A 26-year-old influencer tried working from Mallorca for a month. She realized she can explore during the day and still keep East Coast hours.

Marcus works from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. for an American company while living in Spain. It's not that bad, she said.

Olivia Marcus

• Olivia Marcus is over the lack of work-life balance in the US, so she tried working from Spain.
• Her 9-to-5 on the East Coast is a 3-to-11 gig in Mallorca, giving her all day to explore.
• After the successful trial run, Marcus wants to move to Spain and has a few big takeaways.

Olivia Marcus moved from New York City to Hoboken, New Jersey, in February in an attempt to distance herself from city life. The next month she distanced herself even further — by booking a month-long stay in Mallorca, Spain.

Marcus, 26, is a lifestyle and fashion writer for StyleCaster, and also spends her time creating content for her over 200,000 followers on TikTok.

While in Mallorca, Marcus continued to work her 9-to-5 job, but on a 3-to-11 schedule. (Mallorca is five hours ahead of the east coast of the United States.)

"Last summer I came back to Mallorca for the first time in 15 years on a family trip and was just so blown away and pleasantly surprised by how great the balance was of city life and the elements," Marcus told Insider. "That's when I was like, 'Alright, I can see myself living here. How can I make it happen?'"

She said working East Coast hours while in Spain was more than doable.

"I was approaching my stay as a trial of what my life could look like instead of a break from what my life is," she said. Here are her takeaways from the experience.

Working 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. gives her more opportunities to explore during daylight hours

Working during the evening might sound intimidating to some, but Marcus finds it refreshing.

"I personally really love the schedule," she said.

During the morning and early afternoon before she starts work, she explores the city and neighboring towns, grocery shops, and films content.

"It feels like you have field trip hours in the morning," she said. "And filming during the day is so much easier. Being able to get up and not worry about having to get back for something," as she might have to do if filming content during working hours, "makes it a much more enjoyable experience."

Marcus has used the scenic backdrop of Mallorca to make social media content for her personal accounts.

Olivia Marcus

Marcus is staying at an Airbnb with her boyfriend, sister, and her sister's roommate, and they all are working on the same 3-to-11 schedule. They each take turns cooking dinner and substitute the regular lunch break with a dinner break.

Her favorite aspect of life in New York is central in European culture

Marcus was born in Germany and moved to the US when she was 7 years old. Her family often traveled to Mallorca for vacation — it's the go-to getaway for Germans, Marcus said — so she's familiar with the Spanish island.

She moved to New York after growing up mostly on the West Coast, and saw some similarities between New York and European cities.

"The reason I love New York so much is because it's one of the places in the US that has European elements incorporated in daily lifestyle," she said. "The public transportation or the fact that everyone sits outside on cute little café benches or in public parks to eat — it gives that communal feel with strangers that I get in European cities."

Mallorca's location lends itself to better weekend getaways than those in the States

While Mallorca (like Manhattan) is an island, it's still relatively easy to travel to other parts of Europe.

Those weekend trips are not only a great way to break up the monotony of everyday life, but also present lots of opportunities to take share-worthy photos and videos.

"From a content creation perspective, I love being able to travel — I always get new ideas," she said. "I feel like that's probably more interesting for people to watch than my typical routine of getting up, sitting at my kitchen table and having that be my day back in Hoboken."

The Airbnb Marcus is renting is priced similarly to her New York-area apartment, but she believes a longer-term rental would be less costly.

Olivia Marcus

Also, Mallorca itself is a nice break from the hustle and bustle of New York City.

"What's great about this town is that it feels like vacation elements are naturally incorporated into the day," she said.

Her desire to move is more about lifestyle than cost of living

She worked remotely from her kitchen table office in her one-bedroom apartment in Hoboken and visited the office once every six months, she said. In Mallorca she's staying in a three-bedroom townhouse about 2 ½ miles from the beach.

"I'd say the room I'm staying in is probably the size of half of my New York apartment," she said.

She added that she's currently paying a similar price to stay in Mallorca, but if she weren't living in an Airbnb, her money would probably go further.

"I'm at the point where I go into town and there's a real estate office with a binder notebook with laminated real-estate listings and I go and I look at them like every day," she said.

"I'm fully determined to try and make it work."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Contributer : Business Insider https://ift.tt/ln1LYxX

Something that you might miss to see?