* obviously that doesn’t apply to everyone
I’m in Nice (in the French Riviera, for those who don’t know) for a week. I arrived Tuesday evening and so have had a day and a half here so far. I like to have some work with me when I go on a solo trip. I think this is because I want to be able to take a lot of trips and I don’t think (oh hey - maybe the lottery will give back something more than £10 this year) I can wangle taking lots and not working on them. But also, I guess, it makes me feel less guilty about running off gallivanting so much and leaving the family to fend for themselves (which they are VERY capable of, I hasten to add, but it’s still a bit cheeky to sneak out of chores while also spending extra money on travel and accommodation and museums).
I think, if I am going to be able to do so with reasonable regularity, I will really need to get better at planning how the working and exploring needs to balance.
For example, setting an alarm. Holiday default for me is to not set an alarm and let my body tell me when it wants to wake up. Because I have a tendency to not get enough sleep, and it’s good to catch up. But… it turns out that, despite thinking I’m an early morning person, my body doesn’t want to wake up until close to 9am (in Europe, anyway - 8 am in the UK) rather than the 5am in the image I have of myself. To fit in exploring and soaking up the atmosphere I need to get a chunk of work done early in the morning (BEFORE 10am, really) and then a bit more in the afternoon and/or evening.
So, tomorrow I will set an alarm. Not that I haven’t explored at all, but I haven’t done much of it yet. I have settled into the (lovely little) AirBnB, which is on the fifth floor of a wonderful old building - thankfully with a lift! I have wandered down to the sea and walked along the Promenade des Anglais. And I have bought more than one baguette.
Yes, that does look a bit like a finger. It’s a baguette, though. Promise.
And I got some fresh milk to go with my tea, and am eternally grateful that this AirBnB has BIG MUGS (and sharp knives - two of my bugbears when staying in self-catering accommodation), because apparently I am actually British, even if I want to think of myself as European. Cannot do without my morning tea. And my afternoon tea. And my bedtime tea. You get the idea.
So, yes, currently my biggest takeaway from my forays into digital nomading, so far, is to PLAN more. (Which is annoying, because my image of myself is someone who can just grab a bag, throw a few things in it, check she has her passport and run out the door.)
Check that packing list. My list had spare bra and sleep bra and two vests on it, that somehow didn’t end up in my bag. I know how, actually. Because I’d put them aside but also had a pile of clothes I had washed to take with me. I packed the clothes I had washed but forgot about the things I had set aside. So I am stuck with the bra I was wearing on the way. For ‘normal’ people this probably wouldn’t be a big deal, as they could just nip into a department store and pick up a spare. But I struggle enough finding bras to fit in the UK, and particularly non-underwired loungey/sleep bras, so nipping into a department store and somehow finding one the right size is unlikely to work. (I am going to try later today, though, just in case. And at least I should be able to find a vest.)
Remember that airplanes (if you’re flying - yes, I did the very unecologically sound short-haul flight this time) do not like fountain pens. And that paints may well be picked up as liquids. Ah yes, I do love one my bag heading off down the extra check side of the conveyer belt. And the scanner beeping as you go through… Bloody bras again!
Off to explore at least one art museum, now. I am going to buy the pass, so I can fit in a bunch (and I WILL get my work out of the way in time to fit more in the rest of the trip).