Remote Year: A Very Basic Overview

First thing’s first: I want to give you an overview of Remote Year, which I’ll be mentioning a lot on here.* Contrary to what the name implies, Remote Year is a company that plans 1-, 4-, and 12-month trips for digital nomads who want to keep their job & travel the world with a group of likeminded individuals. That’s the short version, but below are a few questions that I frequently get asked. 

*I’ll be talking about Remote Year in a very UN-sponsored way. However if you DO decide to apply to a program, USE THIS AFFILIATE CODE & we’ll both get a little extra something 😉 

→ How does it work & what’s included? 

When traveling with Remote Year, you spend 1 month living in each city on the itinerary. Your monthly payment includes accommodation & a co-working space in each city, transport between cities (with a few exceptions), and 2 local experiences each month. You have a Program Leader, who is an RY staff member who travels with you for the duration of the program, and in each city you have a City Leader, an RY staff member who is local to that city. You travel with the same group of people for the duration of your program, typically around 25-40 people. 

→ What’s the housing situation?

Throughout your program you’ll be living in apartments that are equipped with what Remote Year deems as the basics—linens, kitchen supplies, stuff like that. They are typically 2-3 bedrooms, and you’re always guaranteed your own room. You also always have the option to upgrade to your own 1-bedroom apartment for a fee. 

→ What’s the co-working space like?

Your Remote Year fee includes co-working space, which is equipped with high speed wifi, private meeting rooms, and is guaranteed to be within a 25 minute walk of your apartment. In many cities the co-working space is Selina (Remote Year’s parent company), but not always. 

→ Do they plan activities for you? 

Yes. Your Remote Year fee comes with 2 included activities per month called Tracks—one during the week and on the weekend. They also plan other local experiences for an additional fee, such as cooking classes, walking tours, and more. 

→ Are the cities you visit safe?

Yes, and on top of that, you’re typically staying in the safest (and trendiest) neighborhood in the cities you live in. Additionally, the RY staff traveling with you, particularly your City Leader, will always share any additional safety tips or things to know about the location. 

→ How does everyone communicate?

Remote Year uses Slack, and you have lifetime access once you complete a program. It’s a great way to plan things as a group or with individuals, and connect with people outside of your program, too. 

→ What happens when you’re done with a program? 

Remote Year has some great perks when you finish 4 months worth of programs (whether that’s 4 months consecutively or 4 separate 1-month programs for example). At this point you’re considered a “Citizen” and can drop into other programs (without committing to the whole thing), get special discounts on future programs you sign up for, have access to side trips created just for Citizens, and more. 

→ What’s it like traveling with Remote Year during COVID?

My program was a 4-month jaunt through Latin America, which has a much slower vaccine rollout than the U.S. and therefore still had a lot of guidelines being enforced, like wearing masks outdoors, temperature checks at restaurants, and curfews. This stuff is obviously constantly changing, but as RY participants we were expected to abide by and respect each country or city’s individual guidelines. As of October 2021, RY is requiring all of their staff & participants to be vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Hopefully this gives you a good overview of the program, which I’m sure to mention a lot. Questions about it? Email me at carly.findsyouwell@gmail.com!