May 2025
Why is it that lately I daydream about being on vacation more often than before?
Maybe it’s because I’ve been traveling more and have started to see how lovely it is to truly rest, live outside of work more often, explore, and do my own thing. But what I’m craving isn’t new at all. It’s very familiar: being by the beach in Mũi Né like I did with my family last summer, and slow mornings in Paris with my fiancée. So it’s not really wanderlust or a craving for something novel. (I don’t actually like the beach that much, sand gets everywhere, but I do like going to resorts). I love my routine and wouldn’t change a thing, but I’ve been longing for those kinds of moments.
Maybe my routine has become too productive to the point where it has made me think of escapism. I like being productive. It’s how I function. I learn, tinker, and optimize, sometimes maybe over-optimize. That’s how I see progress: lists, checkboxes, schedules. Ironically, the more I achieve, the less I feel alive, especially these past couple of weeks.
Earlier this month I took a weeklong trip to Taiwan. Real rest, no work, amazing food, nature. The week I got back, work got intense again. I skipped lunch most days, didn’t touch a book, and worked past six. When I got home, I had no mental energy left and ended up doomscrolling. I made checklists to manage the workload and keep things moving, but it still spilled over into my personal life. Hence the daydreaming.
And here’s the thing: even when I’m resting or imagining myself at the beach, feeling the breeze and hearing the waves, I’m also thinking, “I’d like to make a checklist.” And I do. I want to check boxes. That does relax me, in my own way.
Anyway, I’m back to being disciplined this week: taking an hour for lunch, reading, resting my eyes, and not touching work devices or Slack. That should help. Also… maybe a weekend in Mũi Né helps too. So, trip booked! I’m going next weekend. Just for one night, but we’ll make the most of it.
I also have a trip to Hà Nội in July to see my fiancée’s family and catch up with an old friend, and again in November for a wedding. There’s a public holiday in early September that I might take advantage of for another trip. We’ll see.
The books I’ve enjoyed the most this year so far are Rest and On Writing Well. I’m halfway through Conversational Intelligence, which feels like a natural continuation of the themes in the books Difficult Conversations and Crucial Conversations I read last year, it really complements and builds on those insights.