Autumn colours on the way home

I feared this would happen: my blog updates have been lagging far behind real time for quite a while now. Procrastination isn’t the only reason, though. The latter half of 2016, in all its insanity, was a bit of a blur for me.

Red Hot Chili Peppers @ Hartwall Arena 14th September 2016

Right now, this blog probably gives off the impression that all I ever do is travel. I wish! I was fortunate enough to get to go on multiple trips last year, sure. However, I spent the rest of the time buried in work and uni assignments. It wasn’t long before I got so tired that writing was bumped way back on my list of priorities.

The first oyster I’ve ever had at the Turku Food and Wine Fair in October. Might also be the last.

In between the couple of mini vacations I took in the summer, I was clocking in 50-60-hour work weeks. Some days I would do a morning shift at one workplace and bike directly to another place to finish with the evening shift. I am, of course, grateful I’ve had enough work to afford normal living, as well as some trips abroad. Some balance would be nice, though. Especially when working on a temp contract, it’s easy to start feeling like you have to accept every single offer ever thrown at you, as the situation could change at a moment’s notice. Greed lifts its head, and suddenly you find yourself practically living at work. Full days off fade into distant memory. I realize this is the life of so many business owners and I can only salute those who can deal with it on a regular basis. I only lasted for a couple of months.

Passenger @ Helsinki House of Culture 11th October 2016

Uni kicked off again in September. I was no longer working full hours, but there was never a question how to spend my little time off. Lectures filled up my days, work and independent assignments took up most evenings. The famous concept of having some time for yourself was hazy, at best.

Operation Sigar @ E. Ekblom

“Best Before”: Pre-Christmas party in Tampere

Crazy hours at work could actually be manageable, as long as the colleagues and customers were nice and things went smoothly. Towards the end of the year, there were some radical changes at my workplace, which completely changed how I felt about the whole thing. In summer I was always happy to leave for work despite being tired, whereas later that year the mere thought of another shift put a nasty knot in my stomach. Morale was low and anxiety high. I was still studying at the same pace with everyone else, but at the same time my weekly working hours started creeping over 30 again. In practice, I would bike like the wind directly from the last afternoon lecture to get to work in time. After work, I would bike home, take a shower and go to bed. Lather, rinse, repeat. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t take its toll on my studies.

Hard to stress about work when you can’t feel your legs – thanks to this heavy beast!

In January, I switched jobs and suddenly going to work feels nice again. I do have fewer shifts than I did in the autumn, which naturally means less money, too. Here’s to the age-old dilemma: when you’ve got money there’s no time left to spend it, and when you’ve got time you cannot afford to do much. Right now, a friendly atmosphere more than compensates for the slight drop of income for me.

Back to Tampere: Pre-Christmas Party vol. II

For the first time since I began my studies, I finally have enough time to finish all my assignments. In the autumn, I usually only spent about 15 minutes on independent studying after work and barely managed to pass my courses. Now I could easily pass hours just revising. I might finally even learn something, maybe? It feels strange to have most evenings free of scheduled stuff. I finally have the chance to devote some time to my hobbies, too, but I’m not quite used to this radical change of pace. I guess I went from one extreme to the other.

Cat or sloth? Christmastime in Pargas

In a way, I have come full circle and back to square one. I originally wanted to start writing a blog in order to get myself motivated to do things. Then I got so busy I had no more time left for writing. In the beginning of this year I returned to my sloth-shaped dent in the sofa, and days started slipping by just like last spring. Now would be a good time to come up with something new to try and write about. The year changed, but I’m still seeking balance.

1 January 2017 00:00

These pictures are of all the fun things that happened last year that I never had time to cover. Starting 2017 with a clean slate!