A week in the Cape Verde sun, where you sip a delicious cocktail with rustling palm trees in the background and your gaze on the sea after a productive work day. Sounds pretty good right? And it sounds like something everyone would like? We can say that’s pretty true, too! A group work trip, as combining work with vacation is officially called, is certainly not only for young people and school leavers as is still sometimes thought. It really is for everyone! We recently went on a working vacation to the island of Sal in Cape Verde and in this blog we will tell you a bit more about the people who went with us.
Traveling without your partner
As an organization, we make sure that we ourselves, of course, are always the first at the destination so that we can welcome the workation participants. The first person to arrive in Cape Verde is Nancy and she is proof that it is also quite possible to travel alone if you are in a relationship. She is in her early fabulous forties and works as an HR professional, rents a house in Spain and is active with investing, work she can do anywhere in the world.
So why is she joining us now on workation? Nancy: “It’s out of my comfort zone for me to do something on my own and that’s exactly why I love it! I super enjoy traveling with my partner, but I also really enjoy focusing on myself this week. In addition, I am using this week to focus full focus on my business plans.” I myself really enjoyed talking about business plans together, as I am working on that a lot myself. We were sitting by the pool and suddenly had complete brainstorming session, so much fun!
The enjoyer of the good life
A workation is obviously perfect for focusing on your work, but enjoying yourself is just as important! Patrick is the one who can totally relate to that this week in Cape Verde! We notice it immediately when he arrives: this is a pacesetter in the group. With grown-up children and a flourishing career as an independent entrepreneur for a municipality, he is bursting with stories that the rest of us are only too happy to hear. Patrick (55): “I joined Working Remotely without expectations. I had been following Working Remotely for a while on LinkedIn and thought why not? Nice food and drinks on a beautiful island at the end of the working day sounded like music to my ears!” Needless to say, we can only agree.
So for someone with adult children, it is also very doable to go on a workation! Something that is not possible for people with young children, who are bound to the Netherlands. Right? Or are they? Absolutely not!
Mother of young children
Workation contestant Sharoni proves that like no other! She loves her 5-year-old daughter, but that doesn’t stop her from pursuing her own passions. Travel is one of them and so the choice to join her on a workation to Cape Verde was a very logical one for her. Sharoni: “Last year I traveled through Thailand with my little daughter, which was already such a cool experience! Now I am traveling alone to have some time for myself. I also show my daughter that you can always follow your dreams, no matter what stage of your life you are in. I really like the concept of the workation: working during the day and doing fun things with the group in the evening. It really is a wonderful week!”
The skeptical solo traveler
The three people we described above are already not the most “cliché” participants you might expect at a workation, but there is another “type” that we experience more often at workations: the solo traveler. A category I fall into as the writer of this piece myself. I am Daniëlle, 36, marketer & copywriter and used to traveling alone. This means that during my travels I do exclusively what I want: wonderful! But it also means that I have to call accommodations ahead myself to check if the wifi is reliable, that I have to look for coworkings myself and plan my own activities. I let myself be persuaded into a workation to Cape Verde anyway and this skeptical solo traveler has to admit: I really liked it! Already at the airport in Eindhoven the feeling of peace overcame me: I don’t have to arrange anything, I get on the plane and at the end of the ride not only a tropical destination awaits me but also stable wifi, a good workplace and cool activities with a nice group of people. Because that last one was also exciting for me; suddenly going away with a group instead of alone. But really, after my group work in Cape Verde I can only say: try it yourself, it is an experience to remember.
As you can read, a working holiday is for everyone. And that is what makes such a working vacation always a success! Because besides the beautiful palm trees and the activities, it is mainly the participants who make the work station really successful. The one in Cape Verde was a great success! Did you become convinced after reading this story that a workation is also something for you and do you want this too? Then check out the next group workation to Spain in April here. There are still spots available!
