I spent a lovely month laying in the sun on the beaches of Cavtat, Croatia.

The joke was that everyone thought it looked like we were on vacation, but we were still working just as hard. We just happened to have a beautiful location to do so.

Remote Year put us all in really great accommodations. Compared to the dorms we had in Ljubljana, this was a significant improvement. I was at a villa that looked out to the sea. There were 8 other Remotes that also had their own space in the two neighboring buildings. If you want a beautiful seaside vacation in Croatia, I would recommend the Villa Tiha.

Since there were so many of us in the villa, we decided to have weekly “family dinners”. I absolutely loved this time with everyone and looked forward to this every week.

Even when my friend, Jessica, from high school visited, we contributed to the dinner. The theme was a Taste of Home. Naturally being from Ohio, we made Buckeyes. It was a bit difficult to find some of the ingredients but we were determined to educate people on this delicious candy.

The work space was put together by the Remote Year staff in Hotel Croatia Cavtat.The hotel was beautiful but the work space felt a bit like college. After some network issues in the beginning, everything worked out quite well.

We were able to use the hotel’s beaches which were excellent. The beaches in Croatia aren’t the typical sandy beaches I was used to seeing in the US, but instead were rock beaches. Hotel Croatia had their beach set up excellently, and I went swimming almost every day.

The walled city of Dubrovnik (or the Pearl of the Adriatic) is one of the major tourist destinations in Croatia and was only a 20 minute bus ride of 35 minute boat ride away from where we were.

I only ended up in the city four times. It is definitely a great location to see, but outside of touring for a day or two there isn’t much else there. If you love history and/or are a Game of Thrones fan, you should visit!

Only one cafe worth mentioning as most of them had rather generic coffee and a similar. There is nothing wrong with this, it’s just not a place to go if you want very unique coffee shops. I recommend hanging out for a bit in Dubrovnik at Art Cafe Bar. 

One rainy day where we thought it would be a good idea to go to Dubrovnik and work from cafes. Unfortunately, this was not a good idea! Apparently everyone else also felt like since it was rainy, Dubrovnik was a better option than the beach. Here are a few pictures of the craziness and crowds. It took us almost 2 hours to go 20 minutes. It was insane!

There is a location near Cavtat and Dubrovnik called Kupari. This is also known as the Bay of Abandoned Hotels. This resort area was basically destroyed in the Croatian Independence War. I found an excellent article that explains this in more detail with lots of history and photos – The Bay of Abandoned Hotels. 

My time in Croatia was overall fabulous. It was a relaxing environment to get work accomplished. I also really felt that I was connecting with the other participants in Remote Year.

Finally, our last stop in Italy was Verona! My mom and I both found Verona to be absolutely charming.

Unfortunately, I planned the trip terribly! After I had finalized my train tickets and accommodations I found out that Verona holds the very famous Arena Opera festival in the arena. 30,000 people all watching opera together outside – amazing!! The unfortunate part was that they do not perform on Monday’s and that was when we planned to be there. Of course, I did try very hard to switch our plans around so that we could be there on any other day besides Monday – but it was too late. 😦 I  plan to return for the festival though someday! I won’t make that same mistake again. It was very interesting that they stored the major set pieces outside on the street. The picture below shows one of the sets.

Verona had a lovely shopping scene and we just happened to be in Italy during the customary sales. 🙂 Every January and July is the sale or “Saldi” season in Italy. Here is a site with a brief overview of the sales season – Life in Italy Sales. I was honestly surprised at how much shopping the city had.

Although we weren’t able to see any opera, we did attend an interactive version of Romeo and Juliet at Casa di Giulietta. I was skeptical of it at first, but I thoroughly enjoyed the performance! This is something that they recently started this summer, and I would recommend it if you are ever in Verona.

We were able to stay in yet another lovely Airbnb. The host was very kind, and there was great wifi for working!

There are several webcams around the city. We were able to send a link to my dad so that he could see us on the streets of Verona in real time.

Caffe E Parole was an awesome cafe in such a lovely neighborhood. It was right across from the Duomo di Verona.

