Speaker #0Hi, welcome to The Pulse, the podcast where we explore the heartbeat of life and work. I'm Julie, your host, and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey. Every two weeks, I will bring you a regular dose of inspiration, practical tips, and regular stories about personal development, wellness, and career growth. Whether you're looking for motivation, fresh perspective or just a reminder that you're not alone, you are in the right place. So welcome and let's dive in. Hello, hello. I hope you're doing well today. We are in a new episode and I'm on a different location today so I hope the sound and everything will still go well. Today I really want to talk... about actually something a bit fun, which is we can get away. And why do I want to talk about this? Because we get busy all year long and we make plans, of course, for holidays. But depending on where you're located, you may have a lot of holidays, some less. I know that if you're, for example, in the US, you may end up with two, three weeks of holidays. If you're in Europe, you're in more around five, six. And the year is very long, right? We're talking 52 weeks and it's very difficult. to ensure that you remain successful or having the same energy all year long. And in order to keep that energy, you have to find ways to make yourself or your day-to-day fun. And one thing is, of course, related to work, related to hobbies, which we've already done, but I wanted to do a bit of an episode where sometimes taking a break and going away for a weekend and can be quite helpful into resourcing and to... helping you feel better, feel re-energized, etc. So today's goal is really to talk to you about how do I do weekend getaways? What do I do usually to get my mind off of work? So it's in a way a getaway can be meant from the headspace standpoint. You may not be moving or it could be that you're going somewhere and visiting a different location. So let's talk about those different parts and what you can do in general to Thank you. get your mind off of work, off of the daily routines and make your weekend exciting. Of course, it doesn't have you shouldn't live just for your weekends and weekend talks. Most likely I will do another episode on it. But for now, I wanted to do something on weekend specific. So the first things first is, of course, whenever you get a chance to go away for the weekend, you may end up going in different location. You may end up just you visiting a new place like visiting a new city or for example going into a countryside or to the mountains or to the beach etc. Whenever you get a chance to go away from your regular location somewhere that you don't automatically know I would always recommend to define how long do you have and based on that how do you plan for it and let me give you a few examples so you I sometimes like to visit new cities and use those moments in the year to go potentially actually also run in different locations and use the opportunity to visit the city. And that gives me a break from my current main living location and gets to experience a new place, experience new food, discover the environment, etc. And because it's a weekend, it's quite short. But here is a few tips that I would give. to you whenever you do that so if it's a place that is brand new you should of course plan a little bit but don't over plan it either I would not give the opportunity to have this kind of freedom this kind of opportunity to be able to discover something random based on what's happening on the day in the location and in order to do that usually first you plan when do you travel how long do you have on site in this location so for example I just went to Helsinki and I flew on Friday morning and I arrived around lunchtime. Then I had, so I had Friday afternoon, then I had Saturday and I was flying back very early on Sunday. So that was a very, very short trip in that case because I had some flight changes. I was supposed to spend the whole Sunday, but basically I had a day and a half on site. And within that time, I also was running a half marathon on the Saturday morning. So first of all, what I did is I looked at... Public transportation. How do I get from the airport to the city? Or if you take the train, how do you move around the city in order to see some sights of what you want to see? Also then the next piece is to look at what you want to see. And so usually if you're doing a weekend, you don't ever want to pack, but have maybe one or two plans of things you really want to see or look at. So if it's a museum, it's an art expo, if it's a certain monument, etc. So plan for it, potentially take some tickets early. If you think that it's an attraction that a lot of people are going to go to. Those two combos should give you also an idea of how your environment is going to be. So by looking at the public transport, you potentially are going to look at, does it make sense to have a certain tickets, like two days, three days, etc. So I know, for example, in Helsinki, there is a ticket. You can take 24 hours, 48, 72 hours. And this you can find very often. And you have a touristy one, which is quite expensive, but it gives you free... entry to some museums which if you are having time to go to multiple museums and if you plan for it makes sense but for me I knew that I was going to go maximum to one museum and the rest was going to be more going around or to location that I want to see that are free so it didn't make sense in that case to take that one but there was another ticket which was a 24 48 etc hours ticket but just for public transportation so always have a bit of a look at it from the perspective in terms of like, what do I want to do? Do I have to pay for entry? is this can be included into some kind of touristy ticket. If not, then what are the options when it comes to going around the city? And this comes to the second part of going around the city. I've also had the case before where I felt I wanted to see some very touristy places. And while public transportation was quite good in the city, it was not the most ideal because it felt like I was having to change very often or having to find some special routes. And actually taking the bus, the touristy bus, you know, the one that does the sightseeing and goes into the different location was actually almost the easiest. And that happened for me when