The idea of staying in academia forever had always frightened me, mainly because I usually like to dabble in many different things. I’m good at some of them but I can’t devote my heart and soul to single pursuits very well. I started to feel that being a professional astrophysicist was requiring the sort of commitment I wasn’t ready to give, so finding good alternatives became a major priority over the past year or so. I won’t get into the details of why I decided to leave academia since the web has recently been flooded by such essays from all imaginable fields. Suffice it to say that sometime in the spring I found something that I think will be rewarding in the long-run and as soon as the deal was sealed I was rejoicing and packing my academic baggage.

But, I had committed to attend a conference in May more than a year earlier and had long since purchased all tickets and made the arrangements etc. so this was one last thing I absolutely had to do. It helped that the location was intriguing: a fancy resort in the Seychelles. You know the Seychelles already though you might not realize it — when your macbook throws on the cheesy screensaver with all the tropical island photos: they are all taken there (see below).

It seems crazy now, but I didn’t really want to go on this trip. I was very honored to be invited to come to this special conference, and to be surrounded by some of the people who have been a huge inspiration to me over the past ten years. But, spending time afterwards laying around on sandy beaches sounds like a nightmare to me most of the time. From the moment Molly and I arrived on the tiny island of La Digue, however, I was fully absorbed by the island flow (we spent the first week in a five-star resort on Mahé island for the conference — not many photos from there, but it was gorgeous). On La Digue, there are only a few cars and not very many roads. People ride around on bikes, mostly at a very leisurely pace. There are sounds of Reggae and its Indian ocean derivatives (e.g. Seggae) echoing among the palm trees. Chickens roam the forests and roosters play call-and-response during the night. Wild chickens, who apparently have nothing and no one to fear. The most dangerous creature is apparently some centipede that leaves as much as a welt on your skin. The air is a constant 23-27 degrees, cooling off in the evening just enough that the slightest breeze is enough to make it comfortable. Apart from soaking in the sun and the smells and sights and sounds, there isn’t much to do, even internet is a bit of a pain to come by. All this means your mind can really just freely wander and focus on things that matter. I don’t recall being more relaxed ever in my adult life.

Below are some photos from this awesome trip. It was our last big hurrah before the arrival of our new family member (Lev, born on September 13).

You can see my last words on some topics dear to my heart here.

on the beach at Ephelia resort

Molly enjoying a beach-side lemonade at Ephelia resort

stretching out the baby bump

looking back at Mahé island from the ferry

Grand Anse on La Digue

Grand Anse, La Digue

Grand Anse in late afternoon sun

awesome granite boulders piles

sunset on La Digue, looking at Praslin island

the way to Grand Anse on La Digue

walking the connecting path between beaches on La Digue

baby palmtree

Anse Cocos

Anse Cocos

Anse Cocos

Molly pretty excited to be relaxing on Anse Cocos

danger, strong rip tides…

nice looking spider stopped us dead in our tracks…

Molly at Anse Caiman, the farthest corner of La Digue

beautiful little bay

this must have been a fun place to live…

wrapping up the sunday beach party — seemed like the whole town was there, and since no one has a car everyone was driven home by the party bus

Anse Source d’Argent with a new friend

Molly shows off her belly sunburn

sunsets are nice… thanks for the photo Mary!

watching crabs run in and out of water is awesome

Our place at Bois d’Amour

town bakery

downtown La Digue

wild chickens!

wild roosters!

almost every house has a great little garden…

fruit bats!

on top of La Digue there is a nice little bar…

these centipedes are scary looking… about 30 cm long

Molly on our hike to the top of La Digue

great place for pondering

sunset over Praslin

Molly after snorkeling for the first time in her life and swimming with turtles and seeing a reef shark. I didn’t think we could get her out of the water

neighbors drying off after a downpour

awesome little orange bird…

banana bird! I don’t actually know what it’s called

banana bird doing its thing

nice roads of La Digue

At Grand Anse again, this time the sky not looking so friendly

Molly enjoying the coconut while waiting out the downpour

looking over Petit Anse

I became obsessed with coconuts.

got them! unfortunately they weren’t quite ready

laying out on Anse Cocos in the rain

Molly hiding out in a cave during the downpour

brave jungle momma

downtown La Digue

child transport

awesome paths through the neighborhood

hibiscus and the spider

colorful gardens everywhere

waiting room at Bois d’Amour

La Digue pier

leaving La Digue behind…