Mid August and it is time for our little virtual coffee date. We would meet down by the river at the picnic table that overlooks the water. I would bring homemade ice cold coffee and we would watch the Comorans, ducks and passing ships while chatting away.
If you and I had coffee…
…I would have to start off with admitting I am in a deep vacation Sehnsucht. It seems like everyone is planning trips or doing trips. I see so many great destinations on social media and on the blogs. And I have nothing to look forward to. I am mostly to blame. I told the husband I would take care of vacation this year so we don’t end up trying to find something last minute and not finding anything. Well, that didn’t go very well. In January when I planned to do it I was down with Covid and everything was just so exhausting. And then I had rough months work wise so I was not keen on spending money. Just when it looked better the husband was taking a hit work-wise and had to reduce his income. Sigh… And now it is late again. Everything is booked or so horrendously expensive. I would be happy putting the tent in the car and just start driving, stopping where is fun. But that is a sort of vacation the husband would never do. I can usually cope but this year it is really hard.
If you and I had coffee…
…I would have another travel related topic to discuss. I was looking into some of the all inclusive travel packages. Not my ideal vacation but you may get a good deal and get to another place. Right now Greece is on the top of those deals and I always wanted to visit Greece. However the news also report about extensive and existence-threatening conditions for the inhabitants because of the severe draught. Water they would need to water the animal and the sparse crops go to hotel complexes so tourist have a pool and can shower 3 times a day. I am hesitant to buy into that. I know my decision to not support will not change the system. But can I feel good about snatching a deal knowing the struggle? Another sigh. Does environmental issue play into your travel decision making?
If you and I had coffee…
…I skip to a more positive topic: Olympics. It has been so much fun watching the athletes compete. Their joy when they excelled, beat a personal record, won a medal or managed to even make it a world record. It is just so fun. I bet I could have been in Paris with some pre-planning. Well, we were not. Four years till LA. Should I try to make that a plan? Will you? Anyways, did you watch the Olympics? What is your favorite discipline to watch? I love watching volleyball (obviously as former player and referee), track (again former participant in long and triple jump) but also I tuned in to gymnastics, basketball, kayak and rowing competitions and even some equestrian things. I just love a good sports event.
If you and I had coffee…
…I’d ask how you keep your notes. I am currently using evernote and have done so for over a decade. I love it. However they have started to reduce the services in the free option. The last straw for me is that now you can only use one device and if you want to synchronize it needs a paid plan. Sorry, no. I am not paying 9€ for that. So I am in need of a new system. Does anyone has any suggestions? I guess I could start using the apple notes app. That would definitely solve my synchronizing dilemma. But is doesn’t have as many styling options. I plan all my word of the year tasks in Evernote. Same as the NaBloPo posts and ideas. And then I scribble down any quote I want to save. And these are just the main once I use on a daily basis… So please add your favorites, your experiences, your tools please.
If you and I had coffee…
…I would stay with tools. I recently started following my own blog on Feedly with all the issues that are occurring left and right to see if there is a hiccup. I realized my thumbnails will never show. So I wonder is that the same on your end? Do you ever see a picture to my new blog posts? Not that I would know what to do about it. But it does bother my aesthetic.
If you and I had coffee…
… I share my thoughts on doing an advanced-training certified by the State to become an AI Manager or AI Consultant. Apparently there is an EU fund that supports solo entrepreneurs specifically freelancers to get this education. I would be aiming the first 100 people in Germany with that title. It is rather expensive something I’d never pay on my own but funding would be 90%. The course would be 2 or 4 months with about 4-6 hours time invest. I know my line of work is shifting dramatically and AI will change the marketing world. So it is a smart move to get some certification here and know more. However I really don’t have all too much enthusiasm for that topic if I am totally honest. I would need to get approved for funding within the next two weeks as the course starts in September. I am 90% leaning towards doing it. Anyone want to chime in?
If you and I had coffee…
…I of course talk about books. I have an inkling of a thought I would want to discuss. I am currently reading a novel by an Icelandic author. It is a slow story which is fitting for Iceland and I am scribbling down a ton of quotes. However there is one phenomenon I have come across again and again. It is a male author and I feel like the topic of sex, desire and ejaculation is always included. I mean female authors are queens or writing open door scenes but if I pick up a romance novel I somewhat know what to expect. If I pick up a book about life in Iceland throughout generations I don’t really. I don’t read about woman’s thoughts I this detail or from children. And if I read it about a male character it is always that. I know I have mentioned this thought previously somewhere on the blog. So I wonder… do you see a different way of writing in male and female authors? Or do I tend to pick up just these kind of books? But to be clear… the book is still really good.
If you and I had coffee…
…I share with you my image from the office window.
The sun is now above the tree tops and all shade is gone. Temperatures are high and it is time to move on. Until next time.
Have you been on vacation? How do you handle envy (let’s be honest, that’s what it is)? Do you spend whatever money necessary on vacation and travel or do you try to stay in budget? And if so are you a low budget traveler or more on the luxury side? Any tools to keep track of notes? Do you regularly do additional trading for your job?
12 comments
“Sehnsucht” is such a beautiful word and concept! I feel your vacation planning envy/angst. My husband wants to do a weekend getaway for his birthday this year, and we have been talking about it for months but don’t have any plans yet. I feel like everything is SO expensive. He is much calmer about spending money than I am.
