When I moved to the US in 2010, I found myself in a different country from my businesses. That’s when I decided to transition to remote work, and it’s been a fascinating journey ever since. Back then, the tools for remote working weren’t exactly ideal – Zoom didn’t even exist yet – but I made it work and learned a lot along the way.

Since 2012, all my businesses have been fully remote, and I quickly discovered there was no blueprint for managing remote teams. I made plenty of mistakes but learned valuable lessons in how to lead from afar effectively and motivate people to perform. Fast-forward to 2020, and the COVID pandemic helped push remote work into the mainstream, with the tools becoming far more sophisticated.

As an empty nester with both children at university, I’m excited to enter a new chapter. I’m asking myself, “Why not work from places I want to be?” Whether it’s Portugal or Costa Rica, I can work just as easily from the opposite side of the world as I can from home. I’ll just miss my large screen!

For anyone considering the remote work lifestyle, my biggest advice is to find the balance. You don’t need the office environment, you just need a routine that allows you to stay in the work mindset when you need to and enjoy the world when you don’t.