Let’s introduce ourselves first. We are Kirsten (37 years old) and Manon (33 years old), absolute bon vivants and adventurers. We have known each other for almost five years now and got married last summer. In the past five years we have traveled a lot together. We’ve been to Andalusia, Gambia, Tuscany and Thailand. We have also visited many nice places in the Netherlands. Kirsten works in financial services at Rabobank and Manon works in health care as a Physician Assistant.
On sabbatical to Andalusia
In May 2022 we went to Andalusia for 7 weeks on sabbatical. Manon still had many vacation hours from her job and was able to take full leave and Kirsten worked here remotely for a month. She is fortunate that her employer allows her to work abroad a few weeks a year because her work can be done completely remote. This sabbatical was an excellent opportunity to experience a workation for once. The type of accommodation was extra important to us now. We chose an apartment with fast internet and where we could create a good workspace to work productively. We stayed in the seaside town of Torremolinos. A place with nice boulevards and cozy terraces and close to the beautiful city of Malaga.
Less stress and more energy
We experienced this workation as very nice. Kirsten worked 24 hours a week for Rabobank. She noticed that the working days went much faster than in the Netherlands. She was much more productive and experienced less work stress. During the break, we often had lunch together in the sun on the terrace, or took a short lunch walk to recharge our batteries for the rest of the working day. This made it feel less like work but more like vacation. Even after a day’s work, we would go to dinner at the beach in the evening or take another long walk on the boulevard. The people in Spain and the surroundings provided more peace and relaxation. And on our days off we visited beautiful cities. We enjoyed the delicious tapas and Spanish vibes. Because we went on adventures on our days off and enjoyed all the beauty Andalusia has to offer, Kirsten was fully recharged for the days she had to work again.
Choose the right accommodation for your workation
When going on a workation, it is important to look carefully at your accommodation. Especially choose an accommodation with fast and good internet and where you can work comfortably. In our stay, Kirsten missed a good office chair. Working for a long time on a simple hard patio chair is not recommended. So choose an accommodation that is fully equipped for workations, where they have a nice workspace for you with a comfortable office chair. A quiet environment is also a requirement. You don’t want to be in a meeting with all the kids screaming by the pool in the background.
Want to know more about the requirements of a workation accommodation? Here’s how to choose the best place for your remote work adventure from now on.
Insights from the workation
The workation in Andalusia made us realize that we think Spain is a really cool country. The relaxed people, the nice climate, the delicious food and so on. We noticed that we feel much more at home here than in the Netherlands and experience much less work stress here than at home. We get more done in the same amount of time and feel much more relaxed. All this, while enjoying a nice wine on our roof terrace of the apartment overlooking the sea, made us realize that we would actually really like to live in Spain. We love to pamper people and health is a high priority for us. We decided to start a B&B in Spain dedicated to vitality. Healthy breakfasts, an environment where you can hike and bike beautifully. But where you can also work remotely and relax in nature. In May 2024 we bought a house in the province of Valencia. Unfortunately we won’t get the keys until April 2025 and because we had already sold our houses in the Netherlands we are now in a rented house.
The remote work life in Spain
Manon had quit her job in healthcare (because she could not take her patients to Spain 😉) and had been able to arrange a remote assignment through her old employer to still be able to use her knowledge and experience remotely. Kirsten had arranged through her employer to work abroad remotely for a few more months, just as she had done in 2022. We both decided to work remotely for 24 hours a week. In fact, we wanted to use the remaining days off to explore the area and prepare to start our B&B.
Emigrating to Spain
On September 30, 2024, we emigrated to Spain. The house is really lovely. Nice and detached with a nature reserve in the backyard for hiking. Because it has three rooms, we were able to install two nice workstations for both of us. There is Starlink internet here, so mega fast internet. We can do our work at the same time and have not experienced any inconveniences. We are very grateful to our employers for giving us the opportunity to work remotely from Spain. We find that the work here is very easy and we are very productive. In between we enjoy all the beauty that this beautiful country has to offer and are slowly preparing for our B&B adventure that we will start in April. For now, we enjoy our work a lot and enjoy the lunch walks in the sun and nature. Sometimes we do miss catching up with colleagues but fortunately while working we also have regular contact with our colleagues to catch up. We recommend a workstation to everyone who has the opportunity to work remotely. It has brought us a lot, such as the insight to emigrate to Spain. A life-changing change for us that we are still very happy with today. And all the wonderful adventures you can have in a wonderful country besides your work will stay with you forever. Let’s do it!
Are you looking for a nice place for your workation?
Then check out the accommodations on offer at Working Remotely. Fully checked by the professional team, so you can enjoy a carefree trip. And of course, starting next year, you will also find Kristen and Manon’s B&B here, so you can experience for yourself how beautiful it is there.
