#18: 5 Ways Anyone Can Travel Full-Time While Working
Episode Shownotes
Let’s get this out of the way first—the golden work/travel balance is a myth.
The (unattainable) perfect balance of work and travel tends to ask the wrong questions, like ‘why aren’t you doing more’ rather than ‘how do you want to feel?’
In this episode I discuss the five different ways that I have maintained travel and work over my entire twenties. Each opportunity is suited to various skills, comfort levels, and passions, making this the perfect starting point for anyone interested in pursuing a more nomadic lifestyle.
For those interested in building a completely remote business like I have, I dive the deepest into the benefits and challenges of this model of work and travel. It is possible to have your cake and eat it too, with a touch of systemising and outsourcing.
“You have to really figure this balance thing out, and define it for yourself, so as not to fall into the trap of being all the things, doing all the things, and burning yourself out.”
I’d love to know what way resonates with you the most?
Let’s continue the conversation at https://www.instagram.com/emilypeilan/
Meet fellow Freedom Nomads on a unique retreat experience, join here: https://www.freewildsouls.com/retreats
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Episode Transcript
I think it's a downright lie that this idea of balance when work and travelling, even exists, and that anyone has it figured out, it is simply a lie.
So expanding on this a little bit, as somebody who has been working travelling for the entirety of my 20s, I see two types of people, there are people who are able to work under pressure, despite constantly having shit thrown at them. And then there are people who break mentally and can't quite deal without the safe confines of their routine. And neither is good or bad.
It simply is just how you work and what makes your nervous system feel at ease. And I think it's just important to really understand how you work and how your nervous system works as well where it feels safe and and where it feels like it's in fight or flight mode, and understanding that and then creating a life or searching for jobs and creating a structure designing your life in a way that really balances that.
So in this episode, I'm going to start by sharing a few of the different types of work and travelling models there are. And then I'm going to go into this idea of like this balanced Work and Travel lifestyle, this dream golden depiction, and why that is a myth and why that's a lie. I'm really just dissecting that.
Then I'm going to round off and end with my four best tips for creating and achieving your own work life balance that fits your nervous system and your lifestyle the best. So let's get into it.
Model #1: The Seasonal Worker
So somebody who works really hard, full time for a season. For example, when I was kayak guiding, often times you work for the summer, and maybe like a little bit of the end of spring, and then the start of autumn.
So generally anywhere between like four to six months could be a little bit longer. And then you make you're working full full time, even like overtime, sometimes, and just to really bring home a lot of cash, and then you are able to take the rest of the year off to travel because you can afford to.
I know people who they in six months of say outdoor guiding, they make what 30,000 to 35,000, maybe even more in euros, and they take that home and for the next six months or half of the year, they can do whatever they want, they can live wherever they want to. And that is from the full time, their salary plus tips. Plus, taking into account if you are doing an outdoor job, they're paying for your accommodation, you get your food paid for not always, but oftentimes, your transport.
So you're actually offsetting a lot of things. And seasonal work can be an amazing and amazing thing to do if you're somebody who is able to cope with the stresses and the pressures of working super hard super, extremely, for half the year. And then for the reward of taking the other half a year off.
Model #2: The Part-Timer
The second one is working part time. So a little bit more stable. For example, working part time at a cafe, I was taking on extra shifts every now and again so that every three to four weeks, I could request for an extra day off or like exchange one of my shifts with another staff that I previously took, or help them take over one of their shifts.
So basically, every month or so, I would organise my schedule. So I had a three to five day weekend window to go and travel. And that worked pretty well as well.
Model #3: The Full-Time Employee
The third model is internship or slash full time. So internship is depending on your internship, the ones that I did, they were full time and they were also paid. I know that a lot of internships aren't so I'm talking about there's no full time sense.
Even back when I was working in corporate full time, I would still make the most of long weekends and Christmas holidays. Even sneaking back into the office still with my messy salted hair having just driven back from the beach earlier that morning. I had gotten changed in the car while stuck in a traffic jam. So good times. Basically what I want to bring home here is that you can still work a full time job or full time internship and still be squeezing in travel in between. So don't let full time job stop you from also travelling.
Model #4: The Full-Time Student
The fourth model, which is I suppose it's studying. And I think if you're a full time student it is work in a way, and it is quite full time.
