Year: 2025

Two Years of Seasonal Migration

Published by ericaeyoung

The headline on my LinkedIn bio proudly displays the Barabasi quote: “Performance drives success, but when performance can’t be measured, networks drive success.” To anyone who will listen, I’m always saying things like “it’s not only what you know, it’s who you know” and that the quality of our relationships is the strongest indicator of happiness and health long-term. Unfortunately it feels like modern life is often at odds with this worldview. What better way to embody these beliefs than to reorient my life around my relationships?It was this seed that grew into the Seasonal Migration experiment. My family is extremely small, so I don’t have a strong gravitational pull to a specific place. Having moved internationally from the Americas to Asia and then Asia to Europe, my ‘chosen family’ are more geographically dispersed than most. Since I left the US in 2008, all but my closest relationships there have withered. Many people might describe this lifestyle as nomadic, but I feel there’s an important difference: nomadic movement is generally unpredictable and acyclic, while migratory …

Seasonal Migration Chapter 6: London

Published by ericaeyoung

September was a blur. My friend, her mom, my mom, and I spent the first week racing through Mexico City’s greatest hits like the Museum of Anthropology, Frida Khalo’s house, Contramar, and Rosetta. The second week mom got a private tour of Chapultepec Castle, finally made it to Quintonil, and we hosted another successful dinner party (same Italian white bean soup, if anyone was curious). My ‘uncle’ visited for week three and we both caught up on work between meals and walks. This past week I met my good friends and their 3 girls in Bali. The girls had lots of firsts… first açai bowls, first rafting trip, first time feeding a komodo dragon. We had an amazing time, but I’m looking forward to settling back into a routine. Below are reflections from the 6th and final chapter of my seasonal migration experiment. ReflectionsIt’s amazing how even after 2 years of this lifestyle, I’m still (re)learning things. In some instances I’m not necessarily making the same mistakes per say. Constraints (sometimes self inflicted) have put …

Seasonal Migration chapter 5: Mexico City

Published by ericaeyoung

As some of you know, I am a terrible patient. I am the most frustrated when I’m not feeling 100% and can’t do things I was looking forward to with energy and excitement. Often I behave like a dog playing fetch, who doesn’t notice that they’re tired until well after they’ve exhausted themselves. This got me in serious trouble when I was young. In fact, I was hospitalised with recurrent tonsillitis during my freshman year at university and missed a whole quarter. In Hong Kong in my 30s, a therapist recommended that I schedule “stay home” in my calendar so that I wouldn’t overextend myself and burn out.These last few weeks have been a real test of these learnings, and I can’t say that I’ve passed with flying colours. My last full week in Mexico I had a triple whammy: heat exhaustion, food poisoning, and an allergic reaction (my best guesses). I was in bed for days. Then I added a long haul flight, jet lag, and hay fever to the mix. To be honest, I don’t …