Work From Anywhere Blog: Week 7; Vacation while traveling and Verizon coverage map failure

Last week was an interesting one because it was my first of two vacation weeks while we’ve been on the road. We also got very lucky with the timing of this first week because we were staying on Lake Powell, in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and we barely had any cell service - which would have completely prevented me from working. This week I’m chatting through how we handled both.

Family pic on Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Gloria enjoying a sunset bottle

First and foremost, it was SO NICE to be off of work for the entire week. Since I’ve been working on an east coast schedule, while on the west coast, this usually meant getting up around 5 AM and working in the dark for a couple of hours. I never thought it would actually be nice to be woken up by a toddler again. It was also so much less stressful because Kailah and I didn’t have to work around my meeting schedule (not to mention that I could help Kailah with the girls). Normally, we would discuss my schedule and which meetings I couldn’t afford to have background noise during. She would then take the girls outside, or put on a movie in the back of the RV. Last week we didn’t have to worry about any of that!

Stroller ride before sunset over Lake Powell

The other half of “vacation” on the road is purely psychological. I put the word vacation in quotes because I don’t really like using the word. Mostly because of the traditional connotation it carries with it being “something we do to go somewhere and spend time away from home” - usually to disconnect from the day-to-day and let loose. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and science shows it is beneficial for all of us, but for Kailah and I, I don’t think it accurately describes what we are trying to accomplish long term. With technology being what it is, we want to free our time and not be limited by the handful of weeks each year that we are allowed to be somewhere other than home. So, when we take time away from work (notice I didn’t use the V word) we try and plan action packed adventures, in our bucket list locations, so that we can experience as much as possible.

That’s where the psychology of this whole cross country RV adventure comes in. Aren’t we already doing that AND working? Whether its my “day job” during the day, or NOE work at night, Kailah and I are VERY busy on the road. We have so much to do on a daily basis, it was very tempting last week to just back fill my additional time with more “stuff”. It took until Monday afternoon, or Tuesday for us to say “STOP”. It was time to literally not work, not plan, not do anything, but enjoy spending time with each other and the girls in the beautiful Glen Canyon NRA.

Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas - Driftwood Lounge (Click on the photo for a direct link to the “Travel Like its 2019” shirts!)

To tie all of this back to WFA…last week we dodged a huge bullet in the form of cell reception. I had originally planned to work from Lake Powell for the entire week, with my previous employer. As fate would have it, I switched jobs and took these two weeks off in between. Not only was the Wi-Fi extremely slow, the cell reception was almost nonexistent. Both of them were around 1.5 mbps download speed, which would not have worked for any video calls and probably wouldn’t have provided enough bandwidth to hold reliable audio calls. Say nothing about managing data and reporting processes virtually (this is the first time that the Verizon coverage map and Outly cross reference has failed us). It would have either been a train wreck of a week, or we would have had to leave our best RV site yet (pictured below). The WFA gods were with us…

Our RV site at Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas

Cheers from the Grand Canyon. I’ve got some special guest visitors with us this week. Can’t wait to share in next week’s post.

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 0 GB / work day (We didn’t have reliable enough service).

Click here for our WFA Gear Page

Work From Anywhere: Week 6; Last week of work

Early morning Paso Robles view from my RV desk

My last week of work is complete! Well, for the short term. If you read my previous post, you know that I’m switching companies mid-trip and last Friday was my last day with my previous employer. I wrapped things up from Paso Robles, CA. In the mean time, I’ve built in two weeks (before I start the new gig) to explore Lake Powell (Arizona/Utah) and the Grand Canyon. In this weeks post, I’m going to chat through the logistics of making “the switch” while on the road, as well as reflect on a few interactions I’ve had that have reinforced the WFA lifestyle.

Gloria and I taking a selfie in front of Lake Powell

I think most job departures are bittersweet. We leave an environment that is familiar, with people we have created personal relationships with, for a completely foreign situation and new people. At the same time, it is exciting because we are starting something new and (hopefully) aligned with our goals. I believe that the important part is that we acknowledge the personal connections and set the foundation to maintain them after we’ve left a company. That is exactly where I spent the majority of my time last week. I did my best to connect virtually with as many individuals as possible, exchange contact information (not difficult in today’s world with LinkedIn), and make sure that each person knew that I cared about our relationship. With that being said, lets be real, I may never talk to some of them ever again. Others however, will be lifelong colleagues, friends, or both.

Our “NOE” mugs outside in Paso Robles during my last week of work (Click the picture to purchase a mug!)

The other (and much more technical) side of this transition is equipment. Someday in the future, us “WFAers” will operate from our own device (phone, laptop, tablet etc). But in the current world, we generally need to do so via a company device. So Friday afternoon, I packed up my laptop, keyboard, mouse and any relevant cords and headed over to a UPS store, so I could send it all back. I must say that UPS made this extremely easy. They packed everything up, in a specialty laptop box and took payment from my company over the phone. It was a seamless process. My new company probably has the larger challenge, as I have provided them with my location for shipment, based on when they send out the equipment. Fingers crossed that it makes it to me AND is delivered on time.

