Digital nomad on a motorcycle: working and traveling remotely

I am Rhodee, born in 1971, and together with my husband I travel the world. Preferably on motorcycles! I have my own business and work as an email and funnel specialist for online coaches and knowledge entrepreneurs. My business in this form has its roots in the executive secretary profession. I worked for many years as an executive secretary at Rabobank. Then I switched to being a marketing assistant at a travel agency and from there my company Eveneef was born. First as an all-round virtual assistant and now specialized in funnels and e-mail marketing. My husband works mostly on a project basis. Work hard, play hard is his motto!

Location-independent work anywhere in the world

I am not a digital nomad who stays in one location for weeks at a time. If we’re somewhere for a week, that’s already a long time. That means my workspace varies from a hotel lobby to a veranda overlooking the jungle or with pillows in my back in a hotel room. The working conditions are not exactly health and safety friendly, but I take that for granted.

With a new annual contract in my pocket, I looked out the window of the office where I was employed and decided on the spot not to sign the annual contract. I resigned. Two weeks later, I was sitting at home. With no job and no idea what I was going to do. One thing I did know: I no longer wanted to work at a fixed location. I had passed that stage. Location-independent work and traveling the world that way had been at the top of my wish list for years.

A digital nomad ‘on the road’ on a motorcycle

Long story short: eight years later, I am writing this blog from Thailand, where I rode my motorcycle with my husband from the Netherlands. Two years before that we took another dream trip and rode from Alaska to Ushuaia, again on motorcycles. And even before that we traveled the world with backpack and laptop, always looking for freedom, new places and a way to combine travel and work.

Our home base is and always will be the Netherlands. We have an apartment there that we can always fall back on to land, rest and make plans again. But for most of the year we are on the road. Traveling, working, living “on the road.

Balance and discipline in your online work

To run my business this way, discipline and a good balance are important. That balance looks different everywhere and varies by country, route and period. Right now, a rhythm of three days driving and two days working works best for me. This leaves room for focus, without the travel itself getting snowed under.

Just a few months ago, we found ourselves high in the Tajik mountains, staying in a yurt surrounded by silence and rugged nature. Those are the moments when work disappears into the background for a while and travel really feels like vacation. It is precisely this variety that makes this way of living and working so valuable to me.

Expectations vs. reality when working remotely

Is it always roses and moonshine? No way. No or bad internet. Stress from customers with acute requests for help right when you just got off the bike. No laptop charging stations. Your own stress because things have to be finished when you actually want to continue traveling. And in addition to working with clients, doing your own marketing to get new clients, and not having enough time for that.

But nothing outweighs being able to work location independent. The freedom I so desperately need is not in an empty schedule. For me, that freedom is in being on the road, experiencing new adventures and running my own business at the same time. For my clients, freedom is also important. Freedom to do business on their own terms. My clients have an online business where email marketing is inseparable. I help them by strategically deploying their email marketing so that it generates sales and new customers. And if someone becomes a customer, the entire process is automated from A to Z.

What is the best place to work (remotely)?

Oei this is one of those questions that is very difficult for me to answer. Almost all places in the world are beautiful if you want to see the beauty in them. I’m going to try anyway.

Ushuaia. The end of the world. What a special place and the wifi there is also excellent. After Ushuaia there is only Antarctica and unfortunately you cannot go there by motorcycle.
Karakol. High in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan. Where people live in tremendously harsh conditions. The food is very basic. They live at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters. The cold and dryness take the moisture out of everything. There is poor internet, no bar or restaurant. What there is. A close-knit community and an otherworldly beautiful powerful landscape. Where we were privileged to spend the night there.
Zaragoza Spain. There are still few tourists. Life takes place in the streets. Long balmy evenings. You can ride motorcycles there beautifully. We speak the language and wifi and internet everywhere fine. And, no time difference with the Netherlands which is of course a big advantage with calls.

Our current situation

Right now we are in Thailand. We travel from North to South by motorcycle towards Malaysia. There the motorcycles will go on a ship towards NL and we will travel on with the backpack and of course laptop. With a head full of memories of amazing moments, exciting border crossings, the sweetest and nicest people, the beautiful nature and above all to our two bikes that brought us here.

In the future, we want to maintain this lifestyle for a while. On motorcycles around the world and when we are old and elderly, we will trade the motorcycle for a camper. Staying at home is not an option!

Follow Rhodee? Website: www.even-eef.nl & my LinkedIn