Chris reflects on the career break

Well it’s been a week back into the working world. Not much changed at the office the last 16 months, which is both intriguing and comforting. Some folks have used the term ” returning to the real world”, but that seems incorrect. I think we have been in the real world the last 16 months! It feels good to settle down, visit our friends and explore new things in the old neighborhood. I do miss spending entire days together with Cindy..

Spent some time over the last week thinking about our adventure. Below is a summary of my current thoughts about the entire career break:

• The USA is an amazing country to explore with a vast array of sights to see and a mind-boggling amount of empty land in the western states. A person could spend at least a year to see just the western half of the country.
• Watching news on TV is a detriment to your well-being.  Watching a 30 minute episode of any local news program will make you fear your own neighborhood and the state of the nation.
• While this country has issues to solve, it’s easy to forget benefits such as:

1. Low cost of living (gas doesn’t cost 8 dollars a gallon)
2. Government isn’t blatantly corrupt (police don’t take cash in lieu of speeding tickets)
3. Ease of travel (exploring an immense land from coast to coast with no restrictions)
4. Availability of things (dizzying array of items available to buy at any time)

• Living with fewer things is a new priority. Re-allocating our spending on health, savings and recreation, rather than endless expenses with an oversized house containing too much stuff and a second car.
• Live near  things you enjoy. Working during the week to just enjoy the weekends doesn’t maximize the enjoyment of each day.
• While lazing around every day can sound enjoyable, confirmed that I enjoy having a list of tasks to accomplish. (Jalapeño disagrees with this one 🙂
• Exercise is not only good for physical health, but immensely beneficial for mental well-being. We both noticed differences in our attitudes during days of only driving in the car versus days of outside activity.
• Eating less meat is a good choice for your health. Slowly transition with one fewer day per week of eating meat and be amazed at your physical improvements.
• Removing a primary daily focus of a job, your mind can wander into many directions. Recollecting events from the past, self-analysis, more vivid dreams, etc.
• Vacation and a career break are completely different. Obviously the duration being a main difference. The removal of most obligations is key to truly releasing from the daily grind.
• Creating undue stress and drama seems to be human-natured, but hoping to avoid that by properly maintaining a renewed work-life balance.
• While many other places were nice to visit, Florida is my favorite place to live. Haven’t found another place in this country that offers all the things I love to do (surfing in warm water, fishing, camping, boating)
• While we didn’t get to all the places on our original list, this break wasn’t about checking things off a list. It was a period of time to mentally unwind, improve my health, try new activities, visit family and enhance the relationship with Cindy.

In the next week or so, look for one last video which should nicely summarize our adventure the past 16 months!