Who here works remotely / travels around?

[jlee]

I was thinking how awesome it'd be to do my job from wherever I wanted to be - my current employer isn't likely to allow it, but I'm thinking a few years down the line what the chances are I'd be able to work somewhere where I could pack up the truck and go place to place...summer in Colorado, fall in Utah, winter in Virginia, or wherever.

It's kind of annoying that there's absolutely nothing that requires me to be physically present at work, but I still have to show up.

Is there anyone in the grand world of ATOT who does that?

 

[eldorado99]

Mine sort of does, I can work from any office in the area (there are about 30 offices all within about 8 hours drive from my main office) and I can work from home occasionally. Recently I have had to work mostly from one office for 90% of my work though I still get to move around a bit. I still like it but it was better when I had more freedom.

 

[ImpulsE69]

What you speak of I've actually done as I can literally work from anywhere and I do sometimes, but not as much as I'd like. Actually told the wife to quit her job and we'd get an RV and travel around because I could work anywhere as long as I have an internet connection, but she's not ready to do that just yet.

I recently found out that my work place will pay for a 2nd phone line and out at our lake spot our cell service is sketchy so I tend not to go there during the week or on call weekends. I talked to my boss about having a physical line put in out there (they pay for) and then forwarding that to my cell when not there and they were ok with that. Pretty cool really even if a bit overkill.

 

[TridenT]

I've done it... know plenty who do. Someone I know just got a full-time gig working purely remotely. (Anywhere in the world, doesn't matter)

It really depends on the kind of job you're doing and the company. I would be saddened if the next job I have doesn't allow for split work weeks (work at home for 2-3 days of the week) or full remote work. It's something I'll deal with but it's kind of ridiculous to not allow. A lot of the meetings are done remotely with group calls anyway...

 

[jlee]

Hmmm.

It seems more common than I realized. What sorts of jobs are you guys doing? I am in IT and my position has a very broad focus (routing/switching/server/VMware/etc). I should have my VCP by the end of the year, which will help a bit.

I'm not opposed to contract work either, but that'd likely tie me down to the same spot for 6+mo.

 

[Markbnj]

I work remotely full time. I _could_ travel around and work from, say, a nice motorhome, or a sailboat, but like an idiot I acquired lots of kids and pets. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

 

[jlee]

I work remotely full time. I _could_ travel around and work from, say, a nice motorhome, or a sailboat, but like an idiot I acquired lots of kids and pets. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Hahahaha.

Yeah, I have no kids, a cat and a snake. Everybody loves the snake so I could easily find him a home. The cat is fairly portable, but I'm sure I could find a family member to take him for a year or two while I got the traveling bug worked out.

 

[rh71]

Technically I could since I just need internet and don't have an actual office to go to, but not my wife since she's tied to her NYC office. I would love to work from the beaches of Maui one day. I actually still need to try doing it at the local beaches one of these days, I get 4G to tether there for sure. But sand... that stuff gets everywhere!

 

[TridenT]

To me, the benefits of working remotely are not that I can travel and work anywhere... It's that I can work from home and remove all the distractions that an office can create. Similarly, if I don't have work to do and the boss has nothing to give me then I can just go do errands, watch porn, or play games and no one is the wiser. Harder to do that at the office...

Traveling and doing work isn't all that great to me. It's nice for when there is downtime when traveling and I want to rack up some time in the office... but meh. It doesn't feel like traveling as much. And the working environment is usually terrible in comparison to what I have at home or even at the office. Yikes.

 

[jlee]

To me, the benefits of working remotely are not that I can travel and work anywhere... It's that I can work from home and remove all the distractions that an office can create. Similarly, if I don't have work to do and the boss has nothing to give me then I can just go do errands, watch porn, or play games and no one is the wiser. Harder to do that at the office...

Traveling and doing work isn't all that great to me. It's nice for when there is downtime when traveling and I want to rack up some time in the office... but meh. It doesn't feel like traveling as much. And the working environment is usually terrible in comparison to what I have at home or even at the office. Yikes.

Meh, I don't mind being in an office, but I do want the freedom of being able to go wherever I want. Right now I'd be happy with summers in Canada and winters here, but ultimately being able to go wherever I want would be ideal.

 

[TridenT]

Meh, I don't mind being in an office, but I do want the freedom of being able to go wherever I want. Right now I'd be happy with summers in Canada and winters here, but ultimately being able to go wherever I want would be ideal.

So you agree that the heat in Arizona is a bit much? :awe:

 

[jlee]

So you agree that the heat in Arizona is a bit much? :awe:

Nope, my girlfriend is in Canada. Otherwise, I'm happy as could be here in Phoenix. I've been here almost three years and haven't regretted it for a second.

 

[Tweak155]

Did it for 3 years. Takes a toll after a while. Was glad it ended.

 

[jlee]

Did it for 3 years. Takes a toll after a while. Was glad it ended.

Couldn't you have ended it yourself by staying in the same place?

 

[alkemyst]

I am a consulting engineer for a large Cisco partner. While sometimes I am on the same project for months, during this time I usually have different clients and travel around.

I can work from home a lot, especially on all the documentation and configuration builds that are needed.

I probably drive 2000 miles a month on average.

Travel via plane is about 20% of my time.

Our clients include hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, theme parks, hospitals, government, and most of the major sports franchises. One of the perks for the guys that love NFL is we have made the fields wireless and they have 2-3 or our guys sitting on the sidelines at every game just in case something goes wrong.