How to combine travel with work in 8 steps is not what we will tell you in this article. Instead, we will tell you about one particular story of Malgosia Roś, who is professionally a business analyst in Billennium and at the same time realizes her passion for traveling. How did she manage to combine these two spheres? We invite you to read and find out.
Pursue your passions, and grow professionally
Malgosia’s journey started in 2019 in the October camp in Egypt, organized by the company “Girls Love Kitesurfing”. It was during this exact adventure with the sport she had been dreaming about for a long time that the idea to try remote work from outside Poland was born in Małgosia’s head. Since she likes to act quickly and concretely, she had already been living in Egypt by February 2020, and then successively in Spain and Portugal. Of course, she has been carrying out her project duties during that whole period. However, during her after hours, she was able to enjoy the attractions and charms of all the places that she considered to be solely holiday destinations prior to this.
Kitesurfing in Egypt
I knew it was possible to work remotely at Billennium, so I gently, very gently proposed the idea of me working from Egypt for a while to my team leader, and I got an “OK” back 😊. At the time, I had been working on a project for a client in the financial industry, that could only be done locally. So I was tasked with another project, and it worked – I went to Egypt 😊
recalls Małgosia Roś
This is how she took advantage of the fact that Billennium enables its employees to work 100% remotely. Meaning that it does not matter whether they do it from their apartment in Lublin, Warsaw or Madrid. What matters is the effect of work, not its location. For Małgosia, this proved to be a perfect solution because it gave her a chance to combine both professional development and passion.
Even prior to the pandemic, Billennium employees have always had the opportunity to work remotely, which is now a fairly obvious solution that was not as common back then. “According to an internal survey that we conducted, 74.73% of Billennials want to work in a hybrid model,” says Mateusz Janiec, Customer & Employee Experience Director, “So following the voice of our employees, we adjust the working conditions to their needs. We enable 100% remote work and have a lot of distributed teams, while our specialists work across 3 continents: Europe, Asia, and North America. In Europe itself, we employ people from Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Ukraine or Romania. When good organization of communication in the team and efficient management are maintained, the location is not problem at all”.
Malgosia’s travels did not end in Egypt. Just 4 months later, she decided to move to Southern Europe.
In sunny Spain
Back in May, I made the decision to take the next step – to Spain. I remained in an archiving service project that didn’t require me to be on location in Poland. When I told my team leader about it, I was once more simply told – OK, just tell him where you will be 😊” – says Malgosia with a smile. “In Spain I lived in Torrevieja, where I rented an apartment. I was close to the sea and had access to a swimming pool so I really enjoyed the sun. In vacation days, I was able to invite my family over to spend them with me as well.
When it came to organizing and planning the implementation of her duties in the new place, Margaret was supported by the “Teleworking regulations”. – a document in force within Billennium, which makes it possible to work from anywhere, even in the case of employment under an fixed employment contract. “According to the Teleworking Regulations, if the employee has all the approvals from his superiors, it does not matter whether he works in Poland or abroad.So it is a matter of agreement with his leader.
Of course, there may be some difficulties, such as working on a project that requires presence in Poland for data security reasons or from a tax obligation resulting from residence in the territory of a given country. However, such obstacles can also be overcome, because in Billennium employees have the opportunity to change projects. In case they want to develop in a different direction, in a different industry or just want to have the opportunity to travel, as it was in the case of Małgosia” – explains Łukasz Sawicki vel Sawczenko, Compensation & Benefits Manager.
Still, Portugal and surfing…
As befits a travel lover, Gosia didn’t stay in Spain for too long. She instead decided to live further West at the very Western end of Europe in Portugal, and try surfing there 
Portuguese people are amazing in terms of how they approach another person. I once got lost and had no access to internet on my phone. A man who was cleaning a fence came up to me on his own and asked in English whether I needed help. It was really nice!” – Malgosia recounts. “I also started to learn surfing. It’s true that I can also learn kitesurfing here, but I’m surrounded by surfing enthusiasts at the moment. I’ve caught the bug, so I’m going to do both sports because I don’t want to limit myself.
Gosia has been working remotely from outside of Poland for over a year now. What advantages does she see in it?
Traveling and gaining a different perspective changes a lot in one’s life, makes things easier, as well as opens your mind. I was always unsatisfied when I went on vacation and wondered: How does one live there? As a tourist, visiting a place only for a moment, I was not able to feel how living there is like, nor how the people are. That is why, if someone has the opportunity to work remotely, I really recommend leaving for a month or even a few weeks.
Some practical information from Malgosia:
- The EHIC card – a card that is valid within the EU, and which you must obtain it from the NFZ before leaving Poland. In case of emergency, the doctor/hospital must accept you in the place where you are staying at the given moment.
- Taxes – as long as you do not stay in a given country for more than 183 days, there won’t be any problems connected with tax issues. More importantly, these 183 days are counted in a calendar year. On the other hand, you can also apply for tax residency.
Do you want to combine travel with work? Or perhaps you just dream of living in another country for a while but don’t want to give up your job? Check what development opportunities are available to you in Billennium.
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