I worked pretty much entirely remotely for 12 years. Remote work was a trade off. I got to live where my wife wanted while working for interesting companies, do

I worked pretty much entirely remotely for 12 years. Remote work was a trade off. I got to live where my wife wanted while working for interesting companies, doing interesting things. I made friends all around the world but I know relatively few people where I live. I’ve had to go out of my way to have social hobbies in order to meet people. With a family and a remote job (calls to the other side of the world do not happen in 9-5 hours), that wasn’t always possible. Over all, I’d say my social skills did not suffer but my social life did and my sense of connection to where I live was perhaps less than it might have been otherwise. Now I have my own business I’ve rented an office in town and am building a co-located team. There are many benefits to remote work but, after more than a decade of it, I think I’m realistic about its downsides too.