From Medicine to Mountains: Your Adventure Guide for Unforgettable Trips

Hi, I’m Brent (Homson)

Hey soon-to-be or current remote work traveler! I’m a language-loving traveler balancing a remote 9-5 job with an obsession for exploring new corners of the world, one weekend at a time.

I’m a Black-Mexican American born in Chicago, but raised between the south side, rural Illinois, the mountains of North Carolina, and traveling through Europe with my mom carrying a pocket book version of “How to learn [insert language] in 7-days” and listening to Pimsleur language cassettes.

My mother fell in love with France when she was younger and introduced my brother and I to the world abroad as soon as she could. From growing up and attending school in La Défense, France, to lugging luggage in Brindisi, Italy, to driving a train in Corinth, Greece, to pulling my younger brother in a classic red Radio Flyer wagon across the streets of Europe, my childhood is full of countless travel experiences, and lots of time around planes (mostly Air France).

Ask Me Anything. Seriously!

Stuck on a trip idea? Shoot me a message, and I’ll see if I can help! Burning question about a specific travel destination? Or maybe you’re curious about breaking into tech or working remotely while traveling?

Need help nailing down that perfect itinerary? Either way, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned.

    293 People have reached out so far!

    Finding travel advice for someone like me was challenging. Adding to the difficulty, I rarely take time off, usually adding PTO to weekends or holidays. So, how can I properly travel, especially now that I have a remote job?

    Initially, I was fearful, but as I embraced the journey, I rekindled my love for travel and found a more sustainable way to travel while working. It’s not always perfect, but it works for me.

    That’s where this blog comes in. It’s a space to memorialize my travel journey and the people I’ve met along the way, and hopefully inspire others to travel. Whether it’s finding a new restaurant, a beer, a wine, an activity, or just the process itself, I aim to inspire a sense of travel stewardship.

    I’m all for ditching cookie-cutter itineraries and instead focusing on itineraries influenced by life itself—randomness. Many of the itineraries you see here result from my “go with the flow” travel philosophy, where I let conversations with passersby, taxi drivers, locals, and fellow travelers guide the process. Through these interactions, I often get more recommendations along the way.

    If you want to see a better explanation of this, look up Bruce Lee’s “Be Like Water” philosophy. To me, that’s the joy of travel—the randomness. A randomness you cannot replicate, even if you took the same flight during the same month in the same city or met the same people.

    I’ve learned that the best travel memories often come with a side of unexpected challenges—it’s all part of the adventure!

    My Career Journey

    I’ve been traveling since I was a kid, as mentioned above. But I started really solo traveling, at least internationally, in 2017 when I did a summer microbiology course abroad at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom.

    Since then, I’ve traveled as money and time allowed. While there was little to no traveling during medical school, I promised myself that if I ever took a leave of absence or wasn’t in medical school, I would travel as much as possible. 

    Here I am, years later, a former med-student turned traveler, exploring more countries—even while juggling the weight of missing medicine, a field I hope to return to in the near future.

    Why This Blog?

    Bridging Representation and Practicality

    I started this blog in 2022 with the purpose of guiding others who want to balance a full-time remote job with fulfilling travel experiences. Every post I share is a direct reflection of my adventures—the places, the people, the spontaneous moments, unexpected detours, and lessons learned along the way. I wanted to create this blog as a personal travel diary and resource for myself when planning future trips and in hopes that it might inspire, encourage, and inform fellow remote workers looking to travel and for travel advice like mine, but haven’t quite found what they’re looking for.

    When I first started traveling while working remotely, or what I like to call “workcation”, I had a hard time finding travel advice to help me. 

    I ran into two problems.

    1. The Lack of Relatable Representation: I didn’t see anyone else like me on the internet who looked like me or had a similar background like mine. I believed (and still believe) there is a gap in representation that needs to be filled .
    2. The Absence of Practical Guidance: I didn’t find any travel bloggers who shared their experiences while working a demanding start-up, remote job (i.e. no dropshipping or similar gigs) and navigating the specific challenges of blending a demanding remote job with a passion for travel.

