I’d go on an expedition. Himalayas in April or November. Alaska in the Arctic summer. Or South America in their summer. In 2016, I had a month long sabbatical and spent it in Nepal, which was worth every minute.
Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
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Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#22Completely free? Like no social responsibilities (like caring for my family of 5?)
I would likely spend it trying to teach my kids as much as I can through play, experimentation, discussion, and research.
The problem is, we would likely have to find a mutually interesting topic for a 6 year old, a 10 year old, and myself to keep engagement up.
Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#23I’d go on an expedition. Himalayas in April or November. Alaska in the Arctic summer. Or South America in their summer. In 2016, I had a month long sabbatical and spent it in Nepal, which was worth every minute.
Do you want to tell more about your time in Nepal? What did you do there, where did you stay and did you go there by yourself?
Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#24TL;DR: mostly technical debt of things I manage in my private life (server, laptop, family's laptop, my phone). I would do things that need doing for a long time: - I have an old server on its last legs running Windows 7 (yes, not even Windows Server or anything) with services which I'd like to migrate to my newer Linux server; - I'd check and reconfigure some backups, and setup automatic backups for devices that don…
As someone in their mid 30s, with a wife, kids, and friends (if you have the funds):
* Replace your server with Dropbox and/or a VM outside the home (I use Dropbox @ $100/year and a Digital Ocean VM)
* Switch to Backblaze or another backup service of your choice instead of self-managed backups (I use Time Machine with my 2013 MBA)
* Put your calendar software away for now, use Google Cal or Fastmail (depending on funds and level of Goog wariness, I still use Google Cal because laziness, but have a paid Fastmail account to support them)
I'm not saying anything you outlined doesn't have value (I think it all does!), I enjoy learning more Python by contributing to open source digital archivalist projects. But automate those mundane tasks and go spend time with your girlfriend, your grandmother, and the rest of your family.
"Technical debt" will expand to fill the free time you allow it to, and time is the ultimate non-renewable resource. Spend that time making memories with those you love instead. One day they'll all be gone; no one lays on their death bed wishing they had tweaked that one last backup script, or tried that additional custom rom on their mobile device. They wish they had spent more time with loved ones [1].
Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#25TL;DR: mostly technical debt of things I manage in my private life (server, laptop, family's laptop, my phone). I would do things that need doing for a long time: - I have an old server on its last legs running Windows 7 (yes, not even Windows Server or anything) with services which I'd like to migrate to my newer Linux server; - I'd check and reconfigure some backups, and setup automatic backups for devices that don…
Are you planning on open sourcing your calendar software?
Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#26thailand
Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#27I was expecting a lot of ambitious projects would be mentioned, but it seems as if a lot of HN wants the same as me.
I would Unplug.
Take the kids camping, explore a national park for a couple weeks and let nature do it's thing. Take the guitar, leave the tablet. Try to catch some fish, which I have never done.
Read a couple books that have been put off for too long. Maybe some Heinlein or Asimovs foundation series (which I seem to have never gotten around to reading). Definitely some Alan watts.
I would also try some of that legal cannabis I keep reading about.
Also: Take a nap every day.
Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#28Travel. Probably to ski.
Organize photos. Scan all physical photos.
Read.
Ride my bike.
Organize.
Write code.
Edit: I guess it somewhat depends on the definition of "free time." Summer with kids? Road trip! School year with kids staying local? Other items. School year with kids on the road somehow? Japan to ski and learn. Sail the Caribbean and homeschool.
Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#29Read, travel, create something for the joy of creating it and not because it will make me money.
Re: Ask HN: If you had a month of free time, what would you do?
#30Not really sure what you mean by free time. Everyone inherently has 24 hours of "free time", we just chose to fill it with what we do day to day. So I would continue doing what I already do day to day
I'm calling Bullshit. "Not really sure what you mean by free time". Give me a break, you understand the question just fine. The worst part is that you didn't contribute to the question at all. Why did you comment?
I think a lot of people have setup their lives such that they don’t feel they need a break, or free time or an escape. They don’t put off those things that the rest of us do. Maybe the commenter you replied to falls into that category.