This is one of many blogs that I wrote during my year off but never posted.

As my year off progresses, I am inching closer and closer to being in a mental state where I am taking each day as it comes instead of living in the future (or the past). I am the most stress-free that I can remember being. I am wholly healthier than I’ve been in a long time. Things aren’t perfect, but when are they ever? I have made major progress in the areas of my life that I wanted to improve by giving myself the time and space to do so.

I wrote this in my journal on 20 May 2018, a few weeks after my last day of work (for context, I was at my family’s lake house and had not yet let go of the need to be doing something):

One of my favorite things so far about my year off is that I forget what day it is. I wake up without an alarm and begin doing whatever needs to be done that day. Today I finished replacing all of the electrical outlets and light switches in the house, then began wiring the ethernet cable that we ran from the house down to the dock. I came inside at 9:30 PM - my feet covered in mosquito bites - filled with a sense of accomplishment. I thought it must be Wednesday, or Thursday. Maybe Friday. I opened up a calendar; it’s Sunday. Tomorrow begins a new week.

Another favorite: One of the first things I did after my last day of work was delete the morning alarm from my phone. This has turned the morning into a much more pleasant time of day for me; I sleep until my body gets the rest it needs, and I’m not being jarred out of bed to go do something. It is a great luxury.

On 12 February 2018 - three months before I began my year off - I wrote this in my journal:

What I’m most excited for on my year off: what I’ll be able to do with the empty canvas that is a day, a week, a month, a year without obligations.

I had only known work and school up to this point in my life. My weeks were planned out for me. I could go on small trips with my few weeks of PTO or even take advantage of the ability to work remotely. But being constrained to this one thing for 5 days of the week was not sitting well with me. I felt a sort of mental claustrophobia - this feeling of being trapped in a pattern of doing one thing over and over while wanting to do many others.

I have always been somewhat career-driven so I put in a lot of time and effort to get to where I am. But a break would be nice - a time to enjoy what I’ve accomplished and figure out where to go next; a time to pull onto the side of the road simply to stop driving for a little while. Weekends weren’t giving me enough time for that.

The idea of being able to wake up and do whatever I want (or nothing at all) felt like a weight off my chest. And even more than that, doing something for myself without worrying about the reactions of anyone else felt liberating. I’ve struggled with this worry for a while and have only recently begun to explore how to reign it in. Taking a year off was part of that process.

The canvas of my year off is now full of colorful experiences. While painting it I learned a lot about myself and what I want and need. It is a valuable piece of artwork that will pay me dividends for years to come.

Day three in Moab was spent on another road trip. I drove up to Sego Canyon, which is in the tiny town of Thompson, Utah. Then back to Moab to climb up to Courthouse Wash. Each site contains Rock Art dating back thousands of years. The pictures are a site to see, and you can’t help but wonder what story or message the artists were trying to convey.

The Summer of 2019 was one for the books. It was the end of my year off and I spent it exactly how I wanted to: with my friends and family. I did a lot of reflecting on what I learned over what ended up being 15 months of not working. I made the decision to go back to work at The New York Times. And I set the aim for the next few years of my life - my Early 30s.

It was the perfect ending to a very meaningful chapter in my life.

After exploring down US-191 on my first day in Moab, I took another road trip. This time I drove up SR-128, which follows the Colorado River as it winds down from Colorado through valleys and BLM land and passes by Arches National Park. The whole drive was full of magnificant scenery.

I was first surrounded by towering plateaus 800+ feet high. Then the landscape opened up as I entered Castle Valley and the road meandered away from the Colorado River. Towards the north end of the valley the road met back up with the river and I drove through a few small farms and a winery, eventually making it to Dewey Suspension Bridge.

I began my year off by spending a few months at my family’s lake house. It was a busy summer but I was able to unwind and settle into my new not working reality. I did a lot of travel planning and reading and spending time with family and friends.

Marrakech was the final stop on my four month trip through Europe (which ended in Africa, obviously).

I arrived by train from Casablanca. In contrast to Casablanca, which is a huge and insanely busy city, Marrakech is smaller and a bit more calm. Except for the medina, where you could be sharing a narrow ‘street’ with any number of mopeds, donkey-pulled carts, and motorcycles, not to mention the locals and tourists and street vendors.

When we arrived we initially went to the wrong riad, going so far as to checking in before we realized our mistake. We got hassled by some kids for a couple of dirham - they claimed they helped us find our way there (a common situation you’d be warned about before going to Marrakech).

The rainy, chilly weather was left behind in Spain and I was welcomed with sunny skies and temps in the 70s. I had a good few days, and was completely in a different world living and adventuring around the medina. Somehow I deleted some pictures from one of the days I was there, but this is still a good set.

Seville, Spain is a beautifully colorful city. I arrived there by train from Madrid. The chilly, rainy autumn weather tradition continued, but I enjoyed walking around for a couple of days.

I spent a few days in Madrid after leaving Barcelona. At this point I was catching up to Autumn so the weather was chilly and rainy, and the leaves were changing colors and falling.

In April of this year I went on a road trip with my brother-in-law, John. Our ultimate destination was Moab, Utah.

While John was in a class all week I went exploring. The first day we were there I drove south along US-191 and flew my drone to get some pictures and videos of the wild-looking rock formations.