Three true stories of telecommuting (and travel) during 2020
2020 will be remembered by the vast majority as a terrible year in many aspects and, above all, in traveling. But very far from the collective image there is a small group that, without making too much noise, has made the year of the pandemic and closed borders the year of his life.
taking advantage of the telecommuting almost compulsory, there are those who have not resigned themselves to staying locked up in its four walls and have seen, precisely, an opportunity to discover the world without limits and radically change your way of life.
Three testimonies have shown us how, in the midst of fear and global uncertainty, they packed their bags and took their passport for a journey that still continues . At this point, if you don't want to die of envy, stop reading.
Telecommuting allows you to spend time in other places (as long as you can travel, of course)
"I DIDN'T TELL MY BOSS"
The life of Vassili, fictitious name that we give to a consultant of an international organization in New York , Bulgarian and 35 years old is worthy of a novel. In January, pending the renewal of his contract, he decided to spend the little savings he had on a trip to Southeast Asia.
At the time when the virus was starting to be a problem in China, Vassili was in India cultivating one of his great passions: skydiving . Later, he spent three weeks with a friend in Thailand and then Indonesia, away from the cold New York winter.
Without much money in the portfolio, he returned to New York to put pressure on his new contract. It was March and the pandemic had fully hit Europe and was beginning to reach the United States.
“Like many people, when the quarantine was decreed, I began to feel anxiety, tension and fear in the environment. I thought things were going to get worse in New York and I rebelled against that state of mind ”, he explains.
On March 28 he signed his new contract . On April 4, without much thought, he bought a flight to Hawaii. There lived a friend whom he met on a trip to Costa Rica. "I didn't tell my boss," he continues. "Once in Hawaii I told him about it and, of course, he didn't like it, but I told him clearly that I needed to move and he ended up accepting it."
Hawaii opens its doors to travelers from all over the world
Vassili had to adapt to a new time zone -"9 in the morning in New York is 3 in the morning in Hawaii"-, but he didn't care about anything: "I was in fucking paradise, on a different planet where I listened to the birds sing and I fell asleep looking at the sea”, he says.
What was going to be a two-week trip turned into two months. . “The situation was getting worse and there were fewer and fewer reasons to return. That's when I realized that I did not want to be in the city, nor in closed spaces, but in nature ”, he points out.
“I was addicted. I didn't know how to leave it. I had no doubts, for my mental and physical health. I told myself: the world is changing and I am going to change too Vassily continues.
With that determination, he returned to New York, left his apartment and the high rent, put his things in a storage room and packed for his next destination: Montana, where the summer sun sets at 10:30 p.m. . There he rented a house with some friends who had been convinced by his experience in Hawaii. They worked in the morning with their laptops and the rest of the day was dedicated to exploring the impressive landscapes of the Glacier National Park.
After Montana, after a brief stay in New York, Vassili was in his native Bulgaria for a month . It was the first time in 10 years living in the Big Apple that he was able to spend more than a week with his family. After the experience in Montana, the idea arose of setting up a similar house in Sintra, Portugal. That was his fate in September.
There he met Pablo, a 29-year-old software developer from Madrid, whom he had previously met in New York.
Sofia, Bulgaria
**"WHAT I ALWAYS DREAMED OF" **
Pablo spent Christmas 2019 in the Philippines . On January 15 he was scheduled to travel to shenzhen for an electronic engineering fair but, by then, everything had gone wrong. His change of plans was to go to Uruguay, where his girlfriend, Regina, lived, with whom he traveled to Argentina, where they both spent their quarantine, and then to Sintra, where he met Vassili.
During his stay in Buenos Aires, in contact with Vassili and with other friends who had already begun to travel, he considered the possibility of living traveling the world building houses with friends.
“It's a lifestyle I've always dreamed of. Live with friends in houses in different countries ”, assures Pablo. Juggling the times and changing travel conditions that countries were adopting, he began looking for houses in Azores, in mainland Portugal and in Corsica.
“We were looking for the best houses for more than 10 people and we offered a third of their cost in normal times. The owners have hardly been able to get money this year and they used to accept, ”he says. Thus, for example, Sintra's option.
Azores
This, together with many of his friends were teleworking , led them to fill the house with relative ease. Paul relates that to travel like this you have to be constantly aware of travel restrictions.
“Half of those who I proposed it to backed down for fear of uncertainty but many others took the step and have not regretted it ”, he continues.
For Pablo, the global pandemic has resulted in a resurgence of a kind of global hippism. He was inspired by friends who had lived in a commune outside of Seattle and by existing communities like the Lightning Society and Wifi Tribe, which bring together like-minded people to live as digital nomads around the world , “a trend that covid has opened up to many more people,” explains Pablo.
After Sintra, both Pablo and Vassili have spent the last month in Lanzarote, in a house that has followed the same philosophy as their previous trips throughout this year: work remotely and spend time with friends in the middle of nature , sharing the day to day and experiences that until now were only possible during the holidays.
Another advantage that both have found in the nomadic life has been in the economic aspect . Contrary to what it might seem, being constantly on the move has been cheaper for them than living in their usual place of residence, enjoying plans for which they would normally have to save for a season.
“Once you get rid of your fixed expenses, it is incredible how much the salary you earn in a month can give you. In the end you spend less and live better ”, says Paul.
Lancelot joined them
FROM ISLAND TO ISLAND, SURFING FROM MONDAY TO FRIDAY
In Lanzarote, although in a different plan from that of Pablo and Vassili, there is Lara, a 31-year-old Spanish woman who works in the sales department of a technological multinational . She lived 25 years in Munich and in 2019 she returned to Madrid, where she was confined with her parents. Four months ago, when they opened, Lara escaped to Mallorca in search of “water and nature”.
“There I began to eat my head and came into contact with four people who wanted to do the same as me. I told myself that I was going to take advantage of the covid to travel. I had my surfing shin nailed and I chose Lanzarote. The second wave and the new restrictions came and I got into a flight odyssey, but I made it . My boss didn't know anything but then he had no other choice: he accepted it”, she says.
in Lanzarote, Lara has turned her work week into working from 9:00 to 16:00, surfing from 16:00 to 18:30. and have beers with other people from different cities around the world that the flight from the pandemic has brought to the island.
she came to Famara, north of Lanzarote , in October. “Everyone I know who has passed through here with the intention of telecommuting for a while has changed their flight back,” says Lara. She herself has just rented a new apartment facing the sea until March, away from the cold of the peninsula. "I don't think about going back," she says.
What if we spend a few months teleworking from Lanzarote?
Her friends, those she has met there, have followed similar paths. One works for a chemical company in Barcelona, the other two are colleagues in the offices of a delivery company in the same city... They all share having jobs they can run from their laptop and phone, and a passion for the outdoors and sports. . “I never would have imagined this,” says Lara.
For Vassili, Pablo and Lara things have aligned . In their companies have allowed telecommuting indefinitely , their bosses have been understanding and, finally, they have been able to trace well the map of a closed world to learn to move in it . Then they have only added their attitude and desire to continue traveling.
The main conclusion is condensed in what Vassili says: “It has been the year in which I have traveled the most. I have been living with wonderful people, every place has become my home . All of this has offset the emotional cost of not having stability. I can assure you that it seems idyllic because it is idyllic, there is no dark side… In 2020 I have recovered my life in every way”.