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Partner and I would like to spend ~1 month this summer working remotely somewhere in Europe, and we are starting to look for suitable areas/accommodation (very fortunate to be in a position where this is an option!). We'd be driving down from Edinburgh with our dog, and then a couple friends may come and stay during the month.
Likely for the month of August
Location wise:
Moderate climate - ideally no more than 25*c (mainly for the dog)
Near/in hills or mountains with decent walking and riding (MTB and/or gravel)
Not in the middle of no where - coffee and groceries within walking distance ideally
Accommodation:
Suitable for 2+ people working remotely (good WiFi, spaces to work)
2+ bedrooms
Dog friendly
£1.5-2k for a month
Thinking Airbnb (fairly easy), house swapping (not done before, bit more effort), or trusted house sitter type deal (also never done) - any other good options?
Initial thinking is Alps, not too south so not too hot (and not so far to drive), some kind of chalet in a small pretty resort? Chamonix would be nice but too expensive, same for Bourg St Maurice. But very open to other parts of Europe
Any recommendations for where to look? Bit overwhelming looking at the Airbnb map - too many options! Anyone know of any nice towns/areas that would work well?
Even better - anyone have family/friend's of friends etc who rent out accommodation that would suit?
Thanks!
Month of August accommodation for that money is moon on a stick unless you go to Eastern Europe I'd suggest.
if it were me I'd be itinerant and move on every few days, a week here, a week there, perhaps, but yes not cheap, unless taking a tent...
I definitely wouldn’t be going in August!
Aren't there tax implications with doing that?
I seem to remember it being mentioned before
I did very similar this year.
Alps, just north of Marseille, mainland Spain following the coast, Cyprus, Tenerife and then back to France. I have to be careful of the number of days in each area.
Anyway, tips….internet can be hit and miss. I stayed in AirBnB’s, even though they claim to have 300mbps….in the alps some days it didn’t work at all.
Over in Spain, similar with internet but at least mobile reception was good 4g so could use that as a hotspot when needed. I took a second mobile with a Three mobile data sim. This was used just for work.
If you are taking calls, be mindful of your surroundings. The apartment in Tenerife had really high ceilings, the sound while on a call was terrible, very echoey. I did a few calls from the balcony and was generally ok.
August in France was hot, probably fair to say too hot for me. I’d probably be looking at somewhere in Alpes de Haute-Provence where there tends to be a cooler wind. It’s still hot though.
AirBnB prices are insane. Far too over priced in my opinion. I would use it as a guide, find a place you like and then go googling for accommodation in the town. When I was in Aix-En-Provence earlier last year we did a quick comparison and there seemed to be about a €800 euro difference. But we were looking at the local web sites. I did use AirBnB because it was easy, but probably would try not to if doing it again.
Most of France is on holiday in August...
i can't think of anything worse than having a nice holiday ruined by having to work my day job while I'm there
Certainly wouldn't be aiming for the south of France hoping for moderate climate at that time of year!
Sweden perhaps? My only experience is Stockholm - nice enough but I'm sure there is more to it than that.
Aren’t there tax implications with doing that?
Yes. Working and residing (because as soon you start working, you're not a tourist) in the EU as a non-EU resident can lead to all sorts of sticky situations. Even if you're being paid and are based outside the EU.
Yes. Working and residing (because as soon you start working, you’re not a tourist) in the EU as a non-EU resident can lead to all sorts of sticky situations. Even if you’re being paid and are based outside the EU.
Who would ever know and how ?
I've done on-call stuff when on holiday at times.... I'd get a call, fix an issue, go back to holidaying.. no-one need ever know
There’s only tax implications if you’re actually conducting business and being paid an income in that country - doing Zoom calls and being paid by a UK company isn’t
Assuming you've checked your work to make sure there are no implications? Got a mate who has a house in Portugal - his idea was he'd spend summer in Scotland and winter in Portugal with a couple of trips back for any meetings.
All fell apart as he wasn't allowed to work in another country as it had various implications for the work (as well as his tax situation) - he then suggested it would be a month at a time, but that was also rejected - basically no time allowed for working abroad (unless in official work offices as it was an approved business trip and would have the appropriate work visa and stuff).
He has a great few weeks on holiday there each year now!
My workplace has a policy allowing people to work in any country we have an office for 3 weeks per year - in my case Spain.
This was thwarted by needing a visa to work in this way. Unless I was employed in Spain and had residencia (registration for tax and other things) it wasn't permitted by Spanish authrorities. I did enquire about a short term visa with the Spanish consulate but they told me it would not be approved and to save my money/time.
On that basis my workplace confirmed I was not permitted to work. We never quite bottomed out if it would be permitted if I were a Spanish citizen - I think then I would be legally entitled to work but 'residencia' may still be an issue, namely they aren't getting their slice of the pie.
They are working (in Spain at least but likely elesewhere in Europe) on a 'Digital Nomad' scheme which appears to require a declaration of what you earned whilst abroad then a 20% of gross 'tax' payment for the privilege. A crappy double tax situation if it comes in as proposed but at least it would enable these sorts of arrangements legally.
