Entrepreneur Gauthier Toulemonde flew to Indonesia in 2013 to telecommute for 40 days, alone on a desert island, with two computers and four solar panels.

An unusual and enriching experience that he told on Wednesday on Europe 1.

INTERVIEW

A modern Robinson Crusoe.

Gauthier Toulemonde had an unusual experience in 2013: teleworking for 40 days on a desert island in Indonesia.

This entrepreneur, specializing in philately and the press, recounted his crazy adventure Wednesday in "La France bouge", on Europe 1, at a time when teleworking is much less dreaming.

"The idea came to me in Paris when I saw people in the metro. I had staff who sometimes spent 3 to 4 hours a day in public transport, I found it absurd when they could have done the same work at home, "said Gauthier Toulemonde.

He therefore wanted to show that we could telework from almost anywhere.

Although he had to face difficult climatic conditions, the entrepreneur remembers an enriching and emotional experience. 

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Solar panels, two computers and a hammock 

Gauthier Toulemonde arrived off Sumatra, Indonesia, with basic equipment: four solar panels, two computers, a satellite internet sensor and a hammock.

"I wanted to prove that with solar energy and new technologies, you could run your company from anywhere. I also had a fascination with deserted islands." 

But there, he had to face sometimes dire climatic conditions.

"I was surprised by nature, I had monstrous thunderstorms. From the first day I almost got bitten fatally by a snake. The heavenly universe I imagined was not like that at all ", remembers the entrepreneur. 

"Bend to the rhythm of nature" 

Another constraint: adapting to the six hour time difference with France.

"The days started at 5 am and ended at midnight because I was jet-lagged. We get up in the morning with the sun, and we try to adapt to the rhythm of nature," recommends the entrepreneur.

But to telework properly on a desert island, you have to "impose a very strong discipline, otherwise it gets out of hand. This is the only way it can work."

This experience also had unexpected psychological effects.

"Teleworking conditions, that is to say, I identified the island at the office. Some weekends I said to myself that it would be nice to leave the office to go to a desert island opposite! how much work can condition, ”he points out. 

Finally, "the project worked very well, we did not shrink from the quality of the work."

Gauthier Toulemonde reproduced the experience in 2017, in the desert of Oman.