[theengway]

My most joyful (work wise), efficient and productive 5 weeks ever were: * in a remote place, visiting and living with my grandparents * in a village with little civilization but tons of nature around * when for a break I could just go outside house, hike around the barn, watch village folks going about their business in the farm or around the kettle * with big time zone difference from the rest of the team that allowed only occasionally for 1 hour of overlap to sync up * with my wife being away for her studies in a different country (told ya it was joyful only work-wise!!) with fixed limited hour to catch up on a phone.

In those 5 weeks I’ve built the major part of the scalable distributed OLAP Cube that had proved to be very simple, robust and reliable and was still in use to support telemetry of over hundred of customers after 5 years.

The biggest distractions were a cat, incredibly beautiful rain showers, and warmest ever discussions at the dinner table.

[kendallpark]

During med school I would ride my bike on a scenic trail to a campsite on a bluff overlooking a massive river. There was a camp store with snacks and beverages and a Thai restaurant served out of a trailer. The campsite had a bonfire and featured live musicians in the evening. I only had a couple bars of internet through my phone.

Never had more productive study sessions in my life. 1 hour bike there (listening to lectures on my phone) + several hours studying at a picnic table, eating Thai food + 1 hour bike back (w/ audio lectures).

I think there's something special about the combination of being 1) in a small community, 2) relatively disconnected from rest of the world, 3) surrounded by natural beauty.

I've never been able to replicate that environment since. I've read a lot about summer shifts on the Antarctic bases--sounds idyllic for the same reasons as above.

[kornish]

Sounds wonderful. Where did you go to med school?

[kendallpark]

Mizzou! (University of Missouri)