Holiday Architect

A sensation occurs to me occasionally on this holiday. I power off the hire car in the parkering I scouted out earlier, walk into a building to collect a key and instantly I'm in the right place in a new town or fjord on the right date of the universe's chronology. This often happens after driving hundreds of kilometres. Over 26 days, fifteen locations, five flights, a dozen ferries, two dozen car charges, three dozen Circle K coffees, not once did I get the dates incorrect on my booking, or the location wrong on the drive… One time I got caught out by Circle K Automat - which didn't have coffee - but only once.

I'm not egotistical enough to deny that six months ago I barely knew what a fjord was, let alone which ones were worth visiting and the best way to move between them. And yet somehow I planned a month-long roadtrip using the internet down to the required level of detail to start the holiday. And once the holiday was operational, I ensured we would have the capabilities needed to meet the functional and non-functional requirements of having a nice time in Norway.

There are not many labels I feel a particular affinity too, but architect is one. I feel like it is my cognitive sweet spot to plan for the future and oversee execution. What are the functional requirements for a holiday to Norway? Climb this mountain, walk up to that waterfall, see this view, cruise that fjord. Take some nice photos. Non-functionals include transportation, shelter, food, communication, toilet stops, caffeine.

All of these requirements were met, and NFRs also met within my personal SLAs. I climbed cool mountains, experienced great waterfalls, beaches and other natural wonders. I witnessed impressive vistas and ferried us across many fjords. I hope I got a few good pictures… I drove 3449 kilometres in an EV, which doesn't include the ferry crossing although it does include the occasional circling of town trying to find a working charger. We never ran out of electricity, food, coffee or clean underwear. We had a bed every night although not always the ideal amount of pillows.

The downside to being so organised is that a times I did feel like I was executing rather than experiencing the moments on my overseas holiday. There were times while driving that what should have been novel felt eerily familiar because I'd already seen the same roads and sites on Street View.

As the final implementation steps are executed, and my plane comes in to land, I now conduct an internal retrospective on if this was a well architected holiday. What went well, what could be improved, and what should be done differently next time?

I wouldn't necessarily classify my Norway holiday planning as the waterfall approach, but the detailed design was complete before leaving. I do think there was a strong element of agile methodology to the actual days. Typically each location had a number of attractions or stories and then it was up to us to prioritise and deliver on these when we actually arrived there. For example, doing a walk when the weather was good, or after a cruise ship left.

Forward planning also helped meet the commercials; the budget would have needed to be much higher if we were booking accommodation the days before we arrived, and options would also have been more limited. Some of our stops were in particularly picturesque positions with panoramic views and good kitchens. A more flexible approach would have had merits too. If we didn't like a place, or if we wanted to linger or go further based on vibes, we could have done that.

One NFR is that we need to make 99.9999% of our connections. At work I'd call this availability, and, just like with infrastructure, there are definitely additional costs for such comprehensive reliability. It means I built full day buffers into each leg of the return trip in case of an outage or misfortune. Because everything went smoothly, this meant many hours waiting for the next plane or ferry in locations nowhere near as good as where we could have been, along with extra nights in hotels, extra transportation and more upheaval. One alternative approach would be to live with the stress of tighter connections, and let travel insurance handle any circumstances beyond our control. Riskier but more rewarding. The other approach is to ensure the holiday naturally begins and ends in a location with a major airport, so that the return home can begin from a good place.

One thing is certain, I am clearly ready for my return to work.