Ben Deering: Telecommuter

In the spring of 2009, Ben’s wife, Margaret, came to him with a proposition. About to complete her Master’s Degree in Resource Economics and Policy, Margaret had received a job offer to work as an Island Institute Fellow for two years on Isle au Haut, to help the town draft its Comprehensive Plan. Would he be game for the move? Ben, who worked as a computer programmer for a company in Bangor- and had previously spent an extensive amount of time working for Maine outdoors organizations- figured Isle au Haut could be an adventure. After speaking to his boss, Ben got the green light to work remotely from a home office with high speed internet service on the island.

His first night on the island with Margaret, an overnight trip out to see if he thought it would suit, was an eventful one: he had dinner with the out-going Island Institute Fellow who had decided to stay on as a year-round resident; dropped in on the book club; and then joined in the volleyball game happening at the town hall. At three in the morning, his island host knocked on their bedroom door to announce “there’s a structure fire down the street- we need to head out.” As fate would have it, the couple landed on the island in time for the first house fire IAH had seen in sixty years, when lightening struck an unoccupied house. As they helped run one of the pumps, Ben basically got a chance to see the entire community in one place. Nine hours later, when he and Margaret boarded the mailboat, totally exhausted, the equally tired islanders could only hope the couple would still accept the job offer.

Well.

Good thing Ben and Margaret like adventure.

It is even better that they know how to create their own adventures: “although there can be a lot going on in the community, you really need to be able to make your own fun.” Ben has spent his time outside the home office cross-country skiing, brewing legal quantities of beer and sake, and because the island is a paradise for this pursuit – tinkering with vehicles.