After countless grueling trips up fifty-five stairs, lugging boxes and gear, I’m completely moved out of my cottage. It’s bittersweet.
For the last five years, I’ve lived and worked from a spectacularly beautiful spot in the Santa Cruz Mountains with a sweeping view of the Lexington Reservoir. I’ve been immersed in nature and regularly watched the deer, turkeys, bald eagles, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, beavers, snakes, and all sorts of other critters from my windows. I could walk out the door and be steps away from fishing, hiking, and mountain biking. Stumbling on that little lakeside cottage was one of the luckiest moments of my life, but it’s time to say goodbye.
With windows and doors wide open it was maybe 350 square feet, and I managed to utilize every nook and corner. I had HDMI, Ethernet, TRS, power, and various other cables neatly snaking through, all well-managed and more-or-less hidden from sight. I had some amazing and arguably tasteful artwork that was given to me and created by my great friends on display. I had a full-fledged media studio capable of producing just about any sort of digital content imaginable. I had a “dining” table that served as a staging ground for fishing, biking, camping, camera, and festie gear.
It was the best of both worlds. A quiet and peaceful mountain cottage, with blazing fast internet and connectivity, that was only 10 minutes from bougie restaurants and civilization. It was a damn good home.
I heard something recently about the importance of one’s room or workspace. Building and designing a room forces you to think about the purpose of that room. I lived and worked from my “room” and put a tremendous amount of thought and care into dialing it in to near perfection. It was an ongoing existential exercise. What’s important to me? How do I want to spend my life’s time? What do I want to produce? What do I need close by to be the most satisfied, content, and productive with my life?
My plan for 2019 is to violently break out of that meticulously curated comfort zone. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity and flexibility of my family, I’m now a proper boomerang millennial! They’ve graciously cleared some space for me to store my gear at their house and I am planning to experiment with a nomadic existence in 2019 and beyond! Full-time traveling, both stateside and abroad.
I’m in a bizarre and fortunate place right now where I have absolutely nothing connecting me to any particular spot on this planet. So to me, the logical thing to do to take advantage of that circumstance is to wander. I’m hoping to spend a few weeks or months here and a few weeks or months there. I’m almost definitely going to spend some time in Europe, SE Asia, Japan, and South America. I’m hoping to visit India. I’m thinking about an extended cross-country road trip around springtime. Maybe I’ll do a tour! The only definitive plan right now is rambling.
So, if you need a travel buddy let me know where in the world to find you and I’ll do my best to be there! Thanks to everyone that inspired this life change and helped make it a reality. Goodbye, house. Thanks for all the good times.
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