I’ve spent years living abroad and traveling extensively while running a remote agency, building teams, managing clients, and juggling a myriad of responsibilities across time zones.

And here’s what experience has taught me: if you work remotely, travel can be part of your life… but it won’t happen by accident. Designing for travel requires structure, boundaries, and a willingness to plan ahead.

Here’s what that actually looks like in practice.

1. Put travel on the calendar first

This is the most important step, and the one most people skip. Instead of waiting for a slow season, spare time, or an excess budget, start with the calendar.

Choose your trips first: weekend getaways, road trips, longer international travel, and block them as non-negotiable. Treat them the same way you would a major commitment or deadline. Once they’re locked in, everything else has to work around them.

If it’s not on the calendar, it’s not real. 

2. Design your work rhythm around travel days

Travel doesn’t mean work disappears; it just means work becomes more intentional.

When we travel, we keep our routine consistent. Early mornings are reserved for focused work while energy is high and distractions are low. That creates space later in the day to explore without guilt or constant context switching.

We also limit meetings, avoid launches near weekends, and reduce anything that could spill into time meant for rest or exploration. Clear work rhythms protect both productivity and enjoyment.

3. Decide what kind of travel fits your life right now

Not every season supports the same style of travel.

Some years, that might mean frequent short trips: weekends visiting family, road trips to nearby cities, quick resets that don’t disrupt work too much. For others, it might mean fewer trips overall, but longer stays that allow you to slow down and fully experience what life is like in a new place.

There’s no single right approach. The key is alignment with your current responsibilities, energy, and priorities. Choose trips that won’t stress you out, but will recharge your mental battery.

4. Build boundaries before you book the trip

Before you leave, decide what work will look like: your working hours, communication expectations, and what truly counts as urgent. Set those boundaries with clients and your team ahead of time so you’re not renegotiating them from a different time zone. You don’t want to jump on a frantic Zoom meeting while you’re trying to quietly peruse galleries at the Louvre.

Travel becomes stressful when boundaries are vague. It becomes restorative when expectations are clear.

5. Align budget with expectations

Some trips will cost more. Others can balance that out. Planning destinations with different costs of living, saving specifically for travel, and evaluating trips individually keeps things sustainable long-term.

I’ve found that flexibility is the key here. Personally, I don’t need a 5-star hotel. I need a safe, comfortable place to sleep and stable internet access. The rest of my budget can be used to provide a longer, richer experience in my destination. 

6. Protect the experience once you’re there

Once the trip starts, resist the urge to overfill your schedule or prove you’re being productive.

The real value of travel shows up in quiet moments: walking unfamiliar streets, sharing meals, meeting strangers, slowing down enough for perspective to shift. Those moments are the payoff, the whole reason to leave home in the first place, and they’ll disappear quickly if every hour is spoken for. Make sure you guard them closely.

Designing for travel is designing for your future self

Travel doesn’t just change where you work—it changes how you think, lead, and connect with the people around you.

Open your 2026 calendar. Choose a trip you’ve been itching to take. Block the time. Then design your work and routines to support it.

When you design your life with intention, your work isn’t the anchor you drop and tether everything else to. You pull that anchor up and take it along with you for the ride.