My experiment of Working From the Hills (WFH!)

We have all been working from home for past ~10 months and the situation wont really change anytime soon, provided we have the fool proof vaccine available for all in the country and outside. So I thought, why don't we try and live in the hills and see if this really works for us to make WFH as Work from the Hills. I had two things in my favour:

1. I work for Microsoft India which is one of the most loved organization and probably the best place to work in the world! MS not only gives you the flexibility but also enables and empowers you with the best of tools (read devices) and services (read M365 and Azure) that you can continue to be productive anywhere, anytime.
2. Both Husband and I love the mountains and so did our lil one and the two dogs. Except one of them can get a bit a truant and had he run away, we'd have been in trouble, but luckily it didn't happen so all good

So coming back to what went into our preparation and how did our experiment go? We prepped a lot in terms of taking devices (laptops and phones), back up devices, books, workout gears (minus the weights) and clothes, gymnastics basics (as my daughter is training to be one), a box full of healthy snacks and of course dog treats and dog food.

The experiment FAILED. Here are some of our learnings and hopefully it helps to prepare better next time when I go ahead again (which I do plan to :) and you in case you are planning to do it anytime.

• Internet: The mother, father and forefather of all reasons, you need a stable and hi-speed internet. When you have 3 souls vying for that wi-fi or 4G connection it becomes imperative to have strong and stable wi-fi connection. The wi-fi was pretty unstable and unpredictable. Luckily our 4G connections worked well but you cant do intense video calls, slide sharing and video sharing well with just that (atleast we couldn't).

** Lesson: Get the network sorted before everything else for long term stay

• Food: We opted for meals and didn't cook on our own. This was NOT the right thing to do. As a family, we eat pretty clean, so the excessive oil and heavy food was killing us and both I and my girl landed with upset stomachs. We are also not heavy snack eaters so all that box of "healthy" snacks were left untouched. We survived on fruits though.

** Lesson: Cook your own meals if you can and/or look for local veggies and recipes. Look for a place with kitchen/to cook

• Work Station: We didn't carry furniture with us (and we don't intend to in future either). We didn't have proper work stations and it was not very easy on the back or the eyes to work continuously on the bed or on the floor.

** Lesson: Get at least a set up/workspace to chug those long hours in front of the computer

• Clothes & shoes: We took adequate winter clothes and this really helped us work the long freezing nights in the Himalayan hills. We didn't pack too many as we had managed to get the laundry sorted and that really helped us. We of course didn't take any fancy shoes just workout and walking shoes. We kept our luggage very light.

** Lesson: Its more of a discovery, the three of us can survive in just a suitcase filled of clothes & shoes. We don't need 5 cupboards!

• Workout/Outdoor: We didn't miss a single day of workout. It took us some effort to workout in the mornings (as it used to get freezing in the evenings and we didn't have enough space in the room). But working out while the Sun is rising with the Himalayan mountain ranges in the backdrop has its own charm! Yes we did miss the weights, but the body weight exercises gave us a new sense of confidence and helped us trek those stretches over the weekend. We used the sunny days to our advantage and really went out over the two weekends we had.
• Books etc.: We carried Harry Potter series with us as our daughter has limited screen time (so no Kindle for her). But we had enough and more for us in the supply as we have subscribed to Kindle Unlimited and Audible. This helped to increase our reading speed and capacity both. My husband is not much of a reader but he used Audible extensively and now has read ( I mean heard) more books than I have! The three of us however enjoyed playing multiple board games which our place luckily had.

** Lesson: Avoid carrying books but do subscribe to Kindle or Audible. Also carry board games with you to bond together if you don't want to step out in the cold. Remember this is for people who don't watch TV!

• Prepare your pets: If you are carrying your pets with you, take their foods, emergency medicines and enough treats with you. Keep extra leashes (specially for dogs). Make sure their vaccines are up to date and you are carrying pain, vomit, sting/bite emergency meds with you. Take vitamin supplements with you as they are not used to this weather and will need some extra help till they get used to it.
• Prepare for emergency: Take emergency medicine kit with you. We didn't have much problem after the stomach upset as we had taken basic meds with us. Ensure you have the telephone number to the nearest hospital/doctor, ambulance etc. etc. I always over prepare than to be under prepared! Always take some extra cash with you and keep it safely in the locker. A little cash can help you in dealing with the locals (this is very specific to India and may be South East Asia), when you are out and about and lost your way or trying to get a quick meal and the credit card isn't working!

• Keep an open mind: Last but not the least, keep an open mind. We all are still figuring out how long this will continue. People don't know or have all the answers. Things will get unpredictable, stay calm and don't panic. Your family will understand, and so will your colleagues and friends. When we were struggling with the internet, my (ad husband's) colleagues understood and so did my daughter's teachers and coaches. Be kind to yourself as well. Don't panic and stress out, things take time to settle down :)

When you look ahead towards the mountains you'll realize that these things will all settle down. We are blessed to have this opportunity to be able to work from anywhere and all it takes is a little bit of prep, some heart and a lot of will power!

Now that this experiment failed, I'm now even more determined to make this work but this time making sure I have all the above taken care of so that the WFH (Hills) becomes a reality soon!

PS1: Couple of you asked me in DMs where did we go. We went to a place above Almora in the Kumaon region. The mountain range you see are the Nanda Devi ranges.

PS2: Be kind to the nature also. Pls carry sippers and not plastic bottles. Do NOT play loud music and throw your city trash in the mountains. We spent one Saturday just cleaning the bottles and wrappers :(