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Like our travel style, our workload has been evolving throughout the years, and we’ve had different levels of work-based responsibilities during the long term trips we’ve taken. During our last trip to Asia, we experimented with different working styles (e.g. coworking spaces and working from home) and time spent in one place and noticed the effect on our productivity. We noticed (unsurprisingly!) that we seemed to get the most done when we were based out of one place for a while, and took this into account over the summer when we were planning our trip to Mexico, as our workloads have recently increased.

Since we decided we liked Mexico City for our workspace, apartment and culture, we’ve signed a six month lease that we feel will allow us to develop some great structure and routine around our schedule which will help us to stay productive and accomplish our work goals. That said, we are still excited about being in our new environment and are prioritizing getting out to explore the surrounding areas over the weekend or during downtime, and we love the fact that knowing we’ll be staying for six months takes the pressure off of seeing and doing everything right away. With lots of time to plan and visit, we’ll be able to travel to these places when the time is right and not feel like we have to sacrifice our focus on work!

On this episode we talk about our experiences with finding a good work/travel balance while we’ve been on the road, and how we found we do better when we settle down in one place for a while. We talk about why we choose to travel since we have the opportunity to work remotely as opposed to working in Canada, how we still prioritize exploring the area we are living in, and our thoughts on Mexico City being a great option for Digital Nomads.

Enjoy!

What we talk about in this episode:

• Balancing travel with work when you are living a Digital Nomad lifestyle
• Our recent workload increase starting the fall, and how this differs from previous times we’ve traveled with more project based work and less responsibility
• How this change has affected the way we are able to plan our leisure travel time, and how constantly being nomadic can be a little stressful with a busier work schedule
• The benefits of introducing additional structure to your routine when you are working as you travel
• How slow travel can help with your time management, productivity and finding a balance to work more regular hours while still finding time for adventures and leisure travel over the weekend or during downtime
• How it can be nice to settle down for an extended period of time in one area if you are able to work remotely, and how this can help to scratch your travel itch even if you aren’t constantly traveling between destinations
• How although the idea of long-term backpacking is becoming more and more common, it’s still a bit foreign to people to think of moving to be based out of one location, even if they are able to run their business online
• Some of the reasons people choose to move to different locations to work remotely (For example, the Canadian winter is a great motivator!)
• Our thoughts on what a good time frame might be to plan to stay in one place before moving on while working, depending on what you want to get out of your experience and what you might like to do in a place, and how this can range from anywhere from two weeks to three months
•  How knowing you’ll be staying in a place for an extended period of time can help motivate you to go out and experience the city in the hopes of starting to build a community in your new destination
• Looking into the visa restrictions of countries you might want to work in to help make your decision of where to go, for example it was a little challenging to get our visas extended in Bali as opposed to in Mexico City where Canadians and Americans can stay up to 6 months under NAFTA
• How our new hub and spoke travel style seems to work a lot better for our increased workload while still allowing us to check out the surrounding areas
• Our pick of Mexico City as a great place to check out as a Digital Nomad due to its affordability, proximity to Canada and the US in case you need to make a run back home, the great eats, vibrant culture and opportunity to learn/practice Spanish
• Our experience of living in Chiang Mai for only a month making us feel like we had to constantly be seeing things during our downtime on Sundays, as opposed to knowing that we will be living in Mexico City for at least six months, which allows us to feel like we will have enough time to eventually experience the things we want to and don’t have to rush through them
• How we experienced an increased sense of satisfaction in our work once we slowed down our travel pace because it allowed us to stay on top of our work schedules better
• Our experience experimenting in Asia with different work/travel schedule types and the length of time we stayed in one place, and how this ultimately helped us realize we enjoyed a slower travel style and settling down to feel more productive in our work
• How we still ensure we prioritize our plans to get out and explore the area around where we are based out of to work, and how these travel plans and being somewhere new gives us something to look forward to
• The ever growing opportunities online that allow people to live a more nomadic lifestyle and travel to places they’ve always wanted to
• How being motivated to see and experience things in a new environment that you know you will only be in for a limited time can sometimes mean that you end up seeing more than locals who have lived there all their lives!
• How you can add travel to your life wherever you are and even if you’re tied to one place for the time being, by making shorter term or weekend trips to local sites and attractions

You can also check out our new travel community on Facebook where you can ask questions, get travel recommendations, and find community members in your area!

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Music Credits:

www.bensound.com