Sabbatical Dispatches, August 2023

I’m taking some time (a year!) off work these days. Typing this, I’m sitting on the sofa at an AirBnB in South Lake Tahoe that has been our home for the past five days, and keeping my three-year old company, who is, thankfully for the first time on this trip, running one of her signature high fevers.

Morale is good, and everything went Better Than Expected (TM) so far: we managed the “hauls” of the trip, flying from Frankfurt to Reykjavik end of July, then on to Toronto, visiting Niagara Falls with friends from Ottawa, and finally flying out to Reno (with an extended layover in New York City) to prep and shlep our camping gear into what would be one of the muddiest Burning Man events ever recorded. There is a photo album of all of this which I’m happy to share privately: just reach out. Now, we’re on a much more flexible schedule with a long-term rental car and won’t have to board a plane until November 8 (LAX to SJO in Costa Rica).

Going into the sabbatical, I had very modest goals on “side projects”: none at all. It’s much easier to sustain a side project when in a routine at home, where the kids are entertained by kindergarden or family for extended periods of time. Travelling entails bidding goodbye to this comfortable support system and much of one’s personal time, and besides, I don’t even set aside time for side projects at home (unless staying healthy is considered one). But I do want to get a little better at staying in touch with friends and acquaintances and form new and tighten existing connections. I do OK (for a married man in their 30s anyway…) with my close friends - I’ll be on the phone with them at least every couple of months, or spurt unsolicitated updates into long WhatsApp messages. But I think I am missing out on some fun conversations with my “extended” network because I rarely, if ever, pop up on anyone’s newsfeeds and have little local network (not that there is a “local” when travelling for a year anyway!). So few people know what’s currently on my mind, and there are likely missed opportunities. Whenever I have a good conversation or an exchange with someone, I remember how great that is. I want more of that in my life.

In the spirit of avoiding my usual pattern of overthinking what I put out there and eventually backsliding into inaction, there’s no closure to this post. Instead, here are a few recent highlights from my browser history:

• Why didn’t we get a Malaria vaccine sooner?
• Report on an Unidentified Space Station (short story)
• Fatso (short story)
• How atmospheric CO2 actually warms the planet (tweet)
• This guy really likes coffee (tweet)

I hope to be back soon with more mundane updates and am happy to hear from you. If you need an excuse to reach out, I turned 36 this week and I would love some pointers to more fun short stories (thx Justin J for the idea).