An introduction to me... And why I write this blog

The one thing I wanted to avoid when I decided to set up this blog was using the voice of the self-satisfied ‘smugite’, the condescension of the conceited that seems prevalent in those oh so wise self-help books and blogs. So, if at any point my supercilious siren should go off I promise to change track immediately. Feel free to let me know should a mere hint of it waft your way across the ether...

OK, so why am I here? Not just on this blog but physically, why do I find myself slumped on my sofa in Spain, (it’s a rare cold a blowy day here in the White Isle so I’m inside) about to launch into a written diatribe about my life over the past 6-7 years? Well, mostly just because I can, because I have the time and space to. I wrote some advertising copy this morning and was up until the wee small hours editing my book, a thriller entitled Numerous, last night so I now find that I have the time to start this blog, and that’s really what this is all about - Freedom. Yours and mine.

By harnessing the freedom technology now affords us and following in the footsteps of the remote pioneers, who’ve made this way of working successful both for them and for their companies, businesses or clients, you too can live in paradise and work remotely. Whether your idea of paradise be an isolated and windswept croft on the Outer Hebrides, the glitz and neon of the Vegas strip or a beach hut in Borneo, the principle is the same and this blog will help you make that jump into ‘remotesville’.

Here on Paradise Remotely I’ll cover such topics as, Getting Started... Remotely, how to see if remote working will work for you and in X Marks the Spot and Going the Distance, I’ll include a series of dos and don’ts about choosing a new idyllic location and how to test if it really will work. The blog also will feature tried and tested top tips from myself, but also other remote workers that I know, all of whom are based overseas, and in Technology – The Great Enabler, I’ll tell you about the very basic technology you need to set yourself up remotely, through to cloud based solutions and remote servers. Finally, I will endeavour to help you Sell Yourself at a Distance and in Diversify Before You Fly, I will show you how to alter, hone and perfect your current career path to make it remote-proof.

So, that said (not too smugly, I hope) I shall be back very soon with my first tips and hints for you.