Work transition aside, as I close this chapter in my corporate career from the road, I have to reflect briefly on the past six weeks. Specifically a couple interactions that have reinforced the WFA lifestyle.

Beautiful day in Palm Desert

One afternoon in Palm Desert, CA, I was doing the final walk-around on our RV, so we could head to San Diego. It was 75 degrees and sunny, with a small breeze and the palms were swaying a bit overhead. It was a beautiful March day for this New Englander. I caught the eye of the group staying next to us and a man said “Hey there, travel day?”. I told them yes and where we were headed and they said “Oh are you on vacation?” (my license plate is from New Hampshire). Of course I explained our situation and how we were managing to be where we were (they exclaimed “we need to find jobs like that!”). It was then that I realized how truly unorthodox our trip was (at least to a large part of the world). We had officially combined “vacation” with “work”. We were one-in-the-same, truly working from anywhere. I know this isn’t a new concept. There are US citizens working from Bali as we speak (or they were before the pandemic). But to actually DO it and be successful at it…created a pretty proud moment.

Family picnic next to Lake Powell

Another moment that hit me was more recent. We’re currently camping on Lake Powell and yesterday we walked down by the water to have a picnic. The remoteness and scenery of Lake Powell is jaw-dropping. It is a man made reservoir, created via the Glen Canyon Dam and sits on the Colorado River. The mountains, buttes and rock formations that protrude from the water are incredible. Selima and Kailah had walked down the long, red sand beach to the water and I stayed with Gloria up on the bank. A man walked down beside us, headed for the water. I would say he was between 70 and 75. He had his palm sized digital camera at the ready and was snapping a few photos at the panorama that lay out before him. Watching him, I couldn’t help but imagine what he was thinking. I thought it was either “man I’m glad I worked hard enough to be able to see this”, or “man, why did I wait so long to come see this”. Either way, it absolutely reinforced what we’re doing. Technology has allowed us to change the way we work and in many cases, the pandemic forced the use of that technology. We’re able to use it to see Lake Powell 40 years before our friend on the beach.

Cheers,

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 4-5 GB / work day (I spent a lot of time chatting via video while I was preparing to leave my company).

Click here for our WFA Gear Page

Work From Anywhere blog: week 5; Interviewing and switching jobs on the road?!2

As the remote work gods would have it, I am completely switching jobs on this trip. Not just positions, but companies and industries. The whole change, start to finish, will have happened by the time we get home. From interview, offer, drug screening, equipment, you name it...all on the road.

Despite being in sunny Southern California, the past few weeks have been stressful. It all started when I got a call from a recruiter while we were in Tucson, asking me to interview. While I wasn’t actively looking for a new job, I’m always open to opportunities, so I said yes.

The interview would take place remotely, after we traveled another 390 miles and 7 hours to the middle of the desert, in Twentynine Palms California. I had my worries about connectivity, the RV resort, weather and of course the consistent fear of the unknown - and little did I know that almost all of these variables would provide obstacles.

When we arrived in Twentynine Palms, I was hopeful for a nice outdoor area the ladies could use, so I could have the RV to myself for the video call. Unfortunately, it was a dirt driveway (we would actually switch resorts two days later). The one beacon of light that I noticed immediately was the cell internet speed. I was registering download speeds of 180 mbps, which is like four times my home internet.

The real challenge came on the interview day. A wind storm had picked up overnight sporting 35 mph winds. Since the RV is over 12’ tall, it began to act more like a metal sail than a vehicle. This caused two problems. The first was that Kailah and the girls had to venture out into those winds, so that there wasn’t sound in the background. The second issue was that the RV was rocking back and forth, like a cruise ship on rough seas. While it was probably unnoticeable to the people I was meeting with, I felt like I was bobbing and weaving during the entire call.

Obviously this story has a happy ending, but I couldn’t believe the factors that stacked up against us. It was almost comical. I don’t know why I care so much about situations like these. I think I just pressure myself to put my best foot forward and started to feel like the universe was working against me. Long story short, the interview went well. I got an offer and it seemed like the right fit from my perspective, so I committed. It won’t change our upcoming plans at all, as the new company will allow me to be remote for another couple months.

What an incredible whirlwind of events (quite literally). It’s always stressful to switch jobs. From the interview process, to telling your current colleagues you are leaving, to “not knowing” how the new opportunity will work out - it just weighs on you. I have some time off coming up before I start the new position, so I’m excited to spend some time focusing on experiencing the Grand Canyon and working on our Nowhere On Earth brand with Kailah. I’ll check back in after my final week of work.

Cheers,

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 5-6 GB / work day (tough week with video calls)

Click here for our WFA Gear Page