Mental and Physical Recharge - Back to Work!...and in a Thailand State of Mind

August 19, 2023

Mental and Physical Recharge - Back to Work!...and in a Thailand State of Mind

We arrived back on Okinawa yesterday after a long day in Bangkok followed by an all night shuffle that took us from Bangkok, to Hong Kong, and then finally to Naha. We never go right into a rest period once we're home and instead use those first few (sometimes several) hours to unpack/clean up, and get ready for the week ahead (there's also a grocery run, wig-splitting, car cleaning, house cleaning, and other things that must happen in order for us to start Monday with a clean slate).

With Typhoon Khanun having just made its first pass when we departed, and circling back for a second swipe just after, our house was still in storm preparation mode - all of our outdoor furniture was crowding the living room, and our porch was a mess, with plants scattered about and the grill's cover blown off.

In addition to this, the interiors of our vehicles were molded over from all of the rain/humidity and having not been driven/aired out in several days. Once all of this was sorted, clothes washed/put away, and some relaxing on the couch, we finally got to bed around 9:30 last night (I even squeezed a haircut in there somewhere and remember falling asleep in the chair a time or two in the nearby neighborhood barber shop). We slept for almost 12 hours after having been up and on the move for two days.

This morning I decided that I'd get a little walk-jog-run adventure in and then ease in to the rest of the first full day back on the island. We've got to get some grocery shopping done and then figure out dinner. Somewhere along this morning's 4-miler I was thinking about how relaxed and at-ease my mind has been after spending two weeks at our other (real) home in Thailand. I'd like to hang on to this rather chill mind-state long term. While over in the Land of Smiles, which will be 'home' soon enough, we attended a blessing ceremony/feast over at the family's garden, ate tons of amazing meals for less than 10 bucks, and did a little exploring around both Nakhon Ratchasima and Bangkok.

Something else that I thought about on the morning stroll today was the last work-related email that I read (or will ever read again!) while on vacation. I didn't turn my work phone on very often...I got on it to check emails about 4 or 5 times while away. I deleted many of those without reading (honesty's the best policy). I read a few. I responded to one or two. I noticed one from my boss while en route to Bangkok from Korat, and it brought a smile to my face. It wasn't an emergency or a "must respond immediately!" kinda message...he was asking my opinion on something, as it's something that he wants to explore once I make it back to work. What was awesome about this message, and the reason that I'm sharing this, was what it said in closing:

"...hopefully you aren't reading this while on leave. And if you are, bad on you!"

Bad on me, indeed. I'd left an auto-reply for my emails that explained that I was away in The Kingdom and visiting family...and to contact the rest of the team for help with any issues. The moral of this long-winded and probably shite story is that when you're on vacation, you're ON VACATION. If that's too much for you/your boss to swallow, you've likely raised a bad team.

Cheers!