Informal Mobility in the Age of Remote Work: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Hush Trip Phenomenon

Abstract

Aim: The article aims to define and conceptualize "hush trips" – informal, short-term forms of remote work performed from undisclosed, often tourist locations without employer knowledge – and to distinguish them from related mobility forms such as workation, bleisure, digital nomadism, and formal work-from-abroad arrangements.

Methodology: The paper takes an analytical-review approach, synthesizing empirical studies, labour market data, and HR and tax-law analyses to examine hush trips within the post-pandemic world of work.

Results: Three main motives behind hush trips are identified: psychological (rest, recovery, creativity), economic (cost-of-living differences, seasonal travel, family visits), and procedural – considered the most significant, stemming from unclear remote-work rules and rigid leave-approval systems. The phenomenon generates organizational risks, including tax exposure (permanent establishment risk under the 2025 OECD Model Tax Convention update), immigration issues, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities, particularly in regulated sectors, due to work performed via unsecured public networks.

Implications and recommendations: Rather than punitive or surveillance-based approaches, the article recommends results-oriented management (OKRs, SLAs) and formalization of mobility policy: defining permitted locations, risk-weighted country categories, stay-duration limits, mandatory reporting, and cybersecurity requirements (VPN use, geofencing). Such measures reduce information asymmetry and build mutual trust.

Originality/value: The article offers a novel, systemic framing of hush trips as a structural symptom of transitional organizational dynamics rather than individual disloyalty, integrating psychological, legal, and managerial perspectives and proposing concrete HR policy tools.