Making time for the things you enjoy

Module Overview

Farmstrong caught up with Jessica Rathgen, one of two Ridestrong winners in the Southland/Otago ‘Gravel in Paradise’ cycle series.  

Jess and her partner Ryan live on a high-country station in Hawea. He farms and she works in rural health as a radiographer.  

Although she’s at pains to point out she’s not farming herself, Jess is familiar with the challenges farming couples with busy working lives face finding time for other pursuits. 

“Sometimes it can be really hard to commit to something long term and make yourself step away and go and do it.  There’s always something else to do on a farm. And then when you do get downtime, you think ‘do we really want to drive two hours to go to a bike race?’”  

Jess says it takes a determined mindset to change things up, put it in the calendar and make it happen.   

“You almost have to force yourself to commit to it and tell yourself we’re going to take that time and make ourselves go do that.” 

Gravel in Paradise involved a significant commitment – four races in four towns in the region.  

“Entering the first event near the farm was easy. But what made me persist with the other races was having the Ridestrong category and the prize up for grabs. If I wasn’t in that category, it might have been in the too-hard-basket to commit to the extra races. The Farmstrong prize was a great encouragement and incentive.” 

Eventually Jess pedalled her way through the races, won her race category and also scooped a $1200 travel voucher prize. The timing was great as Ryan has been selected for the New Zealand Trail Running Team to go to the World Champs in Spain in September and this will go towards flights for the self-funded trip.   

Benefits to getting off farm 

She says there were other ‘wins’ too. Once she was on the bike, the benefits of getting out there soon became apparent.  

“When you’re on your bike, you’re like, I’m so glad I did this. To me, my bike is the biggest freedom. When you’re on your bike, you are where you are, your thoughts run clear. You can just zone out and have fun on two wheels.”  

“You’re also out there mixing with other people who do something completely different to what you do, enjoying a bit of banter and camaraderie afterwards. You get the buzz of getting into something different. Just giving something new a crack feels cool.” 

She says it also helps provide a sense of perspective and balance to working life.  

“Let’s face it, there’s always stuff coming your way when you work rurally. The challenges are just there and they’ll never stop. Sometimes you do need to do something off farm to make you step away for a moment. You’ve got to be quite forceful to achieve that and just tell yourself, it’s going to be here when we get back. Let’s just go and do it.” 

“You’ll feel better for getting away and doing something for yourself and then come back to focus on the work. It just refreshes your energy, doesn’t it?”  

The right balance 

Finding the right work-life balance will always be a work in progress says Jess.  

“Finding that balance can be quite tough. We’ve just moved farms and I’m commuting to work three or four days a week with a lot of on-call work too. So a lot of my time and energy is put into going to work and getting back to the farm, but I’m still trying to fit in these extra recreational activities where I can.”  

“Biking is not just exercise for me, it’s also a chance to connect with other people. It’s great that Farmstrong encourages the rural community to get out and seek different experiences that you wouldn’t usually do day-to-day. But at the end of the day, you still have to take responsibility to look after yourself and access the things that are available. It’s about having the confidence to go for it, isn’t it?” 

What advice would Jess offer to a young couple starting out on farm? 

“Make time for the things you enjoy. Sometimes it’s hard to make yourself go do them, but when you do, you never regret it. Just like you never regret a run afterwards, you never regret a bike ride.” 

Farmstrong is a nationwide, rural wellbeing programme that helps farmers and growers manage the ups and downs of farming. Last year more than 15,000 farmers attributed an increase in their wellbeing to the programme. For free tools and resources visit www.farmstrong.co.nz