And So It Begins..

I always joke to my colleagues these days and say, ‘I’m here in body, but not in spirit’. They always laugh it off, I too sometimes. I’m a dreamer. An opportunist. I’m always looking for the next place to be, the next culture to immerse myself in fully, the next cuisine to fall in love with. The words may seem joking, but these days I really do find myself continuously drifting. Wondering why I’m here, doing what I’m doing.

I’ve been talking about going on a trip of a lifetime since I came back from a summer working holiday in San Francisco. Living and working there for 4 months really ignited my love for travel, and once I completed my Masters in 2013, I was off again. I got my token ‘Corporate’ job and was now reaping the benefits of my hard work.

I started in the sandy and scorching deserts of Morocco, moved to the vast and culturally distinct countries of Europe, lived the cool and calm Island life in the Caribbean, travelled to Dubai, then went further east and just kept going. I just kept eating it up, holidaying without stop, feasting my eyes, ears and the rest of my senses on all that I wished to consume. In 4 years I had managed to travel just under 30 times to 13 different countries (unfortunately as absolutely massive and as vast as the USA is, no matter how many times I go, it only counts as 1 country!). And I was happy. I was really and truly happy in jetting off and immersing myself for a few days, maybe a week or 10 days max if the location was particularly far. And then I wasn’t.

I can’t pinpoint exactly when the change began, possibly a year ago, or maybe subconsciously it had gone on for longer, and my discontentment only rose to be more apparent recently. My current job was never the ‘Plan’ for me. I love it, I truly do, however it was never my intended destination. My original end goal in completing my education was to always return back to San Francisco to work in Silicon Valley. To joins the ranks of ‘not hipster, hipsters’ working with digitally innovative start-ups. I had romantic notions about these companies. Small intimate teams. Cosy brainstorming sessions. Banging on the doors of corporate giants to ask them to partner with us in bringing our baby to market. I was never supposed to join one of these giants, but an opportunity in an amazing company came my way and I went for it. I only wanted to be a part of digitally supported innovation.

Fast forward three years and I’m still here, content, but not content. The need to walk, to run, to fly an invariable itch under my skin, halting my attempts and thoughts of career advancement. The short breaks are no longer doing their job and satisfying me. I’m not seeing enough, not immersing myself in different cultures enough, time on these breaks just seem forever short and the ends always too abrupt.

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And so I did it. I brought up the topic I was avoiding, and said the words ‘I want to travel and I want to do it long term’. I’ll be off in just under 3 months. And I’m ready.