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https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-work-remotelyin-an-exotic-new-city-each-month-1535558855

OFF DUTY TRAVEL

How to Work Remotely—In an Exotic New

City Each Month
Is it possible to keep your job and travel the world, too? These companies help professional nomads take
a working gap year in places like Prague and Marrakesh

PHOTO: JULIEN PACAUD

By Elizabeth G. Dunn
Aug. 29, 2018 12 07 p.m. ET

LIFE WAS GOOD for Krista Jancik. At 35, she was working as an art director at an advertising
agency and living in the trendy West Loop neighborhood of Chicago. Still, she said, “Everything
was feeling a little too routine.” Initially, Ms. Jancik considered planning a big vacation—China,
maybe, or Australia—but then she came across an ad for Remote Year: a fledgling travel
company that spirits groups of remote workers away on a year-long journey around the world.
Though Ms. Jancik’s job was not conceived as a remote position, within weeks, she’d sold her
company on the benefits of such an experience, broken her lease and boarded a plane to
Malaysia. Now, she lives in a new city each month—Kuala Lumpur, Prague, Marrakesh—and fits
in island-hopping excursions in Thailand or camping trips to the Sahara around her normal
workload. “I feel constantly in motion,” she told me via video chat from Belgrade, Serbia. “I feel
more productive, more active, more creative.”

Long-duration travel has

READ MORE: THE OFF DUTY WORK ISSUE »
A Lifestyle Guide for Overachievers
historically been the purview of
backpackers roaming the hostel
circuit, or a class of moneyed jet-
setter with no apparent need for
a regular paycheck. Recently,
though, a new crop of companies
has emerged with the aim of
helping working stiffs take their
jobs on the road.

Remote Year, the leader in the

field, was started in 2014 by two
Chicago roommates, a strategy
consultant and a venture
capitalist. On a whim, the duo
posted an ad online broadcasting
the opportunity to work remotely and travel with a community; within a month, they had
collected 50,000 email addresses. “We realized we were onto something,” said Sam Pessin, one
of Remote Year’s co-founders. The company scooped up $12 million in venture funding in 2016,
now has teams on the ground in 14 cities around the world, from Cape Town to Medellín, and
will put 10 groups of around 50 travelers on the road this year.

For a $5,000 lump sum and fees of $2,000 a month, Remote Year provides its customers with a
year’s worth of flights from city to city, and everything they need to hit the ground running in a
new locale: a place to live, a co-working space and local staff for troubleshooting and
sightseeing tips. The company also hosts regular social events, like wine tastings or
neighborhood walking tours. One month, you might find yourself taking surfing lessons in
Lisbon. The next, zipping around Hanoi by moped.

Mr. Pessin said Remote Year can squeeze a lot out of the modest fees by focusing on cities where
the tourism appeal is high, but the cost of living is low; think Hanoi and Lima, not Hong Kong
and London. The company negotiates long-term apartment leases in bulk. Participants said
their living quarters varied in quality from place to place—a swanky high rise in Bangkok, a
“dank” basement apartment in Lisbon—and tend to be centrally located and clean, albeit basic.
You might have your own studio or a private bedroom within a house or apartment shared
between members of your travel cohort.

A handful of other services offer their own tweaks on a similar theme. Hacker Paradise
organizes one- to two-month residencies everywhere from Bali to Buenos Aires, and draws a
tech-centered crowd of entrepreneurs, web-developers and creative types. Wi-Fi Tribe offers
flexible drop-in, drop-out communities in dozens of locations; Unsettled, which puts together
two-week and one-month retreats around the world, has found a niche among midcareer
professionals thinking through their next move. What they all have in common is their appeal
to so-called “digital nomads”: people who can work from anywhere, so long as the Wi-Fi signal
is good.

The rise of this untethered lifestyle has been fueled by the convergence of a few complementary
trends. The growth of the gig economy and telecommuting are only some of the factors. Mark
McSpadden, vice president of digital experience for Sabre, a travel technology company, said
 ‘She’s living in a new city each month and fitting in camping trips to the Sahara around her normal
workload. ’

that declining rates of home and car ownership, marriage and procreation among people in
their 30s—the largest demographic for this kind of lifestyle—have freed up money for travel,
and given young professionals less to stick around for.

The clientele of companies like Remote Year include lots of entrepreneurs and freelancers—
writers, graphic designers, marketing consultants—but a surprising number of Fortune 500
employees participate, too. Mr. Pessin said that half of his customers are employed full-time
while on the road, and that Remote Year has teams dedicated to selling companies on the
benefits of this type of working gap year as a tool for both recruiting and leadership
development.

All of the programs are selective and favor applicants who seem eager to contribute to a
communal lifestyle, whether through hosting a talk on machine learning or pitching in with
potluck dinners. Few couples tend to apply, and only Hacker Paradise and another such service
called the Remote Life can accommodate families. Unsettled and Hacker Paradise overtly target
personal and professional growth through activities like goal-setting sessions, local networking
opportunities and workshops. “The main things that we look for...is someone who shows up
with intention,” said Michael Youngblood, a co-founder of Unsettled. “We don’t necessarily
care what that intention is, whether they’re starting a new bitcoin company or trying to figure
out the meaning of life.”

All that focus on the community can be a double-edged sword: It staves off the loneliness of solo
travel but can also be wearying, and hinder immersion in the local culture. “It’s very easy to
spend your time with no one but Remote Year people,” said Kate Bagoy, who traveled with the
company in 2017, and has been living out of a suitcase while working as a business coach ever
since. Ms. Bagoy said she misses the logistical support that Remote Year provided—she now
spends hours each week managing travel details—but ultimately, she has realized that she
prefers to move around the world at a slower pace, and without traveling as part of a herd. “You
can get burned out on travel,” she said. “Now, I’m grocery shopping, I’m trying to get my
exercise in, I’m really trying to understand a culture more. I’m living my life, just in a scenic
backdrop.”

LATITUDE MOVE / Companies That

Cater to Nomadic Professionals
Hacker Paradise
Organizes one- to two-month residencies for techie travelers in places like Cape Town, Seoul,
and Buenos Aires. From $450 a week for accommodations, workspace, SIM card and local
events; hackerparadise.org

The Remote Life

Groups of around 20 set up shop in a new location, such as Bali or Siem Reap, each month.
Travelers can join for as little as a week, but three months is average. From $2,000 a month for
accommodations, workspace, SIM card and local events; theremotelife.com

Unsettled
Shorter-duration retreats designed for midcareer professionals in places like Mexico City,
Tuscany and Nicaragua. From $1,700 for two weeks for accommodations, workspace and local
events; beunsettled.co
Wi-Fi Tribe
Divides the year into several “chapters” in a range of different locations, from Berlin to
Malaysia. Members have the flexibility to join for as little as one, or as many as 10. From $900
for four weeks for accommodations, workspace and local events; wifitribe.co

Remote Year
The category leader, and the biggest commitment. Offers four and 12 month itineraries
exploring a new city each month. From $11,000 for four months for travel between cities,
accommodations, workspace and local events; remoteyear.com

Appeared in the September 1, 2018,

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