What Does “Work From Anywhere” Look Like?
I’ve been a work from anywhere entrepreneur for most of my life. From living and working in large, inner-urban warehouses in Melbourne for over a decade in my twenties, to moving to Vietnam to run my online business five years ago.
As an early digital pioneer, and bootstrapped founder, it has always made more sense to work from where I’m most comfortable, especially when it means working late nights or early mornings. When your work is all online, it doesn’t really make a difference where you do it.
I’d say that work from anywhere was fathered into the mainstream by Tim Ferris, who wrote the Four Hour Work Week. He has spearheaded a movement typically referred to as digital nomads or location-independent entrepreneurs, and increasingly remote gig economy workers. After reading this book it sparked ideas for how I could merge my love of travel with the lifestyle of a digital entrepreneur.
I started listening to the Tropical MBA podcast and was inspired by their episode about living in Saigon. Six months later I moved there and started meeting others who had done the same. All across South-East Asia I started seeing thousands of people from around the world living and working in cafes and co-working spaces who had all made this change.
Tim recommended that full-time workers start to negotiate with their employers to work a few days a week from home then gradually extend it to the full week. By doing so it then opens up the chance to work from anywhere in the world, as long as the timezone differences are favorable.
Recent events have erased this task, as we see an increasing list of companies ask employees to go permanently remote.
For the hundreds of thousands of people now faced with this prospect, what does Work from Anywhere look like?
Well firstly, no commuting. This opens up so much additional space in your day. More time exercising, journaling, or meditating can be ways to treat yourself with this extra time.
Secondly, no in-built social engagement. This means you’re probably going to have to seek out local places to work and connect with other humans. Cafes (once they open again) or local co-working spaces can be your saving grace to alleviate isolation or loneliness. This is where hyperlocal is going to get a resurgence, as people energize their neighborhoods, get around by walking or biking, and contributing to community gardens and local initiatives.
Thirdly, there’s the opportunity to move out of high rent areas and potentially launch into living as a digital nomad, and truly work from anywhere.
For most, this is a daunting prospect and despite a lot of information being published about how to WORK remotely, there’s not a ton of information on how to LIVE remotely.
Marie Kondo might have helped people get a little tidier, but that doesn’t prepare someone for downsizing to a suitcase. There’s a lot of logistical things to consider, like where to store treasured things? Where to collect mail? How does the tax work and where should I go live?
This new breed of people who have decided to hit the road with the laptops, moving seasonally between locations, are showing that “flexible living” can be a way of life.
This is the part I’m particularly excited about as my new business, called Kasaba, is directly solving for this problem. We’re making villages that enable “anywhere people” to have a home base they can return to for part of the year, store their precious things, and know they have somewhere to fall back on if needed.
Back in 2018 MBO Partners gauged that 4.8 million independent workers describe themselves as digital nomads, and over 17 million people aspire to be.
This number will have been given a strong surge, and there’ll be a whole new class of services that rise up to meet their needs as a result.
I’d love to hear what you think is going to be some of the key solutions to solve their problems.
