Good News…MikesNotAtWork is Going Away

Hey Everyone,

MikesNotAtWork.com is going away.

The obvious question is “why is this good news?” Well, Alisa and I have decided that it’s time to combine our blogs and the result is The Carpe Diem Couple. Check out the first post here.

IMPORTANT: You must subscribe to the new blog to continue getting email updates. Simply click the “Sign up for email updates” link on the new site.

Thank you for reading MikesNotAtWork. Alisa and I really look forward to continue writing and staying in touch at TheCarpeDiemCouple.com!

Until next time (at TheCarpeDiemCouple.com),
Mike

St. John Reminiscing

Hey Everyone,

From this post’s title, it’s obvious that we have left St. John and are now back in New York (we’ve actually been back for over 2 weeks). It was very sad leaving our island paradise, but it’s been really nice seeing family and friends.

I thought this would be a good time to recap my top 5 favorite things about St. John, as well as some of things that I won’t miss so much (aka “Not-So-Favorite Things”):

Favorite Thing #5: Tie Between The Beaches, The Views and Hiking in Virgin Islands National Park
Regarding hiking, I won’t go into too much detail here as there are plenty of details in my Hiking post. As for the beaches and views, I’ll let pictures do the talking here (and you can also check out my Watersports post):

Trunk Bay

Rocky on a hike (Johnny Horn Trail)

Alisa’s parents (aka Mom & Dad) catching a smooch

Awesome view of Maho Bay and Francis Bay

Enjoying the view during a hike

Great view of Alisa’s Favorite Spot at Great Lameshur Bay

Valley view during the Maria Hope Trail

And here are some amazing views from our balcony:

Not-So-Favorite Thing: No Gym
This is a strange one…I loved working out outside and using the beach as my gym, however, it is fun to be able to go into a gym and do some heavy lifting again. I may only be saying that because I know that I only have the gym access for the next month, however, it’s been fun so far. I have to admit, however, that I am excited to see the workouts I can create in different places all over Australia (and of course get back into hiking)

Favorite Thing #4: Tie Between Happy Hour and No Open Container Laws
Regarding Happy Hour, this is a no-brainer…$1 well drinks and beers from 3-7pm every day and $3 U-Call-Its from 3-6pm (meaning literally any concoction you can create for just 3 bucks…such as my “Top Shelf Long Island Iced Teas” – a lethal goblet of Patron tequila, Aged Mt. Gay rum, Grey Goose vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin and some triple sec). As for no Open Container Laws, I have been the not-so-proud recipient of two open container violations in New York in the past (yes, I had to go to court for them) and absolutely love not having to worry about walking down the street with a cold beer. Coming back from a year where there were no open container laws and VERY lax drinking regulations is an unwelcome reality!

Favorite Thing #3: Not Dreading the End of the Weekend
I have a post about bartending at The Lime Inn coming soon, so I’ll save my details and pictures until then, but the major point here is that I worked a 14 hour double shift on Mondays in St. John and never cared at all on Sunday nights (something I cannot say about Sunday nights when I knew that there was a full week of work at JetBlue coming up).

Not-So-Favorite Thing: Slow Internet
The irony with this is that now we don’t need fast internet to stream Hulu and Netflix, since we have cable at our disposal, however, it’s still really nice to not have to worry about whether or not the internet will be super slow (or even work at all) at any given time. The last 3 months, Alisa was doing a “hard reset” of our modem almost every day.

Favorite Thing #2: Living in a “Small Town”
Living on a tiny island has taught me that I really like small towns. I like walking around town and waving hi to people I know, or walking into a bar and greeting ten people by name. I don’t know where Alisa and I will settle, but I definitely see it being somewhere without a hell of a lot of people. Spending this last week in NYC (and in many subways) has made me appreciate a small town even more.

Beautiful Cruz Bay (our town)

Not-So-Favorite Thing: Being Away from Friends and Family
The good thing about St. John is that it was close enough that we had a TON of visitors (read that post here). The bad thing is that we still missed holidays and other major events with friends and family. This will be even worse in Australia, but a reality of living a traveler’s life. At least there’s Facebook and Skype, right? It’s not much on the surface, but think back to the days of postcards…I’ll take video chat over that any day!