I went to Brussels on that day because I needed some public transportation to go outside of the city. But then if not, I wanted to be able to hit quite quickly a few places and it was easier to take that bus. And it was giving me the opportunity to hear very quickly about the city and get the hang of it. in order to then figure out and do things by myself. So don't be shy also of those touristy bus. I know that some people really do not like it and I'm not the biggest fan either, but sometimes it's nice. I also had the case when I went to Stockholm a couple of years ago where I was racing a 10k in the evening. So I didn't want to spend the whole Saturday walking around the city. because I didn't want to tire my legs. So taking that bus allowed me to do really a sightseeing tour without overly challenging my body. But in specific cases, but always consider this or consider going by foot. I would also consider walking around the city. It's the best thing ever. So this is when it comes to logistics. But of course, afterwards, look at maybe around the area where you're staying, if there is a few like restaurants or places. local food try as much as possible don't go to the overly touristy places but try to find those little gems and nowadays with google maps with stuff like this you can find some insights in term of where to go and what to do but plan those elements but don't plan beyond that because you want to be able to potentially have to find a place along the road where you see oh i want to have dinner there. I've had the case when I was in Paris long ago. Of course, I've been to Paris many times and this time I decided to stay in another arrondissement that what I'm used to. And I had no plans for dinner and I walked around and find a restaurant that I thought was nice. I liked the food and I found they had a spot actually at the bar, which is amazing because then being by myself and sitting at the bar, I got to talk to the people around me that were usually also solo travelers. I got also the opportunity to see how they were cooking, which was quite fun. and quite entertaining and I had an amazing night and I did this also in Barcelona so there's many places where you can also if you're a solo traveler sit at the bar and don't feel like you're alone having dinner so I would really encourage you that whenever you do city travels city gateways to really experience and by doing so it's really about putting the phone down usually focusing on your experience of the city and finding those little gems so it's not just overly looking at the touristy thing that you want to pick up but just go with the flow and give space for opportunities and I've told you now I've also done racing when I go to those location which allows me to be able to view the city in a different perspective I've really liked it there are location that I want to visit so it's not that I'm I'm automatically wanted to go racing and then it's more the other way around I want to visit I use the opportunity of potentially a race, half marathon, 10Ks, etc. to go visit those cities and that showed me the city in a very different light. I had the chance to do this also in Stockholm and it was an amazing 10k and it was at night with so many people. You have the vibe of the city. Everyone was cheering. It was an amazing experience and something very different. So I would also encourage you to think of those ideas. It doesn't have to be this one. It can be other sports or other activities that you like or an expo that you really want to see. But consider this within... your plans and your getaways. I've talked about traveling to a city which is of course have a lot of attraction but you may also want to do a getaway in at the beach or in the mountains or in the countryside and in that case you are most likely looking at a different kind of way to enjoy and different opportunities so maybe some hikes some beach you want to hit maybe doing some yoga some walks etc refreshing activities like clearing up your mind going for a nice walk and enjoying the view and the scenery and this is also something that you have to to consider whenever you do those weekends so what is my my objective where do i what do i want to do with it and how do i enjoy it the best that i can without overwhelming myself right if you go you to the mountains you may want to hike and that might be a bit energizing you but you may also want to kind of like enjoying the view for for a couple of hours or having the sunset by the beach etc so some nice activities and also some still some local food wherever you go that helps you refresh your mind and I would expect potentially you leave on a Friday afternoon or Friday evening and then come back on Sunday or maybe you take four days if it's a four-day Thank you. maybe you have Easter or something like this, you get to experience those moments and really enjoy and refresh your mind. So this is also something to consider whenever you do those gateways. If this is something that is helping you feel more re-energized for the rest of the time of being in a different view, in a different environment. I'm just, as I'm speaking, I'm looking out of the windows because I'm in the mountains right now. And it's just so beautiful to look at it. And every evening I sit on the balcony and I look at the view and I don't have the direct sunset but I have the sunset that is projecting onto the mountains and it's just amazing to see the colors and sometimes just like pausing for a minute yeah enjoying overall this feeling of where I am taking in the view taking in the scenery taking in potentially the quietness if you live in an environment that is very busy and very loud and have this moment of refresh is actually also very powerful So also consider this and sometimes it's very, very refreshing. The other type, of course, of getaway that you may end up doing is actually going to see families, right? Your family may not be living around you, maybe a bit far away. So sometimes you may want to go away from your hometown, from your current location to go home or to go to your family and see them. And those type of weekends can be very heavy. You may end up having to do a lot of catching up, a lot of busyness around you, etc. But you have to understand how, if this is helping you or what do you need from this. And here I'll talk from experience being an