at one point of exploring the world, seeing everything there is to see, and realizing our wildest Walter Mitty-type fantasies. What usually prevented us from just going with it and purchasing a ticket to the next destination? Financial issues, the requirement to go through a long “please give me a week off” process, and constant “I truly hope the office won’t burn down while I’m away” feeling poking at our sides.

Well, you’re in luck, workation is here specifically to give you an opportunity to rest and travel, all the while maintaining your professional duties – a great option for those looking for additional flexibility and a sense of adventure combined with financial safety.

And if you’ve done some homework before leaving your usual workspace, the entire ordeal will go silky-smooth. So what are the workation essentials to keep in mind? Let’s take a look:

• Reliable internet. You’ll need it to do some actual work, believe it or not, so make sure that it’s as stable as it can be. Develop a contingency plan (like a good mobile internet plan) just in case your mountain cabin’s WI-FI suddenly goes down.
• Comfortable workspace. Focus and efficiency will still be important, so sitting by the pool with a Tequila Sunrise in one hand and a laptop in the other might not be the best option. Sounds wonderful, though…
• Time zone management. Discuss with your team in advance all the time-zone intricacies, unless you’re fine waking up at 3 am for a Zoom call that could as well be an e-mail.
• Work-life boundaries. Pay some attention to the -tion part of workation. Some additional boundaries must be enforced for you to actually rest.
• Cultural experiences. Yes, you’ll have to exit your hotel room from time to time. Try local empanadas, go for a hike – there’s so much to see and experience out there.
• Health concerns. Have your weak spots covered by some convenient insurance plan. Sitting in a Google Meet with some sort of tropical fever is not a great experience, trust us.

Choosing the perfect destination

Of all the points listed above, the choice of destination must be at the center of your attention. Remember, you’ll have to stay focused and productive all the while enjoying new experiences and environments, and your destination must be perfectly comfortable for doing both.

While picking your next temporary home office, stay aware of the following:

Maximizing productivity

Another thing worth mentioning is that you’ll have to stick to some routines to make the most of your workation. Some basic things like sticking to a schedule or carefully planning your day can go a long way.

Speaking of which, management tools like Taskee can be a great help in staying organized even when surrounded by mountain vistas. It can take some planning work off your shoulders, too, giving you that much-needed time to enjoy yourself.

Here are a couple of workation productivity tips to keep you efficient:

• Morning rituals – a cup of nice, locally brewed coffee and a bit of journaling do unbelievable things with your productivity levels.
• Dedicated workspace – an office or just a separate table for your laptop can give you that much-needed concentration and focus.
• A proper set of tools – a good progress and task tracker can do wonders for your sense of accomplishment.
• Time table – put up a couple of alarms to know exactly when to start and stop working. Responsible adult until 5, Martini Espresso connoisseur after.
• Strict boundaries – it’ll take guts to say “Sorry, but you’ll have to deal with it by yourself, I’m done for today”, so have a conversation with your guts beforehand, explaining that after a certain point, you’re not an employee anymore, but calm and slightly tipsy object drifting on the waves.

Building a sustainable workation lifestyle

Done with all the steps above and having a great time? We’re happy for you (and a bit jealous)! But let’s take some time to highlight all the things you should do to make workation as helpful as it can be in the long term:

• Keep learning and moving up the career ladder.
• Use your new environment to network with friends and potential clients alike.
• Soak in every bit of the new culture around you – all that is a work experience of a sort and will boost your ability to empathize with other people.
• Keep improving your daily routine, optimizing the time you spend on work and the way you enjoy leisure time.

Conclusion

Workation is a modern way of dealing with burnout and overall dissatisfaction with the work-life. Whether you’re looking for a brief change of scenery or intend to fully transition into a digital nomad lifestyle – planning, and discipline are your main tools to do so painlessly.

Dark and humid offices are a thing of the past (thank god), with workations offering a great way to add some much-needed sense of adventure into your everyday routine.

Related articles:

For tips on staying productive while working remotely, check out Effective tips for successful remote work. 

For successful implementation of the hybrid approach in project management, read the article Hybrid project management: Combining agile and waterfall for success.

To streamline your workflow, read the article Workflow template: How to optimize processes and Improve efficiency.