    Basically, I couldn’t find travel content or experiences that addressed the unique constraints faced by remote professionals–like us–who love to travel. 

    Airlines I’ve Flown

    What Makes This Blog Different?

    Real Experiences, No Filters

    This blog is for remote workers eager to explore the world with a willingness to stay productive without sacrificing their careers. If that’s you, then you’re in the right place!

    I offer real advice from my travels, as someone who has been traveling since my youth, with real receipts. I actually track my experiences, sharing genuine insights and practical tips. 

    Unlike other popular travel bloggers, I stay at every hotel I review or recommend. I don’t just use stock photos or rely on sponsored stays; I take my own photos, tag them, and label them myself—or sometimes forget to take them in the moment. This means every review is backed by my own money. I show you the raw, unfiltered reality, capturing both the highs and the lows, so you can truly see how it is. It’s not always glamorous, and sometimes it’s downright challenging, but it’s always real. I wish I could easily churn out content without experiencing it firsthand, but I believe you deserve more than that. You deserve the truth, straight from someone who’s living it, and navigating the same challenges you are. 

    My travels aren’t just about logistics – they’re a symphony of sights, sounds, and emotions, heavily influenced by music. From growing up listening to NTM and Fonky Family in France on Skyrock, to jamming to Sweden’s Fattaru and Ken Ring, each journey unfolds like a cinematic soundtrack wrapped in the form of a movie or music video.  Whether it’s Kapasiteettiyksikkö in Finland, K-Drama OSTs from Korea, Fernando Daniel in Portugal, Headie One in the UK, or the melodies of Cimbalom in Hungary, music fuels my adventures and shapes my stories. Basically, a lot of Shazamming. 

    So, if you’re ready for travel advice that’s passport-stamp-genuine with a mix of art, music, and fashion, then stick around. We’re just getting started.

    Balancing Work and Travel

    Strategies for Remote Professionals

    The remote professional travel experience is not the same as other “digital nomads.” I’m not finding a remote place to live and work out of. I have a home base while taking trips around the world, and working while I do it. I have to balance my day job, meetings, deadlines, OKRs, and industry events – all from various time zones. If an event requires more prep or a schedule changes, I have to adjust my travel plans on the fly, sometimes incurring additional unplanned expenses like baggage costs, international phone usage charges, and change fees.

    For us remote workers, that means our travels are bound by time, destination, internet access–all of which limit where we can visit, how we can visit, and the duration of our visit.

    Sounds straightforward, but…

    Actually, who am I kidding? It’s not straightforward at all. 

    When you have a full-time job, you always have to be “on,” and traveling is often the last thing on many people’s minds. But if you’re someone like me who’s itching to see the world, and you don’t want to quit your day job, hopefully I can help!

    Whether you’re dreaming of that long-delayed vacation or just craving more flexibility, I’ll show you how I’ve integrated travel into my life—using the same work setup you’d use at home.

    One thing you might notice when you want to travel but haven’t, especially when you’re a full-time worker, is a lot of “but” in your sentences.

    • I want to travel, but… it’s too complicated to juggle work
    • I would buy a ticket, but… I don’t have the money
    • I could work remotely, but… I don’t want to quit my current job
    • You can travel because of “x,” but…

    What I learned from my Hawaii Improv class is, instead of saying “but,” to say “yes and.”

    Try it. Trust me, it’s more fun.

    • Yes, it takes effort to balance travel and work, and I can plan.
    • Yes, plane tickets cost money, and I can use credit card reward points (that you’ve accumulated from work, of course).
    • Yes, I need to keep my job, and I can figure out how to do that

    See? It’s already lifting your mood and easing the burden of hesitation.

    If it hasn’t, shoot me an email, and I’ll see if I can help.

    Let’s turn those “buts” into “yes ands” and explore the world together, one workcation at a time.

