Location Independent Professionals

Professional Nomads in Prague: Essential Information and Resources

For many, Prague remains one of the hidden gems of Europe.

Largely untouched by the destruction of WW2 thanks to Hitler’s personal affection for the city, it was cloistered behind the iron curtain until the communist regime began to crumble and so retains much of its old world charm.

Prague is a city of contrasts: avant-garde buildings on cobbled streets, medieval castles on a modern public transit route and bohemian absinthe bars down the street from hip coffee shops.

The first place we paused on a year long cycle trip was Prague. We needed to get some work done for a while and some that meant renting an apartment for a little while.

We were amazed at how easy it was to find gorgeous accommodation with first class connectivity all within the enviable Praha 1 historic district. It was a perfect city in which to blend work with play.

Being that our personal stay in Prague was limited,albeit incredible, I tracked down an expat couple who’ve lived and worked extensively in the city to share the very best of their experiences and resources with you.

Meet Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott.

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What to Do When Your Vision of Location Independence Isn’t the Same as Your Partner

Written by Lea Woodward

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Lea’s Note: This is the second guest post concerning relationships written by expert, Jackie Walker. To find out more about Jackie, check out her byline below.

Making a joint decision about a future lifestyle – one that creates space for input from both parties – is something which can challenge even the most dedicated and loving couple.

A shared vision often only remains glorious until the day when it looks like becoming reality. At this point differing reactions are common: disbelief, fear, joy, achievement to name but a few and when cracks can start to show in a previously solid relationship.

Concurring on an identical dream is crucial from the outset. There is very little point in wanting something and then, when you’ve got the opportunity to go for it, finding out that one of you isn’t on board.

It’s much healthier and creates a lot less stress to talk together at the outset. The linchpin of successful discussions is learning the art of asking some good questions.

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Working from the Cyber Cloud: Delight or Disaster?

Written by Sharon Hurley Hall

Working from the Cloud: Delight or Disaster?

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Neatly picking up from Jenn’s last post, when I wrote this article I was facing a disaster for my location independent writing business.

That’s because the next day I knew there would be no internet in my area and probably no phone either, since it’s the same company.

I’m a firm believer of “working in the cloud” but there are times when it can be a burden rather than a blessing. Before I take a look at the disadvantages, let’s review some of the reasons why it pays to keep most of your business cloud based…

Delights

Mobility

If you don’t have to carry stuff around then the chances of losing data and files are limited plus there is the added advantage of being able to travel light.

Last year I was working in Mexico – or was it Bahrain? – when a client emailed me needing an urgent update to a document. Even though I had a laptop with me the document wasn’t on it but I was able to access my cloud based backup site (through Syncplicity), download and edit the file then email it to my client.

Crash Proofing Your Business

If you have never had a laptop or computer die suddenly then you’re lucky. I’ve had it happen to me and it seems that many computers don’t believe in the afterlife – once that data is gone, it’s gone. Or is it?

If you’ve backed up your files and manage your business from the cloud then you are not only location independent but computer independent. Doesn’t that sound great?

I can never stop praising Syncplicity enough because when I changed computers I was able to download all my stuff from my old PC to my new one with a single click. Within a few hours, everything was in the right place.

Disadvantages

But it’s not all gravy.

Plan “B” and Back Up

If you run your business from the cloud you are dependent on having a good, reliable internet connection and depending where you are, that could be a problem. Your whole business could be trapped in the cloud, while you have no chance to get access. The solution is to have backup plans in place.

That means having a plan B as well as backing up your files.

In many cases the plan B consists of an internet cafe or a friend’s computer which is fine for connectivity problems of short duration but what if the internet is down for a whole day? You already know that I keep a portable hard disk as a secondary backup – that means I can take my data to any other computer and have immediate access.

Security

Another worry for some people is security.

The answer to that is strong passwords, regularly changed. Please don’t ask me if I am following my own advice! I’ve started the process, but it will take a while. I can’t guarantee that your data will be 100% secure on-line but in my experience it’s pretty safe. Neither my online backup account nor my email account has ever been hacked, and those are my two key tools.

Of course, there’s always the ultimate nightmare. As my friend Mitch says: ‘the cloud might dissipate taking the data with it – yikes!’

Yikes, indeed and that’s why, although I work in the cloud, I keep off-line backups as well as email backups through my Google Apps email – I feel pretty sure Google isn’t going anywhere in a hurry.