Time Off in Covid

Monday (8/10) marked the end of my two weeks of time off. I was initially going to take the week of my birthday but ended up pushing it back further and taking an extra week off. It worked out great. The last time I took an extended amount of time away from work (extended meaning > 1 week) was back in September / October 2019, before COVID. With everything that has happened since then, it felt like PTO was going to be a waste.

Getting out of the house made a significant impact on me. I got exposed to new stimuli and new environments. I also took large chunks of time away from devices (i.e. laptop). While I overestimated how much I could get done, over the two weeks I:

• Hiked Bernal Heights
• Hiked around Point Reyes
• Went on a road trip, seeing and hiking in Valley of Fire, Zion National Park, and Arches National Park in Moab
• Finished reading Less than Zero (Bret Easton Ellis)
• Started going through CBRA and made good progress
• Started reading Six Pillars of Self-Esteem (Nathaniel Branden)
• Watched two lectures of Jordan Peterson’s Personality and Its Transformations Lectures
• Said goodbye and sent off a friend and former roommate. He left SF to go back home to Iowa.

Reflecting on these past two weeks, I’m glad I took extended time off. I believe two weeks and longer is the proper amount of time to disconnect from work and relax. And I felt fortunate that I was able to.

Tomales Bay in Point Reyes Valley of Fire On top of a hill at Fire Wave Trail Zion Overlooking Canyon View from Angel's Landing in Zion Arches National Park

Notes to Self for My Next Road Trip

• I underestimated how hot it was going to feel and how that would affect hiking. The weather reports said the temperature would be in the high 90s and 100s, and I thought it would be a minor inconvenience.
• Buy the bucket hat. The Costco in Las Vegas sold bucket hats for $15.99. I regret not buying it and not having the 360° protection from the Sun.
• I also overestimated how much time we spent driving. Our Airbnb by Zion was about an hour away from the park — as it was a lot cheaper. Making that trip to Zion and Back for two days meant we spent about 3.5 - 4 hours just driving.
• We started our road trip by driving down to Los Angeles to pick up a friend, and I regret not flying. A friend had told me he had flown from the Bay Area to LA for cheap. Right now, Google Flights shows round trip tickets for $100 — the same cost as the gas used, and even less expensive when factoring in car depreciation and car insurance. Flying would have easily saved me 10 hours.