After Taiwan, I spent some time visiting my sister and her family in California. The easiest and most comfortable entry point into the USA, ever! Thank you, sister for the delicious food and hospitality, comfortable workspace, and cozy family time.
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When I was in the Maldives in 2021, I began a year-long program through the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business for Chief Executive Officers (CTOs). As previously related in a previous blog post, I had dedicated the year to upskilling and learning — the CTO program was a part of that initiative. Initially, the program had been designed for extensive in-person learning; however, Covid necessitated a pivot to an online format which was lucky for me — I would not have been able to attend classes from my over-water bungalow on the other side of the world otherwise. As I am increasingly aware — Covid enacted needed changes for remote productivity. Organizations implemented creative, remote-first solutions and opened the door for more ubiquitous location independence I have been living by example since 2015. So I suppose I should say that while Covid initiated negative changes in my life, it also gifted me some blessings as well — attending my CTO program from an island resort in the Maldives was one of them. The eleven-month program was completed with a week of in-person, on-campus lectures, activities, and commencement during the first week of April 2022 in Berkeley, California. […]
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After spending 5 months in Denver, Colorado I needed a change of pace so I heeded the invitations of my international friends who now call Venice Beach home and spent three nights steps from the ocean, channeling some raw creative humanity to break me out of my routine. Boy did it work. Something I have had to rediscover and reminded myself of the past few months is just how much I require transition to be the best version of myself. I thrive with the discomforts of the non-routine and find myself more myself when I seek it out. My short trip to LA could never be described as uncomfortable — everything was easily facilitated with the help of my local friends Arestia, Johnson, Derryl, Chris and Brittany. Between In-and-Out burgers, a Saturday bar crawl on electric scooters and a hip, industrial art show in downtown LA — I had so much fun mixing things up. A total jolt to my system and a needed reminder of just how important environment and wonderful people are to maintaining a healthy, happy Reid.
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Back in December my sister forwarded an airline promotion email between Denver and San Francisco so I bought a flight to visit her and her family for a week in February. The intent was to inject some state-side adventure and family time as a way of self-training appreciation for what America has to offer me. It worked well in Kansas City for Christmas, Breckenridge in January; could such an ongoing strategy of regular, domestic adventures be the key to avoiding American stagnation? Is this the mode that can allow for me to live a conventional life somewhere in the USA without getting stuck in the sort of time hole that makes five or ten years of my life disappear in the blink of an eye? It’s a coping mechanism I’ve been aggressively testing in 2018. So I flew out for a week in early February to live the life my San Fran Fam lives — and it was great. My nieces and nephews are rockstars and being able to hang out with them was the highlight of my week. My sister’s family lives on the West Side of the San Francisco bay in Marin County which is really posh and […]
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