4 Ways to Improve Your Work-Travel Balance
Finding the correct work-travel balance is one of the biggest obstacles to working and traveling overseas. You'll need to practice some downward dogs to accomplish so. Your ultimate objective may be to work for a large portion of your time to ensure that you don't run out of money while on vacation, but not so much that you don't have time to explore the new place.
It's not that simple, but you can do it if you follow our tips on traveling and working efficiently. For the time being, we'll put on our yoga pants and provide advice on how to strike the right balance between business and vacation.
Is There A Reason To Go Overseas For A Job Or Vacation?
It's a dream come true for some to be able to travel without having to use any of their paid time off while working full-time. When it comes to others, it is a huge logistical and daunting task. The opportunity lies somewhere in the middle of the two options.
A long-term job overseas is an excellent method to immerse yourself in another culture. And the money you earn from working while you're on the road will allow you to stay longer than simply a vacation. Working abroad allows you to make friends with the locals and become a part of the community rather than just a visitor.
The more time you spend exploring a new location and eating the best of the local food, the better off you'll be. Here are some tips for doing your job abroad an advantage rather than a burden now that you've bought into the benefits of working while traveling.
How To Work And Travel Abroad Like A Pro: 5 Tips
Prioritize Regions You Want To Visit
You would-be Phileas Fogg, please slow down. Not everyone has the stamina to complete an 80-day global tour. When finding employment overseas, the key word is "working." There's a good possibility you won't get to see everything. A single inch squared.
It may not be possible to see everything in your host country while working on the road, but you'll still have plenty of time to see the places most important to you. Traveling to one of these high-priority places can make your Snapchat followers envious of your "oh, I'm just relaxing on a white sand beach in Australia with my new pet kangaroo" photos.
Take Local Weekend Trips
A week off from work isn't necessarily necessary if you're going on a city break; you still have to show up for work. So instead of sacrificing your career, you may learn to master the art of the "spontaneous weekend trip." Take a bus to Edinburgh, Scotland, after work and enjoy a weekend of haggis, bagpipes, and the art and culture of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival if you're working overseas in England. Additionally, you might plan a day excursion out of town and see other surrounding cities.
It's not always possible to fully immerse yourself in the culture of a place in 48 hours, but it doesn't mean you can't get a good sense of what the city has to offer. On Friday night, look for places that are only a few hours away so that you may travel out on Saturday and Sunday before that dreadful Monday comes around.
List National Holidays, Bank Holidays, and PTO
Make a list of the movies you must see before doing anything else. To plan the ideal weekend trips, you'll need to know which days you have free from work! Make a note of the number of vacation days, holidays, bank holidays, or any other unpaid time off you have available on your calendar. Keep yourself organized and excited for future vacations by using this list of vacation days!
If you don't want to miss out on that once-in-a-lifetime performance in Amsterdam, make a schedule of days off, so you don't have to phone in "sick" merely to get out of work. The weekend of the performance was a holiday, so you didn't need to fake a cough over the phone to get out of work. Always keep in mind that proper organization is essential!
Allow Extra Time Before And After Work Trips
If you're working while traveling, one approach you can adopt to guarantee that you visit all your locations is to give yourself some additional time before and after work hours. In New Zealand, for example, you may work for ten months on a working holiday visa and visit the country for another month before and after your employment begins. As long as you spend a month on either side of the nation before and after employment, you'll have plenty of time to see and experience all that New Zealand has to offer!