Field Guide · Chapter

Remote Work & Travel

Working on the road is a discipline. The romantic version lasts about three weeks.

06 entriesRead + reflect

In this chapter

06 entries · tap to read

01The 4-3-2 Rule for Workations→
02Pick the Right Wi-Fi (and Always Have Plan B)→
03What Makes a Place Good for Remote Work→
04Routines for Working While Moving→
05Internet, SIM Cards, and Coworking Essentials→
06Mistakes Digital Nomads Make Early On→

Article 01

The 4-3-2 Rule for Workations

Four hours work, three days minimum, two cities max per month.

Marin's first nomad month was four cities in 28 days. By week three he was answering emails on overnight buses and arguing with cafés about Wi-Fi passwords. He returned home exhausted, behind on work, and unable to remember the order of the cities. He hasn't moved faster than two cities a month since.

Don't try to work eight-hour days while travelling. Block four deep-work hours in the morning, finish at lunch, explore in daylight. You'll do better work and have a real afternoon.

Anything shorter than three nights in a city is just commuting with luggage. The first day is logistics, the second is recovery, the third is when you actually start to live there.

Moving more than twice a month destroys productivity. Slow down. The romantic part of nomad life lives in the second week of a place, not the first.

Quiet café workspace with notebook and coffee

“The road doesn't punish ambition — it punishes acceleration.”
— Marin

Key takeaways

4h focused work > 8h scattered.
3-night minimum per city.
Two cities a month — no more.

Article 02

Pick the Right Wi-Fi (and Always Have Plan B)

The internet is your salary.

Test the speed before checking in. Apartment listings lie; 'fast Wi-Fi' often means 8 Mbps down and a router from 2014. Ask the host to run a speed test photo before you book if it matters.

Always have an eSIM with a hotspot plan. When the apartment router dies on call day, your phone is the lifeline — and the cost of one calm hour beats the cost of one missed meeting.

Know two coworking spaces in every city you stop in. Not because you'll use both, but because one will be closed the day you need it.

Phone showing Wi-Fi signal in a workspace

“Your internet is your office. Treat it like rent.”

Key takeaways

Test before unpacking.
Hotspot eSIM is non-negotiable.
Coworking day-pass = best backup.

Article 03

What Makes a Place Good for Remote Work

Five non-negotiables.

Stable fibre internet (not 4G as the primary), a time zone within 4 hours of your main collaborators, walkable to one good café and one quiet park, safe to walk at night, affordable enough to stay 30+ days.

If any one of those five is missing, you'll be moving cities sooner than planned. The cities that nail all five — Lisbon, Mexico City, Chiang Mai, Tbilisi, Medellín — are popular for a reason.

Key takeaways

Fibre, time zone, walkability, safety, price.
Drop the place if more than one is missing.
Stay 30 days minimum to break even on setup.

Article 04

Routines for Working While Moving

Anchor the morning, free the afternoon.

Same wake-up time across cities. Same first hour: water, walk, no screens. The body adapts to time zones faster when the morning is identical.

Block deep work into a four-hour morning window. Treat anything after lunch as bonus or admin, not the main event.

End the workday with a hard ritual — closing the laptop, walking outside, ordering a coffee. Without it, work bleeds into evening and the trip evaporates.

Key takeaways

Same morning across every city.
Four-hour deep block, mornings only.
End the day with a ritual, not an email.

Article 05

Internet, SIM Cards, and Coworking Essentials

Never depend on one connection.

Always have two networks: home Wi-Fi and a 5G eSIM as backup. The day you don't, the Wi-Fi dies during a client call.

Test the connection before you commit to a stay. A 20-second speed test from the listing photo location tells you more than any review.

Have one paid coworking option already identified in every new city. Walk-in cafés are great until they aren't.

Key takeaways

Two networks, always.
Speed test before you book.
One paid coworking on standby.

Article 06

Mistakes Digital Nomads Make Early On

Most are about pace.

Moving every week. The first two days are logistics, the third is recovery — there's no fourth day of real work in a five-day stay.

Treating every meal as a 'café opportunity.' The laptop in the photo is also the reason you didn't actually taste the food.

Not building any community. Friends on the road are infrastructure, not luxury. Coworking memberships, language classes, fitness studios — pick one in each city and show up.

Key takeaways

Slow down. Move less often.
Eat without the laptop sometimes.
Community is infrastructure.

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