OBX: Where Online School and Offline Fun Fit Together

By Caroline Makepeace
Sep. 24, 2020

Okay, 2020. You flipped everyday life upside down and pushed us into truly stressful territory: working from home with our partners nearby and, gasp, our school aged kids there too.

But don’t let 2020 win. It has handed you something valuable: more say over how your days unfold.

No manager hovering over your shoulder. No teacher in the corridor waiting to issue tardy slips.

Your office can be almost anywhere now. Hello, sweet freedom.

Why the Outer Banks is ideal for remote work

After seven years as a family living and working from wherever we happened to be, we can happily point to the Outer Banks in North Carolina as an excellent remote-work destination.

The pace is easygoing, and it is not packed with constant tourist noise, bright lights, and nonstop distractions.

You can explore, enjoy yourself, and move slowly enough to keep work and travel happening together, whether you are traveling as a couple or bringing the kids along.

The Outer Banks has plenty of vacation rentals, giving you the household comforts that make remote work and online learning easier. When you would rather not cook, delicious, local food is close at hand.

Because it is near Raleigh, you can also avoid turning the trip itself into another draining complication on top of everything else you are already juggling.

Here are a few practical ways to make remote work, remote learning, and travel fun work in the Outer Banks.

Start the day before everyone else does

Waking early gives you the best chance to knock out work before the kids are up and the chaos begins.

The OBX makes that easier.

Every morning, it delivers the kind of show that can get you out of bed before your alarm because you actually want to see it.

That show is sunrise over the beach, and these are among the most beautiful sunrises I have seen anywhere in the world, including after travel to over 50 countries.

Picture water smooth as glass, a sky brushed in soft pastel pink, and pods of dolphins moving past and jumping from the water.

While you are already outside, add in a walk, a jog, or a paddle for your morning exercise. If you are balancing work, life, and school, multitasking matters.

After a sunrise like that, you will have the energy to sit down for a few solid hours of work.

Make flexibility your foundation

Homeschooling while traveling and building a successful travel blog has taught us one lesson again and again: flexibility is key.

Let go of the expectation that every day needs fixed office hours or a traditional workday.

Think in blocks instead. Move those blocks around based on what is happening outside, and stack priorities together whenever you can, which leads right into the next tip.

Balance is the whole point. Your kids do not need 6 hours in a classroom each day to keep learning. With one-on-one support and fewer classroom distractions, they often absorb things quickly, which opens the door to more time for fun.

Yes, really. Fun can happen on a school and workday.

That is balance the Outer Banks way.

Plan your work around the fun things to do in the OBX that are available while you are there.

Turn real-life moments into lessons

One reason our girls have done so well with homeschooling, without endless hours buried in book work, is that we connect learning with lived experiences and hands-on moments.

The Outer Banks makes that simple because it is tied to many firsts, including first flight, first national seashore, and first English colony at Roanoke. Attractions and experiences throughout the area help turn those topics into something kids can actually see and feel.

Our time at the Kitty Hawk hang-gliding school lined up beautifully with our youngest daughter’s school unit on energy.

I was thrilled when our trainer, Micah, without any prompting from me, started explaining potential and kinetic energy.

When Savannah ran forward and launched from the sand dune, the science suddenly made complete sense to her.

She also learned what happens when her arms move downward too fast: the wind force disappears, and down she goes into the sand, thankfully unhurt.

That gave her a memorable story for her online classroom meeting rooms, built around surviving a flight crash. Shape that into a first-hand narrative, and you are meeting curriculum goals, layering priorities, and making the learning feel useful and real.

Unplug so you can reconnect

There are so many things to do in the Outer Banks that help your family step away from screens and reconnect with Mother Nature, simplicity, and each other. Think surfing lessons, fishing, chasing wild horses, or simply playing around on a body board at the beach.

Those outdoor activities can also count as your movement for the day, so remember to layer your priorities or blocks. That daily reset can make a huge difference, restoring your energy for another couple of hours of afternoon work.

And, of course, tiring out the kids is part of the plan, because that quiet evening time gives you a chance to enjoy sunsets over the sound. They are just as stunning as the sunrises, and there are very few places in the world where you can so easily have both.

One final survival strategy

Be honest: you may need a healthy stash of alcohol close by for the days when your nerves are frayed by noisy kids needing help, your partner’s very loud conference calls, sibling fights, and the disappearance of any remaining nose-to-the-wall space.

The source page uses playful imagined family outbursts and a triumphant end-of-day reaction to capture the humor of trying to work, parent, and teach at the same time while still finding relief in the Outer Banks.

The easy solution is to step out to the nearest Tiki Bar on the pier.

Our favorite is Fish Heads Grill on the Outer Banks Pier.

With over 40 craft brews available and 15 cent shrimp every happy evening from 4-6, it is the kind of stop that can turn a difficult workday into one you are ready to repeat after setting that early alarm again.

Bio

Caroline Makepeace is co-founder, with her husband Craig, of one of the world’s largest family travel blogs, ytravelblog.com.

Originally from Australia, the Makepeace's now live in Raleigh, NC and keep exploring the world in depth with their two daughters. They enjoy helping people travel more and make better memories, especially with their kids. Their latest adventures can be followed on YouTube and Instagram, along with their new site, ThisisRaleigh.com.

Author

Caroline Makepeace is the co-founder of two successful online publications: This is Raleigh, a platform for anyone looking to explore the best of Wake County, and YTravelBlog, one of the world’s most influential travel blogs. Travel has been the center of her life since 1997. She has lived in 5 countries, visited over 60, spent 7 years traveling full time with her two daughters, and worked as a full-time professional travel blogger since 2010. The Outer Banks is one of her favorite vacation destinations from Raleigh.