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When you live on a Caribbean island, you can’t neglect days at the beach. In my previous job as an engineer, I often worked in the field and used those experiences to create a mobile office. Now, working from the beach is one of the best feelings ever.

The requirements of a mobile office

The reason I decided to become a writer in the first place was because I hated being tied to a desk. If you do that for a while, you learn a few useful tips for working from home, like that the beach is always better than an office. Of course, there are benefits to working in an office, too. If I wanted to make this work-from-home, work-from-the-beach thing a reality, I would need to break down the nitty-gritty and figure out how to make it work. To that end, I thought I needed four core elements to turn my car into a home office:

• computer
• Internet
• Charging station
• air conditioner

With this plan in mind, I set about implementing it.

Get a workstation that doesn’t feel like molasses

Acer Nitro 5

I’ve always been someone who enjoys not having to wait forever for my files to load. I travel a lot and like to write on the go, so a reliable laptop is essential. I have an Acer Nitro 5, but I use it more for charging things quickly than for gaming. My laptop only lasts about two hours on a full charge, though, so a charging solution is essential.

The downside of a powerful laptop is that it doesn’t handle battery performance very well, even if you take steps to improve battery life. My Nitro 5 only has a two-and-a-half hour operating window on a full charge. Charging it fully before starting work is one thing, but with only 2.5 hours of juice, I usually can’t get what I want to do done. Thankfully, I found a way around this problem, which I’ll mention later.

Ensure proper Wi-Fi via a hotspot

For internet access, I use a mobile plan that allows me to connect from anywhere in my country. The convenience of mobile internet cannot be overstated, especially when working from home. My mobile provider offers a robust network with widespread coverage, which is essential for maintaining productivity. And luckily, I know how to recognize when my mobile internet is being throttled and how to avoid it.

While some areas have spotty internet access, surprisingly most beaches do not. Most of the beaches I frequent have excellent signal strength, allowing me to stay connected and productive. I get decent speeds for both uploads and downloads, which is important for my work. Internet speeds are reliable and consistent.

An electric car is a great charging solution

Car parked on a beach in Trinidad

Remember how my bulky laptop needs a charging solution? It turns out that a hybrid car helps with that. Two conveniently located charging ports allow me to use my car like a giant generator (which I guess it is). My car’s battery system can power more than just my laptop, so I don’t have to worry about my phone running out of juice while I’m hotspotting my laptop. That’s one of the things I considered before buying an electric hybrid.

I use a power inverter to convert my car’s power into a form suitable for my laptop and phone. This configuration is incredibly efficient and ensures that I never run out of battery while working. The inverter is compact and easy to use, plugging directly into the car’s power outlet and providing a reliable power source for all my electronic devices. With this configuration, I don’t have to worry about a power outage as long as my car has gas in the tank. However, as mentioned above, if your laptop has a long enough battery life or can easily be charged from a power bank or other USB source without the need for a power adapter and AC inverter, you don’t need to.

Coping with the heat at the beach

The coast at Plymouth, Tobago

Caribbean beaches can be scorching hot. While it’s fun to work in your car on the beach, the heat is no joke. Cars become little greenhouses, and the temperature inside one of them can get oppressively hot at the height of the day. Thankfully, the air conditioning came to my rescue.

The air conditioning in my car is a lifesaver, allowing me to work comfortably even on the hottest days. It’s also incredibly refreshing to come back from a swim in the sea and dry off in the cool air conditioning. Not only does it help me focus on my work, but it also makes the overall experience more enjoyable. I’m not kidding when I say that without proper air conditioning in my car, the whole endeavor of working from the beach would have been a failure. Of course, this is only really practical with an electric car, as it’s expensive and inefficient to run the petrol-powered car to run the air conditioning.

The pros and cons of working from the beach in your car

Balandra Bay, Trinidad

Nothing is easy and that includes working from the beach. I learned some pros and cons that showed me the pros and cons of working in the car of a remote office.

The beach is right there

I love the beach, but I don’t get there as often as I’d like. Being close to the water has a calming effect that relieves stress and boosts creativity. Plus, there are plenty of places to grab a bite to eat or a drink nearby. Plus, it’s just great to be able to work from the beach if I want to.

It takes a while to get there

Depending on which beach I work at, my commute time varies. This is even true when I use Google Maps for traffic reports. The closest beach to my home is about a 15-minute drive, but some of the beaches I’ve worked at have been on the other side of the island. That’s a two- to three-hour commute each way. That’s longer than if I worked in a regular office.

Taking steps is easy

Working as a writer means sitting down and fiddling around at the keyboard until you get something that works. Of course, that means getting up and walking around is the only exercise I get during the workday. It’s much more pleasant to walk two miles along the beach than to pace around the apartment.

Not ideal for Zoom meetings

I’ve scheduled several Zoom meetings with partners and clients from the car and I’d say it’s terrible as a meeting location. Of course, that’s partly due to the connection. Using a mobile hotspot for the internet doesn’t work well with streaming audio and video and I usually end up having to sacrifice one or the other.

Not perfect, but not bad either

While it’s not the perfect setup, it’s not a terrible way to spend a day. Working from the beach can have a positive impact on mental health, and being able to do it whenever you want is worth the effort of an hour-long (or longer) drive. There may be a place you want to visit during your workday, and setting up your office like this is a great way to see the world while getting work done. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I actually wrote this sitting on the beach.