The older I get, the more I need an escape from the long, cold winters in the Midwest. Being able to work remotely for part of a winter get-away allows me to generate some income, stay a little longer, and have a smooth re-entry when I return. Here are a few things I have learned over the last several trips as a traveling appraiser.
Decide in advance how much contact you want to have with your office. This can range from a vacation message on your email account and phone saying you will be out of the office with limited access to emails and phone calls (and providing the contact information for the person in your office that can help them while you are away) to avoiding any message that lets people know that you are away from the office. Considerations include the amount of time you plan to work as well as the availability of access to phone service and the internet. For my recent trip to Barbados and the Grenadine Islands, I knew that I would have good access to phone and internet services in Barbados, but limited access while on a sailboat traveling from island to island. I switched my Verizon plan to include phone and mobile data at a cost of $10 per day that I actually used the services.
Time spent at the airport waiting for a flight can be billable rather than lost time. I used my phone as a hotspot to provide mobile data for my laptop at the airport to avoid the potential security issues associated with connecting with an unsecured public Wi-Fi account. My integrated cloud-based real estate database and appraisal report writing system,realquantum, performed great using this relatively low bandwidth connection. I also checked emails and accessed a few documents from box.com (where we store all of our documents). Getting rid of our network server and using box.com has made it much easier for us to retrieve documents remotely on vacation, for doing appraisals on the road or even just occasionally working at home.
I learned that the internet bandwidth at my beachfront hotel varied greatly by the time of day. Bandwidth was slowest right after breakfast and just before dinner; so I tried to avoid using any high bandwidth applications during those times. Then, I wasn’t competing with vacationers getting their Netflix fix.
Packing the right accessories is also very important, and this WSJ article provides a good checklist. Tips for Keeping Your Tech Running Smoothly on the Road
After I read this, I decided to purchase a sun filter for the screen on my laptop.
I like my new office on the beach. Maybe we can schedule a meeting next winter.
#travelingappraiser
About the Author
Dan is COO at realquantum and the director of the Kansas City market for Keller, Craig and Associates. Read Dan’s profile here.
Realquantum is a SaaS company providing web-based real estate appraisal software and database products that accelerate the commercial real estate appraisal process.
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