Ok so first my gap year turned into a gap quarter Plus a month - and that's ok! My kids asked if I didn't want to be home with them in the summer, and of course the answer is yes. Also, spending a year in Costa Rica meant buying a car which had all kinds of complexities including traveling to San Jose to meet a broker and building a car port. The point of #workingfromanywhere is to have fun and not add more stress, so I decided to simplify things.
Breaking up my time also gave me the chance to avoid rainy season in Avellanas - I wasn't sure I was up for that. Also, why leave cold and rainy Seattle for hot and rainy Avellanas? That seemed to defeat the purpose. Since my daughter is at SDSU and family weekend falls in October, I decided to get an Airbnb this month in sunny Palm Springs.
One week in, I've learned a few things.
The warm dry weather is having the desired effect that I am constantly outside and walking everywhere.
It doesn't hurt that I'm only blocks from downtown and can walk for smoothies and an array of good food including Mexican, Peruvian, and French. My average miles are way up.
There's an unintended benefit of having no commitments whatsoever outside of work which makes for plenty of downtime. Ok yes this can also be lonely, so it's a balance.
I needed this break, and I can tell because my #energy is surging back. After a relatively sluggish year, I'm waking up at 5AM energized about the day ahead.
I've been navigating the tricky intersection between time and energy. I thought by having fewer responsibilities I would suddenly be playing #pickleball, doubling down on #Pilates, cooking more...you get the idea. What I've found so far though is that I need to simply #doless. Time does not necessarily equal energy, and I've been spending my free time reading, listening to podcasts, and just strolling downtown.
If you're doing a #gapyear, working #remote, or finding some other creative way to blend work and personal time/place, I'd love to hear about it.
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