Job trend “Workation”: She traveled for a summer – without taking a vacation

With the increasing acceptance of remote work, new opportunities are opening up for team members: Why not work on the go for a summer? Lena Pres dared the experiment.

Lena Pres has changed her place of residence 14 times in the past few weeks. From Munich it went to Ljubljana, via Zagreb to Athens and Budapest. In between she made a stop in Split, Corfu and Thessaloniki. However, there is no talk of vacation because she works full time while she travels. Lena is on a so-called workation. A mix of work and vacation, i.e. job and vacation. Unlike digital nomads, who work permanently on the go, their trip is limited in time. The HR manager is on the road over the summer with the blessing of the employer *. She currently enjoys Lake Balaton in Hungary, lives in a tiny house and works in a coworking space. “I love it and could go on like this for a long time”, she says in the t3n conversation.

With the increasing acceptance of remote work among employers, Lena’s example can now be followed unreservedly in many places: ticket and hotel booked, laptop packed in the suitcase , Apartment sublet and off we go wherever the wanderlust drives you. If the pandemic has an advantage, it is that skeptical employers have opened up to the home office and, as a result, also to working from anywhere. While mobile working was the exception until the beginning of 2020, according to a representative study by the digital association Bitkom, more than every third person will be able to choose where to work flexibly in the future. “The corona crisis has shown that flexible work does not reduce the quality of the work results,” summarizes Bitkom President Achim Berg.

Workation: work, vacation – or both at the same time? (Photo: JKstock)

Booked the ticket and hotel, packed the laptop in the suitcase, sublet the apartment – but it’s not that easy, says Lena Pres. So that like-minded people can get the best out of their work, she shares a few experiences. Because it is also clear that everyday life has to adapt to the circumstances. Above all, good planning in advance is important, because unlike in the office or at home, some occasionally used utensils cannot simply be pulled out of the drawer when needed. The standard equipment therefore includes “all conceivable adapters, charging cables, headphones, power banks, mobile routers for WLAN failures and preferably always pen and paper,” says Lena. She is currently both HR and office and IT manager at the same time.

But also the physical well-being should not be forgotten. “After a long period in the home office, it is unusual to think further than the refrigerator for coffee or a lunch snack,” she says. Nothing is less fun than starting the first day of work in a new holiday home with access to the beach when the refrigerator is empty, the coffee machine is broken and the supermarket around the corner is closed. Such matters, she advises, should be clarified before starting work. If possible, preferably the evening before. What sounds banal at first, can actually quickly turn into a mood killer when traveling – especially when the day is full of work. “Assume the best, but be prepared for the worst,” says Lena Pres.

Cities with many coworking spaces are worth gold.

Anyone doing a workation quickly tends to pack too many to-dos in a few hours. But working time is not free time and free time should not eat up working time. “Try to think of the working days in working days with an addition, and not travel too much during this time.” The attraction of the mix of job and vacation would be the exciting after-work organization and not the additional stress of travel. According to the HR manager, it helps to change location on non-working days and to enjoy traveling in peace, instead of making up for kilometers between two appointments or the following working day. “All in good time. This also reduces the risk that you will not be able to work while on the move, ”says Lena. Everything is possible: from a car breakdown to an internet failure.

The local network quality is actually an important aspect for mobile work. Just a few weeks ago, the travel startup Holidu selected the best locations for a workation in an analysis. The company has sorted the city ranking according to important criteria. In addition to the room and food prices, the average Wi-Fi speed is also important. In the latter category, European destinations such as Bucharest, Barcelona and Budapest perform above average. The number of coworking spaces in the respective city also plays a role: Asian metropolises such as Bangkok, Mumbai and Singapore are in the lead here. Lena Pres also appreciates finding the right place to work and being able to switch between different modes.