Travel Series

The Ups and Downs of Mixing Work and Travel

It may sound delightful but the joy of travel could be spoiled when fused with work, or serious work might suffer when linked with travel

Long before digital nomadism was coined, and even longer before the Covid-driven work-from-home (WFH) arrangements came into being, I was already working when I traveled.

It started when I was living in New Zealand. I had a Monday-to-Friday full-time office job in a university. On weekends, I worked on my side hustles — writing my magazine column and serialized illustrated novels. If I could still breath, I wrote a chapter or two of my early romance novels.

Note that those were not speculative writing. I had publishers, and I had deadlines which I must meet.

I (with my then partner) took regular overseas holidays. Break from work for him; not for me, really.

I love to travel. But I love writing more and the check waiting for me when I submit my manuscripts. So why would I not love writing wherever I was in the world?

Over half my time on holiday break was spent pounding away at the keyboard while I was in the terrace of a beachfront accommodation. I could hear the waves of the sea, and see the sun’s rays shining brightly through the thick foliage of tropical trees shielding the bungalows.

It was, to many, like chilling out in paradise.

But did you think I cared when I untangled the knots on my tired shoulder (hunched from doing all that writing), and looked at the happy beachcombers, all on a work break, having the time of their life at the lovely, lovely beach?

Or, picture this: my fellow holidaymakers were all at the floating bar at sundown, drinking champagne while a poet was reading his just-published poems. It’s one of those to-die-for moments while on vacation.

But I had to miss the champagne and the poetry reading.

A deadline was looming and the editor would not give me another deadline extension.

The other half of my holidays during those many years were spent either doing interviews (for my commissioned articles), and writing either on the dresser or dining table in the hotel room.

When I moved back to my home country, the Philippines, I reverted to my WFH situation as a novelist. There were some travels involved — to book signings and book launching, glad-handing, and print, radio and TV interviews here and there.

Can you imagine what those have been like for a closet introvert like me?

Side hustling not allowed

Then an opportunity arose in an overseas corporate setting in which remote work was the primary arrangement. Trainings abroad and occasional meetings in the office in Manila were stipulated, but only when necessary.

I grabbed the job offer. I needed security at the time. More significantly, I looked at the job as one spectacular way of reinventing myself in a sunshine industry — the media intelligence business.

I also imagined that I could work on my side hustles on weekends. I just had signed a contract with my publisher to write a 480-page book on Basic English Grammar, for use as a school supplement. I was unlikely to return the 40% advance payment I got from my publisher.

And that’s one huge drawback to chewing more than I could. While I managed to write the book on weekends for the next eight months, past the deadline, I literally did not have a life.

The corporate job did not allow for side hustles. There was a whole, wide world to study, learn, analyze, and more.

These were not forced on me, but I’m one of those who gave my best, sometimes more than my best, in any task.

The hard work (and learning, on a daily basis) paid off.

I got to travel and do the work I normally did working from home - at airports, while waiting for my flight.

Oh, I remembered the hidden and harried hysteria of looking for coffee shops in the vicinity of the boarding gates where, for the rate of consumables, one could also use the Internet.

I was always uneasy about imperfections. What if one of my analysts sent an inaccurate report to the client, before me doing a final quality check?

But, I got used to working remotely while on layover, feeling at ease when airports provided fast Internet access to passengers. My mobile gadgets had Internet access, too, wherever.

Shortly after, my corporate job allowed me to have a “change of location” every six months which I spent in the UK.

For close to 10 years while I lived in England, I had to start work at different times: 10:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m., midnight, sometimes at 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. There is an eight-hour difference (in winter) between the UK and the countries’ clients.

My body clock, I guess, thrived and reveled in my crazy hours and even crazier work-related stresses.

Don’t get me wrong, however, with regards to my experience in my corporate job that I said goodbye to recently. Through it, I met and developed new friendships, nurtured fresh contacts (networking should not be underrated!), and absorbed new knowledge I’d otherwise not learn.

Best of all, I have enough materials for a book about my time with the company. I just don’t know whether I’d be allowed to tell all. (Ha ha!)

Personal thoughts

Working while traveling, or traveling while working remotely may, to many, sound fantastic.

It probably is fantastic, if one is working on speculative writing.

But, based on my experience, mixing work and travel has its ups and downs. You get to travel, fine, but you also need to focus on your given tasks, which must not negatively affect your team or the company if the quality of work is below par, or even late.

This arrangement of traveling while working, like in normal life, involves a lot of adjustments and sometimes sacrifice to adapt to whatever complex situation that may arise. To these, I’d say embrace all those.

Be open to new experiences and raw knowledge because these could lead to opportunities that may otherwise not present themselves.

I did observe the above; however, I must confess to tinges of regret when I remembered those holiday breaks at beach and island resorts.

I should have cared and joined even for a little time the other holidaymakers having fun on the beach, or sipping champagne during a poetry reading at sunset on the floating bar.

Fortunately, I’m now making up for those times I missed. I believe I deserve it.

This article is in response to this piece by Sharing Randomly:

You may also want to read other travel or travel-related stories, as follows:

Elvie Lins❤️; Dr. Preeti, Yana Bostongirl, John Villablanca, Diane Neill Tincher, David Perlmutter, JJ Sum

Thank you for reading!

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