In 2008, I decided to change jobs. I reached out to employers I had deflected while happily working away on exciting projects. I don’t remember what made me choose the company I ended up working for, but it very well could have been the opportunity to travel.
They wanted me to move to SF and work in their headquarters (they had a satellite office in Santa Cruz), but they ended up giving me two job offers. One included a high salary, a signing bonus, and required I live in SF and work on-site full-time. The second offer had about $40,000 chopped off the salary, no signing bonus, and allowed me to work from home, while visiting the office for at least 2 days per month.
For almost 3 years, I was in SF every calendar month, and for the last of those years, I subletted an apartment there.
The brilliant thing, though, is this: my reduced salary was still very competitive against local Phoenix salaries, and the yearly travel cost was less then the difference. It was a win-win. My employer saved money while paying me fairly well and covering my travel expenses.
While in Phoenix, I got to live the work-at-home freelance lifestyle (i.e. flexible hours and no work/life balance), which helped me get actively involved in the Phoenix tech community.
Oh, how I miss direct deposit..
Yeah, direct deposit is cool. I some times miss the days of actual 9-5 myself, but then I also realize that I don’t have it half bad. I might work a lot of hours, but I can often take days off if I need to, when I want.
In December I’m going to experiment a bit more with travel and work. Spending 3 weeks in Wisconsin for Xmas.