Often when we think about remote work and community it’s easy to imagine some sort of YouTube or TikTok dream. You know, the one where everyone lands in Bali, operates from a cool coworking (or co-living) space, and enjoy coffee and nights out together? They swap contacts and support each other, often collaborating and finding freedom and fame by the beach.
I’m sure it is like that for some people.
But for many, finding community while we work remotely isn’t that simple.
Cooper and I recently relocated back to the UK on an Ancestry Visa. We love living in England. There’s so much opportunity here professionally speaking. Socially too, in the right situation. I also love most things about working remotely. We have the tech and the know-how to get things done easily. Many employers ‘get it’ too, so there’s no clock watching across time zones – trust exists. And, there are some wellbeing benefits associated with not having to be ‘on’ all day in an office.
Why then, last weekend over lunch, did it dawn on us that we feel a bit “meh”?
What’s going on with remote work then?
A CBS report we spotted on YouTube, shared that now over 17 million Americans call themselves digital nomads. That is, they are Americans living and working in other parts of the world.
In a stat that surprised me, CBS reported that two thirds of these so-called digital nomads were not freelancing or setting up their own businesses. Not at all. They are in fact working remotely for an American-based company.
And this is just Americans we’re talking about here. What about remote workers from all other corners of the globe?
There are now dozens of countries in Europe alone that offer what’s called a Digital Nomad visa, and we’ve seen plenty more options to apply for the same sort of thing around the world. In fact, Colombia is one of the latest off the rank to offer a digital nomad visa, and it’s quickly gaining traction as one of the most popular! (count us in…one day!).
A digital nomad visa enables the holder to legitimately work remotely from a different country, complying with tax rules and enjoying temporary resident status.
‘Remote working’ and ‘digital nomads’ are not new concepts, but they are now far more common than pre-COVID. Cooper and I have been interested in this space since 2019 and I am blown away by the changes we’ve witnessed since going through a global pandemic. Obviously, there are significant workforce challenges being faced by employers due to this change, but this post isn’t about that (although with my ‘Internal Comms Manager’ hat on, I could write a few posts about it…).
I’m in a position to work remotely and experience the benefits and drawbacks of it for the first time, which is how we’ve ended up writing this piece.
Remote work and community
Back to community. I wonder if there’s a tendency to undervalue it when it’s there? From neighbours to friends and colleagues – the incidental banter, conversation and learning that goes on is important for our own development.
With millions of people around the world now working remotely, not all of them can possibly be living that happy collaborative Bali dream.
As a remote worker, you may find yourself in a country where your first language isn’t as widely spoken – this can potentially make it harder to find your tribe. Similarly, if you’re in a regional area rather than a capital or big city, there may be fewer networking opportunities.
Cooper and I have been exploring what works for us and wanted to share our experience in case it helps anyone else in a similar situation.
1. Local area – sports and recreation
The first big tip from us is to find a local sports or active meetup. Often the mere act of getting involved trumps the ability to communicate in your first language. Cooper, being more sporty than me, has always made heaps of friends by proactively asking around for how to get involved in anything from footy to running clubs.
It takes a bit of guts to get yourself out there, but this path usually reaps rewards and long-term friends.
Volunteering is a great alternative if, like me, you’re not as sporty as Cooper but happy to have a chat and turn your hand to anything. There are some great opportunities happening in the UK in this space as part of the King’s coronation!
As dog owners, we also always find ‘dog people’ friends at local parks. And you should keep an eye out for interest-based meetups like Yoga or meditation workshops, creative or activity based events.
2. Find an industry conference ora remote work/digital nomad event
If you know a little about us, you have heard us rave about TBEX before. While attending something like this does mean you need to travel, there’s a high chance you’ll connect with like-minded people and form forever-friendships with people who ‘get’ what you’re doing.
There are now plenty of digital nomad and remote working conferences too, e.g. Running Remote just ran a fantastic conference in Lisbon. Again, these attract people from all different industries and parts of the world. But, everyone has the remote work aspect in common. Connections made at events like this are often life-long and continue authentically online despite distance.
3. Check what’s on offer from your company
If your workplace presents remote work as an option, chances are it’s a big enough company to be offering great opportunities for connection too. Get online and have a look over your company’s intranet or Slack/Yammer channels to discover what social groups are available for team members who share common interests and purpose.
Some of these groups offer a unique chance to not just connect, but to make a meaningful difference to company culture, ‘belonging’ and mentoring schemes. If you’re unsure where to start, get in touch with your workplace’s internal communications or HR team who I’m sure will help you out.
Showing up consistently to add your support and get involved helps to add structure and purpose in your day. And, you’re making a difference from wherever you may be.
I’ve found it’s also really important to participate in meetings and video calls where you can, even if you need to juggle time-zones. Having the chance to collaborate and brainstorm with my team mates from abroad first thing in the morning usually adds a spring to my step and sets the tone for my day.
