We aren’t meant to just go to work and sleep.
How many times have you thought to yourself, “I feel like all I do is sleep and go to work?” For me, when I was working five 8 hour days and every other weekend. At least once a day, I would ask myself this. That was another reason I knew I needed a change from my staff job. Switching my schedule from 5 days a week to 3 has been incredible. Although there are only four fewer hours spent at work, I genuinely feel like I don’t live at work anymore. Don’t get me wrong, those working days are long, and sometimes after a stretch of days on, they require a whole day off to recover. But my new motto to live by is: life is about adventure, so enjoy your days off.
Days off together.
Understandably, days off are great, but days off together with my husband are my favorite. Since we both work on the road and have a little more say about our schedule. We have never had as many days off together as we do now. And that means finding as much adventure as possible, whether spontaneous or planned.
We are not the type of people who like to agree to plans days in advance. And we do agree that there is nothing worse than when you decide to meet up with friends on a specific date, then that date is here, and you don’t want to go. The same can be true about days off in advance. So a lot of our adventures are spontaneous.
Side note:
Now let me be clear because if I’m not, Jake will call me a fool for saying such a thing. I wouldn’t say I like planning my days well in advance, but I am 100% the type of person who likes to have a plan for the day. Who doesn’t like making a small ‘to do’ list and crossing off those accomplishments?
What is there to do on days off?
Think about the type of activities you find interesting or fun. For us, we like being outside, motorcycle rides, sporting events, food, and anything we can do with our dogs. Some of these activities might be harder than others, depending on your location. But I would be willing to bet that you will find adventures to enjoy your days off no matter where you are.
How to find spontaneous adventures in unfamiliar places?
As mentioned before, if we can include our dogs, you can bet we will add that to the list. That’s why one of our favorite things to do is a hike. Being able to get out of the busy towns and bumper-to-bumper traffic to secluded is refreshing. We both grew up in the country, surrounded by farmlands and mountains. So going for hikes is a nice break from the hustle and bustle that we deal with and brings us back to our normal. And thanks to Alltrails.com, one of my favorite resources, and an app available on Apple and Andriod, finding places to go is easy!
And the good news is the app has a free version. It offers the ability to type in a location, zip code, or places nearby you want to hike. Alltrails also has activity options such as mountain biking, off-road driving, camping, etc. It then gives you different types of trails and directions to the start of them, maps out the length, difficulty, whether dogs are allowed, and pictures and reviews from people who have been there.
I do, however, pay for the pro version for one reason. A lot of the places we hike do not have excellent service. And I can’t tell you how many times we have been at a fork in a poorly marked trail and had to guess which way was correct. The pro version takes the guesswork out of it. You can download the map, and it will use GPS to follow you throughout your hike.
I do not have any affiliation with Alltrails.com, but it would be cool if I did – Hey All Trails, Hint… Hint…
Below are 2 of our most recent hikes.
Thanks to All Trails, we found both of these trails quickly; once we decided what would do with our days off.
Cascading Falls Loop Trail
Rachel Carson Greenway and Northwest Branch Trail
What else is there to do on days off?
Who doesn’t like a good winery? I mean, even if you’re not a massive fan of wine. Wineries seem to always have something for everyone, whether that be live music, lawn games, or food trucks. And the other great thing about wineries (at least to us) is that they are generally off the beaten path. As mentioned earlier, we love the countryside and not being close to bumper-to-bumper traffic. Wineries give us the escape to take the motorcycle out on safer roads, back to the scenery that brings tears to our eyes.
I’m not joking about the tears in our eyes. The last time we went out to a back road winery, we realized how peaceful and quiet it was. That was something we didn’t even know we were missing until we were there. The constant noise from the beltway in DC has been our regular since June. It is not until you’re removed from that until you realize how loud it truly is.
Big cities means professional sports.
The one big plus of working in populated cities is that there are a lot of professional sports. One of my favorite spontaneous trips recently was the day after a hike. You see, after the exercise (hike, bike ride) adventures, we usually like to find a tavern nearby to enjoy a ‘post-workout shake’ or, as many call it, an alcoholic beverage and some good food. So after a recent hike, we were at a tavern where we were watching baseball. I said to Jake, “I wonder if the Nats or the Orioles have home games tomorrow?” A quick google search showed that the orioles were playing my favorite team, the Red Sox, the next day at 7:05 pm. How could we pass that up? So I downloaded the StubHub app and got us tickets for the second row behind the Red Sox dugout.
The Red Sox may have lost, but we still enjoyed our day off together! And the spontaneity of the day will always be something I remember.
Remember, life is about more than just work.
I think Peter Pan said it best when he said growing up was a trap. I know most of us were told that we shouldn’t wish our childhoods away at some point in our adolescence. But none of us listened because we all were so excited to get out there, go to college, find a good job, and start our own lives. Now we are the grown-ups, waking up morning after morning, going to work, paying bills, and making our appointments.
Don’t get caught in that sinkhole that makes you feel like all you do is go to work to stay afloat. Get out there and enjoy those days off. Even if they only involve small adventures that last an hour or two, they will still make you feel more accomplished.
In the end, the goal is to appreciate the time you spent outside of work, more than the time there.
