By Michael
On Sunday, we packed up and left our Galway home so that we could take the train to our new home in Kilkenny (Stephanie worked the whole way on reports for work). As we wound down the first step of our trip, we contemplated some lessons learned so far.
First, I need to pack MUCH lighter. In addition to simply packing fewer of everything, when we return to the States at the end of the month, I will exchange my all-cotton wear for some of the new fangled, lightweight clothing in the hope of consolidating down to a single backpack. This will be particularly important since our next trip will include having a dog on leash and pulling a very large (though collapsable) metal kennel.
Second, we are working much longer hours than we foresaw. So far, we are usually at our shared workspace by between 10:00 and 11:00 in the morning Ireland time, and then stay until between 3:00 and 4:00 pm EDT. This equates to between 9 and 11 hour days, often followed by a bit of work before bed. This is keeping us pretty efficient at work (as does the wonderful vibe of a good shared work space). Our next visit will include working with a French tutor in the mornings, and we will end up on the European mainland, which will make the time difference an hour greater. We’ve discussed how we will deal with the long days and currently think the long days are more than worth being in Ireland, London, Paris, or who knows where, with weekends protected for daytrips.
Three, our second week was beautifully sunny, and I would categorize them as finally not fucking cold, maybe even touching into really nice, but the locals are all talking about how wonderfully rare this weather is; not just for early spring, but ever.
