The Digital Bedouins and the Backpack Office

PetManimal writes "The laptop and wireless revolutions have led to the rise of a new class of digital 'Bedouins' — tech workers who ply their crafts from Starbucks and other locations with WiFi access. Another article describes some strategies and tools for embracing the Bedouin way of life, and even having fun: 'If you have the right kind of job, you can take vacations while you're on the clock. In other words, you can travel for fun and adventure and keep on working. You can travel a lot more without needing more official vacation time. I've done it. In August I took a month long vacation to Central America, backpacking from one Mayan ruin to the next, and I never officially took time off. I submitted my columns, provided reports and other input, participated in conference calls and interacted via e-mail. I used hotel Wi-Fi connections and local cybercafes to communicate and Skype to make business calls. Nobody knew I was sunburned, drinking from a coconut and listening to howler monkeys as I replied to their e-mails.'"

Comments

I think that's pretty rare.

[Morinaga]

I'm not sure about anyone else but that sounds like one of the worst "vacations" possible to me. Perhaps his type of work lends itself to productivity in such an environment. I wouldn't be as productive and more importantly I wouldn't enjoy my vacation all that much. I see the appeal and relative productivity of sitting in a cafe or park and getting work done but to really travel and sight-see?

Re:I think that's pretty rare.

[SoTuA]

I agree - I took 'vacations' where I was supposed to keep in touch via laptop (email, skype, etc) and it made it for me impossible to create the mental disconnect that is the requisite of proper rest during vacations.

Re:I think that's pretty rare.

[cascadingstylesheet]

I see the appeal and relative productivity of sitting in a cafe or park and getting work done but to really travel and sight-see?

Well, for one thing, you're already there. So at 4:00 or 5:00 PM you shutdown, put your laptop away, and walk a few feet to do something fun, instead of still having to get on a plane :)

Sheesh, if you're having enough fun on a "real vacation", you probably wouldn't wake up until then anyway ;)

Re:I think that's pretty rare.

[PopeRatzo]

I've tried it, too, and it sucked. A "working vacation" is neither.

Re:I think that's pretty rare.

[flyingsquid]

I'm on the other side of the spectrum, in that I prefer to travel for work. I feel that my interactions with the culture and the people are a little more genuine when I have a real reason to be there, other than to take pictures of the cute little brown children and pose in front of old buildings. Trying to live a normal, day-to-day existence in a foreign country, versus doing the tour thing, gives you a better appreciation of what the country is really like, I think.

Re:I think that's pretty rare.

[Otter]

I bet the grankids will love that story of how you were deep in some jungle when you BRAVELY REPLIED TO THAT IMPORTANT EMAIL.

The point is that he is in the jungle while you and I are bitching at each other from our desks in the middle of a snowstorm!

I don't understand what is so freaking difficult about this concept -- the idea is that you get **MORE** vacation, not that you enjoy it less.

Re:I think that's pretty rare.

[Do You Smell That]

Assuming your post isn't a joke (it is modded funny, afterall)... Recently my company sent me to Holland for 2 1/2 months of training. Never having been outside the US before (Canada totally doesn't count), this was an incredible opportunity. All the benefits of vacationing in a foreign country (when you're working, you still get weekends off and have the right to use sick days... accruing more of them all the while), but without having to worry about moving in, finding yourself a hotel, etc. Plenty of time after work every day to go out and mix with the locals, and you're in town long enough to actually find your way around and pick up a bit of the language and culture. If you look at it from the point of view of "I'm doing my same job, just from a much cooler office" instead of "I'm on vacation stuck doing work for the man", you'll feel much better about the whole thing. Then again, the more I think of it, my situation is nothing like that in the article... in his case, the vacation was his idea. :sigh: Time to go home.

Re:I think that's pretty rare.

[raju1kabir]

I'm not sure about anyone else but that sounds like one of the worst "vacations" possible to me. Perhaps his type of work lends itself to productivity in such an environment. I wouldn't be as productive and more importantly I wouldn't enjoy my vacation all that much. I see the appeal and relative productivity of sitting in a cafe or park and getting work done but to really travel and sight-see?

Three years ago, with yet another business trip to the other side of the world (Asia) coming up, I decided on a whim to put all my stuff in storage and give notice to my landlord. I had a bunch of projects in Asia on the horizon, so I figured I'd just hang out there for a few months.

Well, it's been more than a few months. I am renting an apartment in Kuala Lumpur, where I spend about 1/3 of the time (those periods when I really need to sit at my desk and focus). Another 1/3 of the time I'm on-site for work, which could be anywhere in the world.

But the good part is, since my expenses are so much lower over here (I'm paying half the rent for a flat twice the size), I have plenty of money left over for plane tickets. So the other third of the year I toss my laptop in a bag and go anyplace that sounds interesting that the airlines have on sale. Australia, Bali, Spain, Morocco, Korea, to name some of the most recent. Heading to Oman in a few weeks. I find hotels with decent internet connection (believe it or not, it's usually the cheap ones where you get the best net access) and let Asterisk route my calls to me, and nobody's the wiser.

