Working on the turf outside the mobile home office

When I tell people that we’re embarking on a two-week workation adventure in a 25-foot recreational vehicle — “balk” is the best word to characterize their surprise.

Cramped. Constricted. Confined.

Confused.

But working from an RV traveling the American South is anything but any of those.

I guess a workation is what you make of it. With broadband wireless, netbook and laptops, and all the trappings of modern life — tucked neatly into a late-model RV, we’ll have what we need to stay connected and for me to get my job done.

Want crazy? Camping retailer REI says the sale of single-family tents were up 17% this June over last. That’s crazy? Where will you put the 23-inch TV?

Surely I jest. I grew up tent camping throughout Florida. Good times.

But still need convincing about the beauty of RV’ing, tent-camping and even the use of air-conditioned cabins? Read on in this article from USAToday on the surprising pleasures of modern RV’ing… Read More »

What defines your perfect mobile office?

I was reading Trend Spotter this week and came across Nissan ‘s (not so) new mobile office concept vehicle. Except that it cannot sleep a soul, it’s a pretty cool active workplace.

Unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, the NV200 sports a well-hidden, full mobile office in the rear. Though its target apparently is “ocean photographers,” I could see this as a little giddyup run-about for Home Office Highway’ers and active teleworkers.

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What would you do if you had to create a home office from a space just under 169 square feet? Where would you put “your” space — to work, to focus, to ply your trade uninterrupted?

That’s what I’ll face when I take my laptop, wireless Internet connection and other accessories into our Fleetwood Jamboree and try to work efficiently from a make-shift home office for three weeks.

This isn’t really a stretch. It’s bigger than my office at home, which measures right around 140 square feet. But the two are very similar in one respect: Whether it’s 169 square feet or 140, it’s not ALL workspace. In my home office, my desk takes up about 20 square feet (it’s a custom-built beauty, I humbly admit), and the shelving behind me consumes another 10 feet.

Look at the Jamboree’s floor plan, and you’ll see I won’t have much space of my own. The dinette may be my ideal space, but that’s about 21 square feet. The cab-over bed and storage will be another 29 feet. The kitchenette and bathroom are not ideal workspaces, though I’ve been known to get some pretty good reading done in the latter…

Clearly, I’ll have to improvise — and will enjoy doing so. I’ll lose the kitchen table when it’s converted into a bed, meaning my pre-dawn working hours will need some other space. With the awning stretched out, I’ll feed my unusual work chronology by working outside when the spirit and elements cooperate. I’m sure the campgrounds and RV parks we visit will have picnic tables. I’ll work as Robbie drives (oh, the beauty of wireless broadband).

As I’m learning from other RV sites, working from the road is a heavily improvised and ad hoc exercise. If you have some thoughts or suggestions, send them my way…