It can be amazing to go from educator to entrepreneur; everyone has their reasons for doing this. Nowadays, there are so many options out there to become an entrepreneurial educator, such as being an educator through video content like YouTube, an online teacher (like ESL), an author, or an online tutor. There are even some who are still employees (like university professors) who also get to travel.
But overall, no matter what type of work or business you do (education or not), balancing travel and your work isn’t exactly easy. But hey, if it were easy, everyone would do it, right? But how can you create a balance between the both of these though? Well, here’s exactly what you need to know!
Staying Connected Is Your Lifeline
Let’s get one thing straight: Wi-Fi is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. If you’re an educator on the go, your ability to connect with students, clients, or audiences hinges on a solid internet connection. Before you even think about booking that flight, make sure you have a reliable mobile hotspot, know the Wi-Fi situation at your destination, and have backup plans in place. The last thing you want is to be in the middle of an online class or recording a video when the connection drops faster than your favorite Netflix show after one season (a bad joke that hits hard for everyone).
A lot of educators who travel, especially for slow travel tend to go to Asia, especially Southeast Asia or even just rural areas (anywhere around the world), and for the most part, these areas tend to have very slow or unreliable internet connection. Yes, even if you’re in the US, in most rural areas, the connection isn’t very good.
Time Zones Are Both Friend and Foe
Ah, time zones—the bane of every traveling educator’s existence. One moment, you’re sipping coffee in Paris at 8 AM, and the next, you’re scheduled to hop on a Zoom call with your clients in New York. Balancing time zones can be tricky, but with a bit of organization, it’s totally manageable.
Ideally, you’ll need to start by keeping your schedule in one primary time zone, preferably your home base or where most of your clients are. Tools like Google Calendar can be a lifesaver here, letting you see your schedule in multiple time zones. And don’t forget to set reminders, so you’re not waking up at 3 AM thinking it’s 3 PM.
How Do You Plan to Travel?
Depending on how much you want to promote your business (depending on what you’re doing), you could find small ways to combine how you market your business with how you travel.
For example, if you’re traveling on road trips or just driving in general, you could look to see if there are private number plates for sale so you can customize them (some businesses will do this). Alternatively, if you can’t or don’t want to bother, a vinyl sticker on the window or bumper of your business or website could work, too.
So, this is just one example, but if you’re traveling by plane or train, you could get a pin or patch of your logo to go on your backpack or even use a tute bag (ideally eye-catching) with your logo to grab attention, too. But you don’t even need to market your business in real life while traveling if you don’t want to. If you want it to stick to just online, then that’s totally okay.
Automation Is Your New Best Friend
Alright, so let’s face it: While you’re out there exploring new destinations, you won’t always have the luxury of sitting down for hours to manage your business. It really depends on the administrative tasks, but if you’re able to automate (and nowadays, most things can be automated), then by all means, you should definitely do that.
All businesses are different, but depending on what you do or need to do for your business, you can schedule social media posts, automate email responses (depending on the email, of course), or even set up course deliveries (most platforms do this for you). But overall, automation tolls are 100{1eea65b97f16eaff88b6449ec4bd61d0a337087596df763590ffb883bdd967ce} needed, and it doesn’t matter if you’re traveling or not.
Basically, all businesses of all types need this. But how exactly can you automate these? Well, tools like Buffer or Hootsuite can keep your social media presence alive and well, even if you’re off exploring a remote island. For those who manage online courses, platforms like Teachable or Thinkific allow you to automate course enrollments and content delivery so your students stay engaged even when you’re off the grid.