Favorite Thing #1: Our Friends!
It’s weird…you spend so much time with people day after day for months, and then just like that you don’t see them. This is another reality of being a traveler, but I wouldn’t trade our memories of Sunday Fundays, hikes, boat trips, happy hours, drunken movie nights, snorkeling, spear fishing and so much more for anything. I know that St. John would have been great with just Alisa, Rocky, and I on the beautiful island, however, it’s the friends we made that truly made it an AMAZING experience. Some shout outs to the people I spent the most time with: Sean, Ashton, Kelsea (check out her blog and travel adventures here: followmissmatter.com), Julia, Cyndal, and Chelsea, Tyler and the entire Lime Inn crew!

Ashton, Sean and I

As you can tell, St. John will always hold a special place in our hearts. But I’m sure we’ll be back some day.

St. John friends – Can you say Reunion Trip?!?

Until next time,
Mike

A Legendary Tradition Was Born…Sunday Funday

Hey Everyone,

It’s official, Alisa and I have left St. John and are now back in New York. It was very sad leaving our island paradise (and still is), but it’s been really nice seeing family (and we’ll be seeing lots of friends this upcoming week).

Reminiscing about St. John makes me think about the good friends we made, which also makes me think about one of the greatest traditions we had…Sunday Funday!

Although our Sunday Funday tradition only started on May 27th, 2012…9 months into our year in St. John, they are truly some of my best memories of St. John. After helping to organize Ashton’s Birthday Booze Cruise that day, this amazing tradition was born (and I became honorary “Sunday Funday Chairman,” a post that I was happy to hold since I love organizing fun events). Here is a recap of those Sundays (just a note that I may be missing some and not all are official “Facebook-Sanctioned Events”):

Sunday 5/27/12 – Ashton’s Birthday Booze Cruise Aboard “Bad Kitty”

The crew at our first stop – Virgin Gorda

Yes, Ashton’s birthday = Jameson to the face

Sunday 6/17/12 – Red Hook Pub Crawl

Stop #1 – Duffy’s Love Shack

Stop #2 – Island Time Pub

Stop #3 – Caribbean Saloon (and “Candy Corn Shots”)

Stop #4 – Big Bambooz (and Flip Cup, of course)

Stop #5 – Chinese Food Dinner (no better way to end a Pub Crawl)

Sunday 6/24/12 – Beach/BBQ Day at Hawksnest Beach

Ashton and I enjoying some Caribbean sun

Hey Sean, what are you planning with those cups?

A feast on the beach

Sunday 7/1/12 – St. John Carnival (check out the previous post here for tons of pics and also check out our “World’s Greatest Festivals” TV Demo here)

Sunday 7/15/12 Dinghy Day

The boys (and Cyndal)

Big shocker…Ashton with a bottle of Jame-O

Sunday 7/22/12 – Rhumblines All-U-Can-Drink Brunch and Cinnamon Beach

Talk about a Sunday Brunch Crew!

Sunday 7/29/12 – Movie Day: The Dark Knight Rises

Awesome group for a pre-movie lunch at Kokopelli

Look at the excitement on Sean’s face (too bad the movie was a real snoozefest)

Sunday 8/12/12 – Joe’s Apartments “Block Party”

The Flip Cup Tourney Finals. Let’s see who wins the coveted tournament bracket…

Come on, you saw that coming (sorry Ashton)

Rocking out in our parking lot

Sunday 8/19/12 – Jost Van Dyke on Marc’s Boat

“Captain Mike” (okay I really wasn’t doing much)

Me, Sean, and the real Captain, Marc (on beautiful White Bay, Jost Van Dyke)

Who’s that random chick in the back??

Sunday 8/25/12 – The Lime Inn End-Of-Season Beach Party

Just 5 of the hundred or so other people chilling at Maho Bay…celebrating a great year at The Lime Inn

As you can see, we had a blast Sunday after Sunday with great friends. Hopefully the “Sunday Funday Crew” can reunite in the not-too-distant future and continue making some amazing (although somewhat blurry) memories.

