🪶 Countering an underwhelming loft and weight
Ep. 25: Dropping it all for some pushups, turning off ramps into on ramps, and packing for business like you're headed for a night under the stars.
It’s been another wanderfull week, right? I took time off for much of the week, and we enjoyed doing staycationy things around our home and taking a short, yet fulfilling, overnight trip to New York City.
A Tip for the Modern Worker
Bring some weekend into your weekday. You know that feeling when you've been at it for a little too long? It's harder to focus and frustration comes to the fore far sooner than it should. Take some breaks between sprints of work to maximize your mental fitness. Meditation, stretching, exercise, a light chore, or a short show can recenter you when you need it. These breaks are an abbreviated version of that far bigger break you should also take: the weekend.
This tip is one of 365 in my Handbook for the Modern Worker. One of my favorite workday breaks is lunch, during which I watch 20-30 minutes of whatever I’m into at the moment. The past week has been Apple TV’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever. Amy and I have also been on a quasi-streak of daily pushups. Sometimes we skip a day because we’re human, but generally I do these sometime during my work day and text her when I’m about to start. It’s nice to think that we’re taking a short fitness break together, even though we’re not together!
#365DayDraw
I drew this and wrote the accompanying annotation as part of my #365DayDraw project 7 years ago today.
Break the cycle
I love this abstract sketch. I’m not sure what sparked it, but looking back I have a feeling I was in some kind of rut. I likely imagined what it would be like to escape whatever gravitational pull it had on me. Every off ramp is an on ramp to something else, you see.
Commentary
In lieu of our planned ski vacation, we opted for a warmer (it’s all relative) trip to New York City last week. We had a great time walking in Central Park, visiting The Met, and seeing a fantastic Broadway preview of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Bad Cinderella. That leads me to write about a new travel hack: traveling with a sleeping bag.
We first heard of this tip from my sister-in-law Lisa, and I’ve tried it out on a few business trips. We use Sea to Summit dry bags for packing gear for overnight camping trips, including clothing and sleeping bags. Turns out one of the large dry bags is good enough for my sleeping bag to comfortably pack in my luggage with my clothes and toiletries. The sleeping bag stands in nicely for a hotel comforter’s typically underwhelming loft and weight. Since my sleeping bag is pretty light, it doesn’t add much to my luggage weight, either.
We both brought our bags to New York and had a relatively comfortable night, though I rarely enjoy stellar sleep in hotels. Travel sleep sacks, travel sheets, and sleeping bag liners are a thing (I didn’t know this!) but this is the first I’ve heard of packing a full sleeping bag for hotel stays.
Miscellanea
🦭 I started reading Mike Hayes’ Never Enough: A Navy SEAL Commander on Living a Life of Excellence, Agility, and Meaning. My employer gifted it to me, and it’s notable in my mind because it’s the first printed book I’ve read in some time. I’ve been enjoying books on my iPad for a few years, thanks to NYPL (as a New York State resident, you can get a NYPL library card), my local library, and Libby.
🍄 We’re rather late to the party, but we’re caught up on The Last of Us. Bingeworthy, even if for us that means we’re watching a full episode in a sitting!
📼 I came across this cassette tape cover from a 1996 mixtape I made for Amy. There’s more lying around here somewhere, so now I’m on a mission to find ‘em all and get them online. Nostalgic fun! Want to listen? I shared this one on Apple Music.