Direct, spontaneous, a little bit disturbed, very headstrong but above all someone who wants to get as much as possible out of life. That’s me, Annika, in a nutshell. Together with my wonderful boyfriend and our lovely 4-year-old son we have been traveling around for 3 months now. Meanwhile, we are in the 4th country on our list (Thailand, Malaysia, Bali and now Australia), we have repacked our bags 16 times, we have seen and experienced the most beautiful and crazy places, we are cruising around Asia on scooters like real Asians and the camper is now our (tiny) home to tour around the east coast of Australia.
And business? Still direct but also very strong in analysis, strategic, commercial and motivational. And this preferably with a laugh and a joke, because let’s be honest life is too short to be only serious right? For almost 20 years with a lot of pleasure and love stuck in the beautiful world of events. Since 6 years I have been working self-employed as a trainer and strategic coach for event venues with the aim of achieving and/or increasing their commercial goals. Every now and then I also organize an event because I just can’t let it go or sit as a showcaller at great events.
But back to traveling, before we left I knew it for sure; I am already so used to working everywhere as a freelancer, abroad I will continue this as well. I give the trainings online and the coaching in particular is very doable with just a laptop. Easy right? In itself it could have been so easy, what I just didn’t take into account is my own feeling at the moment we left. We are doing a great trip, no idea when to do this again. Then I’m not going to work much anyway but rather enjoy everything and experience this 100% consciously. Like being back in school and someone says to you, ‘stay in school for a while, work will come’ Exactly how it felt.
So how about financially such a trip?
I can think of this nicely but the bills just go on as well. In advance we were able to arrange for someone to sit in our house, this of course saves a very high cost. Most of the fixed costs were included in this so it will only be a small portion of the remaining costs. Fortunately, we had taken the worst case scenario into account in advance so we were able to pay the remaining costs from the money we had saved.
So how did we get this money? Simply, saving, saving and saving. This is where we started several years ago. Of course then you also pay attention to the expenses you normally make, you stop subscriptions you don’t need anymore, don’t buy crazy stuff for the house and it also helps that we are not materialistic persons. We prefer to spend our money on discovering new countries or to have cozy dates at home, as a family, with friends or with relatives. Memories you make, stuff you lose.
Enjoying a family sabbatical
Yes and no, in basic I am not working as I will at home in the Netherlands. But there are still (fortunately) new applications coming in for which I have intake interviews, make proposals, maintain contact etc. There are still a few coaching programs that I give online, maintaining LinkedIn (which I am really bad at, so at the beginning of this year I kicked myself again), updating administration or writing this article after the super nice question from Alieke, coincidentally my former colleague!
Is it always all roses then?
Reality check, we are traveling with a 4-year-old though so your patience will definitely be tested. The steam from a steam train is sometimes nothing compared to the steam from our ears. But however delightfully cliché, it’s all worth it.
Someone said to me the other day “at home they can throw their asses in the manger too, only now you’re on a tropical island where it happens. And this is so true!
Meanwhile, we did in fact snorkel with the little one on Koh Lipe (Thailand), which was a really great special moment. Is he cool also making his own ring in Sidemen (Bali) while we thought we had to keep him busy to keep it fun. Are we exploring the streets of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), walking the Skybridge in Langkawi (Malaysia) over 700 meters high (terrified me), overcoming his fear of getting close to a kangaroo in Australia and flying together in a small propeller plane over the Great Barrier Reef.
Surely this is what you want as a parent, then during the awkward moments we just count to 800 instead of 100 if that’s what it takes. And remember, you’re on each other’s lips 24/7. Doing odd jobs together in your home for the first time is really nothing like it. But make good arrangements for this and, above all, make sure you don’t lose yourself too and forget about time to yourself.
But beyond this, yes definitely rosy! We are 5 months of exploring, experiencing and living it up. Each country is different and gives so many new adventures. We are still fully enjoying ourselves now in Australia but we will end in South Africa, a wonderful end to the series. I can’t wait to stand in traffic jams. Not because there are so many cars on the road but because the elephants figured out that in front of your car is the perfect place to stand still.
Optimal remote working while traveling
- Good laptop! Mine was already older and I didn’t want to take a risk so before we went I bought a new one. Well those grains of sand between the laptop are not very nice and cleverly thought out but to work well this was definitely the best idea.
- Wifi you have almost everywhere but bad wifi maybe even more often. We have chosen to buy an eSim card online in each country so that we can always be reached and work in the basics.
- We work mostly in the evening when the little one is in bed but definitely try to do this during the day as well. It is such a romantic image to enjoy everything during the day and when the little one is in bed to work some more but you are also simply exhausted after a whole day of traveling/discovering (and especially with a little one there).
- In a hotel or an AirBnB it is still ok to find somewhere for yourself and make a call but if you are driving around with an RV then the challenge begins. Many campgrounds do have a shared spot somewhere but you have to be lucky that there are not too many people there. Definitely keep this in mind when planning your appointments.
Grab your chance, go on sabbatical and explore the world!
And honestly, if it can’t be done at the moment but the will is there make sure it will. There are always ways to get it done.‘If you never take the risk, you will never get the change.’ For example, my friend was able to agree with his work to work 10 hours a week instead of 40, to be divided according to his own time. Not every company goes along with this but Alieke wrote a nice article earlier about how you might be able to convince your boss to do this. And the money? Sure you need it but there are solutions to this as well. Set a goal, make a plan and most importantly; stick to it because the goal will be more than worth it!
