This Short Tails is about working remotely and how Hannah and I launched a Mexican restaurant in the UK. Ironically, it happened whilst sipping cervezas in Mexico City! It was a strange turn of events that led us to such an endeavor but one that worked out well.
Working Remotely While on the Road
When Hannah and I left the UK in January 2022 we had no plans to work. After slogging through 2 years of pandemic lockdowns and decades of hard work we had enough money saved up and a plan that would allow us to enjoy our travels for the foreseeable.
But if you’ve spent your life working and earning money and then stop, it can have a weird effect. Consider perhaps how much you’ve previously looked forward to getting back to reality after a vacation.
With various house sitting and Workaway exchanges, a work void of sorts was filled but we began looking for more ways to keep ourselves busy. If working remotely brought in some money, all the better. It would mean we weren’t digging into the travel pot as much as we’d expected.
Hannah Gets a Freelance Gig
With her marketing and PR background, Hannah was well-positioned to work remotely. She had already worked at a high level for some notable companies.
About 5 months into our travels she was offered freelance hours for a company in our hometown of Peterborough. It was a set amount of monthly hours that could be done at any time of the day. The money was good so she rejoined the workforce!
She successfully scheduled work around house sitting placements in countries and time zones around the world. One of our last Workaway stays was with Grant in Waco (Welcome to Texas), and despite a heavy volunteering workload Hannah still met deadlines in the afternoons while sitting by the pool.
Can You Launch a Mexican Restaurant for Us?
The opportunity to launch a Mexican restaurant in our hometown was passed on to us by Hannah’s employers who had decided to pass as it wasn’t something they routinely dealt with. Although we’d never done anything like this before ourselves, we accepted the challenge.
The money was great and despite the fact we were in Costa Rica for much of the work, we decided we could do it.
In essence, we’d leverage our home city contacts to fill the restaurant’s opening night with local business owners. Another primary objective was to get local press to the event and talk about the restaurant on their platforms.
Tapping Into Our Network of Contacts
Our years of living in Peterborough, which is a small city by UK standards, let alone anywhere else in the world were vital. I was a musician for almost two decades so had lots of people I had worked for over the years and contacts within the local media that would be perfect guests for opening night.
Hannah had spent years contacting local and national media to promote various topics for coverage in her previous roles so was also well-placed to pull on that network. We also have family and many good friends who are business owners, so filling the guest list was straightforward.
Even on a weeknight, free food, cocktails, and a glamorous restaurant opening were hard to resist. The event drew many guests.
Mexico City – Let’s Get This Party Started
Our plans to visit Mexico City were already in place before the restaurant gig came in. As luck would have it, we would be based in Mexico’s capital city whilst our friends and contacts back in our hometown wined and dined at the opening of a new Mexican restaurant.
With a full guest list, and ample press coverage arranged, by the time we touched down in Mexico much of the work was done. It didn’t stop the final stresses that come with organizing an event on the other side of the world.
With the time difference, it was mid-morning in Mexico City when the party got going in the UK. Regardless, we sat with a couple of cold beers to toast the new restaurant. Despite a few no-shows, (which we had planned for!), the party was a big hit and we were inundated with photos and nice comments.
A Successful Opening Night
The event went off without a hitch and many of the guests got even more than they bargained for. Expecting to be charged for something, we had messages from people who couldn’t believe the whole night had been free. The invite had advertised such details but who can be sure these days!
All food, cocktails, beers, and entertainment had been included. However, in a strange turn of events to normal life, non-alcoholic drinks were not free. A friend of ours was delighted nonetheless when expecting to pay a few hundred pounds for his table of six’s tab, was presented with a bill for one bottle of water!
Keeping Busy and No End Date in Sight
After year one of traveling the world, we both realized that we like to be busy. Our journey is not that of teenagers who set off with backpacks and a general idea of places to visit. We don’t have anything against that, but it’s not what we are doing.
Staying active, feeling relevant, and having a sense of challenge and contribution plays a large part in keeping us happy and healthy. However, following the launch of the Mexican restaurant, our workloads spiked to almost unmanageable levels.
Finding the right balance is the hardest thing to do when traveling. You want to be able to enjoy new places, whilst also completing the tasks you have committed to. This whole journey so far has been a learning curve, and we continue to learn and adapt all the time.
Conclusion
Along with Hannah’s hours working remotely, we have also taken on writing regularly for travel websites, volunteering with local charities, and launching our website! Additionally, I have performed gigs around the world, reached out to Workaway hosts, and coached boxing in foreign languages!
Making it fit around our lifestyle and schedule has been the tricky part, but as we head towards the end of year 3 on the road, I’m happy to report that we have a good handle on things work-wise. And whereas we had a budget and end date when we left, we no longer have this to consider.
Finding the right work/life balance is key, and it can take some time to get a schedule that fits. Traveling means regularly adapting to situations, like time zones, WiFi problems, travel time, and other commitments that should be more important than working at a laptop.
How House Sitting Has Helped Us Travel
We knew that house sitting would play a large part in our travel plans. It became even more important as our remote workload increased. We had initially planned to use Workaway more, a site that offers accommodation (and usually all meals) for 5 hours of work 5 days a week.
Our decision to pursue house sits only, and long-term house sits at that, was the right call. We have still been able to volunteer but on our schedule and without the constraints of commitment to a Workaway host.
We use Trusted Housesitters for 95% of our travel accommodation. The other 5% is either hotel stays between sits, or weeks when we decide to have a holiday within our traveling. It saves us tens of thousands of dollars a year and provides us with the ability to see the world at a fraction of the cost.
Learn More About House Sitting
Trusted Housesitters alone currently have around 7000 active listings accepting applications. The USA, UK, and Australia are the top destinations but you can find house sits all over the world. We have completed sits in Vietnam, Costa Rica, and Singapore.
It’s free to sign up and start browsing the thousands of active listings, click here and use your email address to sign up for a free membership. To apply for a listing you will need to be a paying member, but a year’s membership starts at $129! There’s nothing more to pay, just unlimited sits for a year.
We have used Trusted Housesitters so much that we have a unique code that saves our friends and readers 25% on any membership price. So use BEACHES25 at checkout and click here to sign up. Learn more with my previous article – Everything You Need to Know About Trusted Housesitters.
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