I felt free and untethered when I set off on my remote-work odyssey. I could park next to any beach I wanted and work off of a mobile hotspot — or so I thought.
Just days into the trip, I realized I was at the mercy of mobile reception.
Countless times, I arrived at a destination only to realize that I was in a mobile dead zone. I had to turn around and drive until I could get a few bars of reception, which was usually far from any scenic views.
Keeping my devices charged also felt like a second job. Between monitoring battery levels on my laptop, phone, e-reader, camera, and power bank, I felt like I was constantly calculating how many minutes of work I could get done.
I had a power inverter and USB charging ports in my van, so when batteries ran low I either had to drive for a while or find somewhere I could sit for several hours to allow my devices time to charge.