expat and having lived abroad for so many years. Every single time I come home, at the beginning, it was very... hard because everyone wanted to see me wanted to spend time with me I had a very packed schedule and so it was not even beyond a weekend it was actually full holidays where I would spend hours and hours and days after days and I was like packed agenda to see everyone to catch up with everyone and then I took a bit of a step back on this and I said okay this is not working my holidays are not re-energizing me they are not um calming me they are making me they're making it very intense and And my vacation doesn't feel like a vacation anymore. So I decided to take a bit of a different setup and say, look, if you want to see me, you come see me. But I will not go to all of the different places in the current location just to see everyone. I will potentially say, OK, I have free slot here, And this is the only time that I have for people. And the rest, I want to do other things for myself, because also if I come home, it's for specific reasons. you Now it's been a bit different over the years, but for example, now, as I said earlier, I'm in the mountains. I'm actually at my parents' place and I have my brother who came to visit me for a day. And then I have some other days when I'm alone. And then I will always try to balance it out to spend time with them and see them, but also spend time doing things that I want to do for myself. And it's not selfish. It is... preservation it's important for you to still consider that this is your time and you want to spend time with your family I want to spend time with my parents I want to spend time with my brothers I want to spend time with my nieces and nephews everyone but at the same time if I spend time but it's not quality time because I'm exhausted because I'm not in it because there's too much then it doesn't work either so I would really encourage whenever you spend a weekend And... home or to your family etc what's the purpose why are you there what are you taking out of it and how is this gonna energize you in a potentially in a different way potentially this is not the weekend that you're gonna rest maybe this is a weekend that you're gonna take and spend the whole day hanging out with your family and catching up but then the weekend after maybe the weekend that you say okay I'm not doing anything I'm staying home I am calming myself down because it was busy, it was intense. and that's okay but don't make it mandatory that you have to do everything when you come home you also can spend time doing things for yourself in that location that you grew up in or that your family lives in that you really want to do so always consider this um i made some i think some of my um friends um stopped being my friends because of that because i was less available They expected me to always be available whenever I come home. But at the same time, at some point, I said to them, look, I can't. You're not coming to visit me. I am always the one coming to visit you. My priority is when I'm home is to see my family. I'm sorry if you are not able to understand that or if you're not able to work with me to make it happen, then it's not going to work overall. And I know it sounds maybe a bit harsh, but this part of living far away, and I'm not even talking about living abroad because I have Some colleagues, some people that I know that lives as far from their family as I do, even though their family is in the same country. But sometimes it can be four or five, six hours or more. Or the other side here in the US might be or Canada. It might be on the other side of the country, West Coast, East Coast, whatever it is. It can be huge. And therefore, it's not so easy to come home and you don't have the time to see everybody. So you have to prioritize based on what makes sense for you. And... If some people do not understand that, then they are not going to be your allies long term. So I would also acknowledge that when you do those weekend getaways, they're also for you and not to please others. And you really have to find that what makes sense for you in that context. Okay, so we've talked now about almost 20 minutes about everything related to... living or going away but sometimes get a getaway we can get away it doesn't have to be going away at all it can be within the location where you're at it can be just breaking the routines i had an old friend that at some point told me that she was getting worried because she was always stressed every weekend with her routine with her kids there was always like we go to the market on the Saturday morning, then we... have a nap, then we go in the city, then we do the walk, then Sunday afternoon we come and then, oh, tomorrow is back to work. I have done the exact same thing as every other weekend, nothing different, nothing exciting. It just feels like another routine within my nine to five day to day routine. And so for that reason, I think it's important that whenever you're home, you also consider what builds you up and what's... is creating anxiety, creating stress. You don't want to end up on Sunday afternoon, Sunday evening, feeling like, oh my God, tomorrow is again another week and what have I done of my weekend? So you don't have also to pack your agenda, but try to understand who you are and what you like. I have some friends that they like to be out all day on Saturday or on Sunday and just hit different location, try different foods, go to a park, go to museums, like like being very active and really enjoying the city they're living in. But it's just like back to back to back. And then they feel like they're by the end of Saturday night. We've done a lot, we've enjoyed it, we've discovered new places, and it always feels very fulfilling for them. And they feel like they've had a very busy day, they've enjoyed it, and it's quite a fun moment. On the other side, I'm someone that, while I love to do different experiences within my day, I need moments to get back home and just have a moment to calm down even more if I'm in an environment that is very busy with a lot of people. I need those refreshers. So I end up doing almost the same thing as them. But when they hit back to back to back, I'm just going to every time come home and take that 30 minutes of like refresher before I do the next activity, etc. Having these moments