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BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Delhi
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| ![]() ![]() This has been the year of COVID, an unprecedented event of sorts. Our lives have been disrupted in every way beyond imagination. In the past, only a handful of us would have spent so much time locked up at home. Unsurprisingly, I have started missing travel to a great extent. Reading a few recent posts and travelogues at Tbhp, it seems the same feeling is resonating across majority of the fellow members here. One travel trend that has been all over the news lately is - WorkCation or Workation. The term does not have a Wikipedia page yet (or atleast I couldn’t find it) but this is how some websites describe it: Quote:
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BHPian Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Pune
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| ![]() Try using the keyword ‘Staycation’ to search. More likely to get a lot of options, even on websites like BookingDotCom. |
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Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Delhi
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| ![]() Not exactly a WorkCation, but my wife is using this opportunity to spend some more time with her parents. School and work are both online, so she can afford to be at their place during weekdays also, as opposed to only a weekend before. And yes, we have started dreaming about going out for a StayCation / WorkCation to Goa or such. Keyword = Dreaming, not planning. How stable is the power / wi-fi in Goa outside of a 5 star resort? Say in a Airbnb / home stay in South Goa that has no power backup. Last edited by Eddy : 9th November 2020 at 10:16. |
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Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,027
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One thing to note is people here are really casual about wearing masks and social distancing. The press is as usual making it about a 'outsiders vs locals' thing, but from what I've seen, the majority of BOTH tourists and local residents here are going about like covid is over. The only good thing is the place I'm at is still pretty empty and probably has fewer people in total than I see in my street in Bangalore on a daily basis, so it's pretty easy to keep to ourselves. There are signs that even more places are going to open up and I'm guessing there will be a mad rush around Christmas/New Year, so we're planning to head back home or elsewhere during that time. Your safety is entirely your responsibility as far as covid goes. It is pretty easy to get careless when you see everyone around you not really worrying. I've certainly seen far more mask usage in Bangalore. A friend is working out of Manali currently and he mentions that the situation there is more or less the same with people from the cities coming there to work for a few months. Quote:
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![]() Oh yeah, and those idyllic pics of a laptop on the beach, near a snow-capped mountain, by a gentle stream... yeah looks good and gets likes on Insta, but the reality is after the euphoria of the first few minutes, the sand flies/mosquitoes start to bite, the water and sand threaten to get in to the electricals, the strong sea breezes blow anything away, the charge runs out pretty quick in the blazing sun, which keeps shifting so you will need to too, and your colleagues can't hear you on calls over the sound of the waves! ![]() Last edited by Chetan_Rao : 11th November 2020 at 15:57. Reason: Merged back to back posts. | ||||
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Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: P00NA
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| ![]() I am at loss to understand why would someone spend extra monies, travel to an idyllic location and keep himself busy with his urban/corporate work? To enjoy the early mornings/late evenings? |
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Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Delhi
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Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,027
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Obviously it will vary from person to person. | |
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BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Delhi
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NCR is like a giant gas chamber right now and that is one of the reasons to seriously consider a WorkCation. On the face of it, we will get a longer period of detox, and hopefully a break from current routine as well. Summarized very well sir! Last edited by warrioraks : 9th November 2020 at 16:03. | ||
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BHPian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bir-Billing, HP
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| ![]() I live near Bir-Billing in Himachal and this place has it's share of home stays where one can easily enjoy a Workation. In fact not far away is WorkationX (Google please) but that might not be everyone's cup of tea. A local provider has laid fibre all over Bir so high speed internet is a reality. Many people have been using this place for their Workations for quite some time now especially people who stay at Bir Nest and other hostels. One can easily rent a whole apartment over here, although prices have increased compared to last year. Know a few people both from abroad and India who came and never left and continue to work from here. |
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Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() | ![]() Super thread! More than anything else, us Parekhs are really, really missing our road-trips. We live to drive on the highway. We're planning an 8 - 10 day workcation at our holiday home later in November. With our kind of work, as long as you have your laptop, you can work anywhere! Let's see how it works out. If fine, then the next stop is going to be Mahabaleshwar (Airbnb rental), then a friend's house in Goa. A friend of mine just went off into the mountains for a month or two. She teaches yoga, so can take care of her clients via Zoom. Check out the pics she shared. Seriously - wow! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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BHPian Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New Delhi
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| ![]() This is a good discussion thread and perhaps can be developed upon further. Can we have potential workation staycation threads for regions? Like a thread for NCR, a thread around Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and so on? It will be great to get references from fellow-BHP-ians on this matter. For my part, I can suggest for NCR region: Fort Unchagaon http://fortunchagaon.com/ It is barely a 2 hours drive from Delhi. Lovely property, serene place completely cut-off from the hustle bustle and crowd. One issue with this place being a workation destination is that they do not have public wifi. However, mobile network connectivity is awesome and better than South Delhi at times! A lapton with a decent dongle can more than suffice for most. |
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BHPian Join Date: May 2020 Location: Mumbai
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| ![]() Nice topic. Me and my friends did the whole workcation thing for 3 months from August to October in Himachal. When we booked the rates were still down as not many people were doing this. We were able to get an independent 3bhk house including a caretaker/cook/cleaner for 60k per month near Mashobra (about 45 min from shimla) in HP. We had good airtel and jio coverage so internet was no problem. The place was quite isolated so at times you could even go for a walk down the hill and barely see people. Since then, a lot of people have started taking this option and now the same property costs around 1.5 lacs a month, although we had managed to bargain from 1 lac a month to 60k a month in August as there weren't many people going then and we were taking the place for 3 months. |
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Newbie Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: Kolkata
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| ![]() Being from Kolkata, my wife and me have been looking for long term stay options in the serene hills (and forests) of North bengal and Sikkim for a few weeks. However no avenues materialized yet now. 1. Remote places having fabulous views of the peaks will have obvious problems of internet connectivity and electricity. 2. Decent hotels in Darjeeling and other hill towns were already costly for one or two day tours (~2K/day). They are not offering discounted rates for monthly rentals and spending that much amount just for accommodation is not possible for us. 3. Government properties are mostly blocked for hosting Officials and Medical professional for Covid (e.g.: GTA and Benfish). We are still on the lookout for suitable options as an opportunity as good as this to become a digital nomad even for a few weeks may not present itself ever again. |
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Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2010 Location: Bangalore
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Airbnb is probably another option to search, haven't used it myself, but hear it works. Last edited by am1m : 11th November 2020 at 13:03. | |
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