Choosing Bike Paths & Ibiza in Valencia

Bike Paths & Day Trips

The bike lanes in Valencia are top-notch and one of my favorite things about the city. They are mostly flat, extensively woven throughout the city, and they feel safe to ride in. The first week here I rented a bike for the entire month (with a basket - a fact that makes me happy every time I use it) from a company called Kleta for about $40.

It’s been lovely. I’ve biked most days to the coworking space, the beach, the river park, brunch, or just wandering about the city exploring.

This week I stopped at the La Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències and spent an hour or so perusing two art exhibits - one on tattoos and the one next door on comics. The comic gallery had DC, Marvel, cartoons from old newspapers, and my favorite ones - Asterisk & Obelix, Lucky Luke, and Tin Tin - were ones from my childhood. And I still have copies of them in my apartment at home.

The next day, I biked to the aquarium - L’Oceanogràfic - where I spent four hours looking at dolphins, sharks, jellyfish, sea turtles, beluga whales, penguins, birds, all sorts of fish, and more.

Now I want to see and experience more in the ocean, especially dolphins, sea turtles, fish, and even sharks. Making plans for future adventures already, including booking a 6-hour beach hopping cruise from Ibiza with snorkeling and paddle-boarding. A group of us from Remote Year organized a short trip. Other people planned the DJs and clubs we’re going to (Kygo is one) and I found the boat trip.

The water theme stayed strong this past week which also included a sunset boat ride on a local lagoon, volleyball on the beach, and a day trip to the Montanejos Thermal Springs.

I mean, one reason I chose Valencia was because it’s on the coast and I wanted to do lots of water activities. And that’s working out wonderfully for me.

**

If not now, when?

I read that question in a newsletter recently from Ramit Sethi. He was talking about the four-day workweek challenge that his company is experimenting with for the summer.

Out of that context, I was struck by how there are at least two powerful perspectives this question makes room for. And how they counter and support each other.

The first is more of a carpe diem approach with a focus on ‘now’. Now is the moment to go to the beach, Ibiza, or bike rides because of the ease, accessibility, and proximity. The month, this day, and this moment I want to make time and space for these types of activities because if not now, then they might not happen.

Especially with such convenience, low cost, and a group of friends that are willing and able to go too. The flight to Ibiza from Valencia is an hour and about $95 roundtrip. The time and cost of a flight from North Carolina to Ibiza is definitely longer and more expensive. And this month in Spain, it's about community, exploring, and connecting.

A second perspective focuses on the ‘when’. If I’m not going to focus on this project right now, when will I? This forward-looking time blocking is a planning tool I’ve been using for some time now. Funnily, I also got a newsletter recently from Cal Newport - author of Deep Work & Digital Minimalism - about the benefits and structure of time blocking.

Each separate reading of the same question can be helpful. Embrace the now. Make an intentional choice when.

Putting them together helps too. Because choices are about tradeoffs and understanding what I’m choosing now and what will happen when helps me focus. It means I’m not trying to do two (or more) different and often contradictory actions at the same time. And then end up doing them both badly or not at all.

By asking myself this question from these two perspective, I shifted my work plans a bit. I have various creative and business projects that I wanted to work on and I’ve been trying to do too much now. So, I changed my expectations of when for several of them.

So, for me, the focus now is being social and sharing meals with the other remotes, playing in the water, working on my fiction novel/story, taking bike rides, practicing my Spanish, and writing these pieces. The other projects have a new when, which is not now.