A Write And Bike Retreat At The Wobbly Goat Café

A writing retreat is an organised excursion for writing. The idea is to be away from your usual writing environment with the goal to write a section of your thesis or journal article.

After writing, you could enjoy some activities as a treat for accomplishing the goal of the day. Some lucky friends have experienced a facilitated writing retreat organised either by their institutions, faculties or supervisors. I have yet to come across such an opportunity and my strict budget could not accommodate the expenses to be away for a few days.

However, a $15 coupon offered by the Wobbly Goat Cafe gave me an idea for a "Write and Bike Retreat".
Because the coupon included a food voucher and bike hire for two people, I proposed a plan to my friends. First, we would write, followed by cycling and lunch as our treat, and end with a discussion about our studies.



With a plan in hand, Tracy, Naoko and I went for a single day writing retreat on a fine Tuesday. 
Located in an outer suburb of Dunedin, the 20-minute drive out of town had already lifted our spirit to work. Upon seeing the café, we liked its outdoor setting and decorations. Its long tables and benches were perfect to spread our writing tools, papers, note-books and laptops. Over a hot cuppa and some baked goodies, we started our work. The breezy weather and a different working environment were refreshing and I could easily focus on the chapter I wanted to work on.



After 90 minutes of writing, we proceeded to our mini-exploration. 
Tracy had planned our cycle route towards the Taieri Historical Park. The park was not open but we could see the exterior of well-preserved historic buildings, such as a courthouse, a church, farm equipment and a public telephone booth. After that, we enjoyed a short walk along the Taieri River.



Feeling hungry, we cycled back and had a sumptuous lunch.
I enjoyed the colourful Vegetarian Tortilla Stack very much. With a happily filled tummy, we discussed our studies. Because we are doing research in the area of Internationalisation, we could relate our experiences, share our challenges and make suggestions on how to improve our writing. For instance, Naoko gave me some ideas on using different perspectives to interpret my data.



To me, our "Write and Bike Day Retreat" was a rewarding experience. We increased our productivity by motivating one another while exploring Dunedin’s countryside. By dedicating our time to work and play along with like-minded friends, we created a memorable occasion for our long PhD journey.


This blog is published on i-studentglobal.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear PTPTN, PhD does not pay me a salary

Image
Dear Malaysians, PTPTN and Ministry of Education, I humbly ask for your permissions to service my loan after I complete my PhD degree, please? I am a Malaysian, a third-generation Chinese, born and raised in Malaysia. Self-financing my PhD study in Higher Education Development Centre, at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Without the financial support from any institutions, I have to juggle between my PhD work and the financial stress of student fees, living expenses and the poor currency exchange. Such stress would not allow me to service my undergraduate study loan, a valid reason to support my application of delaying the payment. I received the approval from the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN), although I was warned that the interest rate of the loan will continue to accumulate . I believe the key role of a Government is to protect its citizens. I had to count the blessing that I was reducing the chances not to be barred from travelling abroad. Trusti
Read more

An Emerging Scholar Awardee: My Networking and Chairing Experiences

Image
Earlier this month, I attended the 10th Global Studies Conference (8-9 June). It was an exciting experience because: 1. It was my first conference abroad .  2. I was one of the recipients of the Emerging Scholar Award! 3. It was held at the prestigious National University of Singapore (NUS).  Benefits With the award, I received three great benefits: 1. An invitation to the conference that eliminated the registration fee, an important helping hand to my self-financed PhD journey. 2. An excellent networking position. 3. A boost to my academic conference experience because we had the roles of a chairperson in parallel sessions, technical assistant for presenters, leader of the Talking Circles, and presenter of my research.  Amongst these given responsibilities, I enjoyed the chairing role. Some of the awardees. Networking Conferences are essential to meet new people, exchange ideas and create future collaborations. An Emerging Scholar Awardee shares respons
Read more

My first international conference experience: the 2017 Global Studies Research Conference

Image
Searching for my first international conference on my research interest in globalisation, I stumbled upon Common Ground that hosts the Global Studies Research Network. My application was accepted and I attended the 10th Global Studies Conference (8-9 June 2017) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Before I share my conference experience, I want to express my gratitude to be given this conference experience by the generosity of: 1. my institution, the University of Otago for providing the logistics and, 2. the Global Studies Research Network for providing free participation by selecting me as its Emerging Scholar Awardee . The 10th Global Studies Conference On my scholarly experience: Globalisation and Global Studies Globalisation is an area of study to examine the complex cross-border movements such as policies, practices, people, products and pollutions. As an emerging area of study, the Global Studies can provide a key to understanding the theory of globalisati
Read more