And I suppose I'm referring more to a study abroad semester here, but you can also study and travel a lot in your home university to studying. Yeah, like, you do have to juggle work, not work, but like uni and travel. So especially when you're on exchange, you want to make the most of your time you want to be travelling a lot. And I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to go on to exchange semesters, and remembering, I remember the struggles of like, oh, shall I say yes to this adventure, even though I have a paper and an exam due next week? And the answer was almost always yes. And I will figure it out.
Later, I was determined to have my cake and eat it too. And I did always find a way to meet my uni requirements. And so I think, I think there's something to be said for how much faster you can think and how much more energy you have to work more efficiently when you're actually happy and inspired.
And having a great time, I would have otherwise spent all my weekend procrastinating, steeped in self pity and massive FOMO, while other people were having fun, or I could join them have a great time and hash out my uni stuff in the last few precious hours before it was due to be submitted, I would choose the latter every single time.
Model #5: The Remote Worker
The last and fifth one. And maybe there are a few more out there that I haven't personally experienced. But these are the five that I've experienced. And the last one is working remotely. So either you work part time or full time, but you have total location, we're totally locationally independent, so you have full freedom of where you are, you can be in exotic new places while working at the same time.
There are however, a lot of drawbacks, and this is the type of work and travelling, I'll be primarily talking about for the rest of this episode, just because so many of us are now working remotely. And I know a lot of people who actually struggled to find the right balance between work and travel.
So I thought it would be most helpful to share a few insights from having years of experience of remote working under my belt. I did however, just want to fly through these five different types of work and travel models, just in case that was of interest to you. But for the rest of the episode, I will be focusing mostly on those who are working remotely, whether for themselves or for somebody else.
So the other day, as I was walking around the seaside of Italy, in Bari, it just it hit me I was I was in a phase where the seasons were changing. And I was feeling completely thrown off course super chaotic, lots of changes in my business. And I was travelling and I was working, and I just felt so thrown out of balance. And I really beat myself up for not being more on top of it.
And that's when I had this sort of Epiphany, you could say that, like there is this idea that there is some golden standard of a balanced work life travel. Like what that looks like that there's even a standard in my mind to to aim for to reach for, like that was all bullshit.
And why was I making myself? Like, feel so bad? And what is what is balanced to me anyway? What does that even look like? Was I chasing somebody else's version of what a balanced work and travel? What what that looks like. And so I really want to dissect this and dive into it because it's like we most of us, I think, have an idea of what it should look like. But we rarely ask ourselves like, what do we want it to feel like?
For some reason I had this high bar of a standard that meant like having this balance meant doing it right. It looks like getting quality work done for clients, exceeding my work carving out alone time for my own personal self care routines, spending quality time with the people I'm travelling with or but also touching it with people that I care about who are not physically with me and While also on the side managing my team, and all this plus, I want to make the most of my travels and actually explore and not just be stuck inside my Airbnb attending to all the work and all the personal stuff, but not actually the travel.
And so that like, to me that already feels stressful enough, it doesn't feel balanced. And so I really had to go a little bit deeper and ask myself, like, what does balance not just look like? But what does it feel like? And can I be okay with the fact that I cannot always have all the burners running on high at all times? That it's a constant juggle? You know, you can't always be there are some, depending on the trip that you're doing, is it going to be a pure business trip? Or is it going to be a mix of both?
Or do you want this to be more of a personal trip where you can enjoy and spend more quality time exploring, and just realising it's okay, not to be like 10, out of 10, hustling, you know, doing having all felt for burners on high across all your areas of your life. It's just, it's impossible, we're not superhuman. And that's why you have a team and you outsource things, because that's the closest thing you'll get to it.
So it is a constant juggle. And to be honest, it is a rather privileged problem to have. I think there's also a point where it stops by being novel, and start actually becoming your life style. And that's the point where you have to really figure this balance thing out for yourself, and really define it for yourself. So as not to fall into the trap of being all the things doing all the things and burning yourself out.
I really think that nobody has it figured out because everybody's work schedule is different. Every every business is different. Everybody's role is different. So I truly think it's a lie that balance this some ideal, you know, balance when working, travelling, that it exists, and that anybody has it figured out I think we I look to my I look at my mentors or friends who have multi million dollar companies. And they also struggle with balancing and juggling work life balance, relationships, self care, and all the things.
So really, if you're feeling like, I don't know, if you're feeling bad that you haven't achieved this balance yet, like stop beating yourself up. This is also a mental note for myself as well. There is no end point there is nothing, there is never this. You've no one has ever really fully achieved balance, we are always working towards it. But I don't think that anyone can ever really fully reach a place where they're like, yes, totally fully balanced.
