Exclusive Interview With Nick And Manuela
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Remote-working powerhouse couple Nick and Manuela joined us for a month of Unleash Surf to learn to surf, play and get their work done. We asked them about their travel-work superpowers, life-philosophy and hot-tips for soon-to-be Unleashers.
What do you both do for work?
Nick: I work as a Business Process Operations Consulting
Manuela: I lead partnerships for Designlab, an online design education program
Why did you decide to go on Unleash Surf?
Nick: I entered into winter with an open ended “let’s travel while remote working” idea. After a month of planning destinations on our own, the sound of an organized and likeminded community in Peru that was intimate, but surf, work, and culture focused felt like the exact vibe we wanted for a month.
We were trying to figure out how to avoid an East Coast winter after coming back from a trip to Indonesia. The Unleash team reached out to us to let us know there was still room in the February cohort so we just did it without thinking too much.
Manuela: Usually when we plan a trip, we have to think about a lot, including where we’re gonna live, where we’re going to work and what we’re going to do for fun — Unleash made perfect sense because I could learn to surf while not having to worry about figuring out wifi, finding a workspace, etc.
Did you learn anything while you were on Unleash?
Nick: I learned the importance of building and entering a place with a community vs building it by yourself when traveling. With limited time, the community was invaluable for both enriching the experience and being able to instantly form bonds with others, both locally and with fellow travellers.
This isn’t to negate that there isn’t incredible value in building personal communities at times; to me, that is a life skill and really special way to travel, but a different challenge that takes a lot of effort and can be difficult to do while having a full time job!
It helped that the Unleash community was authentic, local, diverse, and each person that was brought in was special and unique, so it felt like something I wanted to be a part of.
With a full time job, it’s priceless that some of the aspects and nuances of remote working are handled in advance… WiFi, introduction to great people and a crash course into the area, nuances of the town, etc.
Manuela: I learned how to surf. That was a huge thing for me as Nick has been surfing for so long and it’s a huge part of his life. I love the beach so I’m happy to come on those surf adventures but it was great to actually learn. And I’m totally hooked :)
What’s next for your surfing/remote working?
Nick: Next up… TBD… Hopefully another Unleash!
Manuela: We just finished a 9 week road trip down the California 101, working remotely, seeing parks, the coasts, and towns, and surfing way more than I could’ve imagined! We’ll be traveling through Europe for several months starting this summer. Hopefully, we’ll catch some breaks in France, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco!
3 tips for someone who is going on Unleash for the first time:
Nick:
- Work on your Spanish in advance. This seems like a no brainer, but we decided on the trip short notice, coming from Indonesia, so I didn’t take that opportunity as my mind was fully in “trying to learn Indonesian” which didn’t help for quickly communicating in Spanish.
- Work on your physical conditioning in advance. If you haven’t surfed in a while, coming in on day one strong and ready to surf will make your experience so much better, because there are always waves, and you’ll want to surf all the time, so having the arms in shape is big!
- Go without expectations and with an open heart and mind. The experiences and deeply layered culture will blow you away.
Manuela: The best part is that you can actually prepare pretty minimally! Unleash handles everything! A wetsuit is definitely good to bring and your favourite sunscreen :)
Want to learn more about our surf retreat for digital nomads? Visit our website https://unleashsurf.com or send us a message on WhatsApp: +19024523417.
