Photo from 'secret' campground shows new reality for many workers: 'Game-changing'
Avid camper Tristan Brodeur attributes being able to work anywhere to one thing. And it's changing how people travel and work.
If there's one positive that's come out of the Covid pandemic, it's the freedom now offered around employment. More and more people are opting for flexible working conditions, rather than being stuck inside an office. Just ask avid camper and IT worker Tristan Brodeur.
Being able to work from anywhere, including the most remote of places, has become a high priority for some flexible workers. And according to Brodeur it's been made far easier with one particular emerging trend — the use of Starlink satellite dishes.
For the American IT manager, the popular portable internet solution has allowed him to continue his "camping adventures" while still showing up for work. It allows him to "reconnect with nature" while simultaneously being "connected to the outside world".
"Thanks to Starlink, I no longer have to sacrifice my passion for work. I can be in the most remote places and still be connected perfectly," he told Yahoo News Australia, detailing his latest camping set-up which consisted of several solar panels and a Starlink satellite at a "secret" private beach in Maine, USA.
"I’ve been taking Starlink along on camping adventures and trips to my family’s camp all summer. I got set up with Starlink in the spring of this year.
"It has been a game-changer for me and being able to escape to the places I love to be. My job requires an on-call schedule and sometimes that schedule cuts into my camping adventures. In the past, I always sought out places that had the least amount of connectivity."
Picture shows camper's incredible set-up
Impressed with his set-up, Brodeur shared a snap on social media revealing he'd plan to stay in the "remote location" for two whole weeks — all while continuing to work. In fact, it's so remote he said "everything has to be brought in by boat to this place I’m camping at. There are no roads here."
Images show a tiny tent perched on the white sand surrounded by trees, with little more than a trestle table and camping chair completing his site.
Explaining how he managed to get such "fast internet" given his location, Brodeur told Yahoo, "the setup consists of three 100-watt [solar] panels connected together in parallel and tied to a Victron MPPT solar controller."
"It charges two deep cycle batteries also connected together in parallel. I also have a small quiet inverter generator that’ll help maintain the batteries on very overcast and rainy days," he added.
"It powers my Starlink internet and a 32” TV that I have setup in my main living tent. The case I bought for my Starlink dish is made to hold two 32” TVs, so it was a perfect fit for the dish plus one 32” TV."
Camping sites across Australia are rife with Starlink setups with campers eager to stay connected while on the road.
"It’s great to see the enthusiasm for it," Brodeur said. "Technology has taken a lot from our touch with nature, but at the same time it has been able to restore our opportunity to reconnect with the depth of nature while still being connected to the outside world that ultimately binds us."
Do you have a story about taking life on the road? We’d love to hear about it! Carly.bass@yahooinc.com
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The 'best solution' for life and work on the road
Aussie couple Dan and Amanda spent more than two years travelling around Australia in their caravan and, thanks to Starlink, were able to run an online business while on the road. In 2022, Starlink announced a new portability feature, meaning the service was no longer fixed to a home address and users who wished to pay a bit extra could take their dish on the road.
"For anyone who wants to do homeschooling, anyone who wants to go on the road and run their business ... it's the best solution," Amanda previously told Yahoo News Australia.
In fact, more and more campsites across Australia feature the hard-to-miss satellite often perched on the roof of many caravans, and now alongside tents — as shown by Tristan.
He said he will likely add a Starlink Mini into the mix soon enough, which is a compact, portable kit that can easily fit in a backpack, designed to provide high-speed, low-latency internet on the go.
"Might be a game changer for backpacking trips," he said
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