Until next time,
Mike

Hiking on St. John – A Summary of Awesomeness

Hey Everyone,

Alisa, Rocky, and I recently completed every hiking trail on St. John. Well, at least every trail listed in Gerald Singer’s book “Off The Beaten Track,” as you can see here:

(*The only trails that I couldn’t do are the Caneel Bay Trails, only because they don’t allow the public inside – which I think is a terrible policy. Alisa got to hike those trails as a tour guide for VI EcoTours)

St. John is over 60% National Park (Official link and Wikipedia link). This means that you can find great trails in almost any direction, however, the park is only 23 square miles, meaning that it is fairly easy to experience every trail if you have an extended stay on St. John. By comparison, Grand Canyon National Park is 1,900 square miles, Yellowstone National Park is 3,500 square miles, and Kakadu (the largest national park in Australia) is 7,600 square miles. You can fit 330 VI National Parks into Kakadu, and that’s just one of 500 National Parks in Australia…jeez.

Regardless, I have had an amazing year here exploring all that the park has to offer, often with Alisa and almost ALWAYS with my best little bud Rocky. Here is my list of the “Best Hiking Trails” in the Virgin Islands National Park:

Best Overall Hike: The Caneel Hill – Margaret Hill – Caneel Resort – Honeymoon Beach – Lind Point Loop
-This is a perfect hike and starts right from town (walk past Mongoose Junction and catch the spur trailhead right there). This hike is a great mix of challenging incline, amazing 360 views (from the overlook at the of top Caneel Hill you can see St. Thomas, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola and even St. Croix on a clear day), lots of shade, and a pleasant, peaceful environment to hike through.

Rocky at the Top of Caneel Hill

Alisa’s Favorite View (hiking up Margaret Hill)

Most Challenging Hike: The Hawksnest – Gibney Bay – Denis Bay Scramble
-Alisa, Rocky and I love scrambles but even Rocky couldn’t come along for this one. It’s long, challenging and hot! Start at Hawknest and walk to the right on the beach. Start climbing the rocks just like when you were a kid. Walk across Gibney and then climb all the way to Denis Beach.

Alisa Loves Scrambling!

We did it!

Most-Challenging-Yet-Most-Fun-Hike (and my FAVORITE HIKE): The Fish Bay Gut Hike
-This is a rock scramble/bouldering hike through some of the most amazing scenery. It’s challenging and a great workout, and Rocky absolutely loves this one! You can take a right at the fork (during the trail) and head up the Battery Gut, however, we always enjoy the Fish Bay Gut more. If you’re feeling real adventurous you can continue up the waterfall and keep hiking ALL the way up the gut (just watch out for the families of spiders, which Alisa could definitely do without).

Alisa, Julia and Rocky

Family time at the top of a cliff

Julia helping Rocky over a big jump

Sean and Ashton sweating out some booze

Best Generic Hike: Reef Bay and Petroglyph Hike
-This is “generic” because almost anyone and everyone who hikes on St. John checks out this trail. It is the most highly promoted trail by the National Park Service (they lead their guided hikes here), and with good reason. The terrain is beautiful and there is a lot to see (including spiders on this one too). Near the bottom you take the spur trail to see the ancient Taino petroglyphs (similar to hieroglyphics). If you’re feeling adventurous you can take a left just before the petroglyphs to find a hidden waterfall/resting area above the petroglyph area. At the bottom of the trail you can tour an ancient sugar mill, filled with hermit crabs and bats (look up at the roof). For extended hikes you can either continue to Lameshur or start all the way at Maho Bay and take the Maria Hope trail (which ends at the beginning of the Reef Bay Trail). One negative…this trail all downhill first, which means all uphill on the way back. Not my ideal way to do a hike but unavoidable on this one.

(The waterfall only rages like this during hurricane season)

Reef Bay Sugar Mill

Sean, Rocky and I at the “secret waterfall”

Alisa striking a pose (and Rocky impatiently waiting at the head of the pack)

Best Long Hike: Reef Bay Coastal Walk – Reef Bay – Lameshur Hike
-Drive on the South Shore past Fish Bay and into Reef Bay. Hike down and start the coastal walk. Once you reach the Reef Bay trail, make a left and take the trail until you can make a right onto Lameshur. If you make it all the way to the ruins at Little Lameshur bay it will be an 8 mile roundtrip hike through varied terrain and environments. The halfway point has a great resting spot under a nice shady tree.

