Backpack Mack

How did we get here? 

The short version is that I felt incredibly burnt out in the job I was working, and decided the way to reinvigorate my energy and passion for life would be by doing something that would bring me joy. Upon more self reflection, it is deeper than that. 

The Challenge 

When Covid-19 hit, I like many people my age, had a very dramatic lifestyle change. Prior to Covid, I lived and worked in San Francisco and enjoyed all that the city had to offer. During and after, I adjusted to a much more isolated daily routine of zoom calls in an empty house. 

In addition to my new environment, I had weathered the turmoil in tech that was growth of 2021 and subsequent crash with many rounds of layoffs. Although change is a constant in my industry, the type of change I was facing at work was not productive. I had joked that I was an unkillable cockroach given that I had seen my entire team and most of my greater organization turnover. Humor aside, it had taken a toll on me. I felt emotionally drained and physically the stress was apparent with poor sleep, teeth grinding and eczema. 

Despite all that, there were some great things that happened during that time: I moved with my partner to San Diego, I visited several new countries, I ran a couple of half marathons… But on a day to day basis I did not feel like I was really living up to my potential. 

The Solution

It was clear to me that I needed to make a change, but when I thought about starting at a new job, I just could not get excited. I was missing the spark that made me driven and focused and passionate and good at my job. So the goal was to get that back. 

I read a lot about employee burnout. What did that mean? According to the World Health Organization 

“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:

• feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
• increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job
• reduced professional efficacy. 

So what would make me feel energized, positive and effective? For me the answer was spending time engaging in my passions, learning, focusing on personal growth and a sense of accomplishment. One of my biggest passions is traveling. I love landing somewhere brand new and exploring. I had a number of countries on my wish list that I would love to deep dive.  

Additionally one of my personal goals for the last few years was to learn Spanish. I had several attempts – a failed Duolingo streak, audio lessons in the car, and even a semester at San Francisco City College. Unfortunately due to lack of practice, I never really felt like it stuck. One night as I was thinking about all this I googled “study abroad for adults”. Through much research I discovered that this did in fact exist! I could travel and enroll in a program where I would be fully immersed in the language. The part of my brain that was itching for a challenge lit up.  

From there the plan unfolded. I decided how much time I could reasonably (read: monetarily) take off and where I would want to go. Given my background in corporate strategy and planning I decided to outline my goals for this adventure along with corresponding tasks and activities that would contribute to their accomplishment. They were: 

1. Learn Spanish
2. Daily exercise and movement
3. Less scrolling, more reading
4. Get creative with writing and art
5. Lean into learning regarding both personal and professional interests
6. Travel slow and really take in the places I am visiting
7. New places and experiences 
8. Feel excited and grateful about how I’m spending each day 
9. Self reflection on where I want to focus my energy 
10. Come back strong and reenergized 

So here we are, about to embark on an adventure!