The Digital Bedouins and the Backpack Office

PetManimal writes "The laptop and wireless revolutions have led to the rise of a new class of digital 'Bedouins' — tech workers who ply their crafts from Starbucks and other locations with WiFi access. Another article describes some strategies and tools for embracing the Bedouin way of life, and even having fun: 'If you have the right kind of job, you can take vacations while you're on the clock. In other words, you can travel for fun and adventure and keep on working. You can travel a lot more without needing more official vacation time. I've done it. In August I took a month long vacation to Central America, backpacking from one Mayan ruin to the next, and I never officially took time off. I submitted my columns, provided reports and other input, participated in conference calls and interacted via e-mail. I used hotel Wi-Fi connections and local cybercafes to communicate and Skype to make business calls. Nobody knew I was sunburned, drinking from a coconut and listening to howler monkeys as I replied to their e-mails.'"

I miss it

[HikingStick]

I had a good thing (albeit not as good as the author's) going before I took a new position in December. Now, I'm paying my dues in my new area. Before, it was working from home at least two days a week. Unlike some, I didn't have a problem shutting the machine down at the end of my day. I loved sitting out on the deck (in good weather) and enjoying the sun while handling my trouble tickets. Even better was going to the local cafe (in a small exurban town, equipped with a Verizon wireless card, and doing my work from there while clogging my arteries with a 3-egg bacon and swiss omelette! Most days, I was working by 6 AM and done by 2:30 PM. I figure I'll need to wait another six months before I can pitch a similar arrangement in my new digs (once they know I can be trusted to perform, no matter where I am).

This is nothing new...

[KeyThing]

4 years ago, I was working for myself as a field technician. I had basically farmed myself out to about 6 different companies, and was supporting their IT needs.

It became very obvious to me that I needed Internet Access anywhere I was. I found the Merlin PCS card (EVDO), and a PCMCIA sleeve for my iPAQ. I added "mobile professional" to my list of qualifications, and immediately cut down my response times to my customers. Now I could be stuck in traffic, and be remoted into their system. Often times, the problems they had could be resolved without the need for me to show up at their location. This, in turn, allowed me to add more customers to my base. At the high point, I was supporting 12 different customers. Each signed an agreement that provided me with desk space and Internet Access at their location, and an acknowledgment that at times, I would be physically at their locations while supporting one of my other customers.

I ended up selling my business model and customer base off for a nice profit. I now code full time, and have added the Kyocera KR1 to the mix of hardware I take with me. I just got back from a trip to Washington DC, and people had no idea I wasn't sitting here in my office. BTW, a real cheesy video of the KR1 can be found here: http://www.keything.com/tv [keything.com] . I highly recommend it. During my trip to washington, it didn't miss a beat.

Re:Woof

[Stanistani]

Or even a Prairie Dog.
From Wikipedia:
"In companies that use large numbers of cubicles in a common space, employees sometimes use the term "prairie dogging" to refer to the action of standing up in one's cube to look around or converse with another employee in an adjacent cube. This action is thought to resemble prairie dogs standing in the openings of a burrow."

No, not always!

[anomaly]

I speak from experience here - father of five, happily married and a great sex life with my wife!

Just because you get married doesn't mean your sex life suffers. In fact, I'd argue that when you learn great relationship skills the frequency and quality of sex increases dramatically.

YMMV.

Anomaly