I also think that there are simply people who embrace the challenge of juggling and see as a game, and they love to grow and come up with creative solutions, even if they get shit thrown at them from time to time to time. And then on the flip side, there are those who don't embrace the challenges so much, or they hold themselves to such high perfectionistic standards across every area, that they feel like a failure and their ego kind of breaks them mentally. And those people typically love and prefer the safe confines of their routine and just don't enjoy being thrown out of their comfort zone so often. And so it's really just like being honest with yourself, like, which one of these categories do you fall into, and neither is good or bad. It's just like, hey, don't be the other if your nervous system isn't wired to, to to do so well in that environment, you know. So just acknowledging how you best work for yourself.
So to run off and summarise this episode, here are my four best tips for doing the best that you can to achieve the best balance for you:
Tip #1: have a four day work week
Reorganise your week so that you just work four days, and they can be more intense, you can pack more into it, but then you get a three day weekend. And it gives you that extra day really makes a difference. And you can go on an extended trip from your current extended trip, where the main point is to get out of your comfort zone to explore, be inspired and having that extra day it does something to you psychologically. I feel like you can actually like breathe, take some space and really unwind before the next work week.
Tip #2: Slow travel.
There's this great term so we all know the term digital nomad. But as I was living in Lisbon, this term slow matting kind of came into my sphere. And I really liked that. And I think slow matting is the perfect way. So instead of jetting around and relocating to a new place every week, or every two weeks stay for like two months or three months, or longer get to know the place and the people there.
And of course, you can do site trips. But the beautiful thing is you get to make genuine connections and friends, it's a lot less stressful because you're not moving around and wasting a lot of time kind of searching for Airbnb ease and travel and how to get here and transport and all the things. And it's also often cheaper, long term because you can, longer term rentals just do come cheaper. And there's also it's just more, it's more enriching, it's more nourishing, you get to involve yourself into communities and events.
And yeah, I just I for me, so slow madding is the perfect mix of excitement, newness, and yet also community and connecting with people. So it comes back to what you value though, and what you're seeking in that current phase. If that is fast travel, then, you know, go for it, get it out of your system. But once it's out of your system, you might find that something like slow matting, it feels more, it feels more nourishing.
Tip #3: Decide whether it is a work or personal trip.
Step number three, one or the other. I think this is quite an important one, I've seen a lot of people, myself included, make this mistake of like, I'm going to go on vacation, it's going to be one week long or two weeks long. And I'm going to work. And I think there are there are trips where it can be both. But I also think it's really important to have trips to where it is one or the other.
Choose is this going to be a work and travel trip, or do you just want to enjoy this experience this trip fully in its entirety, and not think about work, in which case, set hard boundaries and communicate this with your team, communicate this with your your clients, if you have clients, and you'll find that people are really respectful of that.
And really do it for yourself, because because everyone will benefit from you actually taking that time off for yourself to enjoy life. And so you can come back way more refreshed with better ideas than then before.
Tip #4: systematise your business and your life
The fourth and the last one, which is in my opinion, the most ideal one is to systematise your business and your life so that you can step back and still rest assured knowing that your business is running without you.
And this is the current phase that I'm in. In the past and even up to this point. Whenever I take a holiday and I make it like this is a holiday holiday, everything in my business comes to a halt. Not just it doesn't function without me. I don't have a functioning business if I'm not working.
So one of the things that this exciting new phase I'm in is getting more people on board, getting my VA more involved hiring a junior designer and setting up processes and systems in my business so that if I stepped back, and when I stepped back, actually and I want to go enjoy, say two weeks off. I want to I'm happy to touch in and do some emails and manage, you know a few tasks for the team and some project overviews.
But I don't want to be working working. But I still need my business to be working and functioning and running without me. So this is the best one the most ideal way to have the best of both worlds.
So that's a wrap on this episode. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you found some of you things insightful. If you love to connect more or if you've got any questions about this, feel free to hop over to Instagram and send me a DM at Emily Peilan.
I love responding to all your DMS it's so kind or the feedback I've gotten on on these episodes. And I'd love to hear from you like which model of Work and Travel Do you resonate with the most? And what are your thoughts on this idealistic work life balance? Stay wild and adventurous my friends and I will see you in the next episode!
