After an hour of slow but energizing poses, postures and flows on the beach and then a 1000 meter swim at the gym, I’m now at Bread & Salt – our choice of workplace here in Da Nang. And since I get here by 8:00 am, I get to pick the ultimate “poker seat” on the cafés’s spacious second floor.

From the spot above and with the help of a maxed out 2015 Macbook Pro, I edit films and photos, write more or less cohesive thoughts and watch a bunch of lectures and Netflix flix. And I’m just a few feet away from where I can order healthy, terrific tasting food and drinks, or, confer with Charlotte about this or that. What’s not to like about this setup?

Truth be told, I didn’t think I’d be nearly as comfortable (or productive) working from a café on a laptop as I have been – despite all the bugginess that arrived with macOS Catalina. Not that I don’t miss my 27″ iMac with its brilliant, 5k display, 64Gb of RAM and supersonic, 2TB SSD drive. But in all fairness, while that machine is certainly a lot speedier than what these words are being typed on (even Charlotte’s new Macbook Air is arguably faster than this old clunker), the mobility factor compensates far and beyond the speed loss. Plus, I’m probably spending less time on this smaller screen. Which however you slice it, is a good thing.