I’ve returned from Mexico after working there for a month. As you can tell, I didn’t keep up with the blog writing during the second half of my stay, but I wanted to write a bit of a wrap up about my first attempt at working from an exotic locale. I settled into a generally good routine, waking with a swim, working in the morning either from the rental house or from the local coffee shop Choco Banana. Lunch, another swim, and then working the afternoon on the patio of the house, watching the pool and fountain.
I was very productive and was able to work quite effectively. I had to work within the limitations of the available bandwidth, but email, con-calls, SSH sessions, VPN, etc… all worked well. If anything I worked too long days. As a small company, growing fast, there’s always plenty to do and I have a hard time stopping sometimes. I was more relaxed than I usually am at home. Even though I was working normally, I didn’t have to worry about bills, household chores, fixing the cars, or the majority of the normal day to day stressors that we may not even think about AS stressors. But the absence of them was very noticeable. I also generally lost touch with most of my friends and family. This left me with very little to think about or worry about day to day: work, eating, swimming, spending time with my wife, going to the beach, reading in the hammock. It was generally all about the current moment. As a result of having less stress and less worries in my head, I felt more focused, more productive, more creative, and happier than the normal day.
Coming home was a real mix of things I was looking forward to about home, things I’d been missing, and also not quite being ready to leave behind all of the wonderful aspects of living in Mexico. I’m thrilled to have my own bed, my Xbox, FIOS, my car, to be going into the office, seeing my team and many more things. I miss my pool, my relaxed attitude, and some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had.
I’m looking forward to trying it again, somewhere else. Possibly Bali, South Africa, or who knows where. I’d like to try a city some day, although I know the costs will be higher. If you have the ability to work from home, then I highly recommend that you give something like this a try. Think it though, plan it out, but just TRY IT!
I’m happy to answer any questions about this type of working travel. [email protected]
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