Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Lisa and Vanessa. It sounds like you had an exciting time at your workation. Let's talk about it!
How did you come up with the idea of working from South America for several months?
Lisa: A trip to South America had been on our bucket list for a long time. And as we wanted to see so many places, a "normal" holiday would simply have been very short.
Vanessa: We wanted to escape the Hamburg winter, immerse ourselves in Latin American culture and improve our Spanish. We had already travelled in Central America in previous years and were curious about the south.
How did you organise your team and your superiors at AKKU SYS convinced of your plan?
Vanessa: In our e-commerce department, some colleagues work remotely from other German cities and sometimes from abroad for a few weeks. This has worked well for us for years and is integrated into the workflow - so it didn't take any convincing.
How has working remotely influenced the way you work?
Lisa: Due to the time difference, we got up very early, sometimes around 5 o'clock in the morning. This meant we had half a day of overlap with the team in Germany. This meant we were able to take part in appointments as normal - we even attended a remote team event. Of course, getting up early also had the advantage that we were able to finish work quite early and still had plenty of time to explore.
Did you have any difficulties staying in contact with your team during your time in South America?
Vanessa: No, not at all. As we are spread all over Germany anyway, communication mainly takes place via email and Teams. We use Confluence and Jira for task management. We see each other in person in video calls.
How did you prepare for any emergencies or unforeseen situations during your workation?
Lisa: When choosing accommodation in the reviews, we paid a lot of attention to a stable internet connection and often stayed in coworking hotels. In the event of a connection failure, we bought a local SIM card with plenty of data volume in each country. This meant we could also work on our laptops via the mobile phone network in an emergency.
How did you spend your free time? Can you perhaps share a few impressions of different places with us?
Vanessa: That depends entirely on the location. We were both very interested in art and culture and did a lot of sightseeing in the cities and visited museums. We recommend free walking tours, which are available in most of the larger cities. Of course, at beach resorts we also spent afternoons lying by the pool or the sea and reading.
Lisa: We also had a few weeks holiday during the three months and went to the carnival in Rio and hiked to Machu Picchu.
Would you recommend other companies to enable similar Workation offers for their employees?
Lisa: Definitely. Several colleagues in our e-commerce division use the programme and we have received great feedback. From our point of view, it contributes to employee satisfaction and is a sign of trust. Ultimately, work in the online sector can be done from anywhere - why not give employees the freedom to choose where they work?
Do you have plans for future workations, and if so, where might they go?
Vanessa: As we have already seen a lot of Central and South America, Asia will probably be our next destination. India is very exciting because of the short time difference and neither of us have been to Korea or Japan yet.
What advice would you give to someone who is planning to work from another country for an extended period of time?
Lisa: It is important to look for a country where remote work is easily possible. There should therefore be a stable internet connection and good infrastructure for travelling. A Google search for "travel destinations for digital nomads" etc. can help. And plan your route roughly in advance and book flights - otherwise travelling spontaneously can be expensive.
In conclusion: What was your personal highlight during your time? Were there any special moments or experiences that you particularly remember?
Vanessa: I have two highlights: Firstly, the hike to Machu Picchu, but the carnival in Rio was also incredible. So many people, so many impressions and the parade in the Sambadrome was so detailed and elaborate. In Rio, we also took a helicopter flight from Sugar Loaf Mountain over Copacabana and past the statue of Jesus. That was very impressive.
Lisa: One of my favourite memories is our visit to the Bodega Garzón winery in Uruguay. It is one of the best wineries in the world and also has a great restaurant where we ate a three-course meal. The guided tour of the winery and through the vineyards was super exciting - and the wine was of course also very tasty.
Thank you, Lisa and Vanessa, for sharing your experiences and impressions from your workation with us. It was very interesting to learn more about your experiences and the benefits of working remotely.
More about the work at AKKU SYS: https://www.akkusys.de/karriere-bei-uns/