My laptop and I are based in Oklahoma this week. I’m pretty sure most of my freelance clients haven’t even noticed that I’m on the road. I’ve gotten a ton of work done, along with seeing family, catching some great meals and even meeting a few people in person that I’ve been following on Twitter.
It’s the time in transit that really makes it easy for me to work while traveling. I never thought that would be true — I have motion sickness like you wouldn’t believe — but there is still plenty I can accomplish on a long drive or flight. I can outline upcoming projects, write emails, make phone calls and just about anything else (as long as I do it in short spurts or take some Dramamine). It helps that I have an iPhone — I have an internet connection wherever I go. But I could get work done without it: when it comes to writing, I just need a pad of paper and a pen. Even working while flying isn’t a problem.
That’s one of the reasons that, at least for me, freelance writing has been such a good fit with traveling. It’s still possible with other businesses and careers, of course. No matter what you’re doing, it’s just necessary to have an idea of what you’re going to work on before you get in the car. I printed out a list of my upcoming projects, just so that I would have an idea of what I needed to accomplish even if I couldn’t access my task list. The same approach would work if you needed to plan a sales strategy, put together a memo or design a website.