What a beautiful view from your office!
I know everything is so expensive. I try telling myself that spending money on memories and travel is a good investment but it’s still hard.
I hope you find a good place for a get away. Sehnsucht is a great word – so much so that there is no translation in English. Ha!
Ha ha ha. If I never had to leave my town, that would be fine with me. I don’t really get vacation envy because I’d almost rather be at home reading than traveling. So I think you need to spin it around – you get to have that fabulous office view! and stay at home and relax! But I recognize that my anti-traveling stance is not the norm.
I don’t have a good notes system, as the millions of handwritten lists I have scattered about my home and office suggest. I do use the Notes app on my phone if I have an idea when I’m out and about, but it doesn’t synch with anything. I also tend to use my calendars for notes (like I’ll use a five minute time slot to write “follow up with Student X” on my work calendar or “order the dog’s medicine” on my home calendar). I don’t know. It all gets done or it doesn’t.
I have a ton of notes scribbled in my calendar too. And in extra pieces of paper, various note books and then the digital lists. It’s a mess.
I like being at home but since I am working from home all day everyday I do enjoy that office view… I just need to see something else too.
I LOVE OUR COFFEE LOCATION! It sounds like heaven.
I’m with you on vacation. I’ve had some great vacations over the last few years – Maui in 2021, France in 2022, Alaska in 2023. This year we are staying home. We’re trying to take a week off of work in September, and maybe we’ll do some day trips. Living in a beautiful city like Berlin, I’ll bet you could do a lot with that (like your dates).
Um…environmental issues. Yeah, I think that would affect me if I were aware f it. I mean, I don’t go out of my way to find out the pros and cons of wherever I go, and I try to be a responsible guest (aka, no to 3 showers a day no matter where) but once I know a location is struggling, then I guess I would try to find a way to make it better. The local economy likely wants your money, lots of jobs, But the issues, yeah. It’s complicated.
We watched some Olympics every night. My favorite was the equestrian, and I especially enjoyed the cross country. I LOVED IT.
My notes are old school, paper and pen, so I’m useless there.
I’m conflicted on AI. I don’t want it to take people’s jobs, but I see where it can be really useful. I would say, if you can get 90% paid for, take the training. Then decide what to do with it.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the travel dilemma. It’s really tough. I do t think it will be Greece. Sadly I would really like to see that country one day.
“Then decide what to do with it.” I think that will be the approach I am taking. I started the paperwork on the funding and if I get it I will do it.
Hope your September vacay will happen and you have some fun day trips.
I’ll share a photo of the coffee meet place in September as I assume it would be a great place to meet in fall too.
We are doing a lot of travel; it feels like we have been set free now that we don’t have school fees to pay and school kids to look after. We are not budget travellers now, but we also don’t stay in really high-end places. I like to spend money on experiences and great food when we travel, and that adds up. Maybe a day trip would satisfy your travel bug?
Yes, maybe I need to do some exploring and if I do it on my own…. It it would be more fun with the husband.
I bet traveling now is great. My parents very much enjoy that too. I am still grieving a few experiences I didn’t splurge on because I was hesitant and they were not cheep: flying with a water air plane over Vancouver and Vancouver island is one…
Ugh, I just ran into the same issues with Evernote and I am so annoyed. You can switch between app and browser, but they only allow 2 switches per month. LAME. I am currently trying to figure out an alternative myself. I’ll let you if I come up with a good solution – will you do the same? I’ve been using Evernote forever and it sucks.
Re: Feedly, my blog is having issues again (after being good for a few weeks) and it’s just so annoying. I do not see a photo on the Feedly preview and your posts are always just a few lines – I cannot see the whole post in Feedly (although I think this is a setting that you can change in WordPress under Settings > Reading (show full text in feed).
I hear you on the vacation envy… I did go on a great trip in the spring (skiing and family time) but it seems so far away and people are taking trips left and right and I also have no trips to look forward to. Sigh. It’s tough sometimes.
It truely sucks. I lived it. I am currently trying out apple notes as it is available on all devices for me.
For business I use Trello but while I have a board for the blog set up I don’t use it. I don’t like the app version.
Yes, I don’t show the whole post to Feedly. I’ve heard that these systems sometimes use content from someone to promote their own stuff without complying to copyright. Also it is not counted as traffic on you own blog if everyone reads it in Feedly. I wonder do you read blog post mainly in Feedly? I always go to the website even if it’s shown in Feedly.
Why the photo is not shown… no clue. Guess that is an October problem.
I definitely get vacation envy, so I can understand how you’re feeling. All of my vacations are done (aside from a short weekend trip to Orlando, which is only an hour from where I live) until next summer. WAH!
I also follow my blog on Feedly to make sure everything is showing up correctly. Like San said, yours only shows a snippet but no image or anything like that.
I think you should definitely go for that AI certification. Everything is turning AI these days so it would be a great certification to have.
Next summer is a looooong way.
I think I have to get used to no vacation this year.
Why does Feedly not show my image… Sigh. Guess I need to figure that out.
I am currently trying to get approved for funding. Fingers crossed. If I do I’ll definitely do the course. I can’t loose anything but only gain knowledge and options.