# Working Abroad: Calgary (YYC) By [GingerKingB.eth🦇🔊](https://paragraph.com/@gingerkingb) · 2024-10-06 --- ### Wow After Sydney and London Gatwick I was happy to be home for a month. Time to focus on family, friends and especially on myself. On my first day in the office again, my project manager asked to have a meeting Tuesday. I figured it was to evaluate my past 6 weeks. Well … it was, and it wasn’t. He complimented me extensively for my performance, resulting in the question: “Do you want to go to Canada next week?” This came so unexpected that I did not believe it at first. I had been home for only three full days. My answer, not surprisingly; “YES!” ![Entering airspace above Greenland, a wasteland of ice](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/23b0ea7b013b3f5b6d757952905f4a7b6eb270c4e0dd1b5fe86e4623fa816da3.jpg) Entering airspace above Greenland, a wasteland of ice ### Travel As usual, I am writing this on the plane. I love setting objectives on the flight — this one takes 9 hours. I barely missed it though, since I had a connection flight from Brussels to Amsterdam. I wanted to go to Amsterdam directly, but this was about 500€ more expensive. Crazy. The first flight of 30’ (!?) had a delay of half an hour. The result: I had 15 minutes to get to my flight from the moment I left the plane. Wonderfully I managed it by running a lot and some very kind people letting me cut the line at customs. However, my luggage didn’t make it. It will arrive in the coming days. I don’t mind. As long as I am there so that I can discover the city already today and tomorrow! ![Exploring Calgary Stampede](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/f6d1497331f4f8d506b3d1395906f178ffe41ff155b7d4ff747bf76289cf3fce.jpg) Exploring Calgary Stampede ### Objectives Calgary (3 weeks): ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/c4ad0d4fc9c9ffd4dadb327ca81a3424bbc3741c83392bfa648b82ce18fce225.png) ### Execution Doesn’t look very good to begin with. But somehow, I am not surprised either. It does represent my feeling of productivity. But it does not reflect my feelings of satisfaction. How could this happen? 1. I haven’t been realistic from the start. My time in Canada was only three weeks and I set way more objectives than usually. I had to narrow it down and prioritize from the start. 2. There was no room for flexibility. I have underestimated the amount of time I spent at my job. My job is/was my #1 priority and I have lived up to that objective. 3. I forgot to include research time for exploring in my calculation. I didn’t have time upfront to prepare, thus needed to do this while on location. ![Working with the local team!](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/d0a2894a0218cb93a8649a029b6fd98c358563da71954fcca0fd861107e86de5.jpg) Working with the local team! Overall, this was a very valuable trip, and I am very satisfied about it, though I shifted my priorities. Maybe a valuable lesson to include a “MUST DO” list and an “OPTIONAL” list in the future. In hindsight I would rate my priorities as follows: 1. Work 2. Explore 3. Sports 4. Network 5. Mental Health 6. Creativity 7. Study ### Energy distribution ![Leaving work after a 12-hour day](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/4e9f85e92bc7bc814f46780757ddebbb54edfbf3a569ed6efb2f67a8697a9b5c.jpg) Leaving work after a 12-hour day As a person I prefer to live a project-driven lifestyle. I am an all-in person in everything I do. I cannot live a 50 or 75% lifestyle. I don’t balance my energy “to have some left for something else”. If I start something, then I do it with all my energy available at this very moment. During these weeks my job required more than my 40-hours a week schedule. Instead, I worked for 50–60 hours in the first two weeks. And I loved it. I was crushing it. Results over feelings. But working 12-hour days requires cutting time from other fields. And thus, I did. Everything shifted. Starting with sleep, as always. My average sleep these three weeks has been 5 hours a night. This is doable for me as long as my schedule is packed enough with energy boosting activities. The energy consumers require more concentration and thus more sleep. Energy boosters: * Sports * Networking * Exploring Energy neutral: * Work * Mental health Energy consumers: * Creativity * Study Looking back on my objectives through this lens makes total sense now. I have excelled in the energy boosters and have underperformed in the energy consumers. Better alternation between these types and more flexibility will hopefully result in better goal setting in the future. ![Exploring the Rockies; This is Lake Moraine!](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/826fa8a33ef22f6db048f1eeb7f34a3e6197b47b5e4298e762b9c14058c46995.jpg) Exploring the Rockies; This is Lake Moraine! ### Feeling I am very thankful for once again the opportunity given by my management. This project really pushed me to my limits. There was little support because I was in another time zone than Europe and APAC. A lot of work was thrown on my plate and it was an unfinishable job. This meant I had to prioritize and choose what to work on and finish. Prioritizing and making these types of decisions is a crucial skill to learn in itself. I worked together with very varied people and got along very nicely with Adam from Australia. Our conversations intrigued me a lot and went a lot further than work only. He sparked some interesting topics, and I learned a lot from him. I hope to see and work with him again in the future. Thankful for it all! ![My buddy Adam and me on my last day since we didn’t have any pictures together haha](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/39230aab2bd07f48f29e32e143ba4165e6a410f7f9694ae6ba601bfb4a56ab42.jpg) My buddy Adam and me on my last day since we didn’t have any pictures together haha Next to work I tried to explore the surroundings. The city was not my vibe. Way too artificial and commercial. It shouts capitalism from every brick and lacks character. There was the yearly local Stampede event. I tried it, interesting, but not what I am really looking for. Instead, I headed out to the Rocky Mountains for hiking, and DAMN THAT WAS WAT I AM LOOKING FOR. I love mountains so fucking much. WAUW. I would love to come back and it’s a bit sad I didn’t take some vacation here to discover the surroundings more. But I have to go back to Europe for two weeks of vacation with my lovely brother! Finally. Even though we are best friends, we have actually never planned something together, just the two of us. He has been traveling a lot over the past year, so there is a lot to talk about. Time to catch up and lay out our futures together! ![MOUNTAINS ARE THE BEST!](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/3962714b8c83a7a646df5b83d62f4cba76e2d9ce2675becd90370aa018086772.jpg) MOUNTAINS ARE THE BEST! --- *Originally published on [GingerKingB.eth🦇🔊](https://paragraph.com/@gingerkingb/working-abroad-calgary-yyc)*