The Importance of being Bored
The last time I was bored was in New Zealand at the end of December / beginning of January. It was wonderful. I was there for about 1.5 months in the city of Auckland. While New Zealand itself offers lots of exciting sightseeing adventures if you travel out, the city of Auckland itself was not as exciting. On top of that, everything was in English and easy for me to navigate.
Now, I'm spending over a month in Port Townsend, and I'm getting to the point where I'm bored. I'll definitely be bored out of my mind by the end of my two more weeks here!
Port Townsend is a gorgeous town, but it is a small town. There is only so much you can do before you run out of things to do. I've found myself going on the same hikes I like. I work, I go to the grocery store, I go to the same yoga studios, I can get Amazon packages for anything I need. I can easily navigate without a GPS to places I like to go (oh yeah, I have places I like to go). Oh and there are pretty much no people my age here to socialize with - this is a retirement town.
As much as I hate being bored, I know I definitely need it. As a digital nomad, I have constant stimulation. I'm moving from one place to the next, navigating brand new situations I hadn't predicted, facing a language barrier, meeting new people, discovering new things about the city I'm in and myself as part of all of this. It can get intense and overwhelming very quickly. I've definitely had days where I made sure not to leave my AirBNB just because I couldn't handle any new stimulation.
I came to Port Townsend because I overdid it last month with travel and the amount of intensity I set myself up for and I needed a break. Now, I'm close to being my New Zealand self - calm, centered, determined, productive, healthy, and clear. I'll be ready to take on the intensity of the upcoming few months that I have planned, but I have already planned a "boring" retreat for the fall.