Alisa’s Favorite Spot overlooking Great Lameshur Bay

Reef Bay in the distance

Best View: Ram Head
-This is a hot, exposed hike but not too long in distance. As you get closer to the peak you can get some incredible wind gusts from the west. Once at the peak you can look over the edge (if heights don’t scare you) and enjoy some incredible panoramas. The only other view I would put on the same level is from the observation tower at the top of Caneel Hill (mentioned in the hike above).
Alisa at the top of Ram Head

Sean, Kelsea, Rocky and I

That’s Sean and I at the top of the peak next to Ram Head

__________

Considering it’s taken me the better part of a year to hit every corner of the park, you can imagine the intimidation of only having a year in Australia and its hundreds (yes, hundreds) of national park. However, forget about that intimidation…I am excited as hell!

Here are two miscellaneous, fun hiking pics I wanted to include:

“Machete Sean” – We tried to blaze a trail up Mary’s point but the thorns got too thick…

“Waterlogged Alisa” – After the Brown Bay Scramble the only way out was through the water. Rocky’s grip on Alisa shows how much he was NOT liking this!

Three final points to close…
1. have to thank Alisa for getting tougher and tougher as the year has gone by. She went from being freaked out when a plant touched her leg to scrambling across crazy rock expanses!

Scrambling across Yawzi Point (next to Little Lameshur Bay)

Queen of the hill! (taken on the Brown Bay Scramble)

2.Thank you to Bella, our awesome Jeep, for taking us to all different hiking trails around the island. We sold her just a few hours ago to our friend Cyndal and hope that she has just as much fun with Bella as we did!

Alisa with Bella right after we bought her

Rocky is one of his favorite positions…catching some wind!

Cyndal and Bella

3. And lastly, a HUGE shout out to my hiking buddy, Rocky. He loved to hike whenever and wherever and always kept me company. I don’t know what I’ll do without him in Australia but you can be sure I’ll think about him on every hike that I do. It kills me to think about not having him with me but am thankful for the countless memories with him hiking the crap out of this island! For a 6 pound Yorkie, he is the MOST BADASS HIKING DOG ON EARTH!!!!

Rocky posing for his picture

Chillin’ on the rocks during the Lind Point Scramble

Soaking up the view on the Cinnamon Bay Trail

Resting near the ruins next to Little Lameshur Bay

The cutest motherfucker EVER!

Father and Son…enjoying yet another awesome St. John hike

I’ll try to get more videos up on Facebook, but for now here’s one of Rocky running up some Rocks.

Until next time,
Mike

Two More Bucket List Items Down…Learn to Sail and Learn to Windsurf!

Hey Everyone,

Two days ago was my last day working at Cinnamon Bay Watersports (technically called “Wind N Surfing Adventures“). It was perfect timing to close the shop, as Hurricane Isaac was drawing nearer (although it never materialized too badly down here).

I use the term “working” loosely. Over the course of the past year, I managed to work out an informal barter deal with the guys at the shop. Originally I was actually going to work there, but then I realized that I couldn’t devote the time needed. So the new plan was that I would come by roughly once a week to help out with whatever was needed; and in exchange I would get to play with the gear (and as it turns out, get lessons as well). In essence I was the big, dumb guy who knew nothing but could lift heavy things…a title I definitely didn’t mind since it allowed me to be there!

Awesome panorama of Cinnamon Bay (taken from the Cinnamon Bay Trail)

Although I only spent about one day a week there, spending time at the Watersports Shop was one of the highlights of my time in St. John. Every time I went there I was somewhat nervous about what the day would bring, but every single time I left the beach I was in a great mood after having an awesome day. It also allowed me to cross off two items on my Bucket List:

Learn to Sail

Learn to Windsurf






(Full disclosure – I am still a beginner at both sports, but definitely know a LOT more than I did before!)

This experience has also given me a huge…wait for it…
*LIFE LESSON – If you have the time and dedication, you don’t have to spend a fortune to do/learn amazing things. It would have cost me thousands of dollars in sailing and windsurfing lessons, plus rental fees, but by bartering my time and working hard I essentially got this for free (and met some awesome people along the way).

