Lotus.life — Day 9: Location Independence
This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 9
What does being location independent mean to me? I’ve recently explored the possibility of a ‘workation’ and it just so happens I’ve taken that first step. I decided to take my first ‘workation’ to Bangalore. Originally, it was Holland to be closer to my family, then I met someone from Banagalore and the idea morphed into something way more risky and exciting. So, after a wonderful NYE experience in Dubai, I touch down in Bangalorre for a 3 week stay with the intention of ‘doing some business’ that would cover my basic expenses, lay down the foundations for future opportunities, and enrich myself with experiences. Business. Culture. Life. Language. Food. Scenery.
Apart from its glorious culture, for those of you that don’t know, Bangalore has a vibrant start-up community, plus some of the biggest international companies, and it’s got improv! A wonderful recipe to satisfy my head and soul.
Everything to come is all IDEALLY. I can adapt, but this would be my ideal situation. I plan to settle in for the first couple of days and get acquainted with the neighbourhood and layout of the city. I’ve heard car journeys (smart people Uber here as the cost is comparable or cheaper to owning a car) across the city can easily take an hour. If you’re lucky. So, I have to factor that in. I’ll schedule meet n greets in the first week just in case I need to follow up during my stay, and fine tune my workshop content for the local market. I also want to engage some local children in improv activities and have some fun with them. It’s not work, it’s total pleasure and fun.
I plan to visit Mysores’ royal palace (a friends’ family has access and has offered a tour) to appreciate it’s beauty. I also want to visit Mysore because one of my dearest friends has done a lot of work there with a charity her Aunt and Uncle set up in the 1970’s. I want to experience the city so I can appreciate her stories more and feel as though we’ve travelled together again. Maybe I’ll do the workshop with the school children here instead. I’ll check on that!
Then it’s back to Bangalore to share my experience and energy with clients who are keen to improve themselves and become better presenters and communicators. I will really enjoy this. Working with a new culture, trying to work out cultural sticking points and adapting super quick on my feet. I will learn fast and plenty. I know that the basic structure of my workshops will remain the same, but I can imagine that the content will be changing depending on what I experience on the day, and of course what the attendees need. I’ll have plenty in my tool kit to cope. I will also enjoy seeing my friend in the evening for dinner and drinks, and hopefully some improv (maybe I’ll even get a chance to practice or perform with them). I have an ex-client in Banaglore too, and I really hope I can meet up with her and her family, and get some hugs from the kids!
I also want to include a mini-adventure on a Kerala houseboat, and there’s even talk of a drive into the mountains to a coffee farm. I’ll fly back to Tokyo knowing that I did my best to advance my business interests, helped people, connected others, made new friends, had experiences, shed some tears, belted out some laughter, and not used any anti-diarrhea tablets (everything crossed on that front).
This is what being location independent means to me.
That’s all for today. I’m bushed after the intensive rehearsal runs, with tonight as our first dress rehearsal. I’m also looking forward to putting blogging on hold til after the production ends on 25th September! Tickets are selling well, so that’s a relief (#actorsnightmare). If you’re in Tokyo, then come and see The Dresser (a seriously talented cast) and do say hello afterwards!!
Christiane x
p.s. Tomato Time is working well, I had 30mins spare on the way to rehearsal, so I ducked into a coffee shop and managed to get one TT in on this blog!! It’s like I’m even more in control of my time!!
Previous posts in this challenge:
Day 1: What’s holding me back?
Day 4: What are my Superpowers?
Day 7: Beating Procrastination and Overwhelm
