Ask HN: 2 weeks off work, what to do?
Rough year of self induced stress for me so I’m taking two weeks off. What would you do?
Where I live, I have no friends and family. Looking for ideas to reset and have a good, productive time off
Where I live, I have no friends and family. Looking for ideas to reset and have a good, productive time off
Hedonistic: Fly to Amsterdam one way, buy a few doses of truffles, smoke some weed, see some boobs or whatever floats your boat I dunno. Then go to centraal station, buy the first train ticket and keep traveling. Stay in hostels, be open to meeting people. Every hostel will point you to walking tours in the morning, and usually a group will go together. Just join that group.
Saying "Hey, I've got some mushrooms, why don't we all go find somewhere to do them and hike" is actually a great icebreaker at a hostel. It's how I met my (sober) wife. Making friends at hostels throughout Europe was how I rebuilt my life after burning out on my 100% tech social network.
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Nobel: Call up Habitat for Humanity, tell them you have 2 weeks free and want to help out on a build if they have any open in the country. I did this as well, it's how I learned carpentry.
Last time I did that (not in Amsterdam), a group of 5~6 sailors wanted to come in my hotel room. (And they also wanted me to pay for the note at the bar and for the taxi) (these were memorable holiday, for the record)
@op Don't you have internet friends that you could join in some other country ? Or is there some city that organises a mildly interesting fair around, with boonies to explore around ?
Stay in a youth hostel so you meet people to have the adventure with
Is this what you’ve done before or what you would do with 2 weeks off work? Or is it just advice for someone in this situation?
During a time off, you're allowed to do nothing and to rest. Nobody will judge you.
If you afraid of being lonely and have a budget, you can travel, discover new things or culture, meet people and embrace your life as the song "Sea, Sex and Sun".
Conflicting orders, cannot comply..
(All jokes aside - I believe if only I would know how to make healthy food enjoyable I would become billionair)
I don’t enjoy sweets or fast food though, so that makes things a bit easier for me. And thank god for Coke Zero.
I just got out of one, and all the things I learned about myself, and how I relate to my emotions has been fascinating.
* How to Measure Anything
* Deep Work
* This is How They Tell Me the World Ends
Recently though, I enjoyed Bob Igor’s book as well as Fanatical Prospecting (about inbound sales).
Go travel, somewhere you've always wanted to go. Or get high and play video games if that's more your speed.
Do whatever seems fun, don't be occupied with productivity.
Take a break every once in a while for a light exercise.
Spend as little time with technology as possible.
Repeat daily.
That’s it.
Don't try to be productive, you won't be refreshed.
start friendships, go on dates
science fiction - i would recommend lois bujold's "vorkosigan" series. start with "the warrior's apprentice"; there are two prequels but they can be read on their own at any time and i think "the warrior's apprentice" is a better introduction to the series.
another very engaging series is harry kemmelman's "rabbi small" mysteries, they are both great mystery novels and an overall story arc of a young rabbi establishing himself in a small new england town.
You’ll have friends that will fast become family :) it is a challenging but achievable game with a lot of depth.