I’d Rather Be On the Beach Somewhere

I’ll start with the phrase everyone else is using: “During these uncertain times,” I wish more than ever that I was being quarantined on a deserted island in a hut with my top 5 books and a coconut phone. But that is not the case. I am home, I am completely comfortable. I have my family, toilet paper, and wi-fi. Guess what, I was laid off from the restaurant for an interminable amount of time just like a zillion other friends and family. This is why I always stress having 2 side-by-side careers. Throughout my whole working life, I cannot recall a time when I was not either working as an editor or in hospitality. I have had a lot of jobs, you know this. Most of the time I do both at the same time and have to juggle.

This past January, I was sought out by an eLearning company that several of my former coworkers had moved on to. Would I like to start up a freelance contract with them editing educational content from home? Yes, please! I couldn’t sign up fast enough. At the time, I was already quite busy bartending 3-4 nights a week and taking care of my family. I am more grateful than ever, now that I have this income stream and fortunately, the work is quite enjoyable. It’s almost like I am getting paid to take classes and stimulate my brain with Mozart, Ray Bradbury, and complicated elementary school math.

Bethany said this would be a time to step back and take a look at how we were living vs. how we are forced to live now vs. how we want to live in the future. I have always been a person who liked being home. I would be OK without handshakes. Do I miss waiting on people? Not really, but I sure do miss complaining about the people I was waiting on to my coworkers. Honestly, I would love to get back to the bar, but…

Lately, I have read a TON of articles on coronavirus, working from home, and homeschooling. If someone shared their blog with witty observations on life, love, and happiness, I would gladly jump on reading the whole thing in one sitting. In the past few weeks, I have been rereading my meredithmint posts and updating the brand. There is something very special about reading what you yourself wrote several years ago. It’s like finding a diary under the bed while you are spring cleaning.

The gap in meredithmint posts is attributed to the work I was doing on my newer site, On the Beach Somewhere. I came up with the name while watching Weekend at Bernie’s. The phrase “on the beach somewhere” has always been synonymous with me. In my spare time, I have been trying to chronicle my past travel with pictures and tips. My next new destination was supposed to be Puerto Vallarta, Mexico next month, but that is obviously on hold.

Since you are not going anywhere at the moment, it could be fun to dream about where to go next while perusing On the Beach Somewhere!