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Articles
A curated mix on life, work and travel.
Thursday, Oct 19, 2017
The first 150 days of van life
Today marks my 150th day in my van. Since I left Berlin in May I visited 6 countries, drove more than 12,000 km, collected more than 180,000 Wh of solar power and met a lot of interesting people.
Are Glassdoor reviews a reliable indicator of a company's culture?
Is Glassdoor reliable, and if not, are there any reliable alternatives?
Wednesday, Oct 18, 2017
The Uber Game
Can you make it in the gig economy?
Gun shy about committing to a place for longer than 3 months
Lately, I’ve been finding myself in a dilemma: one part of me is tired of the nomad life and the other half of me is terrified of committing to one place.
Tuesday, Oct 17, 2017
How to Succeed as a Digital Nomad
I feel that too often people are sold a fantasy which simply is not attainable. You can live your dream, but you’re typically going to have to work your ass off first. As long as you’re willing to work hard, you’ve got a pretty good chance of succeeding. Take it for what it’s worth.
Do you have what it takes to work for yourself? (Also: it’s totally cool if you don’t want to.)
I’m sick of thought leaders telling us that working for ourselves is the answer to all our problems, and that it’s the only sure-fire way to get ahead. In fact, I’ve worked for myself longer than most of those people (coming up on 20 years now), but I still don’t think it’s the best option for everyone.
Friday, Oct 13, 2017
On the Road
Jack Kerouac’s On the Road turned into an illustrated scroll: one drawing for every page of the novel.
Thursday, Oct 12, 2017
Getting ready for the future of work
Artificial intelligence is poised to disrupt the workplace. What will the company of the future look like—and how will people keep up?
Work and the Loneliness Epidemic
There is good reason to be concerned about social connection in our current world. Loneliness is a growing health epidemic. We live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization, yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s.
Wednesday, Oct 11, 2017
When Working From Home Doesn’t Work
For jobs that mainly require interactions with clients (consultant, insurance salesman) or don’t require much interaction at all (columnist), the office has little to offer besides interruption. But other types of work hinge on what might be called “collaborative efficiency”—the speed at which a group successfully solves a problem. And distance seems to drag collaborative efficiency down. Why? The short answer is that collaboration requires communication. And the communications technology offering the fastest, cheapest, and highest-bandwidth connection is—for the moment, anyway—still the office.
Open offices are overrated
If you work in an office, there’s a good chance it’s an open one. How did we get here? And why is it so bad?
Tuesday, Oct 10, 2017
The Origins of Office Speak
Corporate jargon may seem meaningless to the extent that it’s best described as “bullshit,” but it actually reveals a lot about how workers think about their lives.
Dealing with mental fatigue and loneliness while solo traveling
For you experienced solo travelers, any tips on maintaining mental health? I feel as though I want to stay in my room for a while, but I am forcing myself to go out for now.
Monday, Oct 9, 2017
Freelancers for life
Getting a full-time job might seem like the ultimate goal. But not everyone really wants to.
What I’ve Learned About Silence from Working at Home
I’ve also discovered an entire cohort of professionals who work from home and substitute social time for what used to be long commutes or trips to the gym. We take afternoon walks through the neighborhood, enjoy brown bag lunches at each other’s homes, meet for drinks, or talk on the phone while we’re on our way to meetings. It breaks up the long stretches alone and even allows for the same networking I used to do by the vending machine.
Friday, Oct 6, 2017
Passports for Cash: Citizens of anywhere
Globalisation has turned citizenship into a commodity. Matthew Valencia went shopping for a new passport and found bargains to be had.
Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says
Getting through the workday on little sleep is a point of pride for some. But skimping on shuteye could be shortening your life and making you a less than stellar employee, according to Matthew Walker, founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
Thursday, Oct 5, 2017
The average American spent more than 9 full days getting to and from work last year
Compared with 1980, the typical American spent about 42 more hours commuting in 2016. That’s like adding another full workweek to the calendar year.
The power of a ‘not-to-do’ list
Has your working day become one long battle to wade through a to-do list?
Tuesday, Oct 3, 2017
The Future of Being a Digital Nomad
What will being a remote worker, aka. “Digital nomad” be like years from now? Let’s take a look into the future of being a digital nomad.