Since the pandemic began, I watched my coworkers’ locations change throughout the year. Some moved permanently out of state to places like Montana, Michigan, New York and Texas. Others have moved within the state but out of the Bay Area, also for the long term. And most seem to have done some extended traveling. It was nice this past summer to have some routine going to work in the labs and having a normal workday again, but after talking to another engineer on the project who doesn’t do lab work and who spent three months working from Hawaii it’s hard not to get a bit jealous. He told me because of the time zone he was off work by 3:30 PM every day and spent the afternoons surfing.
My current job will never be fully remote, although I can do much of it from anywhere, and Megan’s clinic days mean that for now at least, we can’t easily move to Hawaii. But I’ve been feeling all along during this pandemic that I don’t want the opportunities it presents to pass by unnoticed since it is (hopefully) a very unique situation and time. So with this as context, when Megan asked for some input on a weekend beach rental for my birthday this year, I asked why not go for a month instead.