So what is on your bucket list that you can’t seem to find the time or money to do? Is there a creative way that you can make it happen? Don’t let more time pass if there is a way that you can do it now!

To close, I need to give a huge thanks to Kendall Cornejo, Ollie Shanklin, and the entire Cinnamon Bay Watersports Crew (Dax, Mickey, and Thais come to mind). Particular shout outs to Ollie for hooking me up with the gig in the first place and Kendall for absolutely everything else…including teaching me these sports. I am even more excited now to hone my sailing and windsurfing skills and of course learn more new sports…surfing, scuba diving, and kite surfing definitely come to mind when I think about Australia (and New Zealand).

Until next time,
Mike

The World Premiere of “World’s Greatest Festivals” and “World’s Coolest Jobs”

Hey Everyone,

As you can see on My Bucket List, I have listed “Film a TV Show Demo and Get It Produced.” After a chance encounter back in May, I decided that Alisa and I need to at least try to make this a reality.

It was then that I was bartending at the front bar at The Lime Inn. A guy came in during happy hour and since it was just the two of us there, we struck up a conversation. It turns out that he was Greg Aiello and he is the host of a TV show called “Motion” on the Live Well Network. His job is to travel the country and film his show as he explores different National Parks. As you can imagine, he was here in St. John to film an episode in the Virgin Islands National Park. As an avid hiker and lover of National Parks (having been to 10 and counting), I was fascinated (although not quite as jealous of Greg as I am of Zane Lamprey, who gets to travel the world and drink with locals…a dream job indeed).

Alisa and I have had two ideas for shows, even before I met Greg, and both based on our experiences of quitting Corporate America and beginning to travel the world. It was simply this chance encounter that lit a fire to make these ideas a reality. Especially after Greg told me that a lot of new(er) networks are seriously looking for new and exciting shows.

So after that, Alisa and I bought a microphone for her HD camera, wrote two scripts, and got to work…

Please click below and enjoy the World Premiere of :
“World’s Greatest Festivals”

and “World’s Coolest Jobs”

So what did you think? PLEASE email me, comment on Facebook, or leave a comment on this blog (below) to let us know what you think. Also, please let us know if you know anyone in “the business” who may be interested in producing either or both of the shows and we can reach out to them and send a query letter (or feel free to just go ahead and show them these demos directly).  Clearly Alisa and I think that it would be an amazing experience to travel around the world filming these shows (and now we have the time and freedom to do so), but we also believe that these can be exciting and inspiring shows that everyone would truly enjoy.

Thanks so much and we hope to hear from you!

Lastly, huge thanks to Bradford Leonard, all our friends who were cool with us shoving a camera and mic in their faces during Carnival, and everyone else involved in these demos!

Until next time,
Mike

The “Messeroff St. John B&B” is Now Closed

Hey Everyone,

Our very last visitors are here right now – Shelley, my friend from JetBlue (and our very first visitor) and her boyfriend Marc.

$3 U-Call-It Happy Hour at Joe’s Rum Hut

We’re having a great time and doing the usual…beach, happy hour, dinner, hiking (with Rocky of course), and catching up on old times.

I thought this would be a great time to look back on all of our visitors here and thank all of them for coming and experiencing our new lifestyle with us. First, shout outs to the last several visitors who have yet to get in my blog:

Phil and Kate Fort (Causing trouble at Trunk Bay)

Kirstin and Jason Frazell (Big surprise that I’m using a happy hour pic)

James Hafele (I thought I give the thumbs up!)

Dad and Janice (At the Bordeaux Mountain Overlook)

My sister Amy (Yes, Alisa and Amy are playing nude Photo Hunt at Castaways)

…and to everyone who came before them:
-Monique and Alessandro – Check out their post here
-My cousin Talia
-My Mom and her friend Wendy – Their post (along with everyone below) is here
-My sister Cara
-My Aunt Julie, Uncle Bruce and cousins Samantha & Lindsay
-My Aunt Lauren, Uncle Danny and cousins Mallory & Brooke
-Jamie & Matt Schweitzer
-Mom & Dad (Alisa’s parents)

Being here for a full year we have had 28 visitors, not including 3 guests who actually did pay to stay with us (through AirBnB.com). So that’s 31 guests at our little slice of paradise. We have enjoyed hosting ALL of you and spending time with you here.

