Basking on top of Te Mata Peak in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

I’ve decided to hack my life, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. When I return to Canada next April I will have been gone eighteen months. I will come home having seen a bit of the world, hopefully righted the things that were going wrong for me before I left, and God willing will have a small chunk of money in my savings account.  What this means is that if I am going to make some changes, now is the time.

What is life hacking? According to Wikipedia, it means “anything that solves an everyday problem in a clever or non-obvious way”. To me it also means creating a simpler, easier, more satisfying, goal-orientated life — one that is custom built just for me and me alone.

Inspired by a number of blogs on the subject, (The Life Thing in particular) I sat down and thought about why this would be a good idea at this point in my life.  In particular:

• I’m single and not a parent. I am responsible only for my well-being and for that of my two cats. Instead of looking at my singlehood as a cause of unhappiness and failure, Ive finally found a way to make it work for me.
• My finances aren’t the greatest but can be with a little work: I recently paid off my student loan (hurrah!), and I only have about $8000 in credit card debt, although I also have about three years worth of taxes that need sorting out. Compared with my American med school graduate friends, this is paltry peanuts.
• Belongings: They currently reside inside six large Rubbermaid bins (cats and furniture excepting)  and can either be sold or given away should I decide to move out of Toronto (something that is looking very likely for within the next 36 months). I was really hesitant to part with my things before leaving home, but now I’m like “eh. They’re only things”. They belong to me, not the other way around!
• I’m starting fresh. This is perhaps the single greatest motivator. It will be considerably easier to make a lifestyle change on repatriation than it would if I were already established in my daily life. I will be looking for a new home, new work and new activities (Ive realized how much of Toronto’s awesomeness I used to take for granted).

Being gone so long I’ve also had plenty of time to re-evaluate my life to date, put name to the things that just haven’t been working for me, and more importantly highlight what I really do need in order to be happy, to feel that I’m living the life I’m meant to be. Before leaving, I felt that I was caught up in the grind. Stagnant, without any challenges.

I left home for a few reasons, but overwhelmingly it was because I needed to stir things up a little. I needed to put distance between my self and that life so that I could clearly see where I needed to go next.

A few of the things that Ive discovered are non-negotiable in my life are:

• A confidant (or two). Even if only one person (although ideally more than one so that I don’t drive them insane), I need to have regular contact with someone who knows me inside and out, that will love me unconditionally, put up with my particular brand of craziness (without turning it against me at an unforeseen date) and expect nothing but the same in return. Sharing a love of  travel, port and chocolate doesn’t hurt either.
• Family within plane’s reach. I’m not from one of those uber close families you hear about, and there aren’t a lot of us. We’re also pretty far flung at the moment, but I think that’s made the relationship all the more important. Since coming to NZ Ive spoken far more regularly with my cousin in England and with my Aunty in Toronto than I ever have before. My emails with my mother have also become far more personal as Ive shared my feelings and worries with her, and to a little degree vice versa. Being in NZ I’ve often felt remorse and not a little guilt that I cant just hop on a plane and be home when needed (having a 104 year old Grandmother 15, 000 km away would make anyone feel this way, I suspect). So wherever I end up, I need to be able to return home within a six hour flight.
• Circle of friends. While I only need one or two people who Totally Get Me™, I really miss having an assorted circus of friends to do things with. I miss the connections and random conversations, and miss being completely inspired by people. I miss going out dancing and having fun en masse. While I’m not as community-driven as a lot of my friends, I do miss that aspect of my social network, and would very much like to get involved in some sort of intentional community that I can participate in and feel like Im accomplishing something with.
• The ability to go somewhere new at the drop of the hat. It doesn’t have to be something exotic or awe inspiring, it just has to be somewhere I haven’t been before.
• Travel. In complete contradiction to the previous item, I need travel in my life: big-airplane-vroom-vroom-GO travel. It doesn’t have to be massive 12-month journey’s, but it does have to happen more frequently than my old pattern of once every twelve years or so. I want to spend a good amount of time discovering Canada, but I also am overdo for a visit to England, would very much like to backpack around South America, and would really like to go to Japan in time for the cherry blossoms some year.
• Satisfying and creative work. I need to be feel as though I am contributing to the team. That I’m being challenged at least three days out of five, and that at the end of the day can remember why I love html and css so much. I’ve been a web developer for almost a decade now and have a lot of really good insight and skills to offer. Plus I’m pretty good at it. There’s nothing I hate more than feeling as though my word isn’t being taken seriously. This goes for my personal life as well as my work.
• Animals. Sure, Ive lived the past year without my smooshiboos, and while Ive learned to love being able to wear black and not own a clothing brush, Ive also really missed the quiet (ok, not so quiet in Dante’s case) companionship of my pets. I find people to be frazzling at times, and nothing soothes that more than curling up on the couch with my pets and have them love me for me (and the kibble I will inevitably provide).

What else do I want?

• Ideal City: I think I would be happy in Vancouver and would Id like to move West within three years of returning home. This gives me enough time to freelance, pay down (or preferably off) my debt, and re-establish connections with friends and family in Toronto. Why Vancouver? Two words: mountains, ocean. You cant get either in  Ontario. I also have quite a number of friends and acquaintances who have moved out there over the last few years, so it would be relatively easy to set up a new social life (a hell of a lot easier than Christchurch, anyway!). It’s also a 5 hour flight back to Toronto, so fits neatly into that little requirement.
• Ideal Work: I’d like a career where I can travel, write, take photos and build websites, not necessarily all rolled up into one bundle. If I could freelance web-dev for eight  months of the year, then do the rest the other four I would be ecstatic. After ten years as a professional geek, it’s time to broaden my horizons and see what else Im capable of doing. It doesn’t have to be four consecutive months, especially since…
• I also want a dog. I’ve been pining for one for years now, and want to arrange my life so that I can finally have one without having to send it to Puppy Daycare or leave it alone in the crate to be terrorized by Dante and Olive all day long. This means freelancing, and this means living in a place with a yard. I know that while I have this wanderlust thing going on I cant really add a third pet, but the plan is to have one sooner rather than later.

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs written by people who have managed to make the leap from the 9-5 life to one that seems to be the stuff of dreams.  I have no clue how I will accomplish my goals, but I figure just getting the thoughts out there is the first step.

Inspiration:

Sharing Travel Experiences
Business Backpacker
The Middle Finger Project
Exile Lifestyle
In Search of Sanuk
Free Persuits
rcthink
Live Collar Free

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