Vacation vs. Working Remotely: How I Manage My Social Media Business While Traveling

Ever wondered how social media marketers and solopreneurs actually balance client work while traveling the world? 

There’s a big difference between taking a vacation and working remotely, but when you run your own social media marketing business, the lines can blur if you don’t set clear boundaries. I started my business with one goal in mind: freedom. Freedom to work from anywhere, set my own schedule, and design a lifestyle that allows me to travel without sacrificing my income. 

Unlike traditional digital marketing agencies, I never wanted to build a massive team or manage employees. Instead, I wanted to create a profitable, location-independent business that lets me serve my clients while enjoying the flexibility to explore new places. But as a business of one, that also means I’m responsible for my clients’ social media accounts—whether I’m working from my home office, sipping coffee in a Parisian café, or preparing to completely unplug for a well-earned vacation. The key? Intentional planning and a rock-solid remote work strategy.

What’s the difference between being on vacation and working remotely while traveling? It all comes down to intention.

When I’m on vacation, I’m there to disconnect. Trips like this are usually with family or friends, for a shorter period of time, and often to celebrate something special. I want to be present while on vacation. 

For example, I am about to spend a week in Antigua to celebrate my boyfriend’s fortieth birthday. There is going to be a group of 8 of us and I want to be able to relax on the beach, celebrate my boyfriend, and go on excursions without having to race back to the room to be on client calls or worry about scheduling content.

When I’m working remotely, it’s different. My routine stays (mostly) the same, I just happen to be in a different location. I still serve my clients at the same level, attend meetings, and manage content.

So how do I prepare to completely unplug for vacation while ensuring my clients’ social media marketing runs smoothly? Here’s my process…

Rescheduling Client Calls While on Vacation

I currently have three social media marketing clients who I have weekly calls with. I rescheduled my calls with two of my clients and the third agreed to communicate by email that week. 

As soon as our Antigua vacation was booked, I informed each of my clients of when I would be out of office and what they could expect from me. About three weeks out, I reached out about adjusting our weekly calls and everyone was super accommodating.

Planning and Scheduling Content Ahead of Vacation

I plan my clients’ content as far out as possible, whether I’m heading on vacation or it’s a normal week at home. This doesn’t mean I actually schedule the content, but I do have our strategy in place, content topics mapped out, and have started writing post captions. 

When I’m preparing to leave for vacation, I schedule out as much content as possible in the days leading up to my departure. For example, I already have all of the information and visuals from one of my clients to schedule out all of our content for the coming week. I will schedule all of the posts that I have planned in my content planning calendar in Metricool so it automatically publishes throughout the coming week.

*Caveat* I schedule Reels directly through Instagram. I prefer to edit Reels and add trending audio directly in the app so that’s the only content that I do not use Metricool to schedule.

While all of my current clients are within the real estate industry, only one of them is a real estate team. Because their transactions are so fluid, we cannot always schedule content super far out in advance. However, I am confident that after our call on Monday morning, I’ll be able to schedule the majority of our content before I leave on Tuesday.

While most content will be scheduled, I will still check into all of my clients’ channels to ensure that everything has published correctly. I’ll also engage with comments and DMs for a few minutes each day. 

I still like to bring my laptop or iPad with me on vacation, as it’s easier to use Canva and Metricool in the browser over on the apps. I also like to have my computer or iPad in case I want to write (for my own blog or Instagram captions) while on vacation. 

How is this different from how I prepare to work remotely? 

When working while traveling, I work Monday through Friday, just from another part of the world. I’ll schedule out content a couple days in advance before leaving so I don’t have to worry about working on travel days and eventually, I fall into the same routines I follow at home.

I ensure that the place I’m staying has reliable Wi-Fi and look into coworking spaces and surrounding cafes that I can work from. For example, later this year I’ll be heading to Montenegro. When booking my Airbnb, I looked for somewhere with some kind of desk or counter that I can work from (space separate from the bedroom) and reliable Wi-Fi. I also messaged the host, sharing that I’ll be working remotely and that when my trip is closer, I’ll be reaching out about surrounding cafes that allow remote workers to work from. The host replied that working from cafes is still novel in Montenegro but he would send me some recommendations.

Communicating with your Airbnb host (or VRBO or whatever you use to book lodging) is a great way to form expectations and learn more about what it’s like to be a local where you’re heading. 

When I’m preparing for vacation, I’m already working toward SMART goals, have strategies in place, and am simply scheduling out the content that my clients and I have already discussed. When working remotely, I’m away from home for weeks or even months at a time so SMART goals may evolve, strategies may need to be restructured, and content is being discussed and optimized on an ongoing basis. My clients and I continue to have our weekly calls and communicate via text and email as needed.

All of this to say that when I’m working remotely, I am serving my clients at the same level and to the same extent as when I am at home. And when I’m on vacation, I have scheduled content in advance, am slower to respond to clients, and any new campaigns or strategies will be revisited when I return home from vacation.

If you dream of building a location-independent social media business so that you can take limitless vacations and remote work holidays, the first step is choosing the right niche. Share your name and email below to watch my free masterclass today and start signing dream clients!