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Top Mistakes Committed By Remote Workers Abroad

Phil Byrne — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:58:43 +0000

Emigrating abroad to work remotely is a dream shared by many, but there are more than a few mistakes that can help to slip you up on your journey to realising that dream. From my own personal experience and that of a number of other remote workers I have met over the years, here are some of the top mistakes that many of us – including yours truly – have made when escaping overseas. Budgeting Badly Budgeting is one of those things that tends to get forgotten in the excitement of moving overseas to work, and even when you do make a budget it often fails to take account of key aspects of living abroad. To make a budget effectively – and avoid nasty surprises when you arrive – make sure that you carry out some in-depth research on your new destination well in advance. Find you about the cost of living from expats who already live there. Find out about inflation and how much you can expect to be spending over the coming months, about rates for rented accommodation and all of the other fees that come with it, about accountant fees and administrative fees for sorting out your [...]

The Eco-Friendly Option

Phil Byrne — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:46:23 +0000

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know that I am always promoting the benefits of remote working. Freedom to live and work where you want to and the ability to do something that you love while seeing the world at the same time are just a couple of the benefits of working remotely. However, even if you don’t travel around the world and live the life of a digital nomad but you simply work from home instead of in the office, there is one major benefit that should not be overlooked: remote working helps you to live a greener lifestyle. New Research Points to Better Green Habits for Remote Workers According to the results of the Telecommuting for Earth survey, which questioned American remote workers about their eco habits, people who work remotely take more actions to reduce their environmental impact (despite being focused on the USA, we can assume that the results would be similar anywhere). The survey found that remote workers do more to help the environment when they work at home through taking numerous actions that they would otherwise not take if they were in the office. For example, remote workers are more likely to: - [...]

Pros & Challenges of House Sitting for Remote Workers

Phil Byrne — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:32:14 +0000

Having just spent the last ten months house sitting and working remotely, I feel I’m in a good position to give an overview of what house sitting is and the pros and cons of house sitting for people who work remotely. First off, what is house sitting? House sitting is basically looking after someone else’s home and pets while they’re away on holidays. For homeowners having a house sitter living in the house is a great deterrent to burglars, it keeps the home insurance valid (some policies are void if the home is left vacant after several weeks) and if they have pets it means the homeowners doesn’t have to send them to a kennel or cattery. In return for looking after the home and pets, the sitter gets a chance to live somewhere else rent-free, often in a far more luxurious property than they would have rented for themselves. As an example, one of the houses I looked after in the summer (five bedrooms with a pool) has been rented out before for GBP2,000 per week. Pros of house sitting for remote workers: Free Accommodation: The most obvious ‘pro’ of house sitting is getting free accommodation abroad, that [...]

Catching Up With Gabrielle In Cambodia

Phil Byrne — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:41:55 +0000

We interviewed Gabrielle Yetter last year on LiveWorkAbroad about living and working in Cambodia. Since then, she has had two books published: The Sweet Tastes of Cambodia & The Definitive Guide to Moving to Southeast Asia: Cambodia. This week we catch up with Gabrielle about her life and her books. 1. Gabrielle, you kindly completed an interview for us last year, has anything changed in your home or work life since last October? Living in Cambodia, things change constantly! The biggest thing for me was that in January, my first book was published on traditional Cambodian desserts – The Sweet Tastes of Cambodia and it is now available in English and French (and soon in Khmer). My research provided me with a wonderful opportunity to see the real Cambodia as I travelled around the country in a minivan with a chef, a driver, a Frenchman, an Italian woman and Cambodian NGO worker to meet with dessert makers whose recipes were handed down from their grandparents. We squelched through muddy villages in torrential rain, walked across fields filled with buffaloes and sat on grass mats underneath wooden huts while old women stirred boiling pots of palm syrup — and had many other adventures [...]

The Rise and Rise of Online Meeting Software

Phil Byrne — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:19:26 +0000

Online meeting software has come a long way over the last few years, and I regularly use it when talking to clients and team members. I thought I’d provide a short guide here to some of the most useful online meeting solutions to help you out if you decide that you want to experiment with them yourself. LiveMinutes LiveMinutes is an excellent online meeting tool that I use regularly. The first thing to note is that the user interface is simple, clean and incredibly easy to use – but that it still packs in a lot of features. You can join a meeting via your internet browser or through your Skype account, and then you can speak to people via video conferencing (you can share up to nine screens). However, in addition to this you can take and edit notes, share documents and upload files. The sketching feature is very useful, and it allows you to illustrate ideas and notes using a paintbrush, shapes and photos, making it feel more like a real meeting environment. You can also connect to your Evernote account and open notes directly, which is incredibly useful if, like me, you use Evernote extensively. You can [...]

