Ski More Without Using Vacation Time: Tips for European Remote Working
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- If you live near the mountains, you have plenty of opportunity to ski or board during the winter. But for those of us do not, it is difficult to get many days on the mountain without using vacation time. During the pandemic, I realized how I could spend more days on the mountain during the ski season without using any of my vacation days. Working remotely, but from Europe. The time difference worked in my favor. I woke up, skied close to a full day, and then returned to my accommodations and worked my regular work day remotely. I essentially flipped the day. Instead of using my free time after work to do what I wanted, I was using my free time before work to do what I wanted.
Here are some tips I've learned:
1) Mindset. It's important to remember that this is a workday. On vacation, it's understandable to get upset if the weather isn't perfect or you didn't ski or snowboard as much as you wanted to that day. But this is a workday. How much time do you get on the mountain during a normal workday at home? None. So be thankful for the time you get here. It's all a bonus.
2) Stay Multiple Weeks to Maximize the Value of Your Airfare. Airfares are expensive now, so if you work remotely for multiple weeks, you can truly gain maximum value out of the money you spend to fly to Europe.
3) Stay as Close to the Base as Possible. On a ski or snowboard vacation, you might choose to stay further from the mountain to save money. If you do that when working remotely, it may decrease the time you have on the mountain because you'll have to quit earlier to get back to start work. So if you can, stay closer to the base so that you have more time to ski or snowboard.
4) Use Travel Days to Explore. You'll typically travel on the weekend, so take that time to stop off and visit nearby towns or attractions. You can even do this on a workday when the weather isn't ideal.
5) Extra Time Savers. Try to find additional ways to save time so that you have more time to ski or snowboard. One tip that helped me was renting a locker at the base of the mountain so that I could get back to my accommodations and start working more quickly.
My wife and I are heading to the Alps in January for the first time. I work in the Toronto area, and my wife is retired.......you may have earned the title of 'Genius' for next year ;)
......we are splurging this trip and treating it as a bucket list trip, so I will definitely need to check out the economic savings suggestions for the next trip.
Great idea!
That's awesome! My guess is that you'll love it. My mom is Canadian and we've skied Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Love all the resorts there, but there's something about the feel in Europe that's so different and fun. Fortunately, there are many expenses in Europe that are much less, like lift tickets and equipment rentals.
Great tips, love your energy and enthusiasm for snow sport living. Subbed!
Thanks so much!
Cool Video! As a german Snowboarder myself I must say that this is very tempting
Your videos are inspiring me. You are getting better and better. Thanks for posting.
Thanks so much! Really appreciate it.
Awesome. Now I just need tips for finding a remote nyc job!
Ha! Yeah, it's tough. I now have to report to the office twice a week, but it's just an AVERAGE of twice a week. So I'll be able to pull this off again this year by working 4 days a week in the office for 3 weeks to bank the days I'll miss when fully remote in Europe. Not everyone is that lucky nowadays...
Saw your other video when you did this. I'm in central time zone so should work just as well. You're inspiring me to give this a try, maybe next year
It's so worth it. And based on @lawyh1606's comment below, where he's working in the Hong Kong time zone and skiing at Whistler (8 hour time difference), which is totally workable, and US CST is a 7 hour difference from Europe, you're probably in the sweet spot. I have to cut the ski day short a bit at a 6 hour time difference and he may have to start the day a bit late. CST might actually be right in the middle.
Where in Zermatt do you stay? I’ve never been and looking at the trail map it looks like there are two lifts in the town area. One that takes you to Sunnegga and the other one that goes up to glacier paradise by the Italy side.
@@JT-tz1ef There's also the Gornergrat train that takes you up to Gornergrat from the main town, but it's very slow. I've stayed at a combo of hotels/apartment rentals in the Winkelmatten area, which is a few minute walk from the Matterhorn Express gondola that takes you up to Glacier Paradise. I think that's the best position because you're in the middle of the Italian side and Sunnegga. If you stay near Sunnegga, it takes longer to get over to Italy. If you stay in Italy (Cervino), it takes a long time to get to Sunnegga, and you can only do it if the border is open. It's not in the center of town, but you get used to the walk.
Also how do you work in Switzerland legally as a US citizen? They don’t offer digital nomad visas.
@@JT-tz1ef Great question and that’s like another whole video! The answer may be different for everyone, depending on what they do for work, how long they're working, how their employer views it, how the European country views it, and also how US tax laws treat their work.
Your video drops at the exact time when I am thinking about implementing this - I am now working in Hong Kong and plan to utilise my Epic pass without taking annual leaves. Whistler seems to be an obvious option although the time difference is 16 hours (aka 8 hours). Have previously tried working 1-8am in Europe, ski, then sleep before 6pm but the body became out of sync with the sun completely which was very painful and had no choice but to give up before going crazy. Miss my days working in Europe so much!
The Hong Kong-Whistler time zone combination sounds like it'll work much better for you since you'll still be aligned with the nightfall for sleeping at night. It's the same alignment as NYC-Europe with an extra 2-hour time difference. The 6-hour difference worked really well because I finished work right at midnight and could go straight to sleep. But I did have to cut the ski day short by an hour or two for the beginning of the work day. If you maintain traditional working hours in Hong Kong, you might not get to sleep until 1 or 2am, but even if your sleep then has to cut into the beginning of the ski day a bit, you'll be able to ski those extra 1-2 hours at the end of the day that I couldn't. So it sounds like you've found the perfect mix! It's pretty much a full ski day.
Baller! So jellie