From 1988 to 2024, I worked non-stop. Sold vacation days to make ends meet, poured everything into paying off the mortgage and never really paused. Apart from my honeymoon in 2005, my first actual family holiday didn’t happen until March 2018.
In 2024, my department, and around 10,000 other employees were made subject to a, ‘resource action’. My last day was 9th August 2024. It wasn’t a shock, we’d known it had been coming for some time. I might have been one of the few secretly hoping for it; I was ready for a break. There was a package of course, and the NDA means I can’t discuss it here.
In November 2024 I picked up a nearly-new EV. Over the next nine months, I added 7,000 fully-electric leisure miles, exploring the places I’d always wanted to visit and go to events that were otherwise out of reach. Long weekends in Wells, Glastonbury, Stroud, Oxford, and many many other trips.
During the summer I had five camping festivals, these were mostly wellness festivals with breath-work, yoga, meditation, life-skills as well as world music (and some techno!) some solo some with friends.
There’s no way I could have done all of this whilst still working full time.
More importantly, I reconnected with old friends, connected with new people, and identified parts of myself that I’d forgotten. I attend free guided walks at ta local country park. Being in a nature, meeting new people from all walks of life ensured that I was not isolated and that I had human connections outside of my household and immediate friendship group.
I also revisited things I loved as a kid: cooking, walking, and tinkering with 8-bit computers (this one has turned into a collection rather than a hobby).
Cooking has been a good mindful activity, as a fussy eater and plant-based (for health/the animals) if I make it, it’s only my fault if I don’t like it. I make a wicked Tofish (similar to battered pollock/cod) with all the trimmings, thrice cooked chips, mushy peas, a top-notch tartare sauce.
I’ve done things this past year that may not be possible in 5, 10, or 15 years. Events come and go, there’s a few I’ve been to that I won’t attend again but enjoyed. Fads come and go. Hobbies come and go. Bodies change. And you never really know what could be around the next corner.
This isn’t a sales pitch post it is a story about my experience. The next page of “The Book of Steve” has me running my own business, ensuring ‘me’ time, and giving value to my clients.
Thank you for listening, ask me anything!