Workations are short-term or mid-term trips that combine work and holidays. They're an excellent solution for expats who can't afford to take a few weeks completely off work but do need a change of environment. The difference between “workations” and “digital nomadism” can be fuzzy, but it's generally assumed that digital nomadism tends to be more long-term. Many expats think that workations help them avoid burnout and make them more creative at work, but it can also put them under stress about how to manage their time and budget while doing two things at a time.
Workations combine the best of work and play for hybrid/remote workers
"Workation" is a neologism that has been increasingly seen alongside "digital nomad." While digital nomads often stay in one destination for a year or two, workations tend to be only a few days, weeks or (occasionally) months long. Like the portmanteau word says in itself, it combines holidays with remote work. The quintessential image that comes to mind is that of a holidaymaker relaxing by the pool, cocktail in hand, sunscreen on… but also with their laptop on their lap, an Excel spreadsheet open.
When expats can't afford to take a few weeks or months completely off from work, a workation might be a good solution. “Real” holidays might be difficult for different reasons: no paid leaves left, priority work that can't be left behind, employer's unwillingness to grant long holidays, no income generated during that period. The workation solves nearly all of these issues. For one, as you will still be working while holidaying, either full-time or with reduced hours, you'll keep earning money even if you're self-employed or have no paid company leaves left. Your employer or clients might not care that you're abroad for a short time as long as you're being productive.
In 2022, the website Passport Photo online polled over 1,000 workers in the US on their workation. Most took a workation between 2-4 weeks, mostly within the US. Only a small percentage – 13% and 9% respectively – went on a workation that was longer than 1 or 2 months. The minority (18%) who preferred an international workation mostly went to the UK, Mexico and Canada. Geographical proximity and/or an English-speaking environment were clearly motivating factors.
Over 80% of these US-based workers surveyed say that their recent workation has boosted their productivity and creativity at work. Facing the same office every day can be depressing, and a change in environment is often the trick to making a worker not feel stuck anymore. Instead of having to commute, they might instead have been able to spend that time taking an early morning walk on the beach – and this can be very relaxing before having to write a report!
The vast majority of these US-based workers (88%) rated their workation experience as positive or very positive and said they'd repeat it in the future. When asked about the characteristics of a good workation destination, they mentioned reliable internet connection, space to work, the availability of quiet rooms for meetings, health and safety standards, good online reviews, price, the flexibility to cancel without penalty, and the proximity to tourist attractions.
Workations are also increasingly popular among workers in the UK, which includes expats based in the UK. Comparethemarket, the price comparison website of the BGL group, conducted a study in early 2023 which found that one-third of UK-based workers had taken a workation in the last year. Many of them (28%) said they also visited family and friends during their workation, which contributed to better work-life balance and happiness levels for them.
Expats considering workations need to careful about visa regulations
Workations can have pitfalls, though. Expats need to be careful about visa rules, time management, work-life balance, time zone differences and budgeting. In most countries, it's illegal to work – even remotely – on a tourist visa. Countries do not recognize the extraterritoriality of online work because the taxes that should be levied on a person's work are generally tied to the territory where that work is completed.
This said, many expats often discreetly work online while holidaying somewhere for a few days or weeks. They believe that their trip is short enough to not attract the attention of the country's immigration and tax authorities – or even the attention of their employer back home, who might not be aware that they're traveling (unless they're posting holiday photos on Instagram and their colleagues follow them!). But it's always safer to get a proper visa that allows remote work, which is usually a Digital Nomad Visa. In South Korea, it's straightforwardly called the Workation Visa.
Unfortunately, in some countries, the cost of this visa is high, or its requirements are stringent. For instance, the application fee for the Digital Nomad Visa of the tropical Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda costs US$1,500 for individuals, US$2,000 for couples and US$3,000 for families with children. On top of that, they must earn a minimum of US$50,000 a year.
If you're planning on taking a workation for only a few weeks or months rather than becoming a long-term digital nomad, it might not be worth investing in an expensive visa. You could instead choose a destination with a more affordable visa, such as Georgia, where there is no application fee for the first year. Alternatively, you could choose a holiday destination within your own country, perhaps in another state/region, to avoid paying any visa or permit fees. As the previously cited study by Passport Photo Online showed, the vast majority of Americans and expats in the US choose a workation destination in the country itself – and the States is large and diverse enough to provide a change of environment one domestic flight away.
Time management and budgeting are essential for a pleasant workation
Juggling work and fun obviously comes with a time management challenge. Expats go on a workation to unwind and improve their mental health, but poor time management and budgeting might ironically make a workation more stressful than a regular 9-to-5 job in a cubicle.
So, it's important to research and plan in advance about how to manage your time and money on a workation. And then it's important to stick to your plan as much as possible once you're in your tropical resort or picturesque South European town – and not let yourself be too tempted by “I can spend a few more hours swimming and complete my report right before bed” or “It doesn't matter that I spent $200 more than planned, I'm on holiday anyway and should enjoy myself.”
In consumer psychology, mental accounting is a self-control mechanism that people use to prevent themselves from overspending. For instance, if you bought a fancy cocktail with an expensive spirit at the poolside bar on Friday night, you might make a mental note to get juice instead on Saturday night to avoid spending too much. However, in situations of ambiguity, such as in a new place or on vacation, this mental accounting becomes malleable. We justify expenses we wouldn't normally justify, such as overpriced food whose prices we would never accept back home. It's good to be aware of the ways our brains trick us into malleable mental accounting because you don't want to find yourself with no emergency savings by the end of your workation.
As for time management, it's important to schedule different hours of the day for leisure activities, sightseeing and working. There are plenty of time management apps that can help you here – TimeTree, Focus Booster, Toggl, Todoist, Evernote and Remember the Milk are just a few. Keep a scheduled hour every day to go through your email, work WhatsApp group or Slack – you don't want to be doing that while you're on a safari, it will ruin the experience!
Learn to prioritize and delegate your work tasks. It's OK to not have the same level of productivity as when you're back home, but you should at least complete your priority tasks. As for the less important tasks, you could postpone them later or delegate them to a colleague if possible. The hotel or AirBnB where you choose to stay will also play a major role in your time management. Choose one that's close enough to the tourist sites you want to visit so that you don't waste a lot of time traveling (which could have been spent on work!).
Many destinations are creating services tailored specifically for expats on workations
In an effort to tap into the growing interest in workations as well as rebuild their tourism industry after the pandemic, some countries or regions have been creating services which are specifically tailored for welcoming expats on workations.
For example, in the small seaside town of Ballycastle at the northernmost tip of Northern Ireland, property developers have recently decided to refurbish a derelict 18th-century building into a hospitality venue tailored for workations. It has been renamed Stay Lagom and was inaugurated in September 2023. The website says that it is designed “by travelers for travelers,” so it offers services like super-fast internet, meeting pods, presentation areas, coworking spaces and bike rental in addition to rooms.
In India, the government of the southern state of Kerala is also investing in attracting expats on workations. The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation is collaborating with the local tech sector (Kerala IT) to attract hybrid or remote tech workers. They will build more hospitality venues for remote workers inside tech parks – a project for which they've kept Rs 100 million (about US$ 1.2 million) in the 2023-2024 state budget. One such venue for digital nomads will be built by the scenic lake near the Neyyar dam in the Thiruvananthapuram district.