4. Finding community online
This one isn’t so much about just adding yourself to just any Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn or Slack community. It is about finding which community resonates with you, where you hang out.
Where are you most likely to be so you can authentically interact with an online group and find real connection?
This piece by We Work Remotely offers a few handy tips on how to optimise your favourite channel (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, Slack) to make meaningful connections while you work remotely.
5. Create your own community!
Can’t find a local meetup or online community that’s right for you, or want more? You may not be alone…
Take to Facebook or Meetup and set up an event at a nearby coffee shop, pub, museum or park. You could theme it (e.g. ‘creative meetup’ or ‘expat meetup’) and see what interest you can raise. Sometimes these things take a little time too, so give it a consistent go for a few months to see who you can attract to your online or IRL meetup.
Acting as the connector yourself means you’re making a huge difference to other people. It also potentially helps to add to your professional and personal brand or reputation which can lead to new friends, business leads and opportunities of all kinds.
Here’s our story about how we accidently created our own community, and how we make the most of it now :)
Remote work resources
If you are in a similar situation to us and working remotely yourself, here’s some of our fave resources that support work/life experience in 2023:
Off grid house sitting and travel is becoming a popular way of life for many. Let’s face it, most of us want to switch off from the craziness of the world today. Living off grid is also an opportunity to practice a more sustainable way of living. When we had the chance to chat to Annemarie – an Aussie based in South America and living this lifestyle, we jumped at the chance.
Off grid house sitting and travel – living the dream?
In this episode of Freedom and Four Paws, we meet Annemarie, an Australian who has been slow travelling through Central and South America for the past few years. Annemarie offers wonderful tales of travels and friends made along the way. And, she shares excellent advice on what it takes to survive and thrive living off the grid.
If you’re wondering what the off-grid lifestyle looks like, Annemarie says it is a dream for her. BUT it’s probably not for everyone. That’s where house sitting is a great chance to dip your toes in to see if it is for you.
Getting into off-grid living
Annemarie’s initiation to off the grid living came about by chance.
A friend asked her to come to Costa Rica to help him set up an off the grid art eco events centre on his permaculture farm. Her off-grid experience there lasted seven months where she quickly learned what it takes to survive.
By definition, off-grid living usually means you’re relying on your own energy and water supplies. It also comes with nurturing your own food and learning to truly appreciate all living things around you. An attractive proposition for many of us!
To become accustomed to jungle life, like in Annemarie’s case, you need to be able to cope with isolation, be good with your hands, calm and adaptable.
“You are off grid. There’s no shop, there’s no letter box, there isn’t anything,” explains Annemarie.
Find out more by watching her interview – click to play above
Annemarie shares that it’s important to continue to develop and foster relationships with locals where you live too – often leads come in that way.
Additionally, join community groups in your area, on and offline. Let people know what you do – tell them you do house sitting and people will soon reach out to you. “House sitters are in demand everywhere,” Annemarie tells us.
Annemarie’s top house sitting and off-grid travel tips
Anne Marie’s biggest tip to finding work and getting involved in the community is through WhatsApp.
She tells us that in many countries, including South and Central America, many businesses don’t have a website, they utilise WhatsApp.
A few key ways to finding work on the road:
Join community groups in the region – network and get to know people
Groups (including online like Facebook, or offline in networks) are the best way to find out anything
Tell people what you do – you can’t sell a secret
Engage, develop relationships and opportunities open up!
Join us on our podcasting adventures as we hear inspiring stories from amazing people traveling the world. They’re living their best life, often with their pets in tow!
Subscribe now and never miss an episode featuring excellent tips on how to slow travel, successfully work remotely or as a digital nomad, and house + pet sit. We’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. Search ‘Freedom and Four Paws’
Freedom and Four Paws is brought to you by Travel Live Learn.com.
As a valued audience member, enjoy 10% OFF at our affiliate partner Cloudy – relieve stress throughout the day straight to a soothing sleep at night, visit trycloudy.com and use the code FREEDOM10.
And if you’re a fellow traveller and pet lover who is keen to share your story and inspire the world, visit exhalemediagroup.com and mention FREEDOM20 for 20% OFF any purchased service including personalised storytelling coaching.
In this episode of Freedom and Four Paws, tune in for an inspiring chat about solo travel and house sitting for women. We meet Aussie Beth Wilkinson who’s been house sitting her around the globe looking for a second home. Four years later, she is still searching – but in a beautiful way!
Finding a way into solo travel and house sitting for women
After 18 months being stuck in North America due to COVID, Canada finally lifted restrictions on international travel. As a result, Beth quickly discovered on Facebook groups that:
Australians she knew there were eager to visit family and friends back home;
Many of these expats needed someone to look after their pets – this is how Beth fell into house sitting!
