Last week I spent a week in Paris with my husband, staying with friends. It was an amazing experience, and my first trip to Europe. Our friends are a married couple with a one year old and an English bulldog named Angus. The husband is in Paris for 9 months for work, and they return home in May on the Queen Mary 2. (Bulldogs can’t fly.)
We did the typical sightseeing things: Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomph, the Louvre, Montmartre, Bastille, Versailles, Notre Dame, the Champs Elysees. We also visited some really cool spots like the Catacombs and Pere Lachaise Cemetary. Not to mention the food–oh, the food. How I miss it so. Fresh baguettes and phenomenal cheeses, cafe au laits, great wines and decadent desserts. Everything there is fresher, more delicately prepared, somehow more delicious than anything at home.
But while my time there was fabulous because of the surroundings and experiences, I was also reminded of the power of technology and of having an online business. While away, my iPhone and Flip video camera allowed loved ones at home to see the same wonderful parts of Paris we did that very night through Facebook. A guest post of mine went up over on Work Happy Now and I took a few minutes away from my baguette and Roquefort to converse with the readers of it through the comments. 
I didn’t have to worry about trying to bang out blog posts or my weekly ezine while I was there because I pre-wrote all of them and scheduled them to go out while I was gone. And my daily checks of email from my phone showed me that people were still signing up for my free social media e-course and subscribing to my newsletter while I admired the Seine. Ahh, the portable convenience of an online business.
Perhaps the best part of it all? Not having to ask for anyone’s permission to jet off to France. Now, can everything be done on auto-pilot all of the time? No, but knowing your business can still run smoothly in the background while you spend quality time with family and friends is enough reason to consider the infopreneur life.
If you enjoy the perks of doing biz online, what do you love the most about it? When “offline” folks express skepticism at making a living that way, what do you tell them? Let me know in the comments.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like you had a great trip.
I haven’t launched an online business, but I like the idea. I really like the fact that an individual can have world-wide reach from the comforts of … anywhere.
J.D. Meier’s last blog post..High Leverage Strategies for Innovation
Hi Christine – Isn’t Paris wonderful?! It’s such a cliche to gush over it, but there’s a reason it got to be that way, right? I was lucky enough to go with my daughter when she was 12, a perfect trip of a lifetime that we will always treasure. Now to convince my husband . . . because I must return. Thanks.
Betsy Wuebker’s last blog post..ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE . . .
Being able to work from anywhere in the world is a perk that only the rich were able to afford just twenty years ago. Now almost anyone can do it. That’s the beauty of technology and it’s fast dropping prices.
Your guest post was very well received. The readers really connected with it’s message. I believe that many Gen Y, in the near future, will be traveling to Paris while letting their website still work for them.
Karl Staib – Work Happy Now’s last blog post..A Pimped Out Cubicle
@J.D.–It’s awesome, isn’t it?
@Betsy–Oh, it was so wonderful. I still can’t believe that I was there–and that the trip has already come and gone!
@Karl–I know, it’s pretty darn cool. I have a dream that every member of future generations will be able to work from anywhere!
Hi Christine,
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip! I’m getting ready to leave on vacation in just a few days – and will be gone for several. And I’m looking at this – that from both an online and offline angle – technology is keeping me covered. So, while part of the reason for this trip is to get away, and to specifically get away from being connected all the time – I’m still okay because technology can work for me without my interaction too. And that’s pretty great!
Lance’s last blog post..Money Does Grow On Trees
@Lance–Hope you had (or are having!) a great trip. Yes, you make a good point there in that technology is great in 2 ways: keeping things running without us and allowing us to check in by using it. But we all need some time being disconnected once in awhile–even those of us who are addicted to our iPhones and checking email!