I spent the past weekend with a few friends in Carmel… and damn, nothing could have felt better.
After a weekend like this, I can’t help but have a little bit of a comedown. Not because I’m not looking forward to the week ahead, but because moments as blissful as a few from this weekend are rare.
And because after feeling so connected to people in a beautiful place - it can be hard to transition back to thinking about code and floating through a daily routine of zoom calls.
So I’m writing this newsletter from the comedown on my high of connecting with the biggest group of humans I’ve been close to since the start of COVID-19.
Enjoy this week’s ramblings :)
One thing we discussed over the weekend, is that COVID-19 happened at literally one of the best possible times that it could have in our lives.
If this had happened in college - I easily could have lost a summer internship or a summer working in the AMC huts. If this had happened a year earlier, there’s a decent chance I would have been laid off @ Thumbtack.
If you’re in your early 20’s right now and you still have a job that lets your work remotely, you’ve pretty much won the lottery.
We have friends that straight up moved to Hawaii for a few months… or Austin, San Diego, Lake Tahoe, the list goes on. As crazy as it may seem, Airbnb is actually seeing a record amount of bookings right now.
At one point we talked somewhat seriously about moving to Chile for a month this summer to work remotely and go skiing. Realistically the chances that this will happen are incredibly low. But just thinking about the fact that there is absolutely nothing stopping us is mind-blowing.
On the one hand, it’s sad to see friends leaving SF - a place I love so much. But on the other hand… it’s exciting to see people live lives that never would have seemed possible only a few months ago.
It’s for this reason I’d like to share a few places/airbnbs I’m dreaming of maybe (probably not) spending a month working from. Although we are dreaming, I kept it somewhat realistic meaning timezone no more than 3 hours different from PST.
Ferellones, Chile [Airbnb]
As a general rule, I try to be interesting to myself. That means that if I think of an idea where if I would be incredibly fascinated if someone else told me about it - I try to do it myself.
Working from the mountains in the Chilean winter would be the epitome of that. It would be a crazy, slightly reckless adventure to say that you sent it to Chile to work remotely for a month with your friends on the tail-end (🤞) of a global pandemic.
But with our IKON pass we could ski for free from Valle Nevado. And I’m sure my Spanish would come back?
^ Taken from my future hot tub in Ferellones.
Part of actually doing this would be “doing it just to do it”. It would be for the shock factor. But I also know it would one of most the unique months of my entire life.
And our ski season in Tahoe got cut short - so really I’m just trying to get the money’s worth out of my IKON pass.
In a world where we do spend such a large part of our lives in the same place, working the same job and keeping a routine, this would be the ultimate break from routine.
Boise, Idaho
I’ve recently been curious about Idaho. It feels to me like one of the most naturally beautiful places in the USA that no one talks about. That probably makes me a hipster traveler / digital nomad / whatever this new normal is - and I’m okay with that.
We would eat a lot of potatoes, and go hiking in the surprisingly large mountains in Idaho. The cost of living is also much lower than SF which is an added building.
And when else would you have an excuse to spend a month living in Idaho?
^Sawtooth range, Idaho. A ~3 hour drive from Boise.
Also… I apologize for the clickbait. I am (probably) not moving to Idaho…. but who knows 🤷♂️. There doesn’t appear to be much stopping me at the moment.
… and a few other random places I would love to live for a month: Victoria (Vancouver Island), San Diego, Bend, and Jackson.
My update
Working at a startup is really fun [note: still in honeymoon phase]
Need to read more
Went my first bike ride in AWHILE
A few links
never hertz to ask <— we live in some weird times
That’s all I got. See you next week.
- Taylor