Fresh ocean breeze, salt air, sunshine and palm trees. That’s my “office” for the summer. Don’t get me wrong, I work hard making food orders, stocking away Cisco orders, prepping before we open and cleaning at closing time—but it’s all at a beach club only a few steps up from the ocean. With opened doors and windows, I’m getting paid by the hour to watch the ocean waves over the sand dunes while I work.
Since I was four years old, I’ve been spending summers in Ocean City, Md. in my family’s one bedroom condo. Now, I’m living in it full-time, on my own, except for the sporadic vacations my parents take (being an only child can have its benefits).
Living by myself in a condo is so much different than surviving freshman year in a dorm at Christopher Newport University. I don’t have a dining hall, but I have my own kitchen. I don’t have to pay $1.50 for each load of laundry, but I have to set aside money for groceries each week. I went from having a roommate, suite mates, and an entire hall of people my age, to living solo in a condominium association with an older age group (it’s not weird, they are basically family).
When I first started working May 1, I felt as if I were living in isolation; not many people take trips to their condo before Memorial Day weekend. But that has changed. Slowly, but surely, neighbors have started to show up for the season, and it’s turning into the vacation town I’ve known my entire life.
Freedom is great, but a three-minute walk to beach, and a quick swim at the pool right after work, are what make living and working at the beach this summer the perfect experience. On my days off, I can have friends visit from home, or I can spend the day poolside reading a book as if I were retired.
Sure, there are moments when I miss home in Northern Virginia a little bit. I didn’t get to go back to my bedroom in the house that I’ve lived in since birth after moving out of college. I can’t hangout with the friends I grew up with whenever I want. But none of that matters because I’m temporarily living in paradise.
This summer I am working where I’m happy, at the place I’ve called a second home since the age of four. I have escaped reality, had exciting visits from friends, spent lazy days as a beach bum and have been working 40-hour weeks. All at the beach. Living on the water and working on the water. I can’t think of any way to do it better. And the best part is, summer isn’t over yet.
