How Connectivity Liberates The Global Road Warrior

There are a vast number of tools that allow us to connect with each other 24/7…from wherever…

Personally, I’m grateful for them because they’re enabling me to run my start up venture while exploring countries a world away from my home base. I’m the founder of a fledgling venture, travelling on a limited budget — meaning, I’m not your corporate business traveler checking into the local Ritz Carlton or Sheraton on expense.  With these tools, I’m able to work productively from far flung posts throughout Southeast Asia, often without all the comforts of home, keeping my U.S.-based business moving forward without interruption.

Knowledge work that can be handled online is ideal for the strategies in this post. However, these strategies also apply to situations that require you to stay in close contact with co-workers and/or clients. Read on for some tips on managing business as usual while you’re on the road — whether you’re roaming far and wide overseas, or just going over the hills and through the woods to the town “next door.”

4 Tips to Keep You Connected While You Travel

1. Getting Wi-Fi while on the road – If you’re not booked at hotels with in room Wi-Fi or a business center that’s just an elevator ride away, you can still connect to Wi-Fi from just about anywhere – including airports, restaurants, and cafes. I’m writing this post from the Bangkok airport right now. And, if you’re in a pinch, many smart-phones can be turned  into a Wi-Fi hotspot for your laptop with a local data plan.  (Choose a 3G plan at a minimum to ensure a reasonably fast mobile internet connection.)
2. Stay connected with family and clients –  To stay in touch with family and friends I use Facebook, and an internet text messaging app called Whatsapp. To keep in touch with clients in their time zones, I use an add-on to Gmail called Boomerang for Gmail.  This app sends your messages at scheduled times in the future. It works exceptionally well when you’re in different time zones and want things delivered at specific times.
3. Business apps to run your business – I use Dropbox to backup files to the Cloud.  So, even if I lose my laptop, I will still have all my data. I also use GoToMyPc to remotely access any files I need from my desktop PC at home in the U.S.
4. Dealing with slow Wi-Fi –  I am fanatic about Wi-Fi speeds and use Speedtest.net to measure them wherever I connect. For slow connections, I use the Off-Road option in the Opera browser to compress webpages for faster loading.

Bonus tip – If you have a Kindle with a 3G option, you can use the experimental browser over Amazon’s 3G network to access the internet in most countries for free. It’s a convenient way to quickly check email without having to search far and wide for Wi-Fi.

So far, my “experiment” with working while travelling in the far reaches of Far Far Away for an extended period has been successful.  I’ve learned that we do live in a global village where everyone is just a click away….

[author img=https://www.ivyexec.com/executive-insights/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Maciej-Godlewski-Headshot-Photo-150×150-e1387832763463.jpg alt=Maciej Godlewski]
This article was contributed by Maciej Godlewski, the CEO and Founder of Fired Up Digital, a digital marketing firm in New York City. Maciej writes on entrepreneurship and career issues facing the digital workers of tomorrow.[/author]