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Creature Comforts & Home Office Teem in RV, Campgrounds

Working on the turf outside the mobile home office
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… Continue reading “Creature Comforts & Home Office Teem in RV, Campgrounds”

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Hittin’ the Road? Pack Your Mobile Home Office Well

travel-essentials-pack

What’s in your pack? A tablet PC, walkie-talkie radio, flash drive, broadband wireless card, five-plug, surge protected power strip. That’s what in mine…

When we recently took a family cruise, I made sure to pack my backpack with all the essentials needed to create a home office from the road.

Along side my HP tablet PC were my broadband wireless aircard (essentially useless hundreds of miles out to sea), my Ativa Memory Stick card reader, a USB flash drive, and a Monster five-plug, surge protected power strip. You never know when you’ll have to plug the laptop, camera charger and some other device into one single outlet.

I also carry a stretch of ethernet cable, and a clutch of adapters.

Here’s what some other people had in their backpacks and laptop bags. Wireless Road Warrior found size essential. Webworker Daily had a review of the stash in one laptop case (read the comments for some more good ideas). Here’s some more threads on the topic.

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Stylish Digs: Concept Mobile Office for Road Warriors, Teleworkers

nissan-mobile-office-via-trendhunterWhat 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.

Continue reading “Stylish Digs: Concept Mobile Office for Road Warriors, Teleworkers”

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Hey Road Warrior: How Industrious Is Your Cottage Home Office?

Your industrious cottage can make remote work workable.
Your industrious cottage can make remote work workable by Nancy Doniger for the New York Times.

The New York Times had a piece on the tools needed to make a second home or vacation getaway an industrious place. I lent a few insights.

For home office workers (entrepreneurs or teleworkers alike), top tips included:

– Wireless broadband. Internet is central to any effective home office or remote workplace.

– A computer. Netbooks and small laptops allow people to take their work anywhere — without dragging a luggable in tow.

– Cloud with Web-apps. “The cloud is the concept of working in an untethered environment, so all your documents are out there,” writer Billie Cohen quoted me as saying. Click here to learn more…

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Keep Your Laptop Yours With Mobile Security Devices

PC Magazine recently had a piece on the growing epidemic of laptop theft.

Apparently, 12,000 laptops each week sprout legs NOT belonging to their owners — and venture off with strangers of ill-intent (Ponemon Institute and Dell Computer). This mostly happens in “high distraction places” like airport security checkpoints, departure gates and drinking establishments where business execs and road warriors are educating clients and prospects on the finer points of this phenomenon called, The Final Four.

In an RV, where you may be roaming with the bears or enjoying Grand Ol’ Opry while your mobile office on wheels lies unwatched (at least, by you, that is), how can you protect your stuff?

Once stolen, only three in 10 travelers ever recover their laptops (fewer land the prospect’s account). As for the confidential info or customer data lost from the absent PC or tongue loosened by spirits during said Final Four outing, it’ll show up — in your competitor’s next Exclusive Priduct, and your Corporate Termination Exit Review…

PC Magazine SLIDESHOW (10)
Slideshow | All Shots

Laptop security is a crap-shoot. Best we can do is hope to thwart thieves. When I’m shacked up in a hotel — but venture out to a local haunt or watering hole, I leave my laptop in plain sight — locked tightly around a permanent fixture with a cable lock.

Beyond cable locks, other solutions include proximity alarms, software and duct tape to strap the laptop to your hands. Actually, PC offered a slideshow on 10 Laptop Security Products to keep your laptop and its data yours. Products include the PC Guardian Ezolution Multi Combo RS, Mobile Edge SecuriCable Key Lock, Targus Laptop Privacy Screens, Datamation Snap It Laptop Security Cable, Hush Communications StealthSurfer, M2SYS M2-S1 Fingerprint Reader, Yoggie Pico Personal, and LaptopLock. Continue reading “Keep Your Laptop Yours With Mobile Security Devices”