Maybe this is why they were only (supposed to be) staying for a month at each destination?

I imagine from the host countries' point of view, they were the same as ordinary tourists - how they manage to finance their month-long "vacation" is usually not in the interest of the host country, and in this case, they happened to finance it by working remotely during the stay.

Now what happens when they exceed the maximum stay time of a tourist visa due to being stranded is a different question.