Anyone travelling and working remotely with kids?

[efraim]

I have two kids (1 and 3 years old) and would like to spend some time abroad with my family. Have you done this before and have any recommendations of places to go? 

[StefanaZ]

Ooooh, this is officially my favorite topic. I have a 4 yo and we've travelled a lot together, plane, train, car, you name it. I've learned a few things:

1. It's easier to take care of the kids when at a beach cause the sand provides endless fun. 😄
2. It's necessary to come up with a plan and establish some ground rules with your spouse before the trip, to set expectations and determine when you're going to work and when you'll be sharing kid-related responsibilities.
3. Reduce your workload during those days cause, no matter how well-organized you are, not everything will go according to the plan (the kids are out of their routine so they don't always collaborate).
4. Have a "secret bag" of toys the kids haven't seen before (even if it's something small, like a rattle, a squishy, a coloring book, or playdough) because it'll be new to them and keep them occupied for at least 15 mins when you have to quickly reply to an email or something.

As for the places, my favorites so far have been Tenerife (Spain), any coastal city in Greece (because everyone is so kind, everyone speaks English, and basically every beach is beautiful), and Becici (Montenegro). Timisoara (Romania) also has plenty of nice parks and areas where kids can play. Hope you find this helpful! 🙂

[DanicaRistic]

I tried to do that last year, before my son turned two, and it was really challenging. We went to Montenegro for two weeks, my mom AND my brother came with me, and I ended up taking some vacation days, because I couldn't pull in my normal hours. Here is why:

- My son didn't want to be separated from me for longer periods of time, as I supposed he would, entertained by sea and sand. He was not up for it. This changed literally few months after, when we went on actual vacation, he was barely two and a lot more cooperational, and lower maintenance. Sometimes a few months of difference means the world, especially for toddlers. 
- I took workcation before i took vacation. Hence, I was too tired to keep up with changed routine, heat, a whining kid. I loved the change of scenery but the level of productivity wasn't good enough for me.

- Horrible, utterly horrible wifi. Along with very busy cafes, making meetings a torture. This is my biggest complaint 😄

- Unpredictable circumstance, such as two whole days of rain, where we couldn't leave our small room, no work getting done and a whole of a lot of stress.

In all honesty, I went into this very unprepared, and learned a lot. I do plan to do this again, but knowing all of this I will definitely prepare better! 

[Chloe]

Hello, I have a 2.5 year old and a 4 year old and I might attempt this again – learning from the great tips mentioned in this thread! With our first little one, my partner and I tried remote work a few times before but it was definitely easier with one child as we easily took turns alternating between work and exploring. It required some advance planning and time management, reorganising our calendars, creating meetings blocks and focused work blocks. We ended up both working full speed during nap times and sometimes had to catch up after bedtime though. Not a bad experience at all overall to still benefit from a change, explore a new place, without necessarily having to stop work completely. I am hesitant to try it again with both kids now but perhaps with the right set up, amount of creativity, new toys and snacks, it will work out! Thanks everyone

[Lisanne]

Hi there, my partner and I would love to work abroad for 1-2 months, as both our jobs allow us to. We have a 1,5yo little guy, and we're eyeballing options like the Portuguese coast, Spanish coast or a place like Bali (original, I know 😉). In general, we'd like to move to a sun-secured place, that's for sure. I'm hesitant about is to travel to a place where we'll have a huge time difference, thus shift in day/night routine as well as working time overlap. At the same time, also learning already from the replies above, I do feel I'd like to arrange help on-site, like a babysitter/au-pair. Even if it's for a few days a week or hours a day. Will keep you posted on the decisions we're going to make in the upcoming months.