Episode #52: Gabe Hollombe

Oct 3, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Gabe Hollombe, talks about his adventures traveling throughout Southeast Asia while working for a company based in Australia. He discusses staying connected to the Internet and home-based coworkers, traveling with coworkers, and essential equipment for the vagabond programmer.

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Show Notes:

Gabe Hollombe (twitter / github / blog)
Tutoring Australasia
Pairkit.com

00:37 – Gabe Hollombe Introduction & Background

Los Angeles native
Moved to NYC
Has an English degree as opposed to Computer Science
Currently calls Sydney, Australia home for the past 6 years

01:48 – Traveling

Has traveled to and worked remotely from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, and Spain in the past 8 months
Took two teammates and co workers from Sydney with him
Earning Australian dollars; spending in Southeast Asia
Devotes time to working half and half between company and his own other projects

04:20 – Staying connected to the Internet while traveling

Ubiquitous free wifi in Southeast Asia
Thailand = most wired out of all above-mentioned

05:35 – Staying connected to the team back in Australia

Morning (daily) stand ups
Time change between Southeast Asia and Australia works well
Google Hangouts
Fall back on Skype

06:30 – Nha Trang, Vietnam

08:03 – Traveling with coworkers

Easier to work
Keep each other focused and motivated
Feel less isolated

08:42 – Adjustment for “home team” to have coworkers working away

Flew the team to Vietnam about halfway through the trip

10:28 – Tutoring Australasia

Connects students to tutors online, 24/7
Intelligent matching system
Real-time sharing
Schools/public libraries can pay for a subscription

12:11 – Lessons learned from making the change to working on-site to off-site

Communication
Having conversations be captured in a place where everyone can see them
6 month sweet-spot

14:18 – Start smaller (traveling)

Do a trial run with coworkers

16:08 – Equipment for the vagabond programmer

Universal general power adapter
Universal power board
iPad
Unlocked GSM phone
Camera
MacBook Air

19:55 – Key advice for people working remotely

If you’re thinking about doing a trip like this, do it
Saving more while working half as much
It’s easier than you’d think

22:45 – Pairkit.com

Gabe’s FREE! Beta pet project
Makes SSH reverse tunneling easy

distributed teams Interviews podcasts remote work telework travel

About the Author: Avdi Grimm

Husband, father, software cultivator, and amateur community builder, Avdi has been leading and participating in dispersed software development teams since 2007. He works from home in Southern Pennsylvania, and loves the fact that working remotely enables him to spend more time with his wife and four children.