Salt + Soul Adventures

Getting salty, smiling, and chasing experiences

Tag: good-life

  • Seasonal socialising

    Winter has recently wrapped up here in Australia, a mind-blowing fact for my Northern Hemisphere friends as every movie and postcard shows mostly swimsuit-clad beachgoers soaking up the sun (or crazy animals attacking people).  Here on the Gold Coast, winter also means 15-degree Celsius temperature changes in a matter of minutes come sunset (which is about 5pm), shorts with Uggs, and it being warmer outside than it is in most houses.  Despite the frigid indoor temperatures though, I find myself with limited motivation to leave the house.  Warm blanket, cup of tea, and our dogs=winter sorted!  I like to think of this as ‘seasonal socialising’, nature just encouraging some quality down-time/home time.  That sort of suggests come summer I’m out raving every night, throwing rowdy dinner parties, and hardly home.  Not the case, though I do manage to stay up past 9 every now and then compared to the usual 730/8pm bedtime of winter.    

    It’s not so much the yearly seasonal changes, but instead the ‘season of my life’ that feels to have shifted (as corny as that sounds).  Late teens through my 20s were my college years, doing an undergrad, Masters, and then PhD degree.  Basically, this felt like 10 years of closing down the dancefloor, seeing my fair share of sunrises before seeing my bed, and being a social butterfly, followed by a final two years of hardly ever leaving the office before dark and spending more time with my computer than another human (PhD thesis mode, gooood times).  Thrown into this was some time off between degrees, which primarily involved a combination of alternating between living out of a backpack travelling the world and living back in my childhood bedroom (thanks Mom and Dad!).  Then, I moved to the Gold Coast in the land down under for a change of scenery, where I quickly made some incredible mates through surfing and climbing who threw me a giant slip and slide party to kick off my 30s.  Time to make up for those few years of social isolation it seemed!  As my 30s rolled by, I started strong (and mostly single), spending weekends out climbing, surfing, or dancing depending on the friend group I was hanging out with.  Slowly though I slowed down, settled down, and even built a house with the love of my life, never saw that one coming! And here we are, living the (our) dream.  No kids, two crazy but cute rescue dogs, a home amongst the wallabies and gum trees, and overseas trips at least once a year (hence celebrating my 40th on a dancefloor in Spain until 2am)!  However, that also means mortgage, full-time job with a beach volleyball business on the side, and what has become weekends containing 7:30pm bedtimes ‘recovering from the week’, gardening, and Friday night movies at home with the dogs.

    Current me wonders if past me would be disappointed, or proud.  In a world that encourages busyness, after-work drinks to ‘blow off some steam/cause I deserve it’, and working so you can enjoy retirement, I’d like to think this ‘seasonal socialising’ is an alternative.  I can feel the season starting to shift again, as new friendships, a growingly comfortable financial situation, and freedom from not having kids (no offense to those who do, you do you!) sings with opportunities to get back amongst it but in new ways.  From Saturdays spent beach volleyballing, ocean swimming, and socialising til sunset, to month-long Eurotrips, this new season feels one of adventure and ‘balance’.  Where a slow Sunday at home and early Friday night flows seamlessly with Saturday shenanigans and mid-week dog-friendly dinners with friends.  Where work funds fun now, not 25 years from now, and the calendar is full of more than just meetings and falsely-labelled ‘must-dos’ dictated by others.  Time for some spring cleaning as winter chills slowly fade, and heck maybe even a fun new ‘let’s boogie’ wardrobe!

  • Pond Ponderings

    Around this time last year, we decided to put in a swim pond.  Think fish pond, but for humans (though there are also fish, but little ones who won’t bite my butt or anything).  We had a corner of our yard that was a constant mud pit, a delight for the dogs until they realised playing in it=a hose-down and extra hours outside ‘cold and alone’…they’re a bit dramatic.  We’d begun considering putting a plunge pool in, as we’re on the Gold Coast and all the cool kids have one.  However, what to me looked like a big concrete or steel cube apparently cost $30,000+, and that was the basic one without any sort of pump, heater, etc.  Epp.  I suggested to Rob we could probably just get a second-hand water tank and cut the top off or something, and starting to send some Marketplace listings of options.  He was about to head overseas again for his yearly three months in Europe chasing summer while the dogs and I were left ‘cold and alone’ (see where they get it from…) in the Aus winter.  Whether it was the terror of another one of my ‘Hey babe look what I did while you were away!’ home DIY projects, or pure luck, he found something called swim ponds.  These magical backyard dreams were naturally filtering, chemical-free alternatives to pools, and even okay for dogs to swim in!   Keep talking Rob…

    Lo and behold, one of the companies was currently doing one with our house builder, and based locally!  After managing to get an appointment with them, and learning our space would be a bit tricky to access for equipment but workable, we were sold.  It also helped they could do it pretty much straight away, just before we were heading overseas (ok I wasn’t going to be all alone the whole three months, I got to go the first few weeks with Rob).  A few weeks and less than half the price of a plunge pool later, we had a swim pond, complete with its own waterfall!  It’s also two metres deep in the middle, meaning the volleyball lads love it and the dog is entertained for hours when his frisbee sinks to the bottom. 

    So, here I currently sit, pondering by the pond and warming back up in the sun as seems in winter this magical oasis is basically a giant ice-bath.  It’s Sunday, which usually means yard work and tinkering around the house, with today no exception.  However, after about seven hours of chorin’, I figure it’s rest time.  That’s a bit of a new concept for me, as someone who regularly feels like I need to be doing something to make the most of the day.  However, in recent months I’ve realised down time is sometimes the best thing I could be doing.  I read a quote the other week about how doing lots of things isn’t the same as doing the right things, but if you’re constantly staying busy you don’t allow yourself the time and space to reflect on what those right things are.  So, you just end up doing ‘stuff’ constantly but still never feeling like you’ve actually made progress towards your goals, if you even know what they are, or really done anything at all.  Yup, getting deep down here by our deep pond.  This doesn’t just go for work, though that’s probably where it may be most obvious to notice.  It’s also our finances, social life and relationships, health, and probably every other facet of life.  For example, I’m a health professional, and constantly I see clients who ‘have tried everything’ but still can’t lose weight, or feel stronger, or have more energy.  Often, it’s because they are doing so many things, but not the ‘right’ things.  They move from one approach or workout routine to the next to the next in short succession, without allowing the downtime or just time in general to see results. 

    Personally, I was like that in relationships, especially friendships.  I constantly felt like I needed to be meeting new people, and moving to new places or trying new activities, and therefore changing my friends along with it.  When I finally slowed down though, I realised there were only a few people I felt I could call for a lift to the airport at an ungodly hour (the true test of friendship).  My busyness was leaving me lonely and disconnected.  While I still like to meet new people and experience new things, now I also recognise the importance of deeper friendships, and simply being with these folks, possibly not even doing a thing. 

    Well, the sun has now moved behind a tree and coldness is demanding I get back to doing (the right thing though=inside and warm shower!).  However, if you’ve made it this far, give yourself a little space every day to stop, breath out slowly, and take a break from ‘doing’.  Then, make sure when you start back up, what you’re doing has a relevant purpose for you.  Good luck!