We also had a fantastic last meal in the city at Osteria Le Vecete. The purple risotto dish below is called Risotto all’Amarone and is a a traditional dish in the region. It looks odd, but was absolutely amazing!

This was the last stop on our tour around Italy. I really cannot wait to visit again!

UPCOMING POSTS:

• Ljubljana – City of Dragons
• Roadtrip to Budapest
• Living on the Beach in Croatia
• Spontaneous trip around the Balkans

My biggest observation after working remotely in Prague for two and a half weeks is that I constantly feel like I’m always and never working at the same time. The following has been a typical day for me in Prague.

• 7:00 AM – Work for two hours
• 9:00 AM – Eat breakfast
• 10:00 AM – Work for two hours
• 12:00 PM – Eat lunch/sight-see/go to yoga
• 3:00 PM – Work for four hours
• 7:00 PM – Eat dinner / attend an event
• 11:00 PM – Work for one hour

I end up doing just as much work as I would back in the Twin Cities but because I have the opportunity to leave my desk it feels like I’m not working as long. I really enjoy being able to break up working with other activities. It also helps that I’m in a different time zone and people aren’t waiting for my reply or looking to IM me about an issue. I have even found that I will do work on the weekends while I’m sitting in a coffee shop or café. I don’t see this as a problem; to me it’s not about ‘work/life balance’ but more about work/life integration. Some involved with Remote Year have had an even easier transition than I have, but there are some that still struggle and are required to continue working in EST. We all realize that when we get to South East Asia things will get a bit difficult.

In a discussion this morning over breakfast, we were discussing the challenges of working remotely on the other side of the world. We are likely to have a more difficult time just due to the fact that we are not able to be in person for key meetings and decisions. The cost to fly back for a meeting is just too high in most cases. I really can’t see many of us getting the opportunity to fly back and forth often. The relationships you make when interacting in person just are not as easily achieved over the phone and through email. This is certainly a big challenge and it will be interesting to see how we each handle it and what best practices and lessons learned will be gained.

Since Eaton is a global company, we have many company locations where I will be throughout the year. I had the great opportunity of visiting our Eaton European Innovation Center (EEIC) during my time in Prague. This location just recently opened and houses engineering for all of the business groups at Eaton. For those who are unfamiliar with our corporate structure, we are split into 4 main categories electrical, hydraulics, vehicle, and aerospace. The EEIC provides an environment for all of the business groups to work together with the hopes of continuing to create innovative and collaborative ideas. Since the facility was new, it was very nice and modern, but I was most impressed with the people and work culture. The employees were young and enthusiastic and seemed very passionate about their work. It was certainly inspiring for me to meet those I was able to when I was there. Next month, I plan to visit one of our plants in Italy. This should be a very different experience as it is a much older manufacturing facility.

As a group within Remote Year we are working from Locus Workspace. Locus has two different locations in the city and our group is split up between each. Both have a great environment for working and collaborating. I’m stationed at the Locus – Krakovska space but was able to quickly visit Slezka the other day. We are able to take advantage of the great wifi, amenities and events at each space. I really appreciated the Czech Culture session that occurred my first day in Prague!

It’s also amazing how easy it is to stay connected with people over the internet. My family seemed to think that I was never going to talk to them or provide them updates but with all of the options now to use data/wifi I can be just as much connected to everyone as I was back home. The following are the tools I have been using to stay connected at work:

Business Tools:

– Plantronics Headset – Since I’m in a co-working space and make many calls for work, this has been pretty key in the quality of my phone calls. It hasn’t been necessary but has certainly made everything easier for me.

– ATT Connect Web Conferencing Tools – This is an Eaton standard and is not anything new to this trip. Luckily, I can call my ATT Connect number over Skype for free since it is an (866) number. I can also use the VOIP option to utilize my headset and PC audio.

– Cisco Jabber – I currently have this installed on my computer to connect my PC with my phone in the US and allows me to call other individuals for work as needed. This is certainly the least used as I am mainly in meetings over ATT Connect, but has certainly been useful.
To sum it up: I enjoy this work style but wish that I was able to have at least the occasional in person contact with those I work with.

