Location, location – new approaches to agile working open up possibilities

Whether I would be writing this pre-Covid, I’m not so sure… not meant in a negative way by any means but life was pretty different before March 2020.

I’m not going to go into the detail of what was good/bad about Covid, that’s a whole different debate but I do believe there was plenty of both. What I do want to focus on is this:

It’s not often you’re given amazing opportunities and if the past has taught us anything, it’s to grab these opportunities and experiences with both hands. Admittedly, I’m very fortunate in that I can on this occasion, I have no children or pets; I do have a home and a job, both of which require me to be in the UK but my employers, colleagues and those around me through work and personal life are understanding, supportive, see the bigger picture and are generally awesome. Why am I sharing this and what have my bosses agreed to? Only for me to go to San Diego, California for 4 weeks and work from there – WOW!!

You may be wondering why San Diego? Well…it certainly wasn’t in my top 5 or even 10 places to go but a family friend, who is like another parent to me and has been since I was little has been involved and works for TrustedHousesitters, building a global community where pet owners can go on holiday and/or enjoy travelling whilst knowing their pets are safe and well looked after at home. Angie asked a while back if I’d want to join her on this housesit, where we would both be working but have evenings and weekends to explore. 

I wasn’t sure at first, in fact I didn’t speak to anyone about it as doubted whether it was something I could do at this stage in my life/career. Most work/travel opportunities are geared towards young people, students, trainees. Then there was the distance, cost, I didn’t want/couldn’t take 4 weeks annual leave and to top it off, I hate long haul flights ever since going to Australia! But I took my own advice for a change and came to my senses, because if a friend or colleague was in my shoes I would tell them to go for it, so, I asked the question in order to find out if it was even an option.   

The positive response did take me by surprise and the reaction from my one boss sealed my decision to go for it when he asked why I was even hesitating! My other boss didn’t question it either he just said “if you can make it work then it’s a yes from me”. 

I don’t think either of them realise how much this means and how much I appreciate what they have done!

I thought my travelling (apart from holidays) days were over, which at times since graduating, was hard to accept because I’ve lived in several places, been to many locations and both my parents left home at a young age to travel the world so it’s in my blood and I simply love it! Like I said above it’s not often we, us older folk, who are pretty established in life and work get the chance to just book a flight, pack our laptop and put the working from anywhere at any time to the test, it’s exciting.           

We live in a world where technology gives us so much freedom to do things that are not necessarily the norm, add to that the last couple of years and working for employers who are open minded and when opportunities come knocking will listen, support and encourage means that I fly to San Diego in less than 6 weeks!  

I will let you know how the working from 5,000 miles away is going in my next blog! Until then, I have plenty of work and travel arrangements to organise, as well as mentally gearing myself up for over 11 hours of travelling on my own, but, it’s all going to be worth it for the experience and the memories.