Day In The Life Of A Copywriter: Travel Edition – How I Stay Productive While Traveling

If you ask me… one of the BIGGEST perks of being an online freelancer is that you can basically work from anywhere, anytime… 

Travelling the world and making money while doing it? It’s the dream right?… 

But there’s one little problem… how do you balance work and play? How can you keep your clients happy, hit all your deadlines, and still have time to see & do all the things you want?

Well after 10 years of practice, I think I’ve got a pretty good system nailed down. 

So come along with me as I take you behind the scenes and show you what a Day In Life Of A Traveling Copywriter really looks like… and the 5 tried-and-true productivity tips that help me live the best of both worlds without sacrifice or stress! 

And let me tell you… tip #5 is an absolute game-changer. 

Hey Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex!

I recently spent an entire month in the insanely beautiful country of Turkey. From spending a week on a boat in the middle of the Aegean Sea… to living a real-life fairy tale in Cappadocia… to scooting along the southern Mediterranean coast… to exploring the colourful streets of Istanbul…

It was an unforgettable month and a much-needed adventure after almost 2 years of NO travel.

And while I was away, this was a question I get asked quite often:

Alex, how do you manage to run a successful business AND travel?!

So, today you’re getting a little sneak peek at how I manage to do it…

But first, if you’re new to the crew – welcome! My blog is full of tutorials, guides, and tips to help you master the freelancing, copywriting, marketing, and branding strategies that are working TODAY. Make sure to join my newsletter to hear when my next tutorial goes live.

Alright, now let’s get started… a day in the life of a copywriter — travel edition.

Here are my 5 tips for having fun while getting stuff done. 

Tip #1 – Stay In A Home 

Now don’t get me wrong… I love a great hotel and I do stay in them from time to time on shorter trips…

But what I really love doing while travelling—especially from a productivity perspective—is staying in an actual home, like one you’d find on AirBnb, VRBO or other vacation rental sites.

And that’s because, when I’m travelling I really like to create an environment that feels more like, well, home. A place where I can wake up, make my own coffee, and cook my own breakfast… 

I find that this just makes it a lot easier for me to stick to a semi-regular “work from home” routine no matter where in the world I am. 

I love renting places that have a separate space or room where I can create a mini “home office.” A space that I can set up all my work essentials, play my fav Spotify playlist, and get into the zone of productivity and creativity. 

Tip #2 – Stay Longer, Live Like A Local

This is something that I think is often overlooked by digital nomads…

People tend to say “Oh I’m gonna spend 3 days here, 2 days here, 3 days here…” 

And if you’re travelling that much, constantly moving around, AND simultaneously trying to run your business… 

Well, that’s basically a recipe for missed meetings, late deadlines, and tons & tons of stress. 

What I like to do is stay in the same place for a minimum of one week before I move on…

Even if you only have one week—pick one place to visit and do it right, rather than try to cram it all in.

That way you have plenty of time to unpack, make the space feel like home, and you won’t feel super rushed to do everything on your bucket list while still keeping up on your work at the same time.

I know it’s tempting to keep moving around and cram everything you possibly can into your trip… but trust me this will make it way easier to balance your work life.

I love to take the time to work, explore and live like a local.

Tip #3 – Maintain A Healthy Routine

Just like when you’re at home… as soon as you let your routine slide, the harder and harder it is to get anything done… And that’s especially true when you’re simultaneously battling jet lag.

So when I travel, I’m very intentional about maintaining my routines. Especially my morning and bedtime routines.

While I do usually have later nights when I travel, I really try as much as possible to go to bed and wake up around the same time as I normally do when I’m back at home. Because getting enough rest is crucial for staying productive…

And will make every other part of your trip way more enjoyable too. I also try as much as possible to stay hydrated, work out and walk A LOT…

Because I am a TOTAL foodie and you better believe I am indulging in all those amazing local dishes and delicacies…

That’s why I always travel with a workout kit and plan—and try my best to stick to it as much as possible… or else I just don’t feel my best

And when I don’t feel my best I’m not very productive and I’m definitely not enjoying my travels as much as I could be. 

Alright, now onto the real juicy stuff…

Tip #4 – Pack The Essentials

Part of running your business on the road is making sure you have all the stuff you need to keep you productive and on track. Especially if you have frequent client calls, have writing to do or content to create!

Now, while you definitely can’t pack up your entire office or desk… there are certain things I will never leave home without! So, on top of my laptop (of course), this is what you’ll find in my travel bag:

• 4k Webcam⁠ – For high-quality video training, meetings, interviews⁠ and, of course, YouTube videos… I have the Logitech Brio 4k webcam… it’s about this big and is super easy to travel with.
• Notebook Tablet – While I love a good notebook, they can take up a lot of space in your carry-on, which is why I love to travel with my notebook tablet like this one from Remarkable. Look how thin this is! This is where I map out all my Most Important Tasks for the day, take notes and do all my creative brainstorming.
• ⁠Noise Cancelling Headphones⁠ – I love these headphones from Bose—essential for the plane AND for trying to work in a busy cafe or hotel room⁠.
• iPhone Tripod⁠ – This tiny thing is great for recording video content and Reels on the go. 
• Mobile Lav Mic⁠ – This tiny lav mic by Rhode is perfect for capturing high-quality audio.
• Travel Mouse – It can be hard to be productive when you’re needing to do all your work with just your tiny little laptop trackpad – so I love to travel with this little travel mouse. It’s the Logitech MX Anywhere 3…. I pack it in a shoe and it makes my remote office that much better.

I know that list of “essentials” might sound like a lot, but trust me everything is small and compact. I can easily fit this all in one carry-on bag…

And you can click the links to all of these and get them for yourself! 

Alright, now on to my favourite tip of all…

Tip #5 – Time Block Day Your Day 

This is something that I have been doing religiously for the past 10 years—and it was a serious game-changer for me!

Basically what this means is that every single day you have set hours and blocks of time that you will focus on certain things.

Whether I’m at home or on the road, time blocking my day is how I stay productive, focused, and accomplish everything on my to-do list. If you’re not already doing this… then trust me—start now!

Now, time blocking looks a lot different when I’m travelling than when I’m working from home… 

But here’s what works best for me while travelling…

• Wake up, eat breakfast, work out.
• Next, I’ll answer some urgent emails and attend to urgent tasks and do at least 1-2 hours of creative work.
• Then, I’ll go out for the afternoon to sightsee, explore, etc.
• After that, I come back in the late afternoon to get some more work done (when I’m in Europe this is when I have my meetings, as it’s when everyone on this side of the world starts waking up).
• And finally, I’ll go out again later in the evening for dinner and more fun.

When planning out your time blocks, remember to try to be online and available at some of the same times that your clients are online. That way you can easily communicate back and forth with them if needed. 

And another thing I do religiously when I’m travelling is to block ALL of my meetings into ONE DAY. That one tip single-handedly makes travelling a breeze for me. 

For example, I block all of my meetings for Tuesday afternoons. That way, I know that on Tuesdays… I won’t be booking flights or booking tours, because I’ll be on client calls. 

And it’s just so much easier because then because you don’t need to keep track of a bunch of different calls throughout the week, take calls from airports, or places with sketchy wi-fi. 

It’s simple, it’s easy, and it seriously makes your travel life enjoyable and stress-free. 

Alright Posse, I hope you got tons of great ideas for your next big trip!

Until next time, I’m Alex. Ciao for now! 

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