Dealing with internet issues on your travels

I have recently stumbled upon a very real and difficult problem. You might think this isn’t earth shattering, and of course, nobody died, however it has caused me somewhat of a problem or ten.

I am currently travelling and trying to work as a freelance writer at the same time. This is easy if you have a generic topic to write about, no need to research, and you have a huge hit of inspiration, however if you don’t have any of the above, you need a decent internet connection for a decent length of time. I have recently been without said internet connection, and it has caused me some grief, to say the least. I am a little social media addicted anyway, so maybe it has helped my Facebook problem, however my working life has taken a bit of a hit because of it.

Like any girl, I can multi-task and find a way around most things, so my search for a reliable internet connection has thrown up several interesting solutions to my problem.

I will share …

Be honest – If you have clients you regularly work with, send them an email (when you get internet of course), and be honest about your problem. Explain that you will do as much as you can with the tools you have, but that you might be slower than you normally would be for a duration of time. Try and give a timescale if you can.

Stay in contact – As above, keep sending updates to your clients, to keep a communication lane open. The same can be said for family and friends – you don’t want to be causing mass panic.

Don’t take on too much – Be realistic about how much work you can do at this time. Don’t be tempted to take on too much, because you’re only going to let your clients down, which won’t help you in the long run. Honesty is always the best policy, and your clients will respect you and understand you more for it.

Set up your phone for internet back up – I have my emails come to my phone, so I know when I do get some internet, I can stay in contact with people, including family and friends. You can also set up your phone for remote access to most freelancing sites, such as WordPress, so you can do a little on the go.

Post on your Facebook page – I decided to post a status on my Facebook page informing people that I wasn’t ignoring their messages, I just didn’t have regular internet, and not to worry, I would be in contact as soon as I could. This stops people panicking about your whereabouts.

Make friends with the wifi people – I have become very good friends with the local bar down the road, simply because they have free wifi! Wherever you go for a drink or a meal, get the wifi code. You will be expected to buy a drink obviously, but you were going to do that anyway, right? I think the term is, if you scratch their back, they’ll scratch yours.

Look for hotels with wifi in the room – This is something I always look for as a go-to, and I generally avoid hotels that don’t have internet access. You might have to pay for by the hour internet access, but anything is better than nothing.

The most interesting thing I found with the lack of internet situation I came across was just how addicted I have become to online access. Yes, I need it to work, but it’s also social media no-go access that has caused me stress. I think maybe this hiatus will be a good thing!