Today I took the first step on a mini-adventure. It’s not really an adventure, but I’m at a loss for what it would be called. The short version is I’m going to spend about two months in Utah.
I have to work remotely at least until February and probably for much longer. I can work remotely anywhere so a bit ago I asked my wife if she would mind if I went to Utah for December. She thought it was a great idea. I managed to up that to January as well, but I will come home for the holidays. My wife will come out for a long weekend and one kid has asked about coming out.
Let’s start with “why Utah?” First off, I liked it when I was there for a vacation to Park City. Second, it’s high on my list of places I might like to retire to. So, I thought spending two months where I think I might want to live would be a good chance to see if I do want to live there. Scout it out.
I would like to be somewhere I can be outside a lot. Hike, ski, mountain bike, trail run, hunt, fish, whatever. I’m done with city living. I want wide open spaces, mountains, trees and quiet.
I found an AirBnB but by the time I decided to stay to January it wasn’t available. I’ll stay at one place for December, come home, and then go to a second place.
The plan is to teach my classes and prep my work and then hike and/or ski every day. I have a season pass to Snowbasin and plan on spending a lot of time there. I’ll also go to some other places nearby (Alta). My first AirBnb is literally the last house on a street next to the Wasatch Mountains with a trail head out the back door.
Along with work I have some other plans that I’ll mention as they come or go.
I know I will miss my family (although really with two at college most of the time it’s not like being apart three weeks, seeing them, and then four weeks is really a big deal) but for various reasons I could use this time. Long story short, both of my parents died in the last year and a half. In the meantime I started a new career which has yet to have a normal year (crazy inner-city school, strike, Covid, name it). The middle child went off to college. It’s all first world problems, but I could really use some time to decompress from all of it.
So that’s the basics. I’m re-starting this space to keep a journal of it and to track how I’m doing on my goals. I’ll still have the usual Things I Like Wednesday and some other things along the way. The usual rules apply: no politics. I’m moving on to all about the positives, gratitude, and helping instead of judging. Be curious, not judgmental.