Instead of taking your next conference call from your couch, why not do it under the stars with a thermos of coffee in hand, a snowy mountain range in the distance and a super strong (and totally unexplainable) Wi-Fi connection. Or maybe you’d prefer to dial in from a cozy cabin in the woods. That way, when you join your conference calls five minutes late, you can blame having to feed your wood stove.
OK, so you can’t really do these things, but you can pretend with the best of them thanks to Zoom. If you don’t know already, the video-conferencing platform is having a moment as more people are working from home than ever, and part of Zoom’s charm is being able to replace your boring living room or home office with a custom virtual backdrop. If you’re able to work from home, all it takes is clicking the plus-sign icon in the “virtual background” tab in your Zoom settings and uploading a photo from your computer.
Custom backgrounds are so popular these days there’s even a competition to crown the most innovative setup. So sure, you could pretend you’re working from a tropical island, space station or Pinterest-worthy penthouse, but if you’re like us, you’d rather be outside, even when you’re inside. That’s why we’ve mined our massive photo archive to find some of the best outdoor images for your next conference call.
Cabin At Night
Grab your favorite headlamp, slip on your snow boots and head outdoors for a late-night video conference.
Mountain and Canoe
Make sure to keep your computer from falling in the water as you trick your colleagues into thinking you’re on a midafternoon paddle.
Rock Wall
Take a call between sessioning a problem at your personal climbing wall. (Or build one of your own for real.)
Cozy Fireplace
The best part about faking a video call from a cabin is not actually having to smell drying, sweaty boots.
Glamping Tent
Your coworkers will wonder how you found a campground with Wi-Fi. Just hope they don’t ask to see the view.
Underway
You’re on a boat. Enough said.
