I just realized it's been 5 years ago this month since we moved out of Boston to a small town in Vermont.
Boston was home to a lot of great places to work. We were definitely concerned about the difficulty of changing jobs once we went fully remote, as there were a lot fewer places that were completely remote or hybrid at the time. But we basically spent every nice weekend leaving the city to go camping or hiking, and decided that taking the risk to improve our quality of life was worth it.
Fast forward to today where things are quite different. I have changed jobs twice since then; once to a fully-remote company, and then to a hybrid company. Both times were for roles that I thought would be a better fit for me, and I am so happy where I am today.
When I finish work for the day, I can step out my door and see our small pond or the adjacent wetlands, and the Green Mountains that surround us. We walk the dogs several miles daily on our property in wide, meandering circles where we regularly encounter bunnies, all kinds of birds, deer, and the occasional beaver or bear. If I have a stressful meeting or a sleepy afternoon, I can step out onto our back deck and listen to the wind rustling the trees and birds singing for a few moments of relaxation.
No traffic noises, city smells, neighbors right on top of you arguing loudly over dinner, or obnoxious weekend parties across the street.
When I see people debating remote work, I think about all the people like me who have moved out of cities to improve their quality of life. I think about the fact that what we spent on real estate here would buy us a fixer-upper studio apartment in our old neighborhood.
The ability to work remotely has afforded me such a quality of life improvement. And when I am in my office working, I am relaxed, refreshed, and giving it 100%. I'm not distracted by an open floor plan or people dropping by my desk to ask me a question.
I sincerely hope we don't lose the gains in remote work that we've made during the pandemic. I think it's only good for businesses and employees alike.