While seated on the balcony of Simba Lodge in Naivasha, depreciating my fingers while struggling to write the Floriweek Editorial, I witnessed a fascinating scene. From a Gen Z individual crafting a TikTok post near Lake Naivasha, to an engineer sketching her designs
beside the swimming pool, and a full-time journalist submitting her article to the news , to a judge composing her ruling from her hotel room. Technology has blurred the lines between work and leisure, professional and personal life, as well as career and downtime.
A creative agency might brainstorm ideas around a ping-pong table; an architectural firm could find its peak productivity during a retreat. As the boundaries between work and life fade, so do the distinctions between business and personal travel.
“It’s opportunistic: it depends if you’re going to a place you enjoy and want to spend time in,” I mused as I joined others in the conference room for the launch of Mural, a new solution for powdery mildew from Syngenta Professional Solutions.
Inside the conference hall I encountered a manager friend who was busy checking her emails while keeping up with the launch. “I am still taking my orders,” an agronomist from a top agrochemical distributor told me. Close by, a farm manager was monitoring his shipment in the deep seas using graphs that showed temperature and humidity. Next to him, his production manager was overseeing the sprayers and harvesters across various greenhouses. During the tea break, a General Manager from a prominent flower exporter was engaged in conversation with a breeder about their newest varieties, while a sales representative was sharing details about her blooms with a customer in Europe, sending photos through WhatsApp.
All said, I, his truly finalized the weeks Floriweek editorial.
So I pondered, is this a “workcation” or “bleisure”? No, this must be Bleiriculture.