Office life

The past few weeks have been a long lesson in maintaining focus while trying to go with the flow.

I need to work every morning. I am a little psychotic about it. If I don’t work, I feel like a hobo who just happens to have an inexplicably expensive laptop. I took time off for the holidays to hang out with my family, but now there are no days off without extremely good reason.

Working out of the van is easy some mornings, if the weather is cool and there’s enough gas and water to make instant coffee. But have you ever tried to work in a van on a beach as the temperature outside climbs to 90? Or have you ever tried to work in the backseat of a van in the mountains, wearing socks and sweatpants and two sweaters, under a horse blanket, drinking too much coffee in an effort to stay warm? Or how about working while being a good houseguest? That one always gets to me–how to make time to work without being rude. I’m not complaining. These are beautiful problems in a beautiful life. All I’m saying is that you have to really want to do something to accomplish anything under these circumstances. You have to create a space within yourself, a home within a home, if you ever hope to concentrate.

We headed to the coast from the mountains, in hopes of finding a tranquil, breezy spot on the beach where I could work for a week or so, undisturbed. Several travelers had told us that Zipolite was the place to do just this. So, after a brief detour to the Guatemalan border for visa issues and visiting, we pointed ourselves further west to Zipolite.

Unfortunately, Zipolite was not the place for us. First of all, it was hot. There was barely any breeze at all. I was cranky when we arrived and in need of a bathroom and showers after another hot night in Puerto Arrista without these things. We ended up paying our highest price to date for a campground (300 pesos!) that was nice and close to the beach, but not on it. The beach itself wasn’t very welcoming–hot, without shade, and with red-flagged waters that are generally deemed unsafe to swim in. One of our first interactions upon entering town was, ‘Marijuana?’ A woman in our campground told me to leash Milo in this I-own-this-place manner that I hated. Wah, wah wah. I guess I just found it disappointing. We stayed for two nights just because we were too hot and tired to move on. They can’t all be winners.

We did, however, find just what we were looking for in Puerto Escondido. We happened on it by chance, a small cluster of bathrooms and showers sandwiched between a lagoon and a restaurant on the sand. The proprietor happened to be working on the lot and we have the entire place to ourselves for a mere 80 pesos per night. It is so new that they just connected the water to the new bathrooms the day after we arrived and put up the sign yesterday.

The lot is pretty small, so any more than three or four campsites would feel pretty crowded. It is so perfect that I am even tolerating the mosquitoes.

This is one of my officemates this week. He has fleas, but at least he doesn’t run the copier dry or steal my food at lunch (I feed him). We are sorely tempted to adopt him, because I’m pretty sure the rambunctious children here accidentally killed his brother the other day. It was awful.

This is another one of my officemates. He keeps forgetting my name, but he sure knows how to pound on an iPad.

Check out this table Juan made for me! He got a welder to make an adapter for my tripod so that the front Westy table fits on top. It’s life-changing. Now, all I have to do is move around every half-hour or so to stay in the shade.

Before, this was the view from my office, working inside the van.

And now, look at it!

Anyhow, I guess this is all to say that finding that perfect spot when you need it is just as much part of work as working itself. We’ve spent four nights here in Puerto Escondido and right now I just don’t feel like leaving…ever.

And to end, I think this photo of us shoe-shopping is funny, because it looks like Juan is buying the exact same pair of shoes that he is already wearing.

For the record, I haven’t put on shoes in two days. YES. WINNING.