Packing, Prepping... Panicking for Autumn
With my bags (almost) packed and the to-do list finally conquered, it's nearly time to embark on an adventure *way* outside of my usual travel style.
Alright, it’s not full-on panic mode yet, but I'm getting close to it. Summer at home in Canada screamed by, and somehow, September is staring me down with all of its weighty expectations and ambitious plans made months ago – back when I naively believed I’d be bored by now and ready for another adventure…
(breathe)
Summerfolk Music Festival, back-to-school shopping, our Granada English Academy fundraising dinner, and most of this season’s beach days are behind us. (Most, not all… we’ll sneak in one last swim tonight after dinner.)
Everything is happening so quickly, even the trees are changing colour early this year. It’s not my imagination, I swear. Santokh Singh, a biology professor from UBC who studies senescence (the seasonal effects on leaves), recently gave a CTV interview about this phenomenon. That’s a great rabbit hole to explore if you have the time. But I digress…
Before we jump in, a quick note. I’ve been pretty open about my plans and travels to this point, as I love sharing tips and stories. But I’ve had to rethink this after a few recent incidents. I don’t like to change my habits or routines due to anyone else’s actions, but also need to protect myself as a woman in this world with a voice and opinions and other such nasty, undesirable traits.
It’s a brave new world, and I’m still trying to find the right balance between sharing and personal security.
This means that from now on, I’ll share personal experiences, stories, and plans with full subscribers only. Free subscribers will still get travel tips, recommendations, guides, and more, so don’t run away. I just need to be more selective with identifying/location info and have controls in place for my safety.
With that out of the way, it’s about time for a travel update. We’re talking Below Deck, solo camping, building castles out of human beings, and other September shenanigans.
Let’s goooo!
Disclosure: Midlife Nomads often refers and links to websites, apps, and products/services I actually use. Sometimes, I receive compensation if readers sign up or make a purchase. A girl’s gotta eat – and travel!
The countdown is on now to get my $h!% together and get out the door tomorrow to kick off my European adventure.
My youngest is back to secondary school and my oldest moved into his new place for university. We’re hosting an exchange student from Japan for the school year, and he’s all settled in.
I’ve been prepping and blanching and stewing and freezing like a fiend. No one is going to starve while I’m away.
This trip, I’m headed to Croatia for an unusually extravagant (for me) yachting adventure. I pride myself on being able to travel inexpensively and often, typically leaning solidly into the budget travel category.
This is a definite exception.
We’re Headed to Croatia, Ladies!
For one week in September, I’m having my very own “Below Deck” experience onboard a private yacht with a group of 24 other professional women.
Bravo reality shows Below Deck, Below Deck Mediterranean, Below Deck Sailing (you get the drift) et al are a guilty pleasure Trevor and I share, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity when a group I’ve traveled with before planned this private yacht trip.
I’m traveling with One Week Each Year, a small company started by a few women I’d met previously while on a Hacker Paradise tour. Mary, Ruthie (who I met) and their friend Barb saw a gap in the market for splurge trips for 40+ aged professional women looking for equal parts adventure and luxury travel.
(If that’s you, mention me and get $150 USD off your next trip with One Week Each Year.)
Anyway, the promo pics have me drooling…
I’ve been planning this one for close to a year and packing in extra freelance work to pay for it, and it’s just about here!
But first, I’m heading to my son’s university town to drop off a bunch of that frozen food above and leave my car with him. That’s our deal… he gets my car anytime I’m away as long as he drives mommy to the airport. 😀
So for the yacht portion – it’s a “done for you” itinerary where I’m supposed to just show up and not worry about a thing. How bizarre, right?
We’re promised many day trips and tours, a murder mystery, and plenty of swim time as we make our way from Split to Dubrovnik, down the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Before boarding, I’m spending a week in Split with a friend from Owen Sound. She and one other friend will join me on the yacht.
That first week is still a full work week for me, and things have been rocking in that part of my life.
Balancing Work, Travel & Life
I left my full-time contract position at GlobalLogic this summer but agreed to a new freelance contract with far fewer hours and a much narrower scope of work until May, so there’s that. I have a handful of long-term clients with monthly writing and editing needs, as well.
Then there’s the Owen Sound Current. I really wasn’t sure how it would go when Maryann (The Ginger Press) and I partnered up and launched this last year, but we’re now approaching the one-year mark and publishing 5 days a week for somewhere between 4,000 to 7,000 readers per day. I’m thrilled with how this particularly baby has grown.
Editing the OS Current is now a solid part-time job for me, and I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would, too. Getting back into the faster pace of news reporting feels good after a discouraging few years in the slow, bureaucracy-heavy world of corporate publishing. There’s more balance and variety in my day and week, and it’s a very good thing.
Overall, my goal of shedding time-sensitive, meetings-heavy contract work so I can travel more is moving ahead and on track.
I committed last year to prioritizing more of my own writing and publications – Midlife Nomads, The Writers’ Den, and CreativeAIs. Each has become an outlet that brings me joy, which I very much needed after many years of ghostwriting had left me feeling drained.
Since all is well on the work front, I’m looking forward to letting off the gas a bit in September as I incorporate exploring new areas back into the routine. And the next of those is…
Barcelona for La Mercè Festival
Going all the way to Europe for a week or two felt wasteful (these are the things I tell myself, anyway). As I was planning for Croatia, a few acquaintances from the digital nomad world reached out and shared their upcoming itineraries, and it looked like worlds were set to collide in Barcelona for La Mercè .
This is Barcelona’s five-day festival honouring the city’s patron saint with parades, human towers (Castellers), giant effigies, and the fiery Correfoc. I’m told to watch out for fire-breathing dragons and dancing devils as the streets come alive with music, performances, and spectacular light shows.
A few of the nomads I know are actually participating in the castelling competition, and I plan to cheer them on.
One of my Owen Sound friends will travel with me from Dubrovnik to Barcelona, where we’ve rented an apartment in La Rambla for a week.
I haven’t made any solid plans yet for Barcelona and am hoping to just wander and explore the city. I usually do a Viator tour or two, as they’re typically good, affordable ways to enjoy local experiences. Or, I’ll pop into a hostel and see if their trips and excursions are open to the public (many welcome non-guests as it helps fill seats).
That’s also a work week for me, though I’m hoping to keep it to 3-4 hours per day.
And Then the Downtime
On the way back home, I’m stopping for two days in Ponte Delgada on São Miguel Island, in the Azores. There, I’ve rented a car and hope to do a few days of solo camping. After three weeks of non-stop people, I figured it may take a few days of solitude to recharge before I get home.
There will be pics and reports from all of the above, so stay tuned! For now, I’d better get moving… this laundry I need for my trip hasn’t done itself yet. 🙄