Working remotely from Goa? Here’s how to plan your stay.
Disclaimer: We followed all the government-issued covid guidelines during our stay there.
In January 2021, Shivam Tiwari and I explored Goa while working remotely for a month. The tourist season was at its peak, but we visited a few incredible places and had memorable experiences. Here’s a refined snapshot of our planning and itinerary.
Planning a month-long stay
🏘️ Accommodation
We started planning two months prior, keeping in mind that January is the peak season for tourists to visit. This is the place we chose: Airbnb
1. 👩🏻💻 Figuring out work-from-home necessities
We wanted to make sure the place we book has a 24x7 power backup, strong wifi connection, and a grocery shop nearby. As this was a month-long stay, we didn’t want any obstacles when it comes to working.
2. 📍Location
I cannot stress this enough, but the location of the property you choose makes a lot of difference if you want to explore different parts of that city. We chose to stay near Vagator beach as it was the midpoint between Arambol and Candolim beaches. It also has the best cafes and cleaner beaches nearby.
3. 📝 Shortlisting top places from Airbnb and composing a personalized message
It helps to send the hosts a personalized message describing who you are, what you’re looking for, and why their place interests you. It can also include your dates of travel and some questions which are deciding factors for you. Here’s an example:
Message sent to Airbnb host
“ Hope you are safe and sound in these difficult times! 😁
Hey, we are a young couple who wants to escape the pandemic blues and have a month of working and vacationing in Goa. Your apartment seemed perfect for this. It has the best location and size for our needs. We were also very impressed by the upkeep of it. Kudos to you!We would like to stay for a month in January. It might not necessarily be from 1st Jan to 31st Jan.🗓 We can work out the dates together with you.
As we are working from home currently, we need to have power backup and good wifi speed as we continuously need to be on conference calls. This is why we wanted to know:
1. Is there is a 24x7 power backup?
2. What is the frequency of power cuts?
3. What is the speed of the wifi connection?
4. Where is the closest grocery shop?We are looking forward to hearing from you.🤗 ”
4. 💰Availing Airbnb’s monthly stay discount
There are generous discounts on your stays if you book for at least a month. These may vary from property to property and can range to even 51%! Even negotiating with your host also helps at times.
🥑 Food
Since our working hours were from 11 am — 7 pm approx, we found good places to order breakfast and lunch from (We both didn’t want to rely on cooking ourselves 🤪). These two were our favourites:
- Bean me up: Has the best options for healthy and vegan food. We tried almost everything on their menu and loved it.
2. Hideaway Cafe and bar: Has one of the best seafood options nearby.
Note: I would also recommend planning the places you want to visit in advance so that you have a plan for all the weekends. Making reservations for the famous cafes works better than walk-ins. Thats all, have a great workation peeps👍🏼!
