I sat down to update my pathetic “About Me” section and quickly realized it was more like a Shakespearean monologue on a 3 minute speed date than the quick and witty intro I was looking for. Now it is yours to enjoy.
My first travelling experience was 2 days after my last university exam. Just enough time for me to move my stuff back home and shop for my travel essentials.
Like I knew what I needed. I didn’t even have a backpack.
Before this, I had only been to a handful of all inclusives with friends. I had no idea what ‘travelling’ meant. Yet here I was, boarding a plane solo, with a backpack filled with last minute, random purchases, on my way to Amsterdam.
I had no plan. All I knew was a little over 5 weeks later I was leaving from Athens, Greece back to Canada.
My idea was to read my travel book on the 8 hour flight and figure things out.
I fell asleep.
I landed without even knowing what a hostel was. I didn’t even –know- I didn’t know what a hostel was. From the airport I just tagged along with other people who also had Canadian flags on their backpacks and hoped they knew what they were doing.
I made some friends along the way, some of whom truthfully, probably saved my life. By the time arrived in Athens I had seen parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Morocco, Switzerland, Italy and Greece – and only had to sleep on a park bench once.
When I returned back home I realized that I had been bit by the travel bug and that my life had changed forever. The ultimate freedom of being able to explore, to choose a different adventure every day, to eat, smell and see so many different things was euphoric.
7 years later I was bitten again by the travel bug – so hard I got infected. I decided I wanted to be a tour leader in Central America. I broke my lease, sold all my stuff, cursed inescapable car leases, and bought my ticket to Guatemala.
Much like my previous travel adventure, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never been on a group tour before – much less knew how to lead them. I had been to Costa Rica for like a week. I didn’t even speak Spanish.
My life was about to change again…
I managed to ‘learn’ Spanish. I brushed up on Central American history. What I didn’t know I deferred to someone who did, or frankly just made up. I went on any adventure and every tour any of my passengers were interested in doing.
That’s how this whole blog got started. It was less about sharing pics though, and more about letting my friends know that I was still alive.
After my contract ended I spent a month living on a yoga farm in the mountains living off the land.
5 years passed and eventually I finally settled down. I had my own place, my dream job, and even daily routines. However, I still had not developed an immunity to the travel bug when it bit me again. I quit (again), rented out my place, cursed the car leases (again), and had to explain to everyone that I was leaving (again).
I was headed overseas to Switzerland under the guise of studying French and French civilization. In reality, I was following love across the world and hoping to make a new life in Europe.
In my heart I knew it was never going to work but I went for the adventure and to live out a real life fairy tale.
The relationship crashed and burned.
However, I traveled to Portugal, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland as a farewell trip to piece my heart back together.
I took some time off when I was back to contemplate life, to find my purpose, rediscover my dreams and create my vision. I didn’t have a plan yet, but I knew what I wanted in life. Regardless, I still somehow ended up working for The Man in the Corporate World, another rat in The Race.
I settled in ‘for good’ this time. I found a good man, reestablished my social network, less climbed more so was ‘thrown up’ the corporate ladder, and was responsible for a national team. Were my life changing adventures over?
Not so much.
4 years later, I am on a much different kind of adventure – starting my own business with Gaston. In keeping with the theme of things, I once again have no idea what I am doing. Likewise though, it’s never deterred me in the past, nor has it affected my ability to succeed.
So for now, we will travel just enough to stave off the travel bug that nibbles incessantly at my toes while we build our business. So stay tuned as I recap past adventures and find new ones!
ps. Want to join us on our entrepreneurial journey? Check us out at https://abadassentrepreneur.bookmark.com/