One of the often overlooked lessons of the 4 hour workweek is the question of what to do with the other 36 hours. The reality is that most of us are looking for an escape that is not too different from what we are doing now – just on our terms. Part of the escape mentality is being able to break the patterns that are holding you back, and being able to do activities that help push your reset button. So until you can actually escape the 9 to 5, maybe you can try a 30 minute escape.
What can you do in 30 minutes?
For me, a 30 minute escape generally involves kayaking. I’m not a touring or white water person. I’m perfectly happy on a lake. Preferably one that is about a mile in diameter and doesn’t allow motorized craft. I have one favorite spot that is about 10 miles from my house. I was actually thinking about this while I was on the lake about an hour ago.
For me it’s a multi-sensory experience. For some people it would be a matter of putting the kayak in water, getting in kayak, paddling around, avoid tipping over, and taking the kayak out of the water. Having grown up on a farm I have a lot of experience with tractors and other equipment. Unfortunately, ear protection was never part of that experience. Now several decades later, large social gatherings means lots of ambient noise that often masks conversations within arms length. As long as I can isolate sounds I’m fine, but when there is lots of noise it just all blurs together. Which brings me back to kayaking where often I’m the only person on the lake and I can hear just about anything within a about a mile.
Today I just sat in the middle of the lake over 1000 feet from shore. To the north a toddler was having a bad day. To the south two kids were playing ping pong on their porch. And to the east a bunch of guests were just showing up for a party. I couldn’t see any of them, but I could hear them all clearly. In my day to day world, a lot of sounds just get mashed together, but when I’m kayaking I get to take it all in. If you were were curious the west was completely quiet today, although there are usually a couple of beavers who will slap the water with their tails if you get too close.
Add in a bright setting sun and a gentle breeze and I’m good to go. It’s not a work out. It’s a reboot. And here I am back to work cranking out content focused on my long term escape from the 9 to 5. For the price of a gallon of gas and 30 minutes, I’m ready to take on the world again. The recipe that works for you will be different. Finding it is the fun part.
