10 Tips to Travel & Run A Successful Business While Traveling

Combining business travel with personal trips may be the answer for those looking to find the perfect work/life balance. With more people taking control of their careers and starting their own businesses, it is becoming more accessible than ever to accomplish this goal.

Going on an adventure to see the world can be a wonderful and exciting experience. But, the adventure will be even greater if you can travel and see the world while running a successful business. Today with technology and remote working, this is possible more than ever before. Here are 10 of our best advice on how to travel the world and still maintain your business operations so you can maximize exploration time and financial success.

Our Top 10 Tips To Help You Travel While Running A Successful Business On The Road
Related Questions
- Do I Need A Rabies Shot Before Traveling to Southeast Asia?
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Our Top 10 Tips To Help You Travel While Running A Successful Business On The Road

Unsurprisingly, many entrepreneurs are eager to travel the world while running a successful business. After all, what better way to create meaningful experiences and get inspired than by visiting different cultures?

While it might seem like an improbable feat, with careful planning and some tried-and-true tips, it is possible! With our top 10 tips to travel and run a successful business, you have a greater chance of fulfilling your dream of traveling and running a successful company.

Make Sure Your Business Operates With You Being Able To Travel

One of the most important things you can do is to ensure that the business you want to do while you travel works with traveling. This is one of the most important things you can do to ensure that your business will be successful while traveling on the road.

If, for example, you are a florist and your clients are in your local area, traveling will probably mean having to close up your shop unless you have trusted employees. If your shop is not open, people will simply not buy from you; if you have no sales, you will have no income.

If your business is a travel blog, then blogging while you travel may be an essential part of the success of your blog and your business. You will need to be able to travel to see new places and write about your travels.

Any business you build will take a huge amount of time and effort. Nothing is easy. Every business has problems and issues they must deal with. Travel can only add to those problems. so you must keep that in mind when choosing what business you will do while on the road.

Know and Understand Your Business Legal Issues

Know and understand all your business legal issues before you travel. This will be important for your company.

While traveling, you do not want to have issues with the IRS or Tax Authorities. This is an example of some administration systems you should have before traveling. If not, you may have a real mess on your hands.

It is much easier to have all your business legal issues set up and handled before traveling. It will just ensure your time traveling does not have unnecessary disruptions.

Have The Skills You Need To Travel and Conduct Business

If you are going to travel, you must have the skills you need to do your work effectively on the road. For example, if your main income is in web design, you need to be qualified and able to handle your web design business on the road; you should already have a client base.

If your main business is promotional videos, and you are traveling to get new video footage, then you need to have the right camera, editing equipment, and knowledge of how to use it.

Those who are successful in being on the road while running a successful business already have the skill sets to ensure they are successful. The road or traveling is not the place to try to gain all the needed skill sets.

Have A Plan in Place For Your Business

With any business, you must ensure a plan is in place. If, for example, you plan to travel so that you have material for some blogs, then have a goal of how many blogs and at what number of words you will write a day.

When you are on the road and working, unless you have a plan, it can be easy to tell yourself that it is OK if you sleep in or maybe spend a few days by the pool or at the beach. Working while traveling is not the same as vacation and should not be confused with a vacation.

If you want to go on a vacation, then plan a vacation. If you are planning to work and travel, make sure you are completing your work while traveling.

Go 100% Digital For Your Business Needs.

To be successful on the road, you must go 100% digital. It is not practical to carry around a huge binder, heavy paper, or books you may need. Not only will this be extremely heavy to carry everywhere, but with the technology available today, it is not necessary or practical.

Everything you do should have some digital backup. Today this is so easy with iCloud backups, One Drive, Google Drive, and a host of other services. But nothing should be on, just your laptop, especially anything that is very important and you need to keep safe.

This is just common sense in case you have a laptop or anything else gets stolen, then you have a copy of it on the cloud to easily retrieve it. And if there are others you need to collaborate with, this will make it much easier for them to collaborate with you.

When setting up your business, you need to set it up this way from the very beginning. Make sure all your information, processes, and systems are on the cloud, so you can easily find them. Today with technology, this is easier than it has ever been.

Have the Tools You Need to Conduct Your Business Properly On the Road

Besides having all your data on the cloud, you must also have the proper tools. Having all the proper tools will ensure you can work effectively and efficiently on the road.