As they say…when one door closes another opens. So who is coming to visit us in Australia?!?

Until next time,
Mike

Another Bucket List Item Down…Experience The St. John Festival (aka Carnival)

Hi Everyone,

On September 5th, in less than 8 weeks, Alisa and I will bid farewell to St. John. While it’s been fun to plan the two months that we will be in New York and Virginia, we can’t help but start to get depressed about leaving this paradise…and that’s exactly what it is…paradise! We are trying to make sure we do everything that we want to do before we leave and soak this place in as much as possible. Just over a week ago we had the amazing opportunity to experience St. John in a completely different way…Carnival!

Alisa and I at Festival Village

Similar to many other Carnival celebrations around the world, the St. John Carnival draws on African and European customs including music, dancing and masquerades. In addition, the St. John Carnival celebrates freedom and emancipation, as many of the local West Indians have ancestry tracing back to the slaves that worked on the sugar plantations of St. John in the 1700s. The festival culminates on July 4^th, making this an epic Fourth of July celebration as well.

The St. John Carnival takes place all throughout June and up to July 4^th each year. The real party gets started the last week of June and culminates on July 4^th with an all-night party and dancing in the streets as the sun comes up*, an extraordinary parade, and fireworks to cap it all off.

*About that all-night party…it’s called J’ouvert (pronounced “Joo-vay”) and is said to celebrate the one day that slaves “had off” each year. Since this was their only day to have fun all year long, they started the party as early as possible to maximize their fun, and kept the party going all day long. Pretty cool story and amazing that the tradition lives on today.

This festival made my Bucket List and I’m happy to say that we truly experienced it and did it right. In town, there is a parking lot next to the US Customs dock. During Carnival, this parking lot becomes “Festival Village” and every night from June 29th-July 4th there was awesome live music, tons of vendors selling local food and drinks, and people from all over the Virgin Islands and beyond having the time of their lives.

Just one of the aptly named booths at Festival Village

How could I not love a celebration sponsored by my favorite booze!

Partying with Sean and Kyle at Festival Village

Dancing with Marvi

Alisa and Ashton getting down in Festival Village

Even Rocky loves the Electric Lemonades from Shuga Shack!

The true craziness occurs on the eve of July 4th and all throughout July 4th. Alisa and I planned this 24+ hours of debauchery well in advance to make sure we experienced all that it had to offer (we even had several conversations/debates with others about how to successfully navigate 24 hours of partying). This was our schedule:

• July 3rd, 10:00pm: Alisa got off from work and met me at home. Nap time until about midnight
• July 4th, 12:00am: Woke up, blasted some party music, and headed to Festival Village with drinks in hand
• July 4th, 3:00am: Festival Village closed down, chilled on the street with friends until J’ouvert began at around 4:00am. J’ouvert started with a steel drum marching band followed by some partiers, and then grows into a mass of people being led by a semi-truck blasting music through the streets…a truly unique experience

The sun rising on St. John…we’re still going strong

Alisa getting some air as J’ouvert gets underway

Alisa, Ashton and Sean…with the J’ouvert truck pulling up

Taking a break from dancing to take this pic

The street was packed!

Julia and Ashton managed to get on the truck

Dancing down the street

• July 4th, 7:00am: With the sun fully up and 8 hours of partying under our belt, Alisa and I headed home for nap time
• July 4th, 1:00pm: Woke up, showered and blasted some more music. Filled our cooler and headed into town to meet friends to watch the parade. The parade lasted for HOURS and filled the streets with music, dancers and an all-around great atmosphere

Alisa and I at the parade

The Busteed Brothers rocking out

Ashton and Lou Lou looking as happy as ever

Everyone wants a drink at the parade

Alisa could have been in the parade

• July 4th, 7:00pm: Dinner with Alisa and Sean at Fatty Crab to kill time before the fireworks (and have an awesome meal). I was fading and ready to head home, but am thankful that Alisa and Sean talked me into toughening it out for the fireworks

Drinking the Recession Special at Fatty Crab

• July 4th, 9:00pm: Headed down to the beach at Cruz Bay, found a nice spot, and enjoyed some amazing fireworks (yes even by NYC standards)

• July 4th, 10:00pm: Home. Exhausted. Bed.

