Work from anywhere revolution turns vacation rentals into office hotspots

These days, more and more remote employees are teaming up to rent vacation rentals for a week or two. Thanks to the freedom of working remotely, workers get to enjoy a mini-getaway without burning through their precious paid time off.

One such group was Ivy, a 30-year-old project manager living in Raleigh, North Carolina, and her friends living in Washington D.C. all have roles that allow them to work from anywhere.

In a video that went viral on TikTok with over 468,000 views, Ivy shared clips from their "WFH getaway week" renting a lakehouse in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. The picturesque property with mountain views and ample indoor space drew envious responses.

"It was really nice and refreshing to get out of our everyday working environments and have a change of scenery," Ivy told Newsweek. Their temporary relocation allowed them to "wind down after work, connect with nature, and bond" while still meeting professional obligations.

The pandemic's disruption to the traditional office routine paved the way for this emerging trend of remote workers taking their laptops on the road. When lockdowns hit and forced businesses to close their physical locations, companies had to quickly pivot to letting staff work from home and using online collaboration platforms to keep things running. Many organizations have since made these arrangements permanent after seeing productivity could remain high outside traditional setups.

Ivy's video depicting her group's lakehouse stay - complete with boat rides, outdoor grilling, and nightly firepits after working hours - struck a chord online. "I got the WFH job, now I just need friends," one commenter wrote. Others asked about the specific remote-friendly job roles that allowed such getaways.

"I was, and still am, extremely surprised to see such a huge and positive online response," Ivy said. She welcomed that her post inspired others to plan similar friend trips, calling it "really cool that some people were using the comment section as a networking space" to share remote job opportunities.

The viral enthusiasm indicates an appetite among remote workers – particularly those untethered to an office – to occasionally remix their scenery and domestic routines through short-term vacation rentals, all while continuing their normal workload. For employees able to take their jobs on the road, a "WFH getaway week" presents a coveted chance to combine work obligations with a refreshing change of pace and setting.