What is a hush trip and why will it be one of the most popular travel trends in 2023? We unpack this interesting phenomenon and offer tips for workers who may want to take advantage of this trend to see the world while pounding away at their day job.
I guess we are all working from home now, right?
Thanks to the events of the last few years remote working has now become the de facto standard instead of a fringe benefit that only select employees enjoyed. With the rise of digital technologies like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet as well as the advent of highly productive cloud workplace productivity applications the concept of a physical office has invariably changed.
Now, legions of workers shuffle down the hallways of their homes and plop down in front of their laptops to slog through hours of daily video calls – many times still wearing their pajamas. Most of us won’t ever make our way into an office cube ever again and we are all pretty happy about that.
The benefits of working remotely are incredible, right? No commute time. More productive. Less office drama. Did we mention pajamas? One of the other benefits of working remotely is the ability to pretty much do it from anywhere.
In addition to unlocking an entirely new candidate pool (a benefit both companies and employees enjoy), many remote workers moved away from major metro areas in search of affordable housing and the suburban or even rural life. And many still have incorporated temporary trips or stays into their life routine now that work can be done anywhere.
Perhaps it started with a week at your parent’s house during the holidays where you camped out in the study for a few calls, to “Hey, what if we rented an Airbnb in Tucson for October?” Traditionally workers might have informed their supervisors of their plans or even had to deal with archaic policies that required obtaining approval.
However, as workplace mores evolved the workers just went.
And the “hush trip” was born.
A hush trip, by definition, is a trip an employee takes that overlaps with working hours where they don’t inform their company where they are working from and they leave some time leftover to do some exploring. They just go.
The Hush Trip
By another name, the hush trip could be called a workation, although, by the strictest of definitions (whatever that means!), a workation tends to involve a bit more coordination with the company or maybe more of “bleisure” activity.
Perhaps it’s a long weekend that incorporates a “work” Friday or Monday, or perhaps something grander like a month-long Airbnb in upstate New York, or even something exotic like a month in the Maldives.
The hush trip, however, has a defining characteristic: you are not actively disclosing your location with your company.
Hush trips, according to Forbes, could be one of the hottest travel trends in 2023 with everyone from Airbnb, to Vrbo, to hotels getting into the game.
Many are specifically targeting remote workers with discounted pricing for extended stays and by staying at a resort or hotel property workers will likely be able to take advantage of additional amenities like the gym.
Nearly ubiquitous high-quality internet combined with the remote work phenomenon means that digital workers can and do work from just about anywhere. Many employees are keen to get out and see the world – particularly Gen Z and Millennials. The hush trip looks to be something that is exploited heavily in 2023 and beyond.
Tips to make the most out of your hush trip
If the idea of a hush trip catches your eye here are a few things to consider.
Double-check company policies
There’s no need to get yourself in trouble here. Double-check and make sure you don’t have any archaic policies that you mind inadvertently violate.
Consider a workation instead
Does your company actually care where you work? Might a workation (where you let your boss know you are working from a bungalow in Prescott for a month) be just fine? No need to be all James Bond about it?
Triple-check your time zones – do the math!
If your hush trip is in a location with a time zone that means you are going to be doing Zoom calls at 2 AM while your family snoozes you might find your trip not all that fun. Make sure the math works for your work and your play.
Don’t forget to actually work
It might seem obvious, but make sure you actually work. It can’t be all play. In fact, if you slack off any it could mean you find yourself in hot water and that might ruin it for other future workationers or hush trippers.
Consider the working environment
How is the office situation going to be? Are you going to be sharing a messy hotel room with your noisy kids and forcing them to leave the room all day? Is there adequate lighting? A desk and chair? A little research here goes a long way and might actually mean an Airbnb is a better choice.
Check the wifi situation
How bad would that stink to fly all the way to Burma for a month-long trip only to realize the internet stinks at the local hotel? Do some research here and make sure you don’t immediately find yourself back on a plane to some better wifi.
Make sure you actually visit the destination you are working from
All work and no play isn’t fun either. So make sure you get some time in to see the location you’re working from. Burn a few PTO days if you need to. You’ve come this far, you might as well see the place!
Final thoughts
If we are being honest, there are a lot of buzzwords tossed around these days for what is more or less variations of the same thing. From digital nomads, to bleisure travel, workations, hush trips, remote workers, or just “hey I’m taking this call from Aunt Suzie’s basement” there simply is no excuse for not being able to mix some travel into your work routine. Today’s tech has enabled us to be more nomadic than ever and frankly that’s the term we prefer. If your company has a problem with that you probably need to find another company…or you are a mechanic.
Try to be intentional about this in 2023 and get out somewhere (and not Uncle Jerry’s house in Yonkers, ok?) whatever you decide to call it.