Up Next:

The Culture of Prague

“What are you most excited for?” has been the most frequent question I received as I embarked on this yearlong adventure with Remote Year. To be honest, I am really excited to go to every location; they all have their interesting and unique characteristics. I have been the most excited to meet and travel with 75 other individuals that are innovative, adventurous, and courageous. We have all turned our lives upside down to go on a trip around the world. After my first few introductions with other participants, I realized how lucky I was to have the full support of my company, Eaton Corporation. Many others have found or are still looking for work as a freelancer or with various startups.

Even though some of the participants are still struggling to find a steady job, everyone is very positive. The “vibe” of everyone in the program is fantastic and so far we have meshed very well. With 75 people you can always count on at least a few others to be interested in similar activities.  I am really excited for all of us to grow into a family and leave the program with very strong global connections.

Just a few observations and comments about Prague:

1. Things are quite a bit cheaper in Prague than they are in the US. Especially when you stay out of the touristy areas. It was a bit confusing at first and felt a bit like I was paying with monopoly money. You quickly understand the exchange rate and are able to roughly translate the cost of an item. Currently the exchange rate is:  1.00 USD = 24.0472 CZK
2. Americans can be really loud and that is easily identified in the Czech Republic. It certainly hasn’t helped that we have often been going places in large groups.
3. The cobblestone streets take some getting used to. Make sure you don’t wear shoes with very thin soles for the first few days. I wore a pair of Anthropologie and Steve Madden Oxfords the first two days; my feet are still suffering. They are cute shoes of course but I wasn’t used to walking in this environment for so long.

Accommodations

Many people have been asking about the housing situation for Remote Year.  No we are not staying in hostels. No we do not have to share rooms. We are not in college anymore and the team at Remote Year has been doing a good job making that distinction. Although, it does feel a bit like college orientation/ summer camp at times. It would probably be a bit strange if it did not feel this way.

I could not be happier with my hotel in Prague. I’m staying at the King Charles Boutique Residence. It has excellent reviews on travel booking sites. I have been thoroughly impressed.

1. The rooms and bathrooms are really large. There is an abundance of space!
2. Also, as this is a hotel, I get my room cleaned daily. I could definitely get used to this.
3. We have free breakfast. Yes, I said FREE!
4. The location is a bit out of the way, but that makes me like it even more. The tram station is right across the street, or I can walk to most places in between 10 – 20 minutes.

Food

Food in Prague is great. Traditional Czech food is very hearty! It is certainly not diet food. Here are a few of my favorite traditional meals.

– Goulash – A thick beef stew with dumplings

– Beef and Cream – Beef sirloin with dumplings and vegetable cream sauce

Coffee Shops

Many of you know that I LOVE finding new coffee shops! Here are a few I have enjoyed so far.

– Kaldi Fresh Coffee Bar – Just opened in May and is right by my hotel.

– Ouky Douky Coffee – Cool vibe!

– Bistro Proti Proudu – Very interesting interior design!

– EMA Espresso Bar – Great coffee! No wifi unfortunately…

– La Boheme Cafe – Gorgeous coffee shop in Prague 3!

Group Activities

There have been many group activities planned since I’ve been here. Some have been planned by the Remote Year team and others just by a group of interested individuals. There really are too many experiences to talk about but the following have been highlights.

Hiking up Sněžka

It was fantastic hiking to the top of Sněžka which is at 1603 meters. Sněžka is the highest point in the Czech Republic and borders Poland. Trips like these always result in some great conversation and relationship building as well.

Women’s NighT

The group is made up of about a 50/50 split male and female. It is really inspiring to be surrounded by so many successful and intelligent women. We had a lovely evening tasting chocolate at Choco Cafe.

Garden Photo Shoot

There are so many amazingly beautiful places in Prague. We happened to come across a lovely garden and decided to have our own personal photo shoot. 🙂 This was taken in Vrtbovská zahrada.

Sincerely,

Cassie

Upcoming Posts:

– Working Remotely – Workspaces and Communication

– Prague Culture – Visual and Performing Art