Jeremy Favre: The Journey of Working Remotely While Traveling
Disclaimer: The information, views, and opinions expressed in Steammate Publications are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Steamroller Animation and the affiliates of Steamroller Studios. The content is meant to share the thoughts and experiences of the many different people who work at Steamroller Animation and does not constitute professional advice or services.
Hi there, Steammates, I will start by introducing myself. My name is Jeremy. I come from Annecy in France, and I’ve been working with Steamroller for three years now. My journey here started as I was looking for a job that would allow me to follow my partner in her new challenge: going back to studying in The Netherlands. This opportunity allowed me to work from home just as COVID struck.
It’s only later that the journey really began. Indeed, borders reopened, and my partner could finally go for her internships overseas. I already experienced moving my stuff around when I was going from The Netherlands to my parents’ place or hers. At that time, I tried to figure out what the easiest and smartest way to move with my whole set-up was. I tried several different methods, taking into account all the pros and cons that I will describe throughout this article.
At the start, it was a real challenge, but in the end, and with habits, it got easier and easier to the point where I just got used to moving my stuff around. Eventually, I found stability. This led me to travel to a lot of various places. From place to place in France to meet friends to paradisiac destinations around the world. For the past three years, this flexibility with my work released us from many constraints, and even though it can be a bit exhausting in the long run, I truly got an incredible experience.
During those years, I got the chance to travel and live in many places. Usually, we would stay at the same place for two to three months, which is the length of an internship. My partner’s school was in Amsterdam, and we would come back there often but each time in a new apartment. We traveled back and forth between the Netherlands and different parts of France. I went to the Canary Islands to meet some friends and work from over there. We went to the Reunion Islands, Belgium, Canada, and different cities in Australia. Here down below you can find some pictures of the place I visited and what my desk looked like every time.
The important thing to think through when traveling and working at the same time is obviously the equipment you need. My only and most important condition for this incredible experience was always to have the best conditions to work. Steamroller is incredible for trusting us to work from anywhere at any time within any timezone. This can only happen if you build the perfect environment to work as if you were at home or in the studio. A good computer with 2 screens and a good internet connection to download or upload files as well as having meetings is crucial. Those were my mandatory requirements, and in order to achieve this, I tried several configurations.
My first attempt in Amsterdam was kind of easy because I had my car and I stayed for quite a long time. I was able to bring my full computer set up and anything I needed.
For the first shorter trip, I connected my computer at my parents’ place where they have a high-speed connection, and I used software like Teamviewer or Anydesk to control my computer. With my dad who loves domotics, we built a system that enabled me to turn on and off my computer plug. This allowed me to force reboot my computer if it was stuck. We also had a way to reboot the internet router by SMS if the connection was lost. This was useful as I only needed a small laptop that didn’t need to be powerful and two screens that I would either travel with or rent. Everything would stay on my home PC, and I could even use my small laptop to work in case of emergency.
This worked really well until I moved to small islands where, even with a good connection, the distance was too big to get a good ping to control my computer. That’s why I invested in a really good laptop that can run by itself. Now I travel with it, and I have a small bar where you can connect everything from your screens to the mouse and keyboard. The laptop only needs to be plugged in with the USB-C to the bar in order to connect the full set-up, which allows me to leave my set-up in a coworking place but always keep my laptop with me for security reasons. I must have moved my set-up over fifty times during those three years.
With the set-up being quite massive with a computer and two screens, it’s challenging to find a good workspace. So I tried both co-working and working from home. If I have a quiet place with enough space and a good connection, I’m good to work!
The trick I have learned while moving a lot is to have a detailed list of what to bring with me. It later helped me to not forget my keyboard again for example…
Now that I have mastered how to find a good place to work and travel with my full set-up, there are a few things to keep in mind to transition smoothly from place to place, not only for me but also for the team I am working with. It’s really important to be proactive in our work. Communication is one of the most important keys. When I was in Australia, I had a 16-hour difference from Florida. I started to take notes of everything I did and the questions I had. I tried to give a summary of what I was working on, where I was in my work but also what I was planning on doing in the next few days. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have great communication. I want to give a shout-out to CJ Allen, Production Coordinator, for having my back during this period of time. It was flawless!
Let your team know where you are and update your work time in Slack. It helps to track who is where, and you might find out that someone is in the same time zone as you! Or even better, in the same country as you so that you can meet for a drink!
Over the years, I also built a strong workflow, and I always update it from one project to another. It’s really important in order to have everything ready when you jump back on your computer to work.
With the lifestyle that I chose for the past few years, I often have to move from place to place even inside the same country. It would often be over the weekend so being organized with a strong workflow saves me a lot of time, and thanks to that, I can quickly send or update my work as soon as my set-up is done. This is not only inside Maya but also in my folders: the notes from the leads or the client, personal notes on what I need to do next, and notes on what time I have left. When moving a lot, whether it is for your own enjoyment or by obligation, you need to be fast and flexible on the things you can control because the unexpected is everywhere! Being organized is key here.
Now, this can be exhausting. This asks a lot of organization and planning ahead. You always have to find a new place to stay and for a short time. You have to find a place to work if you can’t do so where you live. It’s not always easy to be far from your friends and your family. Being in a new country with a different culture can also be disorienting.
But in the end, it always has been incredibly rewarding. Without having to take holidays, I’m able to visit and really live in a new country where I can discover new cultures and new people with new stories. I got the chance to see amazing places with beautiful landscapes. Every weekend or after work, I could enjoy the city I was visiting. Not only in my life but also in my work, I feel all the benefits it brings me like watching animals in their environment and studying them, watching people talking to each other and interacting with their own culture and body language, and discovering new forms of art or sports… All of this indirectly added up to my creativity as an artist and I have many more new references in mind while animating. This was possible by really living in the place I was in. It’s really not the same to experience a country as a tourist on vacation rather than to be able to live there day to day.
The important thing for me in general is to keep a good balance between life and work. I found here the best way to profit at the maximum in this situation. During these three years, I never had a home besides our parents’ places which were the return bases. You learn to live without the need of having tons of useless items. You actually can’t really buy anything as you won’t be able to travel with it or store it anywhere. With a limit of 23 kg per luggage of which 15 kg were only for my setup, I had to compromise a lot.
In a way, it's also a relief not to be attached to material things. I will soon settle back in Montreal where I plan to stay longer, but I will keep traveling from there with the same mindset and the same pleasure of being so free.
Traveling takes time and costs money, but it is worth every penny. It’s important to listen to yourself when doing so as it can be overwhelming if something goes wrong. From my own experience, I can’t thank Steamroller enough for having helped me to have the best experience possible. The key here has always been to communicate everything you are doing or experiencing, good or bad. We have an amazing work environment that enables us to experience working from anywhere, so our own duty is to keep it working. Being able to deliver the same quality of work as usual is the most important thing here in order to make it work. After that, it’s a journey that I would recommend and encourage as it has only been positive for me so far!
I hope these few lines will inspire some Steammates to do the same in the best conditions possible. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about the set-up or traveling. I would be more than happy to discuss with you about your next trip!
Have a fun SteamLife you all!
