Another few months have gone by, and I don’t even know how to approach summarizing everything that’s happened since August. We finished our great PNW roadtrip and then headed off to Minnesota and the east coast. After two years of planning our Boundary Waters canoe trip, unprecedented fires in Minnesota closed the BWCA and we had to cancel the trip. It was disappointing, but probably resulted in a more relaxing experience.

Highs:

Water in Duluth tasted amazing
Having large bodies of freshwater nearby is so therapeutic
Visiting all of Max’s childhood places
Hanging out with my brother and going to Boda Borg
Seeing all the friends in Boston
E-biking through Acadia National Park
Vegan dim sum in NYC…and all the other good food in NYC
Perfect weather the entire time
Meeting coworkers in real life

Lows:

Riding a tandem with a slightly engaged brake 40 miles in DC

After the whirlwind summer, I was pretty glad to be back in California to settle down a bit again. We found a real place to live in Irvine (as opposed to the garage situation in Orange), and have been spending time decorating and organizing the new place. Here’s a peak at my office. It’s been nice to have so much more space for work and hobbies, and a real office chair for the first time in my life.

I intend for the rest of the year to be relatively chill in comparison to the craziness of this summer. I’m currently recuperating from an intense but fun work retreat in Denver. I’ll be taking time off for a bagmaking workshop at The Brown Buffalo in Costa Mesa next week as a gift to myself for my work anniversary. Otherwise, I’m will be working on my 2021 reading challenge with The Making of Asian America and Civilized to Death, learning how to cook again, sourcing parts for my custom bike build, playing lots of Overcooked, gardening, trying to get back in shape, and eating hickory nut flavored sunflower seeds.

change / [travel wrap up + more]

[california] / lots of projects

good days / [pnw roadtrip, biking a century]