It’s Monday, and you wake up to the soothing sound of the waves. It’s not your day off, but you don’t have to rush to your office. Because that’s where your office is, it can be on the beach, it can be on a hill or in the middle of a beautiful countryside. If you are a digital nomad who can work remotely, the experience of working as described above could be your life.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the concept of remote working or working remotely from the office has been introduced with Work From Home (WFH). Various institutions and companies are trying to suppress the spread of Covid-19 by asking their workers to work from home. Now, after the Covid-19 cases are decreasing, remote working workers are starting to leave their homes and look for more comfortable places to work in various regions. Are you one of them?

To explore the experience of digital nomads who can work anywhere, check out the stories from Alya, Amira, and Dafi from Jakarta Smart City!

Work from Cafes, Beaches, to the Middle of the Mountains

Alya is a Content writer at Jakarta Smart City. When directions from the office allowed remote working for workers, Alya did not waste this opportunity. She has worked from Padang to Bali. Even though it is far from the office, she still makes sure she can connect with his co-workers at the office and can still write using his tablet computer. She has worked in inns, airports, to the beach.

Besides Alya, there is another Content Writer who likes to work in various places, her name is Amira. Amira’s favorite place to work is a cafe, because it’s a comfortable place and usually provides internet access as well as a power outlet to charge her laptop. But, as a worker who must be ready to accept work anywhere, Amira can also do her work in the middle of the trip, usually she stops at the rest area to do the work that must be done right away.

Unlike Alya and Amira, Dafi, who works as a Social Media Officer, prefers to work in cool mountainous areas. His favorite choice fell to the city of Bandung. He feels that he can think more clearly and creatively when he can breathe cool and cold air.

Although the three workers’ favorite places to work are different, all three agree that working from anywhere is more productive and conducive. Especially for the kind of creative work they do, where inspiration is the main fuel to get the job done. Working from different places allows these digital nomads to get a different atmosphere, see the activities of different citizens and enrich perspectives that are also useful for their work.

Challenges Faced

The experience of Alya, Amira, and Dafi when WFA of course also found its own challenges, such as a slow internet connection, places that do not provide power plugs to charge electronic equipment, to a signal that is not supported. Facing these challenges, the three of them are used to preparing themselves beforehand. They charge work equipment, such as laptops and cellphones to the brim when at home or at the inn. In addition, they also prepare internet quota on their cellphones to then be used to surf the internet on their laptops if it turns out that there is no wifi available at the location where they work. If the signal is not supportive, they will usually look for a place with a good signal during working hours so that they can continue to fulfill their job responsibilities.

In addition to these internal challenges, there are other external challenges for Digital Nomads. Alya stated that when working from anywhere, many people consider it as not working and just a vacation. In fact, when working from anywhere, every worker must still be responsible for their respective jobs. Working from a tourist place does not mean the job is neglected. Job responsibilities will continue to be a priority for these digital nomads.

Desire to Work on Digital Nomad Island

Hearing that Jakarta will develop a Digital Nomad Island in the Thousand Islands, Alya, Amira and Dafi are very excited to experience working in the middle of the island which is not far from Jakarta. The thought of working accompanied by beach views and being able to learn to dive in the Sunda Strait when taking a break from work certainly crossed the minds of these three digital nomads. Amira hopes that in the future the Thousand Islands can be developed into a digital nomad friendly place by providing electrical plug points and wifi that can support their work. “Hopefully the price is also affordable,” concluded Amira.

Are you also interested in Digital Nomad Island? You can peek at the view of Digital Nomad Island in the Thousand Islands at smartcity.jakarta.go.id/id/digital-xperience/