The salty aroma of soy sauce smacks against my nostrils and I can almost taste the sticky rice and briny seaweed as my neighbour eagerly dives in for yet another piece. It’s still morning and slightly early for sushi, but for me, unusual food choices are just another typical day at the office.
I’ve worked remotely for the past seven years, so I’m now all too used to unconventional set-ups; cafés, co-working spaces and kitchen tables have all doubled as places I can work. But today, my office is somewhere slightly different – the seven hours and 31 minutes direct train from Leeds to Penzance.
I’m travelling roughly 305 miles while doing my day job in marketing and my five-day trip to Penzance is a satisfying blend of work and holiday. During the weekdays – including the train journeys there and back – I’ll be working away on my laptop, while the evenings and weekend are mine to explore Cornwall, somewhere I’ve never visited. With my annual leave running scarily low, this enables me to make the most of working remotely while still enjoying a little break on the other side of the country.
Departing from Edinburgh, the CrossCountry service is the second-longest in the UK (behind Aberdeen–Plymouth). After stopping at Leeds, it wings its way south-west via Birmingham and Bristol before winding through Devon and Cornwall.