makes me feel like, OK, I can refresh. I can calm my mind. I can potentially take a small nap or quiet everything and re-energize to go out again and enjoy further activities. I'm really someone that has. both like this. I'm very extrovert, but also very, I have moments that I need to be an introvert. And this is the way my routine needs to work on the weekend. And I don't even like to call it routine because usually I'm also someone that doesn't like to have the same weekend over and over again. So sometimes I'm going to have two, three, and I need a change. But that change doesn't have to be going away to a different city, to a different countries, to a different location it can also be within the city within your location where you're at, is there something different you can do? You can live in the countryside and potentially you take a different route or potentially you take, I don't know, a class or you do different activities. I know that I have planned and I think my next episode is going to be about the winter, like autumn winter season, because I think there are something that we can do to help, but you could do something creative or you could have friends over or you could... Instead of going to a certain market, you go to the other side of town to a different market. Or also maybe, you know, we talk about being tourists and going to other cities and discovering those cities. Have you been a tourist in your own city? I think this is something that I haven't done properly. I have not experienced fully Stuttgart as a tourist. So I don't think I know everything about the city. And I think there is a lot to discover there. I've also not gone yet to some of the key museums that everyone goes to when they visit my town. So this is also something to consider. Be maybe a tourist for a weekend in your own city or go discover a different location of the town you're in that you've never been to. And that can also refresh your mind and makes you feel like you've done something. Maybe there is a festival, maybe there is some activities. And maybe you also like that routine. And I'm not saying not against routine at all. But sometimes having a break and feeling like you went on vacation, I would call it like in quotes, of course, it's not a vacation, but it feels like a vacation from your day to day life. So maybe this is not the time that you're going to do some of the activity you usually do and you're going to do something completely different. At the end of the day, this is what I meant by weekend getaways. There is many things that you can do to help you refresh your mind, refresh your thoughts. and make you feel better. And don't get me wrong, making you feel better is nothing negative. I'm just meaning that the routine can sometimes be tiresome. It can be heavy. The weeks are long. The year is very long. A lot of things are happening. Work, family, etc. day to day during the week can be quite intense and can... create a certain schedule of like going through the motion day by day and so sometimes you want to break that motion in order to be able to enjoy and feel like you've achieved something I think it's so hard to for for me whenever I hear some people say like I don't feel like I've achieved anything I've seen like I've done nothing either on the weekend either um at the end of the year. So Having some plans or having some sort of creating some challenges, some fun moments can create and change that routine. So potentially with your kids, organize, I don't know, you could try to organize some kind of, I don't know how it would be called, a good treasure hunt around the city where you kind of prepare. I'm sure now with AI you can try to make it happen. You have to go through different locations in the city to find different things. Or around Christmas, when it's going to come, and we'll talk some more about it, going to different Christmas markets to experience different formats. Whatever it is, there is the opportunity to avoid making your weekend feel bland and feeling like you're weak. has just been like emotions and like week after week after week nothing is changing. Of course here as I said earlier in the beginning of the episodes I was talking specifically about weekend getaways but I would not tell you at all to just make plans on the weekends. Also use your evenings, use your time in order to feel like you fill it with fun moments. That doesn't make everything heavy. I know today financials can make it heavy. I know that the you current political climate I know that's work might not be easy for many so having those moments of refresher moments where you can just like calm down or enjoy and it doesn't have to be money related by the way because you can do those weekend getaways being at home and doing different activities that are outside almost for free so try to find different ways to challenge yourself to make some fun etc as I said This is the first mini episode of this mini series, I guess, about like fun and enjoyment and fulfillment outside of work. I will make another episode in two weeks about this autumn winter period, which also will bring some insights on what else you can do. But I thought it was the right timing to do such episodes. Of course, you can do a lot of things around your own development, etc. But sometimes having moments to enjoy, really have your mind going away from your regular routine can be quite helpful. So I hope you like this episode. Today, I had a lot of fun talking about it. It's really coming from my own experience to how I like to enjoy weekends. As I said, I do not like routines. I'm very often struggling after three days of the same weekends. And yeah, I hope you have a great day. I hope you enjoy your weekend if you're in the middle of it. And then we talk soon. Bye. And that's a wrap for today's episodes of The Pulse. If something resonated with you, I would love to hear about it. So drop me a message on Instagram, LinkedIn, or leave a review wherever you're listening. Your feedback fuels this community and I much appreciate it. Make sure to follow The Pulse on your favorite podcast platforms and on social media so you never miss an episode. And if you're craving for more, check out the show notes for links, resources, and ways to connect. Until next time, keep trusting your journey because growth happens one step at a time. See you soon. Bye.
