Maartje already lived in different places around the world. She has now been working remotely in communications for 13 years. In this guest blog she shares her story, her crazy places to live and how she got her remote jobs. Just goes to show that even with a family, working remotely is achievable, as long as you are open to the opportunities that come your way.
Moving with the family from the Netherlands to Curaçao
My remote career started in 2012, nine months after I gave birth to our first daughter. My husband and I were both serving in the Royal Navy and had the opportunity to live and work in Curaçao for four years. As communications advisor/spokesperson, I worked for headquarters in Willemstad, but had to do everything in consultation with the communications department in Den Helder. A very special dynamic: when I got to work in the morning, my inbox was already full of emails about plans, policies or projects from the Netherlands but when I wanted to ask someone a question at the end of the day, my sparring partners had all long gone home.
From Curaçao to tropical Barbados
After my second daughter’s first birthday – she is what they call a Yu di Korsou, a child of Curaçao – our placement on the island came to an end. Accustomed as we were to the tropical temperatures, white beaches and azure sea, we didn’t mull going back to the Netherlands. My husband found a job with the United Nations in Barbados and we decided to leave the Navy behind. I went along as a housewife, with no job, no plan but the idea of enjoying the family for a year before looking for something again in Barbados. And so it happened. Only I didn’t find a job in Barbados, but in Curaçao!
I was approached by a large DIY store headquartered on the Dutch island. They wanted to open a branch in Barbados. Whether I wanted to start that project on behalf of the head office. So once again I received the plans, instructions and policies from a different place than where I was located. This time, though, there were two big advantages: we were in the same time zone and Microsoft Teams had made its appearance!
After two years of preparation and construction, the store opened. And unfortunately closed again two months later because of the covid pandemic. A strange year followed. There was no travel between the islands, so all contact between Curaçao and Barbados was by video. During that period, I got a new director, whom I spoke to numerous times in two and a half years, but only saw once in real life because we decided to return to Europe when the pandemic had passed.
On to the next destination: the Costa Blanca!
Back to Europe is a somewhat vague statement. In fact, we had decided that we would not go to the Netherlands, but where? It became Spain, more specifically the Costa Blanca. We found online – yes, online again – a ruin for sale in the mountains. This ruin had a building permit, drawings by an architect and a nice piece of land around it. Even though both my husband and I had no experience in construction, we decided to buy it and convert it into an off-grid, completely eco-friendly vacation home. But in order to afford it, we had to work.
They say there is no such thing as coincidence, and I think everyone reading this story would agree. On the night I thought about looking for a job, I opened LinkedIn. The first message I came across was from my former supervisor in the Royal Navy. He was the head of the communications department in Den Helder when I was in Curaçao. He too had left Defense and had started a communications agency. In the message he had put online, he was looking for a project leader/communications consultant. As you can guess, despite living in Spain, I got the job. And so now I am working again, for a little over two years, remote for clients in the Netherlands.
Remote working in Spain is the best of both worlds
I work part-time, while for the rest of the week I build our vacation home and host guests who come to vacation with us or work with us online! I never expected that we would get so many requests from people who want to get away for a while to prepare a big project, write a book or develop a course remotely. We have a good internet connection and there is peace, quiet and even more peace to work something out. Curious about our home? Check out the Holiday Home on Instagram.
My tips for you:
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If your employer already allows you to work from home regularly, maybe it’s time to ask if you can work from another location for two weeks. If that goes well, maybe those two weeks can grow to a month. And before you know it, you’ll be skipping the dreary January in the Netherlands and working from, say, beautiful Cape Town!
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Cape Town? Why Cape Town as an example? If you are going to work remotely, it does come in handy to stay in the same time zone. That was always a challenge for me in Curaçao and Barbados when you have to communicate with the Netherlands. Then you can keep the same rhythm and you save a lot of mistakes in planning.
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Speaking of planning… I regularly made mistakes regarding AM and PM in the beginning when we lived in Barbados. Do you know a handy mnemonic? M is Noon, 12 o’clock. The A comes before the M, so is Morning. The P comes after the M, so afternoon!
I never expected to have a “regular” job in communications that I would always do remotely. This allows me to combine remote working with my family and living in beautiful summer destinations. I’m very happy about it because this has always given me the opportunity to live where I want, be with my family and still build a career. The best of both worlds!
Read more experiences from other remote workers:
