The plan this February vacation was to relocate our cohort to a new bubble at an AirBNB in North Carolina. It was a plan that would allow us to disconnect, escape our home, find slightly warmer weather, ride our bikes and see, at a safe distance, Steve’s family.

It was a plan that went off the rails with a forecast predicting record cold in North Carolina. So we rescheduled our trip for a few weeks from now, leaving us with one last decision… what to do about the time off we had already scheduled.

While it would have made total sense for us to re-open the bike shop and for me to work throughout this week, we decided instead to stick to one part of our plan – taking the time off. For Steve that meant closing the shop this week and taking the time to clean up and rebuild his work bench. For me, it’s been a week of a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothing.

I’ve checked work emails and responded to a few, but most have been snoozed until next week. I’ve gotten some things done around the house, but no major projects. Mostly cleaning out boxes and baskets which have become catchalls. I’ve taken our daughter to the mall, done some office planning stuff, attended a virtual bicycle conference and finished a few books. I’ve also slept alot. Exercised a little. And while our son has been working, made sure to get our daughter out of the house at least once a day.

I still haven’t gotten my New Year’s cards mailed – perhaps I’ll do that this afternoon. Or not.

This week, with the lack of plans and point has been lovely.

It hasn’t been a vacation. But being able to pick and choose what I work on, or respond to, has been a gift. And a reminder that even a partial disconnect can make a big difference for my mental wellbeing.