How Do Our '40 Under 40' Unwind?

The Advocate: What do you do to recharge?


Cameron Esposito: I'm very bad at relaxing. I would say I run at a full sprint on a treadmill, I go to the desert with my fiancee, and I hang out with my dog.

Jeremy Hooper: I'm a nonfiction reader. Specifically, I'm a sucker for a really smart and well-written book about a very populist or even lowbrow topic.

Erica Anderson: I meditate and I sleep. I found that in the intensity of work, I really need to be mindful and take care of myself.

Gregory Varnum: I love taking what few overlapping days off that Bobby and I have to go to Cedar Point or take our dogs up to our family's cottage. When I'm at home, there's either music or movies on in the background, and I'm either playing video games or doing work on WikiQueer or Wikimedia sites like Wikipedia. As geeky as it sounds, working on the wikis relaxes me, and it is nice to be able to check off some quick tasks on such visible platforms that anyone else on the Internet can help contribute to as well.

Justin Simien: I chant and meditate.

Kate Fagan: I like to read and I like to be by water, even if it's right here in Brooklyn, it's the Gowanus canals ... even though they're filled with toxic waste.

Janet Mock: I sit with myself and write. Nothing reinvigorates me more than facing that blinking cursor and seeking truth.

B. Scott: Recently I've been going to South Beach. Whenever I can I like to sneak away to relax and decompress. There's something special about South Beach and I absolutely adore the Mondrian Hotel there.

Lena Waithe: I get a massage. I'm a lover of a good massage. I also have taken to going to Mexico a lot. I've been there twice in the past three months. I was there for a wedding, but I just found it to be a great place and really relaxing. So a massage or zip off to Mexico.

Calvin Stowell: I don't take vacations ... so I love just being in New York and going to a bar with my friends and not having to worry about work or the Internet.

Carmen Carrera: My friends, being the fun people they are, will help me recharge and help give me reassurance. I go to my loved ones ... that, and Oreo cookies. I'm obsessed.

Chrissy Chambers: I love to get away from technology just a little bit and just be close to nature. I grew up riding horses in the country, so just to escape for a hike and just get outside is definitely my recharge.

Bria Kam: I write music. I close the doors, spend some time just me and this beautiful Kirkwood, and just hang out and write. I spend so much time writing. It's something that I've been doing since I was 10. It's definitely what gets me by.

RJ Aguiar: Netflix, Tumblr, "Veg."

Will Shepherd: Shower, video games, sleep, napping.

Zack Ford: My college roommate Ryan would always joke that if he saw me playing video games, he knew I needed me time, and I guess that's still true. When I chose not to make it my career, music -- particularly directing and accompanying musical theater -- also became a valued pastime that helps me escape D.C.'s political milieu.

JoCasta Zamarripa: I like to escape and watch a good film. I have a post-Election Day tradition -- I go to a movie alone and escape for a couple hours. I also watch a lot of Netflix.

Heather Cronk: I brew beer at home as often as I can find the time.

Richard Carlbom: I go on long walks with my husband [Justin Schramm, a teacher] or I settle down all alone in my house and read whatever book I'm reading at the time.