👋 From San Diego

Hi everyone, yesterday I arrived in San Diego. It’s the first time in two years that I am back in the United States. And it is great to be back. It has been a while since I’ve traveled as far as this. A nine hour time difference is quite a challenge, especially the first one or two days are pretty tough in terms of jet lag. But it’s definitely worth it!

As you can see in the post above, I left a short message on YouTube/Twitter to tell "everyone" about my day.

Long story short, it is great to have some time to myself, and get some deep work done without any distractions. But this is the first time that I am away from my little girl—who is only a couple of months old—for more than one or two nights. I am absolutely certain that Sharon is doing a fantastic job and thank God for FaceTime.

Yet, I have to admit, it is a little bit different to be so far away from home then it was two years ago. to be honest, it makes me appreciate everything that we have at home even more. And I am incredibly thankful that I have such a loving family that is supporting me in my endeavors.

I actually love to create content

... but I hardly ever do. And when I do, it's in blog form, or tweets.

I usually feel the urge to share some notes are insights when I am abroad — or at least not at home. it feels less private, and more relevant for some reason. As if my normal life at home would not be interesting enough… But to be honest, the opposite is the case. Spending a lot of time in a hotel room is not nearly as exciting.

I'm getting a lot done, though. My colleagues definitely love it when I am abroad/traveling. Because they can be sure that when I get back, they will get a huge document/videos and data dump of all of my thoughts on their table.

Deep work instead of shallow work, when I am abroad

I guess that’s a difference between being able to do some deep work without any distractions for a couple of hours on end away from home. Most of the work that I do when I am at the office or at home test result in shallow work.

Short iterations with my peers/clients and quick fire and answer rounds dictate most of my day. There are so many small decisions that have to be taken, and even though I try to enable as many people in the organization as possible to take them themselves, I am still the CEO of the company. When push comes to shove and the person and most people look at to take the final decision.  

I just got here — exciting days ahead

Tomorrow, the real work starts. I’ll be attending a conference about e-mobility and e-bikes in San Diego. An exciting market that is just developing in the United States. In mainland, Europe, we are definitely a lot further what the development of the market is concerned as opposed to the US.

Not only is the infrastructure for bikes, a lot better in general in Europe, people use their bikes, as a different mode of transportation here.

I’m really looking forward to the conference and meeting a lot of exciting people. And I hope to be able to share some insides with everyone in the days and weeks to come. For now, and have a great night and speak to you soon. Remco