Needless to say when I go on holiday now I won't answer calls, emails or do any sort of work. Some may say I am a mug for doing that before, but I get paid on outcomes and relatively well, so I'm happy doing a small amount of work to make my own life easier on return. Not any more though!
In short in the OPs situation I doubt what is being proposed is legal, depending on where you are going in Europe, without a specific visa to cover working.
Given your weather requirements, Scotland may be as close as anywhere to achieving what you want. Alps in August is often very hot, especially recently.
One thing I'd highlight.
If you require good internet access in order to work, a lot of the alps dont have decent speeds. Morzine for example has extremely slow landline internet and I'm sure that's pretty common, particularly in smaller resorts.
Nice one. Plenty of companies allow this now, pretty sure there aren’t any tax implications.
25C in August for that money is the tricky bit. School holidays everywhere and it’s usually hotter than that in England nowadays!
Have you considered the Moray coast? 😁
I was thinking I could work away remotely too, but I have worked abroad and find I get to see more in a weeks holiday than months of working away. Still if you can make it work I like the idea.
Maybe look east, Poland and Tatras, Slovenia, Bohinj.... or South West Germany, Bechtesgarden way.
Northern Germany around Trier/saarburg?
Spent time here and its nice + won't be too hot.
There might be a good ferry option that avoids a lot of UK driving?
Some one on here was raving about Burnley
There are plenty of issues working in another country, some employers specifically forbid it (even whilst on holidays), I have worked at others where we have to confirm we haven't worked in another country, lot's of issues around creating taxable entities etc (and I guess post Brexit you would need a work visa as well)
There is some great guidance here that covers some of the issues .
https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/employment/working-remotely-your-uk-employer-while-overseas
Can you have a rethink on the August bit, OP?
May or June might be more in line with your financial and temperature-related needs.
Sweden perhaps? My only experience is Stockholm – nice enough but I’m sure there is more to it than that.
Ha! I think you're even less likely to get accommodation for a month for £1.5-2k unless you're willing to work from a tent in a road lay-by.
There is some great guidance here that covers some of the issues .
Yup, no working unless it's a meeting, seminar or supply visit type thing.
Sitting down to do a days ordinary work needs some sort of a visa and reciprocal tax reporting etc etc.
It's a pain, and filling in paperwork wrong, or late, means you either don't go, or the authorities get very interested.
or the authorities get very interested
How on earth would they know?
How on earth would they know?
Generally, they wouldn't.
A decent company would be taking measures to prevent it though. As it's a tax and immigration based issue.
You'll be lying as you enter the country (purpose of visit?) which is an immigration offence and may get you deported.
Someone suggested above, but I spent a week near Zilina, town itself was quite basic, some lovely old buildings and some very clearly Soviet era tower blocks, but some absolutely brilliant hiking and mountain biking right on doorstep and rideable from town in lower Tatras mountains, people were dead friendly and their was really good craft beer bars and restaurants of all types, where food and drink was about 50-70% of price here.
It was easy to fly into either Bratislava or Vienna and with bike via BA was about £120 return.
Probably easy to work also, we had 5G even halfway up a mountain.
I would go to Tarifa from mid May to mid June. Too many reasons to detail here but a less obvious one is the sustainable bluefin tuna on every menu.
We are heading for France again for three weeks this summer. We take our own caravan though, so it works out about £40-50 per night on a site with kids club, pools, etc. It's almost cheaper to stay longer rather than come home & pay for childcare. As we are both self-employed, we need to keep an eye on email etc daily regardless of where we are, but don't actually earn any money working as we are not on-site.
It was 40+ degrees in Normandy last July, so if you need a predictable, cooler temperature, you'll be heading North, not South.
How about Denmark or Norway?
On that basis my workplace confirmed I was not permitted to work. We never quite bottomed out if it would be permitted if I were a Spanish citizen – I think then I would be legally entitled to work but ‘residencia’ may still be an issue, namely they aren’t getting their slice of the pie.
AFAIK you have to be here >180 days to be liable for tax.
Anyway, if work doesn't care I'd just do it. Inland northern Spain would be a possibility - look at Cantabria or Asturias. Oviedo for example would be within your budget.
As mert said there are implications to working in another country, and as others have said how would they know.
If your happy taking the risk, no issue but at least be informed.
Proverb - One should not carry out an action if one is unwilling to handle the consequences.
Or
Baretta "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time"
🙂
Middle class crimes don’t count 😉
Not if no new jobs are created
Not just middle class.
In France, the black economy is estimated to be approx 13% of GDP (or PIB as they call it).
Maybe not remote enough but Ireland might be an option. Easy journey from Scotland, easier tax/work implications. West coast is really nice. Lots of quiet and scenic bits without being miles from civilization.
Think I'd be off to the Alps though. It's peak summer holidays but still quiet compared to winter in the ski regions so there should be accomodation.
Asturias (as someone has said) or Galicia in NW Spain might work. Much cooler than the rest of Spain, though you will get days above 30 degrees in August.
Spanish govt making big effort to connect everyone to fast internet. My in-laws house in very rural Galicia has just had fibre connected (it's in the middle of nowhere, nearest neighbour is about 300m away).