The power of surfing and the transition to apartment living
Updates from May, June and July
Summer in New England is always crazier than I remember.
The combination of good weather, long days, and lots of people visiting means that every week is packed with activity.
We recently moved to Portsmouth, NH which is close to the ocean, and close to a vibrant downtown.
The month of May started off with our move. Moving from a three bedroom house with a basement and a shed into a one bedroom apartment meant we had to basically had to sell everything we owned on Facebook marketplace. It was a part time job listing items, responding to requests, and meeting up with strangers from the internet.
When it was all said and done we made $1,400 and got rid of a bunch of bulky items that we didn’t need any more.
We officially sold our house on May 14th and have been living full time in Portsmouth for the past three months.
Apartment living
We moved to an apartment building which has been incredibly social. Having lived in several apartments where we basically knew no one, this has been a great change of pace. We’re in one of the few dog friendly buildings in the area, and there must be a hundred dogs in this apartment complex. Dogs and kids are really how you meet people as adults, and we’ve met dozens of dogs here because we constantly see them outside for walks.
You end up knowing more dog names (Holly, Louie, Darwin, Pork Chop, Lulu, Jameson, Bailey, Hudson, Rosie, Hero, Benji, Cooper, Felipe, Dudley, Nemo, Belle, Bean, Penny and many more) than human names, but eventually you meet the people too.
Working from home can be a bit isolating, but socializing with people in the building and seeing people you know around the area helps.
The power of surfing
One of the things I was most excited about when moving to the seacoast was getting back into surfing. We’re just 15 minutes from multiple beaches, so depending on the wind, the tide and the waves you can pick different spots. I’ve already gotten out 12 times so far this summer. Here’s some rare footage of my actually riding a wave:
Surfing is one of the most pure forms of sport. It’s one of the few activities that is completely untouched by technology. It’s just you, a board and the ocean.
On a good day, catching a wave is the most euphoric feeling. And even on a bad day, you’re getting a crazy good workout, battling the sea, paddling out, and fighting a power much greater than you. In a weird way, surfing makes everything else seem easier.
Sometimes tasks pile up, like doing the dishes, putting away laundry, cleaning the fridge, etc.. but the other day I went surfing for an hour and came back more energized than I’d been all week. I was ready to take on any kind of mundane task with a new kind of appreciation for life and gratitude for the world.
As you can maybe see the rip in the photo above, my old wetsuit from high school is on its last legs after 11 years of riding. I finally got a new one that the guy said could keep me riding into November. While the summer is beautiful, the waves are usually pretty small. Hurricane season in the fall is what really kicks up significant swell, so most of the sessions so far have been low key. I still love riding the big green board, but I also just got this Modern Highline 2.0 which has been super fun for the two days I’ve ridden it so far.
Food and drink in the Seacoast
Portsmouth is a major food hub so we’ve been trying a bunch of new cafes and restaurants in the area. I’ve started documenting the places we’ve been in Notion here in order to keep track of what we like, and where we’d recommend other people try.
Work update
We had a big product launch and network announcement in mid May. This took a ton of energy as I was building our partner network to get everyone on board. Last week I announced my new role as Director of Partnerships. We have a new marketing person who will be taking on most of my prior responsibilities, so all my energy is focused on understanding the digital ID landscape globally, and building relationships with partners.
Wrapping up
There are a bunch of other trips and visits that didn’t make it into this newsletter. I’ve been traveling again for work to Austin and NYC, we took a family trip to North Carolina and we’ve had a bunch of other fun events locally. But maybe those will be stories for next time. Thanks for reading!
Great newsletter! Let me know next time you’re in NYC!!