Just 10 years ago the logistics of telecommuting for work from many areas of Washington County was a non‑starter, but in the ensuing years technology has been rapidly advancing and, with it, telecommuters of all stripes have been coming. Some are near retirement and working remotely from their new homes as they begin to wind down their careers. Some are transplants with many years of working still ahead but are looking for a work-life balance that brings new enjoyment to their work day. And others are Washington County natives who have brought their work back home with them, delighted to have shed the hustle and bustle, not to mention high prices and commuting times, of their former city lives.
     Rebekah Blanchard grew up in Dennysville, attended Shead High School and went off to college in Boston, Mass., where she then worked for 16 years with an architectural firm. "After high school I had no intention of moving back to Washington County," she says. She looked forward to the city experience. While it was a good life that she and her partner were leading, the pace of city life began to grate. Rents were skyrocketing, which led them to think of buying. When they researched what they could afford in the Boston area and weren't crazy with the results, that's when Blanchard started thinking about returning to Dennysville. By pure happenstance her childhood home was for sale, with a view of the water, space for her own office and a separate space for her musician partner. "There's way more space than we could ever have imagined in Boston." The stars were aligned. And the technology, while not without challenges, "has been OK," she notes. Her boss was fine with her move and has since decided to make the entire architectural office operate remotely.
     Like Blanchard, Averill Dougherty grew up in the county, over in Perry, where her family has lived for many generations. Dougherty, however, always wanted to return part‑time to spend summers with extended family. She went to college in Boston because of "that cultural belief that you have to leave to get work," and moved to Portland for subsequent employment. About five years ago she began to seriously consider remote work and how she might use that strategy to follow her dream of being able to travel and see the world while also using Perry as her base. "I let everyone know," she says of her networking and researching, and she ultimately landed her ideal job with a study‑abroad company as its program and flights coordinator. All she needs is her laptop and reliable WiFi. The entire company works remotely. "As long as I get my work done, it doesn't matter when I do it." She used that flexibility to visit friends in the United Kingdom for two months, working every day but enjoying the new environment, too.
     On the other end of the telecommuter spectrum is part‑time Eastporter Clark Duff, a data scientist with Johnson & Johnson in New Jersey. He's been with the company for almost 40 years, raising five daughters with his wife, Laurie Stone, who found Eastport 25 years ago on a traveling expedition. She told her husband that the island city was where they were going to retire. They didn't buy their Eastport house with telecommuting in mind, but with the New Jersey housing market softening, they need to sell their Garden State house before they can make the full‑time jump. In the meantime, Duff comes to Eastport on a regular basis and works remotely. "The [Internet] speeds are fast enough here," he says, adding that in the last two years he's been increasing his remote work, even when in New Jersey, going into the office once a week. "My type of job is not tied directly to other people's schedules. When I go to the office and sit in front of my screen, it doesn't matter where I am."
     French translation specialist Paula DeFilippo moved with her husband Ron to Eastport three years ago. While her husband is retired and jumping into the life of a volunteer, Paula is younger than her husband and wanted to continue with her work. She has her own company and works with an agency out of New York City. She had started her translation business after many years as a French teacher with the idea that it was a profession she could enjoy and expand after her husband's retirement. "I was thinking about telecommuting with the move. I started to build it up before I retired from the high school teaching," she explains. The couple loved Eastport on sight, but Paula knew that without the right technology it was a no‑go. She visited the library, asked around, and when she heard from others that it was workable, she says, "We knew we'd have it covered." The business has been operating for eight years, and since the move to Eastport it has expanded to an "amazing" degree, with enough to work seven days a week if she so wanted.
     DeFilippo, and the others interviewed, encourage would‑be telecommuters to research their options and, when ready, seriously consider it. "Give it a try," she says. "The cost of living is low here, and you're not risking a lot. I couldn't have done this in New York." If she'd stayed in New York, she would indeed have been working seven days a week, and not by choice. Dougherty sums up the general feeling, "I really am very lucky."