Destination Remote: The French 🇫🇷 in Vietnam 🇻🇳

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Hi there (future) Remote Workers of the World,

In the last two weeks, I’ve taken you to Dubai (UAE) and Germany. Today, we’re heading to South-East Asia and more specifically to Vietnam!

Are you ready to meet a new Remote Work Champ? 👇

Let’s go!

👀 A glimpse of what you can expect today

• 🇻🇳 Meet Florian, based in Vietnam

• 🙅‍♂️ Pros and cons of Digital Nomadism

• 📖 Skills vs education: who wins?

• 👀 17 insights to transit to remote/hybrid work

• 🏋️‍♂️ Remote Work challenge continues

 👋 Have you met Florian (🇻🇳)?

Last week, I met Florian, a digital nomad traveling across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia with his girlfriend for the past 3 years. This conversation was very interesting because he doesn’t only glorify the digital nomad lifestyle but always explains it can be hard too. He’s even planning to write a book about it!

After a few years of wandering around the world, he and his girlfriend are ready to settle for the longer term in Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), the place where they found the best community of digital nomads and like-minded people.

Of course, Florian is not only traveling! He also makes a living: a few years ago he founded WESELCO, supporting international companies in increasing their sales through LinkedIn, cold calling, emailing & videos.

💡 Florian’s Remote Work tips (for digital nomads):

• 🏡 Separate your home and your workplace

  → Work from co-working spaces, coffee shops, etc.

• 🤝 Go meet people (networking, bars, hobbies, ...)

  → It opens doors to new opportunities

• 🕜 Take time for yourself

  → Travelling & working is exhausting, you'll need it

🗽 Florian’s must-see in Ho Chi Minh City:

“There are so many things to see but I would definitely recommend the War Remnants Museum”.

☯️ Pros and cons of Digital Nomadism

Many people dream of being a digital nomad and traveling the world. Florian has been one for the last few years and absolutely loves it. But he also wants to warn future digital nomads it’s not all roses. So I asked Florian for his main pros and cons of digital nomadism.

➕ The pros

• It opens your mind
  → You get to know new people, discover new cultures, and visit unique places you’d probably not visit when you are traveling.

• Get out of your comfort zone

  → Everything is different or new: the food, new languages, a different banking system. You have to get out of your comfort zone!

• Entrepreneurial vibe

  → Many digital nomads have an entrepreneurial spirit. They always have cool ideas and it opens up a lot of opportunities.

➖ The cons

• Loneliness 

  → This is the biggest one for Florian. You meet a lot of people but it’s almost impossible to create long-term relationships! In short, you are always surrounded but still can feel pretty lonely after all!

• Everything became more expensive

  → Lisbon is the perfect example: more digital nomads in one place means inflation. Especially when workers with big salaries (i.e. US salaries) come to settle for a few months.

If you want to become a digital nomad, think about the pros and cons! And here are some resources you might like...

📥 Newsletter: Want to give nomad life a try? Join thousands of nomads & traveling remote workers getting mega savings on curated long-stay accommodation with the Free RemoteBase Newsletter from Chris Cerra 🧡

🎙Podcast: If you want to learn how to make friends as a digital nomad, listen to this podcast episode from Nienke Nina’s Digital Nomads Daily ✌️

🏝 Workation: the perfect mix of work and vacation

If you are still hesitant to become a digital nomad, a short-term individual workation retreat is a perfect opportunity to test this exceptional lifestyle.

You already work remotely and you want to spice up your days? A workation is the perfect way to connect with a diverse community of remote workers from various cultures and professions, network, and reconnect with nature.

Imagine an ideal work set up on a stunning island right next to Africa 🏝️

Workadise organizes the coolest workations in the Canary Islands for individuals and teams.

🚨Don’t forget your travel medical insurance 🚨
Personally, I’m currently on a Workation in France & Belgium to see family and friends. I’m never traveling without travel medical insurance (you never know what can happen)! My favorite one? 👉 SafetyWing without hesitation!

🖥 Set-up of the week

🌍 Remote jobs (Work-From-Anywhere)

Imagine working from anywhere without having any location constraints.
It’s possible and here are 5 WFA job offers to prove it 👇

• Software Engineer - Trafi

• Senior Software Developer - WorkFlex

• Conceptual Digital Copywriter - Superside

• Senior Growth Marketing Manager - Blue Prism

• Influencer Marketing Account Executive - indaHash

_{Is your company hiring for remote positions? Contact me to be featured in next week’s newsletter (WFA positions only).}

🗞 The Remote Work Gazette

• Heads of flexible work are critical in navigating the benefits and challenges of hybrid and remote work models. They foster collaboration, improve employee experience, and shape the future of work for enhanced performance and growth. Read more here

• LinkedIn is shaking up hiring by focusing on skills over degrees. Employers want skills but still rely on degrees. LinkedIn aims to bridge the gap with its skills-matching feature. The challenge lies in validating soft skills and creating a standardized system. Sounds very accurate for Remote Work, doesn’t it? Read more here

• Forbes shares 17 valuable insights on how companies can successfully transition to remote or hybrid work. From embracing written communication to enforcing cybersecurity and prioritizing digital culture, these strategies can optimize tech infrastructure and empower teams for success. Read more here

• Meet Anna, the 3D model representing the future of remote work. A tragic figure with a hunched posture, clawed hands, swollen limbs, and poor mental health. Even though we shouldn’t believe everything we see, it’s a good warning to keep our health and well-being in mind. Read more here
  

🏋️‍♀️ Remote move challenge

Let's face it, working remotely often means we're glued to our desks longer than we'd like to admit. Remember Anna 👆? It can affect our health, zap our energy, and impact our overall productivity and happiness.

To keep yourself active and energized, I have another challenge for you:

☑️ Take a 5-minute walk for every 30-minute meeting
☑️ Finish every day with stretching exercises (pick 4)
☑️ Take at least 30 minutes away from your laptop for lunch

Try it and see you’ll see how it positively impacts your productivity and well-being!

📊 Remote Stat of the week

Top reasons remote workers gave for their increased productivity

• Fewer interruptions (68%)

• More focused time (63%)

• Quieter work environment (68%)

• More comfortable workplace (66%)

• Avoiding office politics (55%)

Do you recognize yourself in these 5 statistics?

Source: Flexjobs Survey

📌 Want to build a strong, authoritative personal brand?

I help Remote Work Advocates & Company Founders grow their personal brand to become top of mind:

👉 LinkedIn Ghostwriting: I put your words & thoughts into authentic content to make you the go-to expert in your industry. Respond “TOP OF MIND” to this mail for more info!

👉 If you want to build an authoritative brand yourself, I recommend Stop The Scroll (400 hooks and a content calendar approved by great LinkedIn creators, and myself 😇).

Which remote work buddy of yours would love this newsletter?
Be a good friend & transfer Destination Remote so they can subscribe here ✌️

Remotely yours from beautiful Provence (France) 🇫🇷

Alex

PS: I’m on a mission to meet a remote worker in every country. See my progression here and get in touch with me if you are currently working remotely from a country I haven’t checked on the map yet.

PPS: I need more people based in Africa and Latin America 👆