She quickly developed a positive reputation and people started reaching out for her to house and pet sit.
It was actually Beth’s Mum who suggested she use house sitting as way to travel outside of Canada.
In the past four years, she has now visited Europe, America and South America. This is a fantastic example of how house sitting opens up the world for travellers. We hear similar tales from the likes of Lisa who now makes money from pet care and house sitting; and the Frugal Travellers who have a successful YouTube channel about the topic too!
What we learn from travel
Through her solo adventures Beth has been able to push through her fears and any limitations which may have subconsciously restricted her.
The experience she has created means she’s able to apply this confidence to many social and business situations; it’s not just limited to travelling. After, backpacking solo around Mexico, Beth realised that she could adapt and in fact thrive in foreign countries where cultures and languages are very different.
Find out more, watch the interview here:
How to have the ‘remote work’ conversation with your boss
Beth works remotely full time for an employer, and this means she can live and work from anywhere she pleases.
For anyone considering this option, it’s important to have open conversations with your employer to discuss what works best for you, the business you work for, and what you can bring to your role as a remote worker and digital nomad.
The greatest benefit of solo travel as a remote worker and house sitter is being able to do what you want, wherever you want, whenever you want and not having to rely on other people’s timelines.
Beth’s best advice
Beth discovered that there is a niche for solo house sitters. In order to stand out in a competitive house and pet sitting market though, her advice is:
Join us on our podcasting adventures as we hear inspiring stories from amazing people like Beth, traveling the world. They’re living their best life, often with their pets in tow!
In this episode of Freedom and Four Paws, we know you’ll find Beth’s advice is invaluable.
👉🏻Subscribe now and never miss an episode featuring excellent tips on how to slow travel, successfully work remotely or as a digital nomad, and house + pet sit. We’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. Search ‘Freedom and Four Paws’
Freedom and Four Paws is brought to you by Travel Live Learn.com.
As a valued audience member, enjoy 10% OFF at our affiliate partner Cloudy – relieve stress throughout the day straight to a soothing sleep at night, visit trycloudy.com and use the code FREEDOM10.
And if you’re a fellow traveller and pet lover who is keen to share your story and inspire the world, visit exhalemediagroup.com and mention FREEDOM20 for 20% OFF any purchased service including personalised storytelling coaching.
Discover important info on how to house sit in a foreign language destination: be prepared with safety tips for you and the pets in your care!
In this episode of Freedom and Four Paws, we share our experience around preparing for house and pet sitting in a foreign language destination – that is, for us, a place where English is not the first language spoken.
Watch on and discover some of our favourite resources, tips and tricks for learning the language, experiencing the culture, facing embarrassment, and importantly, surviving in an emergency or crisis situation.
How to house sit in a foreign language destination
Ultimately, our top five critical tips for house and pet sitting in a foreign language destination are:
Know where you’re staying. Make sure you have the address written down and with you both on your phone and on your person. This is important in case you you lose your phone or the battery dies.
Make sure you know what the emergency services number is in the country where you’re staying, e.g. 000, 111, 999.
Download key apps before you head off so they’re ready to go on the ground. For example, Google Translate, and your favourite language app.
Always ask what you should do if you get locked out, and what to do if the pet gets sick. Make sure you know what the plan is! Also that there are emergency contacts who will be able to communicate with you.
Just practice: give it a go, say hello, or hola, as the case may be.
We’d love to know what your tips and experience is in this space – let us know in the comments
Join us on our podcasting adventures as we hear inspiring stories from amazing people travelling the world. They’re living their best life, often with their pets in tow!
Subscribe now and never miss an episode featuring excellent tips on how to slow travel, successfully work remotely or as a digital nomad, and house + pet sit. We’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. Search ‘Freedom and Four Paws’
Freedom and Four Paws is brought to you by Travel Live Learn.com.
As a valued audience member, enjoy 10% OFF at our affiliate partner Cloudy – relieve stress throughout the day straight to a soothing sleep at night, visit trycloudy.com and use the code FREEDOM10.
And if you’re a fellow traveller and pet lover who is keen to share your story and inspire the world, visit exhalemediagroup.com and mention FREEDOM20 for 20% OFF any purchased service including personalised storytelling coaching.
In this episode of Freedom and Four Paws, we share some insight on how to make the most of a house and pet sitting and digital nomad community.
Your digital nomad community and house sitting friends!
We cover three key aspects:
the people you meet along the way;
networking in like-minded online spaces;
and getting involved at niche in-person gatherings for travellers or digital nomads.
As house and sitters ourselves, and the group admins of a popular Facebook Group on the topic, we’ve experienced the very best of what this exceptional travel niche has to offer.
Our eyes were originally opened to this wonderful house and pet sitting community when we first took to the road for about eight months travelling, house and pet sitting throughout the UK and Europe.
