We’ve met a lot of people over the last 2 weeks. It is always fun to watch people’s expressions when they find out we are on this road trip through Norway, Sweden, and Finland – they light up at the thought of it. But what really gets me is when they find out we are working full time as well! I cannot begin to tell you how many people have told me: “I wish I had your job!”, or rather they tell me how cool it is. In my head, I am just saying, ‘yes! I know, I know!’.
It really is such an opportunity, and I am certainly grateful for it. In the end, opportunities are always what we make of them. I could spend all the time in the van, or sitting in an AirBnB, and get almost nothing “extra” from this experience. I could walk around without speaking to people. There is saying: you get out when you put in; I think opportunities need to be seized, and this one, well it is a big one. Now, I am not saying I have it all figured out, but I am doing my best to figure it out!
Someone asked me what remote working means to me. In some spur of the moment inspiration, I said it was the liberation of spatial constraints. It was the freedom that comes from your work being valued for just that – the work! In the end, the client doesn’t really care where the results are being delivered from, only that they are being delivered.
I’ve had relatively seamless workflow until now, and given the long summer days here, I’ve really been able to make the most of each day. It is always fun to have meetings start out with “what are you up to today?” or “where are you?”; but I have to say, besides being in a different country, what I am doing right now is not an extreme deviation of what is possible for every person who works for diconium.
That’s the thing. Remote work, hybrid work, new work; these concepts allow for this freedom from the commute. The 1, 2, or 3 hours that are spent on the train, or sitting behind the wheel can be transferred to a walk in the park, a late evening swim, or an evening philosophizing with friends. I hope that I can continue to use this platform to showcase that alongside working, there still can be great adventure in the day-to-day if you’re willing to go out and get it.