Remote YearReviews of remoteyear.com

Remote year does a great job of handling the logistics of working remotely while traveling abroad. I’ve enjoyed my trip leaders, city guides, and the friends I’ve made, both in my RY group and in the cities we have visited. While it’s not a full service travel agency, and you need to take care of yourself and “roll with the punches” of international travel. And it’s an excellent platform to start something, share knowledge, find travel buddies, and express yourself in new ways.

I'm not kidding. I'm only a quarter of the way through my year traveling the world with Remote Year and this is easily the best investment I've ever made. I had reservations, like everyone, but these last three months have exceeded my expectations in every way possible mostly because of the people. I don't know how they do it, but RY curated the perfect travel family and each day has been an absolute blessing. I can't remember life without these 50 strangers even though it was just a few short months ago. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, doing the things I'm supposed to be doing with the people I'm supposed to be doing them with. I've thoroughly enjoyed letting someone else figure out all the operational stuff for the year so I can focus on my community, connecting with the local cultures, my passions, and most importantly, myself. If you're reading this, you must be interested in Remote Year so here's a pro tip: don't over think it because it's nothing like you can ever imagine, but it will be so so so much better.

I applied to Remote Year, including making the payment "required for submitting your application", in December 2016. I received confirmation of my application by email. In applying I was assured that if unsuccessful, my payment would be refunded in full. I have never heard anything since, despite assurance that I would be contacted regarding final round interviews within a week. Also, the email address I was given with a note to "Feel free to reply directly to this email for a status update or with any questions you have", always bounces back messages. I can only assume that my application has not been successful. Moreover, my personal circumstances have changed and I would no longer be able to participate in a remote year scheme. I have contacted Remote Year repeatedly to tell them that I need to withdraw my application and have my payment refunded in full. Again, this is something I was assured I would be completely entitled to do. I have had no response from Remote Year whatsoever, nor any refund. I would just like to warn others thinking of applying!

Remote Year has been an amazing experience, but not without challenges. Not all of the accommodations have been great (I've been fortunate in this regard but others have not). Internet has not always been up to standard (I'm looking at you Bolivia). The reality, though, is that many of these issues would exist regardless of my participation in this program. The true value of Remote Year (RY) is the community of individuals that it puts together to embark on a year-long journey. The local staff works tirelessly to resolve issues for participants. The optional events provide a sense of structure to your life while traveling. But the people that I've been fortunate enough to travel with have enriched my life beyond measure. I've traveled on my own for most of my life and will return to solo travel at the end of RY. I've been to places I never would've seen on my own because I decided to say "Yes" to RY and the experiences to which the program/participants have invited me. I wouldn't trade this for anything. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I was part of the first group who went on Remote year and while everything did not go perfect, I would recommend this to everyone who has the opportunity to go. I originally went because I wanted to travel the world with like minded people while working. What I ended up getting was a memorable experience and a group of great friends. I will admit the accommodations where not always the best and there were some hiccups with internet for a few days but being someone who has worked remotely for 10+ years I can say that I have run into similar issues in the US let alone abroad. If you are to go on this, don't go because you want a plush experience but go because you want a community who will challenge you to grow. I can't say enough about my experience and hope you will feel the same way after you finish.

I love RY, my favorite part is the networking and community aspect of it. Travelling for a whole year with 75 people (50-ish towards the end...) is amazing, specially since we're all pretty different. Just having the "travel bug" brings us all together like a great big family. Housing is sometimes great, sometimes not so good... I haven't really been working too much during the year so internet and workspace haven't been a problem but I do know it's an issue sometimes. I'm also in the second year of RY and I know they've come a long way with new groups from listening to our feedback and with recent investments they're also working on better platforms to make the experience better. For a start-up and being one of the "guinea pig" groups, I think it's going great so far! Also, have heard of other groups, and I think RY is the best way to go :)

Remote Year is a great idea in that it pushes companies to explore the new world of digital nomadism. I work for a forward thinking company, and had the opportunity to be one of their first remote workers with the help of Remote Year. After 9 months on the program I truly feel that Remote Year has not provided the resources for me to succeed. I was part of the second group of Remote Year and was promised the "kinks were already worked out." It wasn't until our fourth month that we arrived in a city and had no immediate wifi issues in our workspace. However we're now on month 9 and still experience issues at least once a month with both our housing and work-spaces. Our program staff does a great job of trying to fix problems but the higher level staff doesn't give them great tools to succeed. The community I've met has been great which is why I've stayed on the program. Until a large number of our community threatened to leave over poor quality housing, wifi issues, and overall poor programming our concerns were not listened to. When you hand over control of how you work, travel and live to a 3rd party - they should be focused on customer service not expansion or growth. Given how many programs Remote Year has launched you would think they would take the time to learn from their mistakes. Based on conversations with groups on Remote year 3 - 7 who are still facing similar issues as our group it doesn't appear that this is the case. While it might be less of an issues for freelancers or people who work for themselves to be put out with constant wifi issues, for people who work in a traditional office this program does not provide the tools to succeed.

Remote Year is a great concept in trying to change the way we think about work and travel. While they are attempting to be a key player in what is surely to be a booming industry of digital nomadism, their focus on expansion rather than customer service is a short term game play that may not pan out long term, but choices were made. The value proposition is extremely hard to make when it comes to the consistency of accommodations, workspace, and travel planning comparative to the overall price tag. This in addition to the extremely unprofessional staff makes it very difficult to recommend Remote Year to any working professional who isn't looking to have a year long party binge. While I will always thank Remote Year as a catalyst to change perspectives and for forging lifelong friendships, there are a number of other options available that may provide a better overall experience with potentially a lower price tag.