Hello. I’m just back after almost three exhilarating months in Madrid, rejuvenated and refreshed. So what was I doing there?
Well, it’s been two years since I relocated to Australia. I decided I’d save my grand return to Europe for April 2010, so Mr D. And I could both take time off, drop in on a family wedding and make sure that we had a comfy savings cushion behind us to make the most of our long-overdue reunion with family and friends.
But last year’s spring (Nov to Jan) in the southern hemisphere proved the hottest on record, and I had a horrible vision of the Australian summer that was about to unfold before me. So I invoked my Get Out Of Jail Free card and Plan B kicked in instead: 10 weeks working from Madrid, Spain, followed by 9 days or so in Ireland and the UK to see friends and family.
The trade-offs of Plan B were that my favourite travel companion stayed at home and the emphasis was very much on working, rather than holidaying. No time for touristy treats, or even as many catch-ups as I’d like. (So my apologies to all the lovely friends and colleagues in Europe that I didn’t get to see this time. Oh, and I’ll miss my cousin’s wedding… sorry Anita.)
But the upsides were enormous. I bypassed the worst of the summer heat in Queensland, and instead enjoyed the snow, language, culture, food and all-around sense of energy and excitement that comes with living in a European capital city. Work was booming and I had one of my busiest February’s on record. Best of all, I was perfectly positioned to make the most of it all. I took a self-imposed blogging sabbatical and was very happy working long hours to justify my gallivanting. All in all, as an experiment in bi-hemispheric living / working, it was a resounding success.
I finally arrived back in Brisbane a week ago today. It’s always nice to get home, of course, but I’m already planning my next working trip for the end of 2010. The idea of never spending another summer in Australia is an appealing one… so why not? Watch this space!
Sarah, if I’d only realised I would have emailed you to meet up! I was in Madrid for a weekend in March; it’s a crazy city, well done for surviving three months! A weekend nearly did me in 😉
Helen (Twitter: @helenbaker)
That’s a shame! The trip was organised pretty late in the day so I didn’t get to maximise the opportunity to meet up with people, unfortunately – next time I’ll definitely give more notice!
Interesting post and great idea, Sarah. I can relate to the ‘not being productive in a hot summer climate’ part. And 10 weeks sounds like a good length of time for working away from home – enough time for some visiting, too. Congratulations on making it work for you.
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Thanks Céline. Good to be back (blogging)!
In terms of increased productivity, I guess it’s all relative: I find it very hard to be as productive as I would like in Brisbane, for lots of reasons (there’s a blog post there that needs to be carefully phrased to avoid needless Brisbane-bashing 🙂 ). On the other hand, I suspect your set-up might be a lot more freelance-friendly which would make leaving it more disruptive.
The choice of destination was essential to making it work, I think. I knew from experience that there would be far too many distractions in Ireland, for example, and I’d already (mis)spent some time in Madrid in my youth so I was reasonably familiar with the city, although I had no close family or friends there. As such, it was a kind of neutral ground that allowed me to more easily prioritise work over play.
Madrid also has good infrastructure and support systems for freelance workers which really helped. It was easy enough to find affordable shared accommodation with other professionals, and being surrounded by like-minded people more generally gave me a great energy boost. Plus, I found the climate a lot more forgiving, even if it was a harsh winter by normal European standards (that’s a personal preference, obviously). Added to all that, I didn’t find it hard to focus because I needed to prove to myself that I could make it work – the trip was a big investment for me financially as well as personally. Et voilà!
Welcome back (to blogging)! Can you explain what you mean by “I was perfectly positioned to make the most of it all”? My exotic working holidays involve being only 4 hours away from home and I still find it unsettling: a break from my routine isn’t conducive to high levels of productivity. Too many exciting things to do, too many lovely people to see. I’d be curious to hear how you made it work.