Each sit saw us meet fun, interesting, smart and creative people. We are actually still friends with all the home owners that we’ve sat for. Some of those people we are actively in touch with on WhatsApp and Messenger three years later!
We went into this for the pets, as you’ll see in some of our other videos. But what we didn’t expect was to come out with so many friends – all with a wonderful story of their own. Take Teresa and Geoff in Malta, or Andy and Helen in Sharnbrook for example.
Getting your doggie fix
When we were living in London, we desperately missed having a dog. We did sign up to a new service called Borrow My Doggy. It offers animal lovers like us the chance to connect with people who want to share their pups for a play in the park or walk. The service was so popular that the ratio of borrowers to doggies available was out of proportion. Lots of people want a furry friend, it seems.
Later on, we came across TrustedHousesitters, and the rest is history!
We started out doing short local sits in the city to get our pet fix and build our reviews, then we took the show on the road.
Building the community – pet sitters, nomads and wanderlust
We got so into the house sitting scene that – just for fun – we started a Facebook Group to attract like-minded souls. Our intention was to connect with people who saw the world the way we did: through dogs, travel and a search for freedom that sees us living and working wherever we want, whenever we want.
COVID obviously put a cold hard halt on our dreams for a couple of years, especially as we ended up in Australia, which was one of the last countries to open up a good two years after the pandemic began.
Our Facebook Group continued to thrive though, and at time of writing is very near to 15,000 members! The Facebook community has offered great conversation, and it’s so heartening to see how many people swap services on there, find their next sit/sitter and help each other with advice.
Travel communities and learning more
Another of our favourite ways to build community in the travel space is by attending conferences.
One of our very favourites is TBEX where you can meet like minded people and learn how to better your craft.
It’s well worth the investment attending something like TBEX. The learning is inspiring and motivating. The travel is extraordinary. But the unexpected benefit is the international friends you walk away with!
Of course, the next one we shall attend is in Greece in 2023… can’t deny we are really pumped about that!
Join us on our podcasting adventures as we hear inspiring stories from amazing people travelling the world. They’re living their best life, often with their pets in tow!
In this episode of Freedom and Four Paws, find out about how valuable a global travel community can be for your work and wellbeing.
Have you found a community through house and pet sitting? Let us know about your experiences in the comments and tag those who you have met along the way.
Subscribe now and never miss an episode featuring excellent tips on how to slow travel, successfully work remotely or as a digital nomad, and house + pet sit. We’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. Search ‘Freedom and Four Paws’
Freedom and Four Paws is brought to you by Travel Live Learn.com.
As a valued audience member, enjoy 10% OFF at our affiliate partner Cloudy – relieve stress throughout the day straight to a soothing sleep at night, visit trycloudy.com and use the code FREEDOM10.
And if you’re a fellow traveller and pet lover who is keen to share your story and inspire the world, visit exhalemediagroup.com and mention FREEDOM20 for 20% OFF any purchased service including personalised storytelling coaching.
A remote work lifestyle for many of us means travelling and working, and we’ve gathered digital nomad tips along the way in our own experience. It all sounds fun, and yeah the lifestyle it is. But it’s easy to fall into ‘holiday mode’, which means no (or less) income! Which led us to thinking about how exactly, we would develop a routine to achieve optimum work/life balance, while still enjoying travelling, developing our creative endeavours, and often, house and pet sitting.
Cooper and I have discovered that routine is critical when trying to maintain a healthy nomad lifestyle. Falling out of a routine means you can quite easily become demotivated. Hence, ‘holiday mode’, which doesn’t pay for this way of life consistently.
While on our travels, we realised our routine (or lack thereof) was letting us down. So, we refined and redefined it, and began again.
Find out what we learnt and did, in this episode of Freedom and Four Paws.
Join us on our podcasting adventures as we hear inspiring stories from amazing people travelling the world and living their best life, often with their pets in tow.
Subscribe now and never miss an episode featuring excellent tips on how to slow travel, successfully work remotely or as a digital nomad, and house + pet sit. We’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts or your favourite podcasting app. Search ‘Freedom and Four Paws’
As a valued audience member, enjoy 10% OFF at our affiliate partner Cloudy – relieve stress throughout the day straight to a soothing sleep at night, visit trycloudy.com and use the code FREEDOM10.
And if you’re a fellow traveller and pet lover who is keen to share your story and inspire the world, visit exhalemediagroup.com and mention FREEDOM20 for 20% OFF any purchased service including personalised storytelling coaching.
Welcome! We are Sarah + Cooper, Aussie expats living in the UK with our Westie dog, London. We like to inspire on how to travel for longer and to live and work from anywhere. Our most popular content here is about seeing the world with your pet, remote working & digital nomadism, and house + pet sitting. Create a global life of your dreams at any age! Subscribe to find out more :)
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