Remote Year: Study Abroad for Working Adults

In December of 2021, Alex and I set off on our long-term road trip. At the same time, we put down a relatively small deposit to hold our place in a program offered through Remote Year. Flash forward, we’ve completed our road trip - with no blog posts to prove it (sorry) - and we have only become more excited about our plans. Having dealt with crazy logistics, poor WiFi, and less-than-accommodating Airbnb hosts on top of having to drive everywhere… we were over it.

So, we put down our other, bigger deposits for Remote Year. We got rid of many belongings so we could fit everything we needed for one entire year into three bags each. Fortunately, we had downsized significantly for our road trip, so this task felt relatively easy. We sold Norman, the very car that behaved so well on our crazy road trip across the states. We said an excruciatingly painful, much more real goodbye to Seattle and our people there. We spent a month in the Midwest to say goodbye to our friends and family.

Then, on September 30, we boarded a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam, our first of 12 destinations.

Reactions from our friends and family were mostly excited. We also got a lot of reactions like: “How do you even pack for that?” or “I could never do that”, or my favorite, “Can I visit you guys?”. I want to use this post as an opportunity to answer some of our top FAQs:

What is Remote Year?

Remote Year is a company that organizes group travel for remote workers, making it easy to work remotely from across the world. Alex and I originally signed up because we loved that Remote Year handles all of the details: co-working spaces, accommodations, and transportation. There was also the bonus that we’d travel with the same group of people for a year. Think study abroad for working adults.

We're traveling to 12 countries in 12 months with 12 people who are bringing their jobs along or are self-employed. Everyone works, lives, and travels together.

Where are you going?

1. October: Hanoi, Vietnam

2. November: Chiang Mai, Thailand

3. December: Bali, Indonesia

4. January: Osaka, Japan

5. February: Cape Town, South Africa

6. March: Split, Croatia

7. April: Valencia, Spain

8. May: Lisbon, Portugal

9. June: Lima, Peru

10. July: Florianopolis, Brazil

11. August: Medellin, Columbia

12. September: Mexico City, Mexico

How are you packing?

Like any well-packed traveler, we started with core layers and built our lists from there. We are going to be in places with lows of 35 and highs of 85, so we needed a little bit of everything. Tech was the second most important consideration; after all, we are working! I brought a medium-sized checked bag, a computer bag, and a carry-on roller. Remote Year costs include one checked bag and one carry-on. These have weight restrictions, in accordance with airlines.

How much did it cost?

If you know me, you know I put together a cost comparison table to help us understand and, moreover, justify this program. We received some hefty discounts: a 10% cyber sale discount and a 25% room share discount. With discounts and our deposits, the total monthly cost for us is about $1,800 per person. When you consider that people in Seattle (including Alex and I) pay $600-$1,000+ for their share of the rent, this was an easy decision for just one year! The cost includes rent, co-working space, local events and experiences, a language and culture class, and more to help us really immerse ourselves in the culture of the city.

Why are you doing Remote Year?

After a year of remote work for most, the answer to this is obvious. Working from home is boring. While some people accrued a house, a baby, or a pet, Alex and I sat, waiting for our lives to begin again (like Rapunzel).

What are you doing after Remote Year?

We have some solid plans to be back in the US after our year is over because of family commitments. But, like many of the people in our group, we're open to more long-term travel. We had said, for years, that we wanted to travel long-term. Remote Year is serving as our training wheels to make it our lifestyle.

Of course, we received many other questions, but I’ll stop with those. I am happy to answer any other questions that come up; just contact me and I’ll get back to you!

We were excited about Hanoi because it was literally the last international destination we had been to since before the pandemic on our trip to Vietnam in 2019. We reminisced about the coffee culture, architecture, and seemingly manageable weather (since we had been there in November, and were going to be there in October).

It’s been two weeks since our program started and I can already say I’m loving it. Now, I know it’s the honeymoon phase, and I’m in a city I’m familiar with… but it’s been a wonderful experience so far.

Read more on my next post!