Remote Work Travel FOMO Is Real: Here’s the Guilt No One Talks About

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POV: The view is beautiful, the sun is shining, but you're stuck sitting in this meeting on mute. Remote work travel FOMO is real, but there are more sides to it than the standard "fear of missing out."

The day I landed my first full-time remote position, I knew I'd won the lottery. And just a few weeks after starting that job, the company moved to a "flexible time off policy." Now, I know unlimited time off policies are controversial, but I'm a millennial — you bet I took my time off. I then spent the next several years of my life building the kind of lifestyle that allowed me to travel, even without taking too much time off.

The ability to travel is an absolute privilege, and it's one I don't take lightly. The ability to work remote so that I can travel more often is an even greater privilege — even more so knowing I've had coworkers, supervisors, and company support behind me.

But despite the (what some would consider) glamorous lifestyle and the support from my colleagues, traveling while working somehow comes with guilt from multiple directions. On one hand, you find yourself with travel FOMO while you're working; on the other, it's fear that you're not doing as well as you could be at work. Here's a breakdown of traveler's guilt and the ways I manage it.

The FOMO: Feeling the Guilt of Being "Stuck" at Work While Traveling

Everyone thinks remote work travel looks like the left all the time, but in reality, it's being stuck in a lot of hotels.

I'm not the first to coin the term "travel FOMO," but I think it takes on a whole new meaning when paired with remote work. Not only do you feel like you're missing out on what you could be experiencing, but it leads to agitation and frustration with work that — okay, maybe you were already feeling a little — now feels amplified because you feel like you have something better to do.

In some ways, I think this feeling is good, because it helps you prioritize, both in life generally speaking, but also at work. Nothing makes you evaluate your life choices faster than an expensive slice of guilt. Even without itineraries and experiences abound on social media and the internet, it's hard not to beat yourself up for feeling like you aren't doing or experiencing enough.

The Guilt of Working While Traveling (Even When You're Not Slacking)

Perhaps this isn't felt as strongly by some, but I for one tend to oscillate between my debilitating imposter syndrome and my raging god complex, which is probably what convinced me I could travel while working in the first place. Personal (mental health) problems aside, it's no secret that companies have shifted away from remote work since COVID-times, in part because they want to manage your time for you. Knowing that I might be perceived as a "slacker," so to speak, created a lot of guilt for making the most of my situation.

I'll personally never forget the time my boss, who was also returning from leave, commented, "And [Upper Level Manager] said your performance hasn't suffered at all!" while I was halfway through my 60-day Europe stint. He meant it as a compliment, but in my mind, it confirmed my worst fear: Everyone thought I'd be less productive or less committed to my job, which created a perceived risk at work. While that may or may not have been true, I often find myself fighting my imposter syndrome a little harder when I'm traveling and working.

Why Both Guilts Are Lying to You

Nefertiti's Bust - Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection. One of many photos taken on a quick museum trip before settling in to take calls all afternoon.

If anything, the two guilts that become apparent while traveling and working remote at the same time contradict each other. At the end of the day, neither is about performance or effort — it's just another kind of anxiety pulling you in.

The truth is, if you weren't stuck appreciating the view from what feels like another pointless meeting, you might not be there at all. The beauty of the internet is that we can find all of these wonderful places to visit, but it comes with a deluge of commenters who want to tell you you're traveling wrong. Truly, there is no "right" way to travel, as long as you're being respectful of the places you're visiting. It's no one's business how much you see or do in a place, except for you. Hell, if you travel internationally, you're already doing more than roughly 30% of the U.S. population.

On the other hand, there's no reason you would be less effective at your job, just because you're doing it from the kitchen of a VRBO in France instead of your desk at home. If anything, I've found that international travel has allowed me to be more productive, because I'm able to work around time zones. Besides, traveling while you work builds skills that are valuable in the workplace beyond time management, such as problem-solving, adaptability, cultural fluency, and resilience under pressure. Tell that to your manager when you submit your request to work from somewhere else!

Tips for Managing Remote Work Travel Guilt

As I've traveled over the years, I've developed a few key strategies that help me cope with any guilty feelings that my start to creep in.

Having a nice workspace is essential to surviving remote work travel.

• Self care: If anything, this is the most important strategy, because it's the one that I think goes out the window first when you're under more stress than usual. It's important to remind yourself that you aren't just vacationing; you still need the routines and boundaries you'd have at home. Otherwise, you'll end up more frustrated and more stressed.

  
  

• Make time for leisure: I did just say it's important to remind yourself that you aren't vacationing, but it's also important to remind yourself that you need to log off and go appreciate the place you're visiting, too. I find it helps to choose a few leisure experiences before you go, and work them into or after your work schedule if you can.

  
  

• Create a productive work space: I find that when I get frustrated with work while I'm out in the world, it helps to have a genuinely good workspace. This is why I make sure I have the tools I need with me (small portable monitor, mouse, notebook) and I choose work locations that don't make me feel like I'm stuck. For example, I try to work from scenic locations instead of hotel rooms whenever possible, or to book condos close to local hubs (the apartments I rented in Nice and Prague were godsends), so it's easy to step out into something fun on breaks.

  
  

• Give yourself permission to feel a little bad (but not for long): I can't tell you how many times I've just needed to wallow in self pity for a minute before reminding myself that I'm actually doing something super cool and no one can take that away from me. When you're traveling, you're tired and overstimulated. It's ok to let that first day feel a little frustrating.

This isn't a comprehensive list, but if you want to know more about how to make remote work travel work for you, check out this post.

If you're inclined to worry about whether or not you're doing things the Best Way Possible, it's easy to fall into the trap of worrying you're not doing enough — on both sides of the spectrum. But remember, the guilt you're feeling in the moment is just proof that you're doing something most people only dream about (or maybe aren't brave enough to try). I've maintained that remote work travel requires some resilience, but it's something I think everyone should try at least once, if only to develop those work skills we talked about (or at least, that's the line I'm sticking to).

Have you worked while traveling? Send in your favorite remote work travel locations, and I just might review it myself.