Before you buy
Working while travelling: building a connection that won't leave you stranded
One connection isn't enough when your work depends on it. How to build redundancy, how much data to allow for, and what to check on arrival.
Claudia Ferrán 7 min Photo by NASA on Unsplash When the trip is also the office, your connection stops being a convenience and becomes infrastructure. And the rule of infrastructure is the usual one: anything with only one route will fail one day.
The two-route rule
Anyone working while travelling needs two independent ways of getting online that don't depend on the same thing. The usual combination is this one.
- The wifi where you're staying or working, as your main route.
- Your own mobile data as backup, on a plan big enough to carry a full working day.
- And, if your work can't tolerate failures, a second plan from a different local operator, because outages usually hit one network rather than all of them.
How much data to allow for
| Working day | Per day |
|---|---|
| Email, documents and messaging | 500 MB to 1 GB |
| With two or three video meetings | 2 to 4 GB |
| With large file uploads | 4 GB or more |
| Tethering a laptop all day | 5 GB or more |
With that range, a month of working from abroad easily passes 50 GB, and that's the clear case where an unlimited plan makes sense, where the destination offers one.
When unlimited is worth it and when it isn't is in unlimited eSIM or one by the gigabyte.
What to check on the day you arrive
- The real speed of your accommodation's wifi, tested at the hour you actually work.
- That tethering from your phone works with your laptop.
- That meetings hold up: a five minute test call is worth more than looking at a megabit figure.
- Where the nearest second place with a connection is, in case the first one fails.
That last point is what separates an inconvenience from a crisis: knowing in advance where to go with your laptop under your arm.
Time zones, which aren't a detail
If your meetings are afternoons in Europe and you're in Asia, your working hours fall in the small hours, when the network is quiet and performs better. If you're in the Americas, they coincide with local peak traffic. That's a real difference in quality and it's worth weighing when choosing a destination.
And a legal note that isn't technical
Working from another country has tax implications and sometimes visa ones. No connection solves any of that, and it's worth looking into before settling somewhere for a while.
Frequently asked questions
How much data do I need to work while travelling?
Between 2 and 4 GB a day with two or three video meetings, and more if you upload large files or tether a laptop all day.
Is my accommodation's wifi enough?
As your main route yes, but not as your only one. Anyone working while travelling needs their own mobile data as backup.
Is an unlimited plan worth it?
For remote work, nearly always: a month of working days with meetings passes 50 GB easily.
What should I check on arrival?
Your wifi speed at the hour you work, that tethering works with your laptop, and where the nearest second place with a connection is.
Does the time zone affect quality?
Yes: working in the local small hours means a quiet network, and working at local peak time shows up in video calls.