The St. John Carnival was an unbelievable experience and I couldn’t have been happier to have been here with Alisa for it. It was also an amazing way the spend the Fourth of July and helped us get over our first year of not throwing an awesome party at our New York City apartment, overlooking the Hudson River and Macy’s fireworks. Next Fourth of July should be interesting as well…hopefully we can find some expats in Australia to grab burgers and beers with!

I hope you all had an awesome Fourth of July too!

Until next time,

Mike

Time Well Wasted

Hi Everyone,

I thought a lot about what the title of this post should be, but kept coming back to Brad Paisley’s song “Time Well Wasted” (click the link if you don’t know the song). Lately, I find myself getting more and more stressed out when I feel like I have not been productive or not crossed off many items each day on my To Do List.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love lists and find them very helpful. However, I find myself forgetting why we came to St. John in the first place. I even mentioned it in my last blog post: “to spend a year in one location chilling out and decompressing.” When I take a minute to remind myself of this, it really helps to put me in a good mood and realize that not crossing things off a list does not mean that my day was not productive.

Think back on your last year, or even just the last six months since New Year’s. What memories stand out to you? Was it a staff meeting, business trip, or birthday celebration in the break room [insert cringe here]? Or was it time spent with friends and family, maybe doing nothing more than relaxing and having fun? My guess is the latter…

So am I saying that you should quit your jobs or call out sick more often than not? Of course not…but what I am saying is that the memories we cherish, the days that we look back on and say “yeah, that was a great day” are the most important things in our lives. In essence they ARE our lives. So why not make those memories happen as often as possible?

Believe me, I’m no expert on this and quite frankly have trouble with this every day? I like crossing things off my list so much that I often have “update to do list” as an item on my to do list, just so I can cross it off! I am also a strong believer in setting aside time, perhaps even a full day, to buckle down and get work done (as Alisa mentions in her last blog post). But right now I am trying hard to just enjoy life and the little things each day that make life so amazing. Whether it’s a hike with Rocky (and being in no rush for it to end), some alone time with Alisa, Sunday Funday with friends, or a random afternoon of watching Lord of the Rings while drinking some Rum & Root Beers with my friend Sean (which was the culprit for me not getting this blog post written sooner), these are the memories I will look back on and smile.

(Alisa and I after finishing a long hike/scramble from Hawksnest Beach to Denis Beach)

(Rocky chilling on Dad’s lap, enjoying this killer view of Cinnamon Bay)

(Ashton, Sean and I at a Sunday Funday Happy Hour)

 

To quote the Pink Floyd song “Time” (one of my all-time favorite songs):

And then the one day you find,
ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run.
You missed the starting gun.

You may read and interpret this as “Climb the Corporate Ladder” or “Make Money” or some other expectation imposed by society. I interpret this as “Enjoy your life now, before it’s too late.” I spent ten years at JetBlue, and I do not count those as wasted years. However, and to further clarify my point from earlier, my greatest memories from those years do not involve the thousands of hours I spent in the office, it involves time spent with loved ones. Some more from Pink Floyd:

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older.
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

Don’t miss the starting gun for your life. Mine may have come roughly three decades in…but it’s never to late to start living and enjoying each day. Especially if those days are filled with Time Well Wasted.

Until next time,

Mike

*By the way, have a very happy and safe Fourth of July! Alisa and I are in the midst of our most unique July 4th experience yet…the St. John Carnival! Expect a post on that soon…

5 Steps To A Big Life Change

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been meaning to get this post written for some time. Recently a friend of a friend starting asking some of the exact questions I wanted to answer in a post, so here goes…

How do you “make the big move,” “take the big leap,” “change your life” or whatever else you may call it? Here are the major steps that Alisa and I took, in order:

Step 1: Decide that you really want a big change

This is easier said that done. We gave up well-paying corporate jobs with great benefits, were living in one of the greatest cities in the world, and were very close to many of our friends and family. For us, it came down to the fact that we were not enjoying every day. And regardless of what Loverboy tells you, “Workin’ For The Weekend” is no way to live…(sorry, and totally unrelated, but that song always makes me think of this clip).

