Do you live to work, or work to live?

A small group of us took a side trip to Santa Marta (on the northern coast of Colombia) this past weekend.  When we arrived on Friday around noon, everyone immediately pulled out computers to work….except me.  I had worked until 10:30 PM the night before and there was no way that I was going to work while at the beach!  So, I put on a swim suit and was going to head to the beach when another of the girls decided to push work back a bit and join me 🏖 . 

Most of the people that I’m traveling with are fairly young and average somewhere around 30. Although there are a few of them that don’t work (for various reasons…)  some of them are extremely driven, and it makes me more than a little sad to see them so young with the freedom and the ability to be in all of these amazing places but they are glued to work. One of the girls I was talking to this weekend said that while she was traveling she realized that she never did either thing 100%. When she was working she felt guilty because others were off having fun but while she was exploring and having fun she also felt a little guilty because she wasn’t working.

I used to be that person, but I was also responsible for supporting my family.

Now, when I’m working, I’m working. Otherwise, it’s MY time. I’m taking advantage of the experiences and the opportunities while they’re available. I participated in a panel discussion last night, and this topic came up there as well. Nobody lies in their deathbed regretting that they didn’t work more. I understand about trying to get a business off the ground. But, it shouldn’t consume your life. Do YOU live to work, or work to live?

I’ve always told my kids to choose a career that would afford them the life that they wanted. I don’t believe that we need to love what we do. We need to be able to do the things we love.

I challenge you to structure your business/work around your lifestyle.  Not your lifestyle around your business/work.  There’s an entire community of digital nomads that do this everyday, very successfully.  You can do it too.

On Saturday we went to Tayrona Park in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The landscape picture below is where the Don Diego river meets the Caribbean Sea.

The entire place was truly stunning and is the first time I’ve seen monkeys in the wild!

Saturday night we enjoyed the town for dinner and drinks, and Sunday was sailing. We went to a couple of different spots and we all took turns jumping into the sea from the boat, swimming and laughing like little kids. How often do we get to feel like kids again???

Important lesson learned this week: Some international airlines still require paper boarding passes…..

Below is our check out bill. I’m still amazed by how affordable it is here. This is basically five cocktails, one beer and one shot of tequila 😁. $31.47 seriously!

My next post will be about phone service and how I’m able to make constant phone calls to my team and my clients without incurring tons of international calling expenses. Yes, I’m a bit of a geek and I’m really dying to detail it!