    How I Travel

    Turning Work Trips into Multi-Country Adventures

    I’m a full-time marketing professional that travels frequently for off-site meetings and industry conferences in the continental USA. That means a lot of my trips often depend on my work schedule and limits my choice of destination or whether I can add another leg of to a journey.

    But I’ve learned to get creative. When a work trip takes me to New York City, for example, I might book a one-way ticket on Delta (racking up those SkyMiles!) and then ditch the return flight home to the Pacific Northwest.

    Instead, I’ll look to see if I can catch a flight from JFK to a different destination to other destinations on my ever-growing travel list. Can I do Belgrade, Serbia on Air Serbia? If so, how much would that cost? And from there, I’ve turned my work trip into a multi-country adventure. 

    Google Travel, including its “Travel Anywhere” feature, is a huge lifeline for last-minute travel planning. Maybe it’s the startup life, but sometimes I just want spontaneous answers and direct price comparisons. Google Travel offers that spirit of exploration with just one click.

    My travels are not always glamorous compared to YouTube or Instagram Reels, but they’re real-life travels. And honestly even when I’m tired, I never regret the travels I’ve made.

    In the end, my travels help me with creativity in my job and lead to much richer conversations about life, from small talk to forming new connections.

    Choosing Destinations

    Letting Conversations Guide Your Journey

    Sometimes my destinations are predetermined by work, family, or friends.

    But more often than not, they emerge from unexpected conversations with fellow travelers, intriguing discoveries on Google Maps, or even when I’m in the sky.

    I’ll find myself staring at Delta’s (or another airlines) in-flight Panasonic entertainment system, scrolling through the interactive map, captivated by a landscape that catches my eye. Maybe it’s a charming coastal town, a village nestled in the mountains, or a cluster of islands dotting the ocean.

    From there, I turn to a combination of Flighty, the in-flight entertainment system, and even ChatGPT (yes! AI!) to pinpoint and research these real-time discoveries, turning fleeting glimpses into potential adventures.

    Travel Philosophy

    Embracing Randomness and Serendipity

    Something I learned as a kid traveling with my mom and brother: travel isn’t just about the destination. 

    It’s about life-changing encounters—from sharing a Fado experience in Lisbon, connecting with a teacher in France, or making friends over a beer at Harpoon Brewery during a layover at Boston’s Logan International Airport.

    Check out Google Travel’s feature and see where it leads you. Maybe it will be the ultimate location you’ll grow to love that you’ve never considered.

    “Invest in yourself–traveling is investing in yourself”

    — Filipe Ribeiro, Owner of O Corrido – Casa de Fado

    My Travel Style

    Comfort, Culture, and Connectivity

    My travel style is different. I prioritize comfort and accessibility, while also paying attention to art, fashion, music.

    Additionally, I have to consider time spent in-flight, on layovers, Wi-Fi accessibility and reliability, and my job responsibilities across multiple time zones. As a result, I prioritize comfort, preferring to stay at Airbnbs or leveraging Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts from accumulated points. I take direct flights or high-speed trains to maximize productive time while exploring.

    Time management is often the hardest part of the trip. Unplanned calls or putting out fires are common in my job, making utility tools like the World Clock Meeting Planner essential for optimal time zone coordination. This helps me plan meetings, determine if a country can accommodate work “must-haves,” and find the most feasible time to take a flight or train.

    Countries & Territories Visited

    Who Creates Your Content?

    Authenticity in Every Post

    99% of the photos you see are mine—shot on my trusty, yet dinged, iPhone 14 Pro, my classic Pentax K1000, or my indestructible Olympus OM4Ti. 

    I’m a film photography enthusiast, using Kodak Portra 400 or 800, ColorPlus 200, Ektar 100, and UltraMax400. Most of my film is processed by Pandalab, with some done at Bellows Film Lab (Chicago).

    My travels are 100% funded by my day job, which lets me turn my experiences into hopefully monetizable blog posts (earning me a little extra cash!). While some of my friends think I travel all the time, I usually travel solo on weekends, holidays, or add PTO days to work trips.