I left for Calpe on June 27th with one clear agreement with myself: I would work during this month too.

No days from early morning until late at night. No packed schedule. But I would finally take the time to do the things I never seem to get around to at home.

And yet… this month would also truly be a holiday. I wanted to walk, cycle, enjoy nature and simply live. Without constantly thinking about what was still on my to-do list.

I had two clear goals.

I wanted to decide on a direction for Árbol. Where do I want to go with it? What do I want to focus on over the next few years?

And I finally wanted to start writing my book. A story that had been in my head for more than ten years, but that I had never begun. Not because I didn’t want to. But because I never found the time. Or the peace of mind. And honestly? Because I was afraid I would give up halfway through.

I had started on June 15th. Every day, I wrote for thirty minutes. That was the agreement I had made with myself. I knew I was writing an average of three to four pages a day. My goal was to reach hundred pages by the end of the month.

I came home with two hundred.

I never expected that.

For the first nine days, I was alone in the house. At times, that was confronting. It’s a big house, with six rooms and space for twelve people. It holds memories. And every now and then, grief would catch me off guard.

But at the same time, that silence gave me something I rarely find at home: space.

Space to think. Space to write. Space to simply not have to do anything for a while.

In between writing sessions, I often went out. I ran ten kilometres again without pain, something that had seemed impossible just a year earlier. I explored the mountains around Calpe on an e-mountain bike and enjoyed it so much that I eventually bought one myself. Every now and then, I also took my drone with me to see Calpe from a different perspective. Also that was part of this month for me: creating, exploring and coming home inspired again.

The balance between working, moving and spending time outdoors gave me renewed energy every single day.

What perhaps surprised me most was how easy it was to close my laptop there.

At home, there is always something demanding your attention. An email. A phone call. A task that still needs to be done.

At Árbol and in Calpe, all of that seems to fade away for a while.

After a few hours of work, you can walk to the ecological trail, just five minutes from the house. Or head to Playa de la Fossa or Playa del Arenal-Bol, the beach on the other side of Calpe. With plenty of inviting terraces if you feel like stopping for a drink. You come back, sit down at your laptop again and notice that your focus has returned.

Not because you work harder.

But because your mind is calmer.

Perhaps that is the biggest difference between working from home and going on a workation.

You don’t work more.

You work differently.

With more calm. More focus. And, above all, with space for the things that truly matter.

And perhaps that is ultimately the greatest luxury a workation can offer.

Not more time. But more space.