Work From Anywhere Blog Week 10: You can't work more remotely than this!

Drone view of our RV at the rental

This second-to-last week of my 80 day “work from anywhere” adventure brought us out into the middle of nowhere (fittingly) in Idaho. We drove over 3 hours from Boise to Almo, which is located 30 miles from the nearest ...well...anything . Almo has one general store and a single “hotel” (it also appears to have a steakhouse to accompany the hotel, but it wasn’t open when we were there). Yet again, we were staying with family in a lodge style, air bnb rental (that you see pictured here), set beautifully in the valley, near the City of Rocks National Reserve. We also enjoyed sweeping views of the snow capped mountains, which surrounded us on all sides.

Desk view!

I think that the word fortuitous, under sells how lucky I was that the internet at this rental was fast enough for video calls. We were 30 miles from ANYTHING. Thinking back, it blows my mind that we even had electricity out there. But the WFA gods smiled down on me this week and the entire dirt road I was on had a fiber optic cable running right to the property. I was pulling the same speeds as I would have at home. The only downside was that their wireless router was a bit dated and didn’t reach many of the rooms in the house.

So beyond the gift of high quality connectivity, my workspace was limited to the bedroom where both girls slept. This meant that many mornings, I would be on video calls talking while Selima was still passed out right next to me. Obviously not ideal.

The sunsets in Almo did not disappoint

In retrospect, this entire week completely embodied the beauty of being able to earn an income from anywhere. Here I was operating 30 miles out in the middle of the mountains, without any disruption in my ability to deliver. Looking back on it, it was kind of surreal. And of course it wasn’t ideal in terms of dedicated space, but it more than made up for it in terms of remoteness and gorgeous scenery. We couldn’t have been more out in nature.

The girls enjoying a fire!

Next week will be my 11th and final WFA post from our 80 day cross country, RV adventure. While I look forward to the normalcy and simplicity of having a dedicated and reliable workspace, I will absolutely miss the experience and high associated with conquering RV life.

Cheers!

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Portable Desk

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 0 GB / work day (I had wifi).

Click here for our WFA Gear Page

Work From Anywhere Blog: Week 9; Starting my new job on the road and seeing family

Recently, it has begun to feel like I enjoy torturing myself with “new” things. This week we met family in Boise, Idaho, where I started my new job remotely from our Air Bnb rental (my first time from a rental).

Western Collective Brewery

After leaving the Grand Canyon, we drove 13 hours north to Boise, for a much needed reunion with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, 2 year old nephew and 7 month old niece. It was the first time seeing them in well over a year and the first time meeting our niece (their first time meeting Gloria as well). We had an awesome week catching up, visiting local breweries in the afternoon (shoutout to Clairvoyant, Payette and Western Collective breweries!) and hanging out at the house. Originally, I had planned to take time off for this week and next, but again, as the WFA gods would have it, I was starting a brand new job instead.

Our original intention for my workspace, was to use one of the bedrooms as my “office” (connected to wifi). I store a relatively inexpensive desk in our RV (desk link), which can be assembled in minutes and then disassembled to be stored under the RV bed for transport. By setting this up in the house and mounting it with my 27” HP monitor, laptop, mouse and keyboard, I essentially duplicated my RV office, inside of the rental.

My “office” in the rental!

This sounded all “well and good” until we actually put it into practice. Since we were 2 hours behind the east coast, my first meeting started at 7:30 AM MST. This meant that if I wanted to start work at my desk, I would need to wake up Gloria AND Kailah (No - the girls don’t sleep this late at home, but our time zones are all over the place lately). Obviously, waking a mom, or an infant, is not good practice, so I would grab my laptop and sit out on the deck to take my first call or two of the day. At my previous company, this wouldn’t have been that big of a deal because I was comfortable with my boss and all of my stakeholders (and they trusted me in general). However, at the new company, I was the new guy and I’m sure it looked a bit strange to see me sitting outside on a deck, shivering, while my breath rose up in front of the camera.

Uncle Jared and I having a beer after work with the babies :)

Overall, I think this week went pretty well. It was exhausting to balance starting a new job, with the excitement of spending time with family. I guess I’ll find out the truth in the future, once my new colleagues feel comfortable enough to tell me.

