• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Future Expats

Create an Untethered Life Overseas

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • About
    • Big Fat Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
  • Portable Careers
    • Blogging
      • Blogging for Expats WordPress Tutorials
    • Life Coaching
    • Photography
    • Teaching
    • Websites
    • Writing
  • Prepping the Move
    • Countdown
    • Narrowing Your Country/City Search
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia/New Zealand
      • Central America
      • Europe
      • North America
      • Region
      • South America
    • Visas and Residency
    • Quality of Life
    • Learning the Language
    • Health Care
    • Technology
  • Panama
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Hire Me!
    • Expat Resources: Prepping the Move
    • Expat Resources: Portable Careers
    • Expat Resources: Technology
    • Book and Movie Reviews
You are here: Home / Portable Careers / How Not to Let a Little Thing Like a Hurricane Stop You!

How Not to Let a Little Thing Like a Hurricane Stop You!

September 30, 2017 by FutureExpat

How Not to Let a Little Thing Like a Hurricane Stop You!

On September 10, Hurricane Irma blanketed the entire state of Florida with tropical-force winds and rain.

Yes, the entire state. It was a B-I-G storm.

Living near Orlando, we watched its path anxiously, and prepared as best we could.

We’ve gone through hurricanes before, lots of them. We still vividly remember Hurricane Charley in 2004, which turned all of metro Orlando into a sea of blue tarps.

Back to the present day. . . Irma arrived in the late afternoon, bringing wind and rain. A few minutes after 7 PM, our power went out. We dragged out the flashlights, and watched, and waited. Around 10 PM we retreated to an interior area, away from all outside doors and windows.

At about 5 AM, the wind had died down enough that I finally went to bed.

In the morning, we found a huge amount of debris from downed trees, huge branches, and smaller vegetation, although fortunately not a lot of property damage.

And we were still out of power, along with about 70% of all Floridians.

Over the next few days, power was restored to a lot of homes and businesses, but not ours. All told, our power was out for over a week.

Thank Goodness I Developed a Portable Career!

Once I knew the hurricane would affect us, I scrambled to turn in a project before the deadline, knowing I needed to make sure it was in the client’s hands before the storm hit.

A couple of days before the storm arrived, I emailed my other active clients to let them know that we were in Irma’s path and that I would likely not be able to work for a few days. I also told them I would reach out when power and internet were back to normal.

They were all very understanding.

After a couple of days without power at home, I started taking my laptop to neighborhood cafes and friends’ houses (those whose power had been restored) to get some work done. It was a great excuse to visit with one friend I hadn’t seen in a couple of years, even though she only lives about 10 minutes away.

After a couple more days without power, I packed a suitcase and my laptop and went to stay with my sister in Virginia. While it wasn’t exactly business as usual, I was able to get back on track.

She set me up with my own little office in their travel trailer. Here’s what my temporary workspace looked like.

my temporary portable career workspace

I’ll admit, I didn’t just arbitrarily say, “I think I’ll go to Virginia.”

My niece was getting married the following weekend, so I’d planned the trip anyway — I just went a few days early. So I got to:

  • Work
  • In air conditioning
  • Visit with family

But that’s the kind of thing you can do when you’ve created a location-independent career. (Of course, it’s a lot more fun when you’re using your location independence to travel to new and exciting places.)

Once you’ve established your freelance business, or whatever it is that you’re doing, you can work pretty much anywhere, even without a hurricane.

And that’s the whole point.

Here are some tools to help you develop your own portable career.


Other articles you’ll like:

  • Rainmaker Platform: Manage Your Portable Career Easier and Faster
  • This is the Delectable Skill Sandwich of Portable Careers
  • Portable Careers: Can You Really Make a Location-Independent Living?

Filed Under: Portable Careers Tagged With: Laptop Lifestyle, location independence

Primary Sidebar

Visit Panama

Panama Relocation Tours

VPN Services

Best VPN for TravelersBest VPN for Travelers

Sale on .COM Domains!

KINGCOM domain salepixel

More Posts

image of Rainmaker slogan

Rainmaker Platform: Manage your Portable Career Easier and Faster

On the Ground in Panama

Three Phases of Overseas Relocation

Americans, I Have Some Bad News for You

Penonome, Panama

A Day in Penonome, Panama [video]

Jury Summons

Get Your Mail Overseas, Avoid Panic Attacks

Top Expat Blogs – How Cool is That?

Here's a new award. . . We've just been named to the Top Expat Blogs list at Ranked Blogs! If you like us, click the link and vote us up! we're one of the top expat blogs at Ranked Blogs! Future Expats was recently awarded a spot in the Top 100 Expat Blogs.

Follow Me

  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 Future Expats Forum
Proudly running on a Genesis Theme by StudioPress