Working On The Go

2020 saw things which we had never seen before. We were forced to work remote, get proficient with zoom calls and be productive while ensuring our health and wellness are taken care of. Not only did we realize remote work is effective and gives us the much needed work-life balance but can also fuel our personal passions! And that in my case was Traveling!

At Everwell, I work as a Product Manager, and we have been remote since March 2020. Post the lockdown, when places started opening up. I just knew that this is the perfect opportunity for me to discover some new places. I, along with my family, decided to spend a couple of weeks in Durgapur in the month of November. We did a 3 day long road trip from Bangalore to Kolkata with our dog Phiphi by car. It was super fun ! Once we reached, we could settle down and attend meetings or work while enjoying the post work hours and weekends with family back at home! We also took a trip to Darjeeling and Sikkim over a long weekend and even took meeting calls from the mountains while sipping some great freshly brewed tea!

It started snowing in Gangtok a couple of days after we came back to Kolkata. This gave us the idea to travel till Himachal to experience the first snowfall of the season. The plan was daunting but boy we were prepared! Driving 3 days straight we reached Manali and took shelter in a pet friendly homestay in Old Manali for a month. This was one of our most memorable trips last year. The struggles with the extreme cold (-6 Celcius), making sure we feed ourselves and Phiphi regular meals while getting those work calls, long power cuts, frozen water pipes, loud travelers and the sheer need to see the mountain all the time — were all real! We learnt so much in that one month in Manali. We realized how important committing to a mental and physical routine is to have a good work day at a remote location. Living sustainably and setting correct expectations in the workplace has helped me too!

Working while traveling has not been that easy but was worth it! It is always best to check with the stay on the internet connectivity (sometimes phone network connectivity works as well) along with power back ups. I personally have had a couple of days where we had frequent power cuts and had issues with frozen water pipes (no water for our morning routine) — so it is very important to keep your team and manager informed on your whereabouts. Also try getting a quiet corner just for yourself — so that you can work peacefully or else one can easily get distracted due to the new surroundings. Everwell has been really supportive during the entire 2 months.

We drove back to Bangalore with so many memories and experiences and realized that remote work is a great blessing. I still continue to travel with my family to places like Kerala and Goa over the weekends and work the week or two while enjoying our seafood and sadhyas. With the #workfromanywhere policy that Everwell has, you can either work in the vibrant offices for in-person meetings and celebrations or continue to work in hybrid/remote and that gives us an immense opportunity to practice our hobbies or pursue our passions while working for Everwell.

Blog Credits:

Akhil Vijayan,
Product Manager,
Everwell Health Solutions
“You can follow their adventure on <phiphi.on.wheels>”