Reflections on Our NY Fall
Fall leaves, beautiful mountains, and just enough of a taste of winter…
That encapsulates the several weeks since my last update. That… and the ongoing childcare challenges.
When something critical falls apart many other things take a hit. Two months of childcare challenges have made that crystal clear. Lots of temporary hits to my personal productivity, energy, and exhaustion level came rolling in through October and November.
However, here’s the good news… we finally found someone reliable (after 4 false starts), but only about 3 weeks before we left. Better than nothing, but far later than I would have ever imagined.
So, most of November was spent enjoying this beautiful, rural setting with our now 17-month-old Pumpkin! She had her first frolics in piles of leaves and first sled rides through the snow. Many enjoyable memories were made on those quiet, simple days.
At the Vanderbilt Mansion, we enjoyed the beauty of a stunningly crafted mansion full of traditional European art.
Pumpkin and I discovered a great toddler playgroup in Great Barrington, MA with lots of free play, stories, and songs!
We visited FDR’s family home in Hyde Park, NY, and we paid our respects to a truly impactful pair of leaders, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Brian found an Improv Comedy class that he wanted to take in Schenectady, NY, so for about a month Pumpkin and I dropped him at his Saturday morning class, and we went for adventures together to the Via Aquarium (which I mentioned in my last update), the New York State Museum, and a visit with some old friends, Vivian & John, who happened to have also landed in nearby Saratoga Springs, NY. It was actually a really enjoyable way to spend our Saturday mornings.
Lessons Learned
- Line up childcare weeks before we arrive in each new place– Moving forward I will video interview and check references several weeks before we change locations and have a front-runner as well as several backup options in case of emergencies or illnesses. Hopefully, this will help avoid the challenges of the past 2 months. We’ve already got someone lined up for our next stop in Arizona *fingers crossed*!
- Longer stays and fewer transitions are better for our nomad family – The 2019 calendar is almost complete & booked:
- Jan-Mar – Sedona AZ
- April – June – Lake Tahoe, CA (Our place in Davis, CA fell through, but the condo we found in Lake Tahoe looks stunning, and I’ve wanted to go back to that area for years.)
- Early/Mid-July – New England (CT & MA)
- Late July – November – On the ocean between Tacoma & Seattle, WA
- Late Nov-Dec – New England (CT & MA)
That was how things fit and fell into place for our first year as digital nomads. However, in 2020, we’re thinking that we’re going to plan a 4+ month stay, then a month+ in New England, followed by another 4+ month stay, and Nov/Dec holidays back in New England… We hope that might be a perfect combination of exploration and coming home ;).
Pace of travel is one of the big topics/questions for Digital Nomads. Some folks are changing locations daily or weekly. Since we have full-time work that needs to get done, and we now know exactly how challenging the transition can be (particularly finding reliable childcare in each place), longer stays are a much better fit for us right now.
What’s next?
By the time you read this, our New York stay will be complete, and we’ll be back in the Boston/Salem, MA area for a lightning fast week of doctor & dentist visits and seeing people we love before spending Christmas in CT with Brian’s family.
Then, comes the massive next step in our adventure… our cross-country road trip to Arizona!
Just to give you a taste… here’s the itinerary for 3 weeks this holiday season:
- December 16-23 – Salem, MA area
- December 23-26 – Milford, CT
- December 26 – The Road Trip begins – Aiming to land near Baltimore, MD on the first night.
- December 27-28 – Drive to Raleigh, NC and spend a rest day seeing family in the area
- December 29 – Drive to Atlanta, GA – Hopefully we’ll get to see my colleague & friend Monica Ricci
- December 30-31 – Drive to New Orleans, LA and spend a rest day exploring the town (How crazy do you think New Orleans will be on New Year’s Eve? 😉)
- January 1 – Drive to Austin, TX – Looking forward to seeing my colleague Angela Ploetz and her family!
- January 2- Drive to Carlsbad, NM
- January 3-4 – Drive to Santa Fe, NM and spend a rest day exploring … I’ve never been to New Mexico, and I’m really looking forward to this couple days.
- January 5 – Drive to Sedona, AZ – We Arrive! This is where we’ll be spending the winter – January through March!
So, the next course update will give you the story of our winter road trip! Pray for good weather for us ;).
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In the meantime, wish us luck and my next update will be from Arizona!