You must be thinking…why didn’t you just work from the RV?! This is one obstacle that I wouldn’t have known without experience. Being a “newbie” to RVs, I just assumed that as long as your batteries were charged, everything inside of the RV would “work”. This is not the case in our RV (and I assume most others). All that is functional from battery power is our lighting, usb ports, vent fans, cockpit console, refrigerator and few other mechanical essentials. This means that the ACs, TVs, microwave, and most importantly, the 120V outlets aren’t. Since I need those outlets to power my laptop and monitor, I’m out of luck. Sure, I could work out there with my laptop until the computer battery died, but that isn’t a permanent solution. I also could run the generator to provide power to the entire unit, but I doubt the residential neighbors would enjoy that sound with their morning coffee. I know many people have worked around this issue with designated outlets and inverters. I’ve also read that they use an inverter cord to convert the “cigarette outlet” to a 120 volt from the cockpit (just like in your traditional vehicle). These definitely sound like viable options, and I might head down one of these paths, but I wanted to be sure to call this situation out because it makes working “off grid” a major challenge otherwise.

Anyway, cheers to a quality week spent with family and a relatively uneventful first week on the remote job. Next week we are driving to remote Almo for another week with family in the beautiful Idaho countryside (get it? remote Almo…like remote work…it doesn’t matter where you are!).

Cheers,

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Portable Desk

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 0 GB / work day (I had wifi).

Click here for our WFA Gear Page

Work From Anywhere Blog: Week 8; New job prep in the Grand Canyon

Last week we spent my second “in between jobs” week in the Grand Canyon. Since I was starting my job on Monday, I also had to navigate the logistics of getting my device and preparing to begin working.

Reunited in time for a Grand Canyon sunset!

This was the best week so far for our RV road trip adventure. Not only did we spend it in the Grand Canyon, but I was off from work AND my Mom and Aunt came to visit. Neither of them had really traveled since the beginning of the pandemic, so after they got their vaccinations, they decided to fly out to Phoenix and visit us at one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. I hadn’t seen my Aunt in over 14 months and my mom since the beginning of the trip. It was awesome to share this experience with them (neither had ever seen the canyon), but also have someone to keep an eye on the girls, so that Kailah and I could spend some dedicated time together.

Mid-hike back up the Bright Angel trail

The week was highlighted by a 6 mile round trip hike into the canyon and back on the Bright Angel trail. As I’m sure you can imagine, this trek definitely requires some physical fitness. It switchbacks down into the steep bank of the canyon, through rock overhangs, getting warmer as you descend (I read that for every thousand feet of descent, you gain 5 degrees Fahrenheit). The views are spectacular and in the spring, the temps are very reasonable. So despite the climb, it’s easily one of the best hiking experiences I’ve had.

In addition to the Bright Angel hike, we also walked the rim trail (which I would recommend for all fitness levels), drove the south rim and took a day trip down to beautiful Sedona, Arizona. I could write about all of these experiences in detail, but since this is a WFA blog, I’ll try and stay focused.

Enjoying the views!

As for work, it was hard for me to believe I’d be starting that following Monday. In order to be ready, I had my new company send my device (computer and docking station) to my sister in law in Washington. We were meeting them on Sunday, after ~15 hours of driving up to Idaho, at an Air BnB in Boise. These are logistics I never thought I would need to stress about. Fortunately, they received the package and remembered to bring it to me.

I also had never started a new job remotely before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Normally you show up, someone greets you, you get your badge, get settled into your desk, go to orientation etc.. All I could do was turn on my computer and wait for my first meeting. Fortunately, my new boss sent meetings to my Gmail, so I could at least be prepared for my first few days.

Time alone together for a second GC sunset!

One thing I did want to note for anyone looking to work from the Grand Canyon, is that it’s absolutely possible. During the drive in, we didn’t have any service. But when we arrived at the RV park and campground, I had ~50-100 mbps download speed with Verizon. I could have easily held video calls and managed anything else that I needed to.

Well that’s all for this week. My next post will be all about starting a new remote job on the road and the challenges it brings. Fortunately, we’re renting a house with family (and wifi), so as long as I can hide from the kids, I should have a smooth first week.

Cheers!

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 0 GB / work day (No work this week!!!).

Click here for our WFA Gear Page