Here are some tools you can consider:

Lightweight, high-powered laptop – If all your work is going to be done on a computer, you will want that computer to be as lightweight and as powerful as possible. You may not think this is important, but carrying that computer on your back for a day can quickly feel very heavy.
Ipad with a sim card and keyboard – Some places you travel may not have excellent internet access or no internet access at all. I found that I can still do my work anywhere by having an iPad with a keyboard and then putting in a local sim card for data. When I went to stay in a Ger in Mongolia, I only had my Ipad, keyboard, and local sim card for data with me. I could do all the work I needed to do without any problem. An iPad can also be your library for reading books and your entertainment system with movies and television. I carry my Ipad with me everywhere. When I went on some week-long bike rides, I had my Ipad in my bike saddlebags, and I could easily keep up with all my work-related issues.
Mobile Phone – Whatever mobile phone you decide on, it needs to be a phone that is unlocked. I love the Apple iPhone as they have such an excellent camera. An unlocked phone means that you can switch out and change your sim cards for the country you are traveling to. This is always the cheapest way for you to have a phone service when you are traveling. Many countries will sell SIM cards right at the border or airport. Also, I use my iPhone as my primary camera. I find it much easier than having to carry my large Nikon camera around,
Business Phone – If you are running a business, you will need a way for your clients to reach you. I use Ring Central because it gives me a USA phone number on my iPhone. When I am on the Internet, I can quickly call the USA as a local number. Facetime and some other programs work, but not all your customers may use them. Some people use programs like Magic Jack. I have not used them but use Ring Central as they have the same online meeting functions as Zoom.
Other hardware – You will need to have all the proper hardware. If you are podcasting, you may need a good mic and headset. You will probably want to look at extra plugs and cords and some electrical adapters for the plugs. Also, some battery packs. The only caution I have with battery packs is that some countries will limit how large they can be for airplanes or other transportation. China, for example, will scan your luggage to get on its train system and will only allow specific-size battery packs.

Have Your Home-based Support In Place Before You Travel

Have your home-based support in place before you travel anywhere. Whoever you are working with will also need to be well trained and know what to handle and how to handle your work before you travel.

This does not need to be an employee but could be someone you are paying for a specific service. Whether an employee or a paid service, before you take off across the world and are in a different timezone, you need to be sure they fully understand what is required to help your business run smoothly.

Do a Test Run Before Going Fulltime

If you are planning a long full-time travel experience and have never traveled and run your business on the road before, then you should plan to do a test run to see how your business can adapt on the road. This could be a short test run of a 2 to 3-week trip for your first time to travel instead of a 6-month or 1-year trip.

The purpose of a test run trip is to get out there on the road and see how you can handle your business on the road. There is no point in traveling anywhere if you spend your days and nights in a hotel room working. That is not traveling. All you did was go to another place to pay to use their internet, room, and air-con.

If you want to travel internationally, your purpose should be to see and experience new things, Sitting in a 5-Star hotel room or at a bar working 10 hours a day, your entire trip is not about you experiencing and seeing anything thing new. This is why we suggest a shorter test run first to see how your business model will adapt to travel and if you can accomplish your travel goals simultaneously with your business goals.

If it does not work out for your business, you may want to consider only taking smaller trips over the year, not traveling full-time, and running your business from another location.

Be Healthy So You Can Travel Easier

If you are going to travel, especially to travel internationally, you should be healthy. Travel can be grueling and sometimes very tough and hard work. There may be bus, train, or ferry rides that are long and grueling, so you do not get all the sleep you need. Some parts of the world can be very dusty and dirty.

When you are traveling, anything can happen. You never know if you will need to walk a long distance to a hotel or town dragging your suitcase or with a heavy backpack. You should be healthy enough to handle all these inconveniences or problems.

If you cannot handle these inconveniences, it will make your travel and time on the road almost unbearable. In some parts of the world, it could also be dangerous. So make sure you are healthy enough to handle the rigors of travel, especially international travel.

You must also have all your insurance in place before you travel. A good medical insurance policy is not optional but a necessary expense. Find out more about how to find good emergency medical care when you are overseas by reading the blog Overseas Medical Emergency, How to Find Qualified Medical Care 101 by clicking here.

Have the Income You Need Already in Place.

If you are going to travel, you will need to have the money for the travel or have a business that you know will pay you enough while you are traveling. If you do not have the money, then you should wait until you are at the point in your life or business when this is possible.

Travel can always be a lot more expensive than you may think it is. Emergencies can happen. Plans can fall through. You need to have enough money for not just your travel expenses but also any emergencies while at the same time covering any business expenses.

Make sure before you travel that all your finances are in place. The time to do this is before you hit the road, not while you are on the road traveling.

Traveling and running a successful business can be an amazing way of life. But for you to be successful at traveling and running a successful business, it must take careful preparation and planning.

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Do I Need A Rabies Shot Before Traveling to Southeast Asia?

Travelers to Asia, and especially Southeast Asia, should be sure to get or ensure their rabies shots are up-to-date before they travel. This is because rabies is still a common problem in Asia and Southeast Asia. If you travel out in the countryside, getting a shot may be difficult or almost impossible.

To find out more about this, you can read our blog on Why you need a Rabies Shot Before Traveling to Southeast Asia by clicking here.

How Can I Travel Alone and Make Friends?

To successfully travel alone and make friends, you must first learn how to be alone and enjoy yourself. Then smiling at other people, it can help to break the ice and get to know them. Go up to talk to new people and also get to know them. Be a good listener and get to know others and listen to them and their stories. Don’t be afraid to try to learn a new language. And finally, when you travel alone and start making friends around the world, you quickly learn that there are many good people in the world.

You can read our blog on How to Travel Alone and Make Friends, What You Need To Know but clicking here.