So 2 weeks ago I took some leave on a whim, but also because it was ‘use or lose’ leave I had to burn (I still have 2wks to burn by the end of the year). Seeing as how Covid has us on lock down, I hadn’t really taken any time off, just the weekends. Even though I am working from home, there is still the burden of work on your shoulders. I gotta check in and be readily available for whoever texts/emails/calls me. Not a huge point of stress, but I can’t just do what I want, it’s not my time.
Anyway, I decided in all my new habits and routines that even though most things are on lockdown, I would find activities to do socially distanced and by myself. After all one of my dreams has always been to travel and do shit. Well if I can’t be motivated to do shit and do it alone in my own city, how am I gonna have that motivation and drive while in an unknown city? Challenge accepted! By the time that week rolled around I had planned for a bike ride downtown in the mission district, a hike in Lost Maples, Tx, and a kayak run in the King William District. Woohoo, Let’s GO!
Wait, before we go off and do adventure shit, I also planned to clean out a filing cabinet, pack shit, and give stuff to goodwill. AND I DID IT! Not an exciting task, but a much needed and necessary one to keep me moving forward on selling my house. SO I did that Monday and Tuesday of vacay week.
Now to the good stuff! Wednesday I met up with a longtime friend I hadn’t seen in god knows how long. It was a quick lunch but sweet visit. Then I went on my way for my bike ride. I rented one of those BCycle bikes all over town to make it easier than trying to haul my bike down there, lock it up, etc. This was just easier and pretty cheap. I started on my usual route by the Blue Star Complex and headed towards Mission San Jose. A quick 6 miles along the riverwalk with the cool wind blowing in my face. I make it to the mission and walk through the entrance and all of a sudden my stomach starts to cramp a little. Well boooo, lemme sit down. As I’m walking to the nearest bench I start to sweat and get dizzy. WTF! Am I going to have to call an Uber to take me back? Then it hits me, I gotta go ‘download’ my lunch. As I try to stand up, the weight of my whole body is felt and I can barely stand so I sit back down and try to “wait it out” as I see stars and continue to sweat. Finally I can stand up, but I still gotta do something about this. Walking towards the bathrooms, I realize this is a national park and restrooms are closed during the Pandemic. FUCK!! SO I look around and see a Pizza Hut nearby. Can I make it?? I get to the curb, it’s just across the street, nope, gotta sit back down and collect myself. I manage to stand up again and play chicken with traffic to get across the street and bolt into an empty restaurant and made a b line to the bathroom! Made it, lord almighty I made it! After I finished my bidness, I asked for some water claiming I had “just overheated”….lmao. I made it back to the mission and considered calling it quits, but damnit, this is my adventure, suck it up! I managed to walk around and get some cool shots before heading back on bike. By now I was fine and started to enjoy the wind in my face again, listening to music on the 6 mile return to Blue Star. I ended up at the coffee bar I love and sat outside to rest and enjoy the fresh air. What started out as awesome, turned quickly for the worse, but I powered thru and really enjoyed that little adventure.
The next day was my hike! Getting there was just under 2hrs and I enjoyed podcasts and music to make the time fly by. I stopped at the famous Lost Maples Cafe for some breakfast tacos. When I walked in I was the only masked person, so clearly I was from out of town. It wasn’t busy so the waitress behind the counter was eating her bagel cause no such thing as Health Codes in little towns. Toby Keith “Shoulda been a Cowboy” was playing on someone’s phone and one of the locals was checking out their famous pies to take home. Got my tacos and headed out. Got to Lost Maples and had my mediocre taco (San Antonio will always be superior) before heading on the trail. It was going to be a 4.6 mile hike and I was ready. Or so I thought. about 2 miles into it, you hit a “steep/rocky” path for the next 1.5 miles….FUCK. They weren’t kidding. This was about a 45 degree angle the whole way up (.8 miles). By the time I made it to the top to see “the views”, I was exhausted, lost my sunglasses, and hot. I thought I was gonna die! Stoopid asthma. But I managed to take to good photos. I had to, otherwise it doesn’t count! The hike down was almost as bad. Rocky uneven trail at about 45 degrees, but I made it!! a little over 5 miles and 4hrs later, I was in my car hydrating again (I ran out of water halfway down…oops!). I headed to moms for some rest and dinner before getting home in time for a shower before I passed out! Did I bitch the whole time, yes. It was hard! But I am of course happy I went. Much needed.
But wait there is more! It’s Friday by now and todays adventure is in a kayak. I have kayaked once on an open lake, but not where I was headed. No clue what to expect, but figured they would push me in the right direction and I’d figure it out. That’s usually how I work most things, I’ll just figure it out. I used to shy away from things because of the unknown, but now I embrace it! It was a nice trip along the riverwalk, with a view of the Life Tower at the end. Of course I got so many photos, it’s what I do. I even got a photo of the snake who dared cross my path. I ended up doing the path twice since I had 2 hours. It was really nice to just float along and hear the sounds of nature in the middle of downtown. I am definitely doing this again. It’s different and easy to plan.
I spent the rest of the weekend resting and doing boring chores. The other thing I did during the whole week, was take my time each morning and read, drink coffee, and just enjoy the early morning. For me, this is what I envision freelance to be. My time, planned, unplanned, relaxed, productive, whatever. I realized I have the discipline, courage, and motivation to do things. If I create these habits now, when it’s time to execute the plan, I am ready, and I am excited!
I also really realized I needed this time off more than I thought. By making it an adventure and forcing myself to do stuff, I really felt relaxed and energized when I got back to reality the next week. I have a few more days off before the end of the year and will do much the same because I can!
xo-mel