A guy in a Chiang Mai cafe told me my 'work from anywhere' setup was just a glorified vacation

He pointed at my open tabs of flight deals and said, 'You're not working, you're just planning your next trip.' I cut my trip planning down to one hour on Sunday nights and my billable hours went up 30%. How do you draw the line between travel planning and actual work time?

3 comments

3 Comments

fox.matthew27d ago

My buddy in Lisbon had the same issue, constantly checking rental scooter apps. He started leaving his personal laptop at the apartment and only brought the work one to cafes. The physical split made a huge difference.

nancy47527d ago

Remember my friend who got a warning for booking hotels on the company VPN? He started using his phone's hotspot for all that stuff.

dixon.spencer23d ago

Wait, they actually gave him a warning just for booking a hotel? That feels like such a normal thing to do on a break. What's next, getting in trouble for checking your bank account or looking at a lunch menu? I guess they're really tracking everything on that VPN, which is pretty wild. Makes you wonder what they consider okay to look at.