Category: Laptop Lifestyle

Heavenly private flight from Ireland to England

For several reasons, I decided to treat myself to a private flight from Ireland to England – and I could not have been more delighted with my choice…

Arriving at the private lounge…

…am then taken to my very own conference room to await my flight…

The captain came in to say hello… Captain Thomas Mueller owns the plane and is the youngest operator of private charter flights in Europe.

The lovely staff at the private lounge…

After going through a private security screening, my luggage is whisked away by a porter and the captain and I are transported out to the plane…

This pride and joy is a Diamond DA42 and was like riding in an airborne limo…

Oh, and re the photo below… If you note the DHL plane earlier – these guys are going to pull it across the tarmac area for charity…

It was funny getting into the aircraft, I needed to step on the seat and so took off my shoes – the captain and first officer both said, “no, you can leave your shoes on”, to which I replied, “I’m a girlie girl – we do not stand on furniture with shoes!” LOL! That made both the flight officers and ground crew laugh…

Our First Officer, Jonas Bielkevicius, was also our pilot-in-training, and he did an excellent job.

…and this is what flying normally looks like…

…and now we were sitting on the tarmac for longer than it took to load the plane and get to this point…

…but eventually we get the go ahead to get into line…

…and take off…

…and after only around 40 minutes, Liverpool landing strip comes into view…

…and a perfect touchdown…

My driver is awaiting me on the tarmac…

…and once my luggage is deplaned and loaded into the limo, we head off…

…and see an unusual sight along the way…

My only challenge now is that the entire experience was SO perfect, I don’t know how I will ever go back to commercial flying! LOL!

Oh, well… Not a bad problem to have…

Thank you again to Captain Thomas and First Officer Jonas from Franconia. You were wonderful!

~ Bella

Stanford study supports working from home

As you know, I have been living the life of a digital nomad for several years. While not traditionally a ‘work from home’ life (since I don’t really have a ‘home’ anymore), there are many similarities between the life I live, and that experienced by those who have a more traditional job and work from home.

The naysayers suggest that if an employee is allowed to work from home, they will lounge around, sleep in, and generally be less productive – BUT the results from this Stanford study show just the opposite!

As reported in an Inc Magazine article, the “nearly two-year study showed an astounding productivity boost among the telecommuters equivalent to a full day’s work. Turns out work-from-home employees work a true full-shift (or more) versus being late to the office or leaving early multiple times a week and found it less distracting and easier to concentrate at home.

Additionally (and incredibly), employee attrition decreased by 50 percent among the telecommuters, they took shorter breaks, had fewer sick days, and took less time off. Not to mention the reduced carbon emissions from fewer autos clogging up the morning commute.

Oh, and by the way, the company saved almost $2,000 per employee on rent by reducing the amount of HQ office space.”

The one (and only) drawback they did find, was that many people reported feeling lonely and missing the interaction with people.

In my case, I combat that by often choosing to work in cafes and other public places – just for the constant movement and background noise – and by having regular discussions either by phone or via email with friends who share similar work-related passions.

Also, I tend to work in bursts when I feel most productive – and sometimes that is late in the evening… As long as I maintain my integrity and keep all my commitments, it doesn’t matter whether I work a traditional work-day clock, or spend an hour or so working at 2:00am simply because I couldn’t sleep – and I love it that way!

So, if yours is the type of position where working from home is a possibility, consider whether this might be a fabulous lifestyle alternative for you.

…and here is Professor Nicholas Bloom to give you even more incentive (and information to help sway your boss):

Personally, I adore this lifestyle of working from ‘home’ (ok, so home is a very ambiguous term in my case) and am happy to field any questions you might have on the subject.

Enjoy!

~ Bella

Today’s Office…

It’s a hard life when this is your office for the day…

The cruise ship, Ocean Majesty was in the harbour for a visit…

…and it’s a good thing they are not superstitious about name changes, as she has been called:

1966–1985: Juan March
1985–1986: Sol Christina
1986–1988: Kypros Star
1988–1994: Ocean Majesty
1994–1995: Olympic
1995: Homeric
1995 onwards: Ocean Majesty

These ramps were built for the D-Day embarkation…

A city councillor in full regalia on hand to welcome the international cruise ship visitors…

…and breakfast was delicious!

…one of the crew…

The Ocean Majesty’s tender ferrying passengers to land and back to the ship…

…always something to do when one owns a boat…

OK, back to work for this Princess Pixie… 🙂

~ Bella

My ‘Office’ on The River Thames

There are worse places to sit and work for the day than on the dock of an historic hotel, beside the River Thames…

Fluffy river companion… (I do miss having a fluffy companion – one of the drawbacks of this amazing lifestyle…)

Sitting here, working away – the river provided a constant source of vibrancy and variation…

I love that this fluffy has his own life preserver…

Now, all of a sudden, it is like I am back in America with river paddle-wheelers…

This one is a baby in comparison, but still very lovely…

It started to sprinkle, so I after working outside for several hours, I decided to relocate inside and have a late lunch… and what is priceless – literally – is that there are three groups of elderly people here (in their 80s and 90s) with what appears to be the next generation younger (in their 60s and 70s) – and listening to their various conversations about what they did when they were young… I feel SO blessed to be witness to such living history…

…and for some reason, the police boat decided to do several pirouettes in front of the hotel…?

About to enjoy lunch…

What a glorious day…

~ Bella

Luxurious Nomad Luxury Skin Care for Pennies!

I had a most delightful conversation yesterday with a lovely waitress at one of my ‘local watering holes’ where I eat, drink and work.

She is a beautiful young woman of twenty-five – and when we were joking about her being a quarter of a century, she was astonished when I told her I was in the second half of my century!

What ensued was a discussion on my skin care products and regime, and when I told her it involves basically two items – that are natural and affordable – she wanted to know more… and she is not the only one. I have had that almost identical conversation with at least a dozen people over the past six months or so…

So, here is my luxury skin care ‘secret’!

Bearing in mind that I travel all over the world, so I want to make sure I have the minimal amount of ‘stuff’ to cart around, given that I already have eight suitcases that my luggage concierge picks up and drops off when I move from one amazing location to the next.

Luxury Skin Care Cleanser

What surprises most women with whom I discuss this is that I use the same product for cleansing both face and body!

Kirk’s Soap has been produced without interruption for nearly 175 years – and being the Victorian-era-loving girl that I am, that adds to its appeal.

“Castile” originally referred to the highly-prized vegetable based soap produced in Castile, Spain. For centuries this soap was considered “the soap of royalty” because of its luxurious lather and gentleness to the skin.

I simply use a face scrubber pad (like the one in this image) and the soap for my face and upper body – and since I have mobility/flexibility challenges, I have a long-handled bath body brush that I use to exfoliate my legs – all with the castile soap!

You can find it on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2kwVfNC

Luxury Skin Care Moisturizer

What is equally surprising for people, is that I also use the one product to moisturize both face and body AND the ends of my hair AND to do a deep treatment on my hair every few weeks!

You can read more about Argan Oil here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argan_oil – it is quite fascinating!

You might think an ‘oil’ would be greasy, but this one is silky-smooth…

I love it! – and a little goes a long way.

Again, all natural ingredients, and this one is certified organic.

You can find it on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2khiWIx

So, before you think you have to spend a fortune to get quality luxury skin care products that work, check out these two fabulous staples in my Luxurious Nomad life.

~ Bella