Location independent home working

Home working on the move –

Phil Byrne left the UK in 2010 and, thanks to the wonders of remote working, has now lived and experienced home working in six different countries. This is the first of a two part interview on the ups and downs of his travelling lifestyle:

Hi Phil, I’m intrigued by your very different home working lifestyle. How did it all start?
It all started back in early 2010. Things were a little tough at the time, as the recession was just beginning to bite in the UK and my agency had quickly reduced from 15 to 5 full time staff. My wife was planning an extended academic trip to Buenos Aires to aid her Phd studies.
One day she simply said ‘If things are getting you down here, why don’t you come with me?’ When I really thought about it, there was every reason to go and very little reason to stay, so….we left the UK on July 15th 2010. From that moment, I’ve been a 100% location independent professional, albeit with many ups and downs on the way!

When we talk about home working, it doesn’t have to mean home in the sense of a fixed base – tell us about some places you have worked from
I worked from a number of places, including at least 5 international airports! Here’s a few of my favs:
– a gothic flat in the oldest part of Buenos Aires
– a converted cow shed in the Granadian mountains
– a modern casita near the beach in Portugal
– a million dollar Adobe mansion in New Mexico
– currently beside a real fire, in a cosy cottage deep within the Wicklow hills 

What do you enjoy about this mobile home working lifestyle?
The freedom and the constant learning. We have sampled life in six different countries and cultures over the last three years and, in doing so, we have learnt so much about ourselves, the world and people. I believe my wife and I are better human beings because of these experiences. The fact that we are not tied to any specific location gives you options.
For example, I never quite understood how expensive life is in the UK until I left. In almost everywhere else we have lived, we can work less but live more. I love my home country, there are many wonderful things about Britain that people all over the world look up to. But the pace and cost of life are both things I hope will change one day, having experienced how much easier life can be elsewhere. 

Phil Byrne authors liveworkabroad.com, a blog dedicated to helping everyone create a more location independent lifestyle. His first ebook entitled ‘Head In The Clouds: The Location Independent Office’ is available on the blog and on Amazon Kindle.

In the second part of his guest post on location independent working Phil tells us about being robbed at gunpoint and whether home is really where the laptop is!