No, it's not a traditional vacation. I don't spend a rigidly demarcated two weeks totally divorced from routine, with colleagues and work a distant memory. I normally have to at least think about work every day, and occasionally I find myself doing 10 or 12 hour days in a place where I'd really rather be outside.

But when my "vacation" lasts 4 months a year, I don't mind that. The memory of a few 10-hour stretches melts away when I walk outside and spend the rest of my time being fascinated by my environment, eyes wide open and days filled with discovery and wonder. Since I buy my air tickets in Asia, I can normally push back my return to make up for unexpected work, without paying change fees.

And to be honest, the other 4 months, the ones I spend in Malaysia, are pretty vacationey too. Tropical weather, weekend trips to the beach, monkeys in the trees, exotic holidays and festivals around every corner... the thought of going back to spending the year sitting in the office unless pulled elsewhere by work, well, it's unthinkable.

Re:I think that's pretty rare.

[aclarke]

You're looking at this from a very narrow perspective. Let me ask you this: if the only tools you needed to work were a laptop, internet connection and mobile phone, would you rather work your whole year in some windowless cubicle, or spend a few weeks of it in a luxury hotel by the beach, or at a ski resort, or whatever floats your boat?

I've been self employed for a few years. I've spent my time in various cafes for various reasons, and most of the time it was because I was going to be more productive there. Last year my wife took a course in Austria for 3 weeks. I could have stayed at home I suppose, but why? We just rented a hotel room with internet access, and I took my laptop and Vonage phone and it was business as usual. We now also got to write the whole trip off for both of us. I still got to get out hiking and exploring, I got to experience Austria to some extent, and we took 4 days or so off at the end of the trip to just have a mini vacation.

Are you seriously telling me that I should have stayed at home because going to Austria was a "bad vacation"? Come on. And no I don't take my work with me on every vacation; that was our second trip to Europe for the year. The first one was for 3 weeks and I left my laptop at home.

Need better infrastructure

[cyberbob2351]

I've tried this lifestyle as a daily campus activity, and I have noted the following observations.

• Laptop battery life still sucks. Someone start working on a solar solution :)
• Even on campus, good WiFi hotspots are few and far between. We need hotspots that permit ssh tunneling, and encryption that works...Cell phones with internet hookups are probably the only option if you are backpacking Mayan ruins...
• The home desktop will always be more comfortable, and as a result my files will always be there. Transferring them to the laptop on the fly is a pain when home upload speeds are so terrible with most ISP's
• You lose lots of weight when you are out and about, seeing as how you don't have a home food supply to compel you. A major plus.
• The public environment can be quite distracting, especially when you know people that always come and speak to you. Try and find a lonely corner, and suddenly finding a power supply and/or internet link can be challenging.

Man, I'm working for the wrong people

[Jimmy King]

You can travel a lot more without needing more official vacation time. I've done it.

Everywhere I've worked you don't get a laptop and VPN access so that you can stay home and work. You get them so that after you've spent the day at work you can go home and continue to do more work.

Missing the point...

[Ted Cabeen]

This is my favorite part:

A client calls your office number and imagines you in a suit in a downtown office. In fact, you're wearing jeans and enjoying a midmorning brunch with your spouse. The client is happy because he reached you in one try and didn't get voice mail. Your employer is happy because you're providing prompt and reliable customer service. But most of all, you're happy, because you're doing your job without being chained to a desk. What about your spouse in this situation? Do you think they appreciate having their midmorning brunch interrupted by a client's phone call? Interrupts cost, both in computing and in social relationships.

Re:Life is a Tradeoff

[PFI_Optix]

I'm curious how political positions can "destroy the lives of foreigners", and how that justifies a military attack or is the responsibility of Americans.

There are thousands of homeless people who are homeless because some rich guy's business failed or moved or just laid off a few hundred people in order to stay competitive. Their lives were destroyed by the actions of these powerful people...does that justify an attack? Are those in power not innocent simply because their actions resulted in one person's life being "destroyed"? I don't think so. Sure there are a lot of rich men who simply don't care about the workers they trod all over in search of the almighty dollar; but there are plenty who agonize over every layoff, every person whose life is affected by their efforts to maintain a healthy business.

Here's a better argument:

We are number 172 out of 230 countries in poulation density. Many of the nations below us either possess vast areas of inhospitable land (Russia and Canada). The rest...well, I wouldn't want to visit most of them. In other words, we're a nation with a lot of room to grow.

I make that point to say this: the more work we do, the more we cut down our population growth. Look at Japan with its negative growth rate; they're a nation obsessed with work. They're also the nation that reports the least frequent sex among narried couples; as a married man, I strongly object to this!

Re:McDonalds in England

[Fulcrum of Evil]

In fairness to McDonalds, the cuisine at your local neighborhood McDonalds is far superior to anything purporting to be British food.

So go get a curry. You're in London fer chris'sake.