A few days back while we were in Atlanta, I arranged an interview with Ruth King of On The Ribbon.com and the Profitability Channel online television network. Notwithstanding the ingenuity of creating a full-on TV network that runs over the Internet, we had a good chat about the powertools of the mobile home office.

Talk about preparation, Ruth had me prepare a pre-interview doc on the must-knows of our adventure. My list follows: Read More »

What is “Home Office Highway”? It’s that experience where Vocation Meets Vacation on the open road. Where a home officer discovers how to make work work better, using everyday, off-the-shelf tools and technology, to replicate the home office in a 23-foot RV.

Check it out. And check back often. More to come…

Today was my birthday. It’s the 19th such event enjoyed from a home office.

This time around, my home office was an RV, and my “cake” was ambrosia. I love that stuff — a Southern favorite made of mini marshmallows, mandarin oranges, shredded coconut and sour cream (among other ingredients, depending on the maker).

No candles were lit. No songs were sung (except for my sister-in-law and nephew, who sang it via cell). Just a plastic fork from Panda Express at Carowinds — the Carolinas theme park where we spent the day.

I haven’t had ambrosia in a dozen years — and certainly not as a birthday dish. But more to the point, I never would have enjoyed this delicacy if we hadn’t gotten off Interstate 85 to spend two nights at Paynes Creek Campground. Sure, there were a dozen RV parks we could have chosen along the interstate. But Paynes Creek seemed cool at the time. And it lived up to its billing. And then some… Read More »

A friend I’ve known for years happened across Home Office Highway recently. Jay Van Vechten, founder of Van Vechten & Co., a Boca Raton, Fla., marketing communications firm, was impressed — and especially non-plussed with his own experience with a recent airline trip. This is a guy who’s traveled by transAtlantic cruise liner, toured the world, and absolutely had it traditional travel.

Hence his comments below…

“Your trip sounds amazing. So much more interesting than flying these days.

“This past week I was in South Carolina. When I reached the airport in Columbus, the check in agent said my bag was 3 pounds overweight and would cost me $50.”

Jay thought he had the solution. Jay was wrong.

Read More »

We’re in Paynes Creek Campground, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-built park in Hartwell, Ga. And one thing is clear: Those army engineers know how to build and maintain a campground.

And I reckon that come tomorrow morning, it’ll make a pretty good virtual office, too.

The sites are big, spacious and relatively secluded, and almost all have a view of the rather diminished Lake Hartwell (though we seem to have brought with us to Georgia four days of intermittent rain it hasn’t put a dent in the long-time drought the Peachtree State has suffered).

Since it’s a corps park, that means reservations are handled by the U.S. Park Service’s Reservations.gov tool. If you plan to camp, remember this site.

After five whirlwind days on the road, we’ve decided to settle in for two nights. That will make Friday a “casual Friday” for Home Office Highway. I’m actually looking forward to a morning of work, and an afternoon of exploration in this secluded place. Read More »

When it comes wireless phones and my choice of hearing devices,this home office worker tends toward the dysfunctional. I’m a fan of Bluetooth and the wireless functionality and freedom it delivers.

But I like the clarity and simple effectiveness of wired headsets. Hence my confusion (my wife would argue that it doesn’t end there, but that’s another story).

Headsets are important — and sometimes legal must-haves — accessories for wireless phones. As you’re tooling around town or exploring the Final Frontier in an RV with better things to focus on than answering your wireless phone, they free your hands for note-taking or driving (helping avoid costly traffic tickets in those markets where hands-free cellular phone use is the law – see list below). Read More »

Before we left home on Home Office Highway, I made sure to let my clients and family know the boundaries we’d all be facing. I told them I’d be working “part time.” That meant, at least to me, that I’d ply my own hours — usually before the “traditional” workday or on a spotty, unpredictable schedule throughout.

But something funny happened on the highway: The home officer’s own expectations seem out of whack. I thought I’d be working very little. But I find myself working a fair amount. Less than at home, for sure. But more than I’d expected. I’m at the dinette table early (nothing unusual there), and checking email — in the RV, at gas stops (plenty of time there to fetch, read and reply), while standing atop Stone Mountain outside Atlanta.

I guess I’m the one who missed the work-expectations memo. Read More »

Did you know a notebook computer is stolen every 53 seconds in the U.S. That’s a ton of bummin’ laptop owners out there. If you’re a home officer on the road, don’t become a statistic. They lead pretty boring lives. Instead, think of ways to thwart the bad guys.

With laptops, cable locks are the ideal solution. The Kensington ComboSaver Combination Portable Notebook Lock is a pretty cool and compact device. With a six-foot self-coiling cable, it expands and retracts with relative ease.

Read More »