Working on the run
Venice, Italy - my brother and his wife became the exceedingly happy parents of their son just a few weeks ago, so late last year I knew I’d want to visit as around this time. But I also really wanted to spend more than the usual week, so I could wander around Italy a bit. Since I would still be working with Global Fleet Management, I needed a way to keep connected as I moved around. When I arrived in Rome in March, I picked up a TIM USB internet stick with a month of internet access for about €65 at the Rome train station. Performance turned out to be excellent and I’ve had access almost everywhere. Starting out in Latina, just south of Rome, I’ve now been to Rome, Bologna, and am now in Venice. The only dead spots were in the countryside on the train, which was a drag since it was a perfect time to get some work done! While in Rome, my partner joined me at the apartment I rented there - she needed to work too, and was able to share the device, no problem. Between the two of us we’ve used VPN, remote desktop, Skype video conferencing, etc - all worked great. Being in Italy has also been great for work since the time zone differences enable stuff to get done before clients awake, but then able to talk live later in the day. Well, it’s time to go get lost again in this watery city... maybe later another visit to the Metropole will be in order :) ciao!
Update: my journey is done now, a day over one month in all. The USB stick kept me connected the whole time, amazingly giving me one last gasp of connectivity at Heathrow airport. Gonna have to do this again!