The Outdoor Office

I remember first hearing about bloggers writing while spending the day at cafés. How awesome I thought it would be to be able to hang out all day in the sun and write. Perth being slow to the Internet revolution, and myself bogged down with the chores of kids and work, I never made it to a café with my computer, until now. Armed with a few hours and my trusty MacBook, I picked my favourite café, Mooba in Subiaco, and headed out into the late morning sun.

Mooba is a small place tucked behind the bustle of Subiaco. It’s out of the way enough that if the owners hadn’t done such a great job marketing it with social media I would never have heard of it. Check in with Foursquare here ten times and Mooba will shout you a coffee. A regular tweetup (Twitter meet up) helps create interest and keep an online buzz peaking with all the cool kids of the net regularly attending.

I ordered breakfast and found a place outside. My pure white MacBook looks the part in Subiaco. Only moments after setting up my wifi, coffee arrives, chased by my breakfast so fast the cook must have been eavesdropping on my order from the kitchen. It’s so beautiful, the judges on Masterchef wouldn’t be able to fault it. I wish I had thought to take a picture for this article but I couldn’t wait to poke the fork in.

Writing outside is great. A quick change to the brightness setting and you are off. Connecting to Mooba’s wifi is super simple. Two clicks and you are away, super quick and effortless. Writing, tweeting and perving on all the fine people enjoying the outdoors, who could ask for more? While I write, hot coffee is coming whenever I call for it like I’m some sort of hedonist king. Before I leave I will make sure to try their large selection of desserts. I think I heard something about a double choc muffin something-or-other on twitter this morning.

I can’t fault this method of writing. Sun, coffee and gorgeous people. I’m quickly becoming a convert and pretty sure this will become part of my Saturday morning routine. If I don’t get to write some Saturdays, it will be because I get to talk to the beautiful people, all drawn to the awesome that is café living.

How does this apply to the geeks? If you are a geek and you aren’t getting your daily dose of vitamin D, get outside! The computer will be there when you get back. Hell, take the computer with you like I do. It will do heaps for your soul. Research has shown that as little as an hour outside can improve your attention and memory by up to 20%! It reduces cases of depression and increases your life expectancy. So really, you can’t afford to not pack up the laptop and head outside!

*This article first published on Geek Life*