Imagine you could travel the seas, see the most beautiful places – and work from wherever you feel like. Does that sound like a dream to you? For this German couple, it is a reality.
By Janine Gürtler
Maren and Matthias Wagener can’t really remember when they last have worked in a real office. They spend most of the year on the high seas, at destinations where others spend their holidays. However, the couple works – from their own sailboat.
What seems like wishful thinking to many, this German couple has accomplished due to a lot of discipline and above all an unusual corporate philosophy. The two leaders of the digital agency “Vast Forward” not only work themselves from wherever they want but also allow their six permanent project managers and over 30 freelance developers to do the same. All communications take place via e-mail, Skype and phone.
The agency develops digital campaigns, apps, and websites from scratch for other companies that lack own resources in-house. “We often are like a kind of fire department for companies,” Matthias says. No matter if their clients in Germany or Switzerland want a website to be designed, an app to be coded, a 3D-video to be animated – Maren and Matthias make it happen thanks to a vast network of programmers, media agencies or video specialists.
In Germany, the number of people working from home is decreasing
“Remote work” or “home office”, that is the name of the trend growing especially in the US, whereas in Germany so far, it seems to be much less popular. According to a report by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the number of people working from home is actually declining. Twelve percent of the employees in Germany work predominantly or occasionally from home. A rather low number, considering the calculation of DIW-experts, that home office could be installed already in 40 percent of jobs. In most cases, an employers‘ wish to work remotely will fail because managers say no.
“We live our dream.”
Maren and Matthias Wagener said yes – and never regretted their decision. “We live our dream,” Maren says. She and her husband used to work in an office too and sailed on the Alster during their free time. Until the 40-year-old, who always loved adventures, convinced her husband in 2012 to “move” from their apartment in Hamburg to a sailboat. Since then, the two have been constantly traveling. They first sailed the Baltic Sea, later the Atlantic and then the Mediterranean Sea, exploring the coasts of France, Portugal, Spain, and Gibraltar. They have seen the meter-thick layers of ash at the Mount Vesuvius, they strolled through the ruins of the ancient Roman town Herculaneum, made friends with strangers in Italian bars.
Life on very few square feet
All that might sound like an easy decision, but they gave up a lot to start a new life: the apartment, the car, furniture, clothes. Everything they need in life is now on their boat. Whatever didn’t fit, is stored on 118 square feet in Hamburg. “You learn to reduce yourself,” Maren says. “Whenever you buy a new pair of shoes, you have to get rid of another one.” Just before they started their mystery tour, the couple tied the knot. On their wedding list were only things they would need for their sailing adventure: walkie-talkies, hotel plates – which are harder and less likely to break –, stainless cutlery.
But how do you keep your relationship healthy, when you don‘t only live but also work together – 24/7 in such a narrow space? “It works great,” Maren says, laughing. “We show more consideration for each other, being grateful for little things others might regard as a matter of course.” Despite the narrowness, both are sure, life on board is the best decision they could have made.
But even in paradise, you will find choppy waters. In Corsica, the couple was caught for an entire week on the boat during a storm. The strong and cold northwest wind Mistral blew so hard that the boat staggered back and forth like a buoy in the water. “We became so seasick, that goes beyond imagination”, Maren recalls. Also because of experiences like these, the two always have a backup plan and don’t plan for more than half a year in advance.
Always on duty
It’s a sunny Tuesday in March in Brooklyn, one of the first warm spring days in New York. Maren and Matthias are sitting in a restaurant of the hotel, where they are staying for a few days. Their floating office is currently anchored in Sicily. For business meetings in Texas and New York, the two took a plane for a change.
Even before we start talking, Maren apologizes. “I still have to answer this mail quickly.” She brought her laptop with her. She is always on duty. So, does remote work make you work freer, but cause you to work more? “Work never completely stops for us,” Matthias admits. It just feels natural to them. Even at dinner, the two are constantly working on new ideas.
In fact, studies show that home office can be a double-edged sword. While working in remote can make employees happy and productive, it can also make them sick. That’s what the International Labor Organization of the United Nations found out. According to the report, people who work regularly from home suffer more often from insomnia and stress. The biggest reason behind that might be, that people in home office often work longer than their colleagues in the office: 2.5 hours more per week, researchers from the University of Basel found out.
Dolphins at the conference call
Maren and Matthias say, switching off is important to them, too: The globetrotters close their laptops at 4 pm in the afternoon, because they can rely on their team. “Many companies don‘t trust their employees enough,” Maren says. And that, in her opinion, is because of the fear of many managers to give up power. “It’s not about control, it‘s about trust,” her husband agrees. And it’s about leaving tasks and solutions to the employees.
“It’s not about control, it‘s about trust.”
The reward for this trust is a kind of freedom in the job, which only very few people experience as intensively as Maren and Matthias do. For example when they sailed at night past the Italian island of Stromboli and the volcano spat fire. And who else can say they watched dolphins during a conference call?
“The most inspiring thing is the people we get to know, the different cultures,” Matthias says. Next year, they want to sail across the Atlantic to the US and someday maybe cross the Panama Canal.
Wherever the waves lead them.
Photo credits: Dennis Williamson, Maren & Matthias Wagener/ Vast Forward GmbH