What’s stopping you buying that adorable bolthole in France? If it’s work, why not pack the laptop and take the office with you, says Julie Savill?
Could you be a digital nomad? Is home where your laptop is? Admittedly it’s not a possibility for everyone but if you can occasionally work from home then you should be able to occasionally work from France.
The idea of digital nomadism has grown massively since Covid with more and more people freeing themselves from the traditional constraints of nine-to-five work life and embracing their ability to escape traditional working arrangements and taking on ‘work from home’ positions.
If you do decide this is an option for you there are a few things to consider. Firstly, that you will have to be disciplined and actually work while you are at your second home. That might seem obvious but have you considered how it will feel when the rest of the family is heading out to a local château or lounging around the pool?
You might be able to adapt your days and get an early start and an earlier finish to the day. And at the very least you’ll have your evenings free for socialising and those lovely long outdoor meals.
A couple of years ago we had what appeared to me to be the ultimate digital nomads come and house sit for us. We had advertised on Trusted Housesitters and got an application from a couple in their 30s from Seattle. They spent their entire time travelling to different locations, both within the United States and throughout Europe hopping from one house sit to another.
So committed were they to the lifestyle that in six years of marriage, they hadn’t got around to getting their own home, either owned or rented!
