Woke up at 4:30 to hit the road back to LA for work. It’s always a double-edged sword on Sundays–trying to appreciate those last hours with the family and trying not to dwell on leaving them again. Always makes me feel bad when the kids start crying at bedtime…
But then, Nadia texted me some pictures of her and the kids out riding bikes around the lake after school and it reminded me of why we’re doing all of this. It was to live a better life and spend more quality time, not stress time rushing here and there. That’s #WhyWeWork!
Now that Nadia isn’t working, she gets to do the fun stuff like work on Jakobus’ bike skills (even though he took a huge digger and was over riding bikes after that). And, even though I have to spend 3 nights away from the kids each week, I’m actually spending MORE quality time with them each week. Instead of coming home fried because of work and 2.5 hour commute each day, I come home on Thursday excited to see everybody and conscious about making the most out of all of our time together.
And, I actually spend LESS time in my car every week now that I live ~300 miles away than I did when I lived just 15 miles away. I drive 3.5 hours to work. Park my car in the C.A.R. lot for the week, then drive 3.5 hours home on Thursday. I actually gained about 5 hours of my life back that I can use to do an actual hobby like video editing or blogging on this website lol.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t give a HUGE shoutout to Nadia for holding down the fort while I’m gone every day–she rocks it harder than any of you will ever know! She bears the brunt of all of the shenanigans and somehow manages to keep us all alive, healthy, fed, on track, and positive. Talk about a partner in crime!
Ultimately, there’s no silver bullet or magic solution that is going to tick all of our life boxes at once (short of hitting a huge jackpot). But, it is a good feeling knowing that your family is living the dream and that makes it all worth it. Even though it’s been a huge transition, we aren’t having any regrets. Sky’s the limit!! Stay tuned.