This Town Isn’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us; So I’m Moving Abroad

Guest Poster — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:34:01 +0000

More of us than ever are packing up our possessions and are moving our families from the place that we have known for so long to search for a better life somewhere further afield. International flights are now more affordable than they were for previous generations and with the introduction of the internet, it has made working on the road or from home and keeping in touch with friends and family easier, wherever you are in the world. The perception is that most people move abroad to escape from the often grim British weather, but when you look at the destinations most favoured by Brits making the move overseas, this isn’t always the case. Australia More than a million Brits have made the move down under in search of a better life. Although the Aussie climate is definitely one of the main factors in their decision to move, the better quality of life and a much improved work/life balance is perhaps something that draws them even more. However, moving to Australia is not as easy as it used to be as there are several hoops which you must jump through in terms of occupation and health screenings, but this does [...]

All The Way From California To London And Cornwall: Caitlin Enjoys The Beautiful Beaches With A Little Bit Of City Life Thrown In.

Phil Byrne — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 09:41:08 +0000

After moving to London from San Diego, California, Caitlin fell in love not only with London but also with a nice British boy. 1. Where are you from originally? I grew up in San Diego California and went to university in Northern California at UC Davis. As a student I decided to study abroad in London and fell in love with both the city and a nice British boy. Upon graduation I moved back to London and settled here. As the British boy and I weren’t ready for marriage I exercised all visa options (holiday, student, partnership) and eventually settled 5 years later with a Indefinite Leave to Remain Visa based on partnership status. I married the British boy and have fully settled into my UK life, though I still miss San Diego, especially during the seemingly never-ending British winters. 2. Where do you live now? Two years ago my husband had the opportunity to buy and set up his own restaurant The Watch House in St Mawes, Cornwall. I had been with my current company, Distilled for over 2 years and had a great relationship with the company founders so I put forward a plan for me working from Cornwall so [...]

Give Your Employer More Confidence in Remote Working Methods

Phil Byrne — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:32:16 +0000

The recent decision by Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer to insist that all employees work in the office has led to an outcry from remote workers, and companies that use remote workers, around the world. She has been criticised as being out of touch, failing to get with the times and missing out on all the benefits that remote working provides. But banning remote working simply highlights the fact that many employers are still unsure about allowing their employees to work remotely. Often, they are concerned that they will see a drop in productivity, or that their employees will be unable to contribute to the team as well. So if you want to work remotely in your job, how can you give your employer more confidence in the practice of remote working so that they too can see the benefits? Suggest a Trial Your boss may be terrified of the prospect of you going off and working from home, but part of that may be the idea of it becoming too permanent too soon. As well as highlighting all the benefits that you can think of, including the financial benefits of not having to provide a desk and equipment, try to [...]

Judy Has Created Her Ideal Job Working From Home And Is Now Helping Others Do The Same

Phil Byrne — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:00:50 +0000

Judy started out working from her spare bedroom to save costs when she was starting her own business, now 20 years on she has a flourishing business and still works from the comfort of her own home. 1. Where are you from originally? I grew up in South Lincolnshire, an area most people struggle to place. They usually assume it must be dead flat, and are vaguely aware there’s some kind of connection with potatoes! 2. Where do you live now? I live in part of a converted sawmill just outside the market town of Frome in Somerset, not far from Bath. It’s within easy reach of lots of beautiful places, from the Dorset coast to the Cotswolds, and of course London when I fancy a taste of city life. 3. What first attracted you to remote working? Was the change for work or for lifestyle? I never actually planned to work from home at all, I simply fell into it when I was part of a cleaning business start-up in the 80′s. As a new business we wanted to keep costs down so running the business from the back bedroom was the obvious choice. The business grew and became successful, [...]

5 Jobs Perfectly Suited to Living Abroad

Phil Byrne — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:32:49 +0000

If you want to live and work abroad you have a range of options to choose from when it comes to finding the perfect career that will allow you to do just that. By: USAG- Humphreys However, many people get stuck when deciding upon the best career, so here are five jobs that are well suited to getting a job abroad. 1. English Teacher This is one of the classics for anyone who wants to live and work in another country. Although you can make a living as an English teacher back home, you can also travel with this skill to practically anywhere in the world. How much you can earn depends upon where in the world you teach. In some countries the pay is very low and is no more that pocket money, but in other countries you can make a decent career out of it. Also, don’t forget about the possibilities that come with teaching other subjects. International schools often employ experienced teachers and the pay tends to be better than for teaching English, so this is another option. 2. Holiday Rep or Tour Guide This is another great option for people who want to live in another [...]