One of my favorite sayings is “walking the talk.” Among other things, it means living the way you’d advise others to live. It means living your principles.
Remote working is a subject of special interest to me and to many of my clients. I’ve written about remote working in the past—it’s a hot topic these days. There are even sites specifically targeting remote job seekers. With so much going for it, it’s no wonder remote work is on the rise. For the right kind of worker, the increase in job satisfaction and productivity is a great payoff for everyone involved.
And remote work is not just for employees. If you’re really the boss, why can’t you be the boss from anywhere? Many of my clients are at the stage in their careers where they’re looking something deeper. There’s that dreaded Peggy Lee moment; having achieved a certain level of professional success, they wonder if that’s all there is.
Some of my clients are ready for a change. Not retirement, but something more. They want to keep working, just not necessarily in the office. They’d like to be able to run their businesses from anywhere: a beach, a boat, or in my case, abroad.
“Working from abroad” is a term that’s always held a powerful attraction for me. Why wait for retirement to live my best life? My wife and I have talked for years about where we’d like to live once the kids are on their own. With our youngest getting ready for his last year of high school, that future seems tantalizingly close.
Which is why, when I got the opportunity to live in Italy for six weeks this summer, I jumped at the chance. Didn’t even have to ask, “Why not?” They have the internet in Italy, right? Helping people design strategies for both successful careers and satisfying personal lives is a great way to make a living, and I already do much of my work remotely—it really was a no-brainer. So I’m packing my bags.
Will working from Italy be the joyful experience I expect it to be? I’ll let you know. The plan is to add a page to this blog specifically for documenting the trip and sharing videos from abroad. (Videos from abroad—that’s got quite a ring to it, don’t you think?)
I’ll still be writing and working with clients, but there will be playing, too. My wife is elated, the kids are excited, and I’m really looking forward to walking the remote work talk.
Italy
photo credit: Oh Toscana! https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajaygoel2011/
photo credit: Venitian Highway brando.n
