January wind, salt in the air and a broken heater: our workation experience

January wind. Salt in the air. A house right by the sea.

This is how the kind of trip that looks like “Remote Work Dreams” on Instagram begins.

In reality, ours began with a heater that had unfortunately decided not to be part of the team that day.

And there it is, the first truth about workations: they are not extended working from home with a prettier view.

They are a deliberate break from everyday life and your comfort zone. A change of place makes things visible. Routines stop running on autopilot. Communication becomes more direct. Teams become more honest.

A workation is not just a change of scenery. It is also a reality check.

The stove that became the main character

The house was beautiful. The sea right outside. The perfect backdrop for focus. One tiny snag: it was cold.

The pellet stove did not work. And we mean really did not work.

What followed was a five-act heating sitcom: someone came by four or five times. Technicians arrived, tinkered, made calls and sighed. On the final visit, the technician even brought his wife and daughter. Not as a repair crew, but as translation backup because he barely spoke English himself.

Suddenly there we were: a Croatian family trio in the living room, our pets in the middle of it all, everyone laughing at the absurd situation. Everyone except the heater, which remained resolutely unimpressed.

In the end, we had to move farther north to another house.

And honestly? It was not bad at all. More space. More peace. Less postcard perfection.

And that is exactly what a workation is:

You plan for focus and get improvisation first. Then you discover how a team really works.

A workation is not a break, but a different rhythm

What many people underestimate: a workation is not less work.

We genuinely worked a lot. We went out for dinner with clients only once; otherwise, we nearly always cooked for ourselves. Not out of asceticism, but because we did not want to lose our flow.

The work did not stop. Sometimes it simply did not feel like work.

That is one of the biggest differences: a workation does not change the number of tasks. It changes the quality of your attention.

Small rituals, big impact

A change of place needs structure if it is not to become a permanent distraction.

A few simple rituals worked well for us:

1. a quick morning check-in
2. clear focus blocks without multitasking
3. real breaks (yes, without “just quickly checking emails”)
4. a mini evening reflection: What went well? What was difficult?

Not spectacular. But effective.

Sometimes the best ideas are born not in the meeting room, but in a makeshift living room, with an electric blanket and sea air in your head.

The stories in between: oysters and thieving seagulls

The most powerful workation moments rarely happen in the scheduled workshop.

Take the jetty, for example, where oysters were growing.

And there is one photo we will never forget: our Mellie holding Alessa by the legs so she can safely reach down and gather the oysters.

A little absurd. Very human. Completely unforgettable. Scenes like these are not a side note. They are team culture in real time.

Improvising together builds trust faster than ten perfect one-to-ones.

We spent one morning in Zadar: shopping, drinking coffee and, of course, filming content. Freshly equipped with bakery snacks, we strolled through the old town.

Then something happened that probably only happens in places with extremely self-confident seagulls: one flew straight at Alessa from behind.

And then: bam.

The wrap was gone. Stolen right out of her hand. In one move.

There was a great deal of squealing, screaming and utter disbelief.

Alessa instinctively hid behind Mellie as if she had just survived a small dinosaur attack. (Alessa’s note: THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!)

Moments like that remind you: no matter how well you plan, life will still occasionally fly in from behind.

The most important part happens after the workation

A workation does not end with the journey home.

The biggest mistake would be to return and immediately disappear into everyday life as if nothing had happened.

Because the real impact comes afterwards: when you genuinely carry the energy, clarity and little insights home. Not as a warm fuzzy feeling, but as tangible change.

That is why, at zflys, we make a point of closing the loop after a workation:

1. What was good for us as a team?
2. Which rituals do we want to keep?
3. What did our collaboration reveal?
4. And what will we actually put into practice within the first week?

These can be small things:

A new meeting format. A clearer communication rule. A piece of content that gets published right away. Or a process tweak that is tested immediately.

Otherwise, a workation ends up as nothing more than a nice photo in hindsight instead of a real shift in everyday life.

Changing the scenery is easy. Integration is the real work.

What other teams can take away from it

A workation does not work because the place is beautiful.

It works because it sets something in motion:

1. new perspectives
2. more honest conversations
3. less autopilot
4. more genuine togetherness

And yes: sometimes heating drama or seagull raids too.

But those very disruptions are the gift.

They show how resilient a team really is and what remains when nothing goes perfectly.