So are you ready to give up the comforts and familiarity of your daily routines? This is what Tim Ferriss, in The 4-Hour Workweek (one of my favorite books), says is the most common and most insidious problem – “a tolerable and comfortable existence doing something unfulfilling.”

Step 2: Define the big change

For us, we decided that we wanted to travel as much as possible, but first spend a year in one location chilling out and decompressing. There are tons of places that Alisa and I want to visit (just take a look at my bucket list, and that’s not an exhaustive list), but we knew we wanted to take it easy first and get used to a new lifestyle of limited funds and maximum fun.

(This is exactly when Alisa and I decided to move to St. John back in February 2011…while we were drinking $1 drinks at Woody’s Happy Hour)

What is your “big change?” Maybe you want to learn to sail and sail around the Caribbean, start a new profession that’s something you always wanted to do, or maybe you just want to start crossing off that bucket list and realize that someday needs to be today or it will never happen! Define your big change and start getting excited.

Step 3: Pick a date

Now that you know what you want to do, you need to figure out when you can do it. Be careful here not to go back in your old ways and think that “someday” it’ll happen…it WILL NOT HAPPEN until you pick a date. Also, do something to make this date official, such as buying the plane tickets (or just post it on Facebook and start telling everyone about it).

Alisa and I just watched The Truman Show last night (not for the first time but it’s been a while). It’s amazing how much of the movie is focused on Truman’s desire to travel and explore the world, yet faces obstacles at every turn (an extreme fear of water, a travel agent that can’t seem to find him any tickets for the next 30 days as well as anti-travel posters all of the place like the one below, a sick mother, a wife who wants to stay put and start having babies, and so on and so on).

Truman’s obstacles were all manufactured, but our obstacles are all real. Only when you decide what you want to do and when (exactly) you intend to do it, can you move on to the next step.

Step 4: Work backwards

If you are planner (like Alisa) or a list-lover (like me), then you will love this step. If not, you will still have fun getting into the details of planning the next phase of your life. As a very general guide, you will need to start planning for the following:

• Money: How much savings can you spend, How much you will need to live, How much you will need to earn, etc.
• Accommodations: Options galore here; such as apartments, house rentals, backpacking, Workaways, Couchsurfing, HomeExchange, and so on…
• Jobs: What skills do you have? What skills could you learn? I realized that a decade spent in the corporate world really does not give you too many practical skills outside of business (I can barely put up a towel rack in the bathroom). This is when I decided to learn how to bartend and I cannot tell you how happy I am that I did that. I love bartending here and most likely would have never been able to do it without previous experience. What job is calling your name?

The internet will be your main tool for research, however, don’t underestimate your network of contacts, friends and family. You never know who knows someone who did the same thing you are planning to do or lived in the same place you are moving to and can give you first-hand advice and maybe even some intros. For us, Alisa’s high school friend Margot was living in St. John and let us stay with her to compare St. John vs. St. Thomas and also made the intro for Alisa to Kekoa, the tour operator that she still works for.

Also, Alisa and I knew that we would rent an apartment but booked a cheap Inn for 2 nights with the option to stay longer if we needed to. We found a great apartment right away (moving here in the off season helped) and we moved in on our third day in St. John.

(Another pic from our first visit to St. John…at the very same apartment complex where we live now)

Step 5: Start living your new life

There will always be unknowns and no list will ever be complete, however, that is the fun of it all! Take, for example, our car…I definitely didn’t want to buy a car but came around after a full month here. It became apparent that having a car would allow us to fully explore and enjoy the island…every beach, hiking trail, and secret cool spot could now be accessed whenever we want (and walking up our massive hill will armfuls of groceries was getting old!)

There are so many things that you will learn along the way. Mistakes will be made but just the fact that you are doing it is the most important part. As the date of your big change approaches more details will become clear, until finally it’s time to just do it. Remember, you only live once. If things don’t work out with your plans you can always try something else. I know that I’d rather take a life of risk, adventure, and fun as opposed to “a tolerable and comfortable existence doing something unfulfilling.”

What about you?

Until next time,

Mike