I guess first I should say, my life style is not for everyone. If you are an extrovert and need the hum of city life, the excitement, the activity, the social opportunities, my lifestyle would drive you nuts! But moving on ...
I have long had a stereotype of the rumored technical guru who lives in a remote location, sort of marches to his own drummer, but is sufficiently good that the powers that be let him do things his way. Then there is the assertion which does not prove he knows what he is talking about, but does tend to sway a conversation, "Should we listen to him on this? Well, he did write the book on the topic!"
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Well, through a combination of extreme good luck, hard work and skill, and just
fortuitous timing, I find myself in those circumstances, living my fantasy. I live
on a mountain top at 7600 ft elevation, bordering a National Forest (I like to say I
have a 30,000 acre back yard), and sufficiently isolated in the forest that I cannot
see my neighbors in any direction. I have worked from home most of the time for
the past 25 years. There have been times during system integration and working closely
with a team when I have spent a lot of time in the city in an office or lab, or in the
field, but those have been limited. And of course, I am now co-author of a handbook
for optical systems,
Photonics Rules of Thumb,
so I did write the book! So how did I manage this?
I guess first I should say, my life style is not for everyone. If you are an extrovert and need the hum of city life, the excitement, the activity, the social opportunities, my lifestyle would drive you nuts! But moving on ...
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While I was working on my PhD I asked myself what an ideal situation would look like for me. My vision at the time (which I realized was somewhat impractical, but you have to start with a vision) was to have my own R&D lab somewhere in Wyoming (I have always been in love with the Rocky Mountain West). I realized that had some down sides: Difficult to travel anywhere, probably hard to hire (certainly no local technical talent), no local technical eco-system to collaborate with. But I liked the idea. Well instead I ended up at MIT Lincoln Lab in Boston for 5 years, but then had the opportunity to move to Albuquerque, NM to joint a little start-up, SVS, Inc.
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I moved to a bedroom community within commuting distance of Albuquerque, but with
10,000 ft Sandia Peak between the city and myself. For the first several years we
did not have any office, we all worked from home and got together once a month for
breakfast to discuss how we were doing and where we were going. I quickly realized
that this was actually better than my Wyoming fantasy. I was living in the mountains,
near the National Forest, with a mountain between Albuquerque and myself, but with a
good sized city (Albuquerque) within commuting distance. So it was there if I wanted
it but I could ignore it on the other side of the mountain if I wanted to. Excellent
situation! And that set the precedent and the work style for working from home and
pretty much forging my own way.
Years passed, life happened, etc. For various reasons not related to work, I ended up selling the mountain home and moving into Albuquerque for a few years. But a few years ago I had the opportunity to move back into the mountains east of Albuquerque. We stumbled across our current magnificent location which I have heard several people describe as the best view anywhere in the Albuquerque region. I still have a city within easy driving distance, but am completely isolated in the forest on a day to day basis. I can look out over 11 miles of forested hills, valleys, and ridges to 2 mountain peaks. The only sounds beyond those of nature are the occasional airplane.
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Now to be sure, I have considered other lifestyles and options and if different opportunities had presented themselves I might have gone in different directions. However, the point is that I was able to form a vision of what an idyllic life would be like and had the stomach to take the risks and make it happen when opportunity knocked. Yes, I am a risk taker! The move to Albuquerque involved leaving a large established organization (MIT Lincoln Lab) or other corporate positions in the Boston area, moving across the country to a place where I knew no one, had no relatives, 6 weeks before our first child was born, joining a startup that for all I knew might be belly up within 2 months, and bought our first house! I guess I am okay living with uncertainty!
