How to Find “an Office” Anywhere You Go

Working remotely, you might not always find yourself in the comfort of your company’s office or your home office. There may also be times when you crave an alternative place to work from, and maybe hop on a plane to a different city. Even if you work in a traditional office, sometimes business travel will come knocking, and when you take a vacation, you can almost be certain that work will find a way of following you there.

So it’s important that you find an ideal place to get your work done wherever you are in the world. However, finding ‘an office’ anywhere you go is not that easy. Follow these tips to help find a comfortable place to work no matter where you are. 

1. Join a Coworking Space

Coworking spaces provide the best setup to get work done. They are not only equipped with all office amenities that you need, but they also have dedicated workspaces with the right atmosphere. Thankfully, the coworking space concept has recently been spreading rapidly around the world. Some coworking spaces belong to networks that span multiple cities and even countries. You can register as a member with that network and just drop into one of the connected spaces in whichever city you find yourself, using a single membership.

However, if you aren’t a frequent traveler, you don’t have to take a long-term membership. You can easily find a coworking space in most major cities across the globe. A quick search on the web can reveal the best and nearest coworking space that you can work from. Alternatively, ask around for recommendations and directions to the nearest one from your hotel.

1. Carry Everything You Need

You can’t have an ‘office’ if you don’t have the necessary items to get your work done. Creating an office anywhere you go starts by packing right. Even if you were to find an ideal place to work from, it would be a waste if the items you need to properly work are missing.

If you plan to work when going on a trip, ensure that you have packed your laptop, documents, camera, and any other tools that you need. Don’t forget to carry along your own Wi-Fi in case you can’t find a reliable connection wherever you are going. Besides, public Wi-Fi isn’t always secure. If you don’t have a VPN, you are better off bringing your own to coffee shops or wherever you choose to work from. You can also pack a pair of noise-canceling headphones if you have to work in a noisy place such as a coffee shop. A wireless mouse, keyboard, and laptop stand are also very useful.

1. Consider What You Want to Achieve

An ideal place for you to work boils down to the work that you want to get done. This is one of the considerations that you need to keep in mind when settling on a place to work from.

For instance, if you want to meet with a client and present a pitch, you need a place where you can use your laptop as well as a place where you can find refreshments. A coffee shop or a café would work well in this case. However, you might consider making a good impression and opt for a hotel instead, which generally has conference rooms available. On the other hand, if you need to hold a Zoom meeting, a quiet place such as a coworking space or a private members club would be ideal.

1. Do Your Research on the Best Places

There are plenty of places to work from in different cities across the world, however, there are important things to bear in mind. For instance, some cafes, coffee shops, or even libraries might not have enough power outlets. Other cafes might be noisy, have uncomfortable chairs, or are just distracting.

Your best bet to land a good place to work from is to do thorough research. Look for online recommendations of places that you can work from effectively and without distractions. You will be surprised to discover other amazing places such as art centers, museums, national parks, and friendly cafes among others.

Conclusion

Finding an ideal ‘office’ anywhere you go can be a daunting task. However, as long as you have what you need and have an objective of what you want to achieve, finding a good place becomes a lot easier. It is also good to do some research on the places that you plan to be and make a list of the options that are available there beforehand.

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About the Author

Dana Brown is a young architect, mainly focused on urban planning. She is also fond of writing, which she does occasionally. She is usually inspired by her experiences but enjoys writing for different columns as well.