🌊 Hot tea, cold waves, and a 7yo in doggie jammies eating bananas with PB
I’m sitting on the couch of our beach rental with the best view: a still-hot cup of Brodie’s Edinburgh Breakfast Tea within reach, my seven-year-old on the couch across from me, eating bananas with peanut butter, and just out the window behind her, the private beach that leads to a balmy stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.
My whole family (12 humans, 1 best good dog) is piled in for the week. Lots of puzzles, lots of books, lots of getting sweaty every time we step outside, and lots of dipping into the ocean to cool off.
Earlier this summer, we spent another week at my sister-in-law’s beach condo. We went to Connecticut for a week and piled into the house I grew up in. Next week we’re heading farther south to crash our friends’ vacation. Then it’s back home for twelve more days of pool time and a day trip or two before school finally reopens. (They’re off for 14 weeks; summer itself is only 12.)
All of which to say – I’m working a little bit this week, partially because with that much summer, I need to, but mostly because I want to.
For most of my adult life, vacations were an escape. By the time I set up my Out of Office message, I had invariably been chugging lattes during the day and then pouring myself a very heavy spritz or two at night. I’d been staring at my screen often until 11pm, working inefficiently on priorities and revisions set by someone else. I’d squeezed meetings into the margins to make sure everything was handled and handed off.
This ain’t that.
My vacation life isn’t that much different from my regular life; the biggest differences are that I spend hours less in the car each day, I get to hear the waves crashing outside, and if I do take calls, I make sure they’re limited to one or two days of the week so I can blissfully lose track of time.
In this relaxed pace, surrounded by family and punctuated by ocean dips, I’ve noticed two things.
First, clients roll in when I’m on vacation. This always makes me laugh, because I certainly don’t engineer it, but books are now officially closed until the kids are back in school and I’ve wrapped up some big projects.
And second, words are flowing for a new body of work. Or, maybe more precisely, I’m crystallizing the work of the last 5 years, and I can’t wait to share the revamp with you. We’re getting close, and you might see some sneak peeks on Instagram if you look closely.
I share all this because 2019 me wouldn’t have thought it possible. Unlimited vacation time and doing work that lights me up. Getting away and bringing life with me. Working through my stack of books and doing deep focused writing.
The best part is, how I got here is an extremely repeatable, proven process, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
And now – time to cook up some pancakes and jump in the water before it gets too hot.
