Why Travel Solves Everything….Temporarily

Traveling gives you time to think. It’s not the same kind of thinking when you’re sitting at home during your stay-cations or a day off running errands. It’s a kind of thinking that makes you question what you’re doing with your life. It’s a kind of think that makes you evaluate your current situation and consider making a change if you don’t like it.

My current travel adventures were brought on by an unfortunate situation. As many as you know, I’ve been living in Santiago, Chile for the past 6 years and was loving every bit of my life. I had finally landed my “dream job” and I was doing what I really loved and felt my career was going in the path I had imagined. My weekends flashed by so quickly with family lunches and a sleepless night with friends and my free time was spent learning new things, catching up with my family back home, or trying to break the world record of the number of times Netflix can ask you “Are you still watching”?

Life was great.

I put dream job in quotations because it wasn’t quite the dream job I expected. While I loved everything about my responsibility and the technical aspect of what my job had me doing, it was completely filled with toxic energy by the people who worked there. And for those who me, I’m huge believer about people’s energies, Karma, the stars, and I carry stones with me for protection (yeah, you might think I’m crazy but hey, it works for me).

To make a long boring work story short, I trusted the wrong people and ended up unemployed. I learned two things from the experience:

1. Always trust your gut
2. There are still good people out there

People will always try and screw others over. I can’t control that. But what I can control is how I react to it. Of course, I was upset, angry, plus a whole bunch of other emotions but I knew that those feelings were only temporary. I knew that life would go on and I needed to walk away with the positive: I figured out what I want and which direction my career path should go in.

So then I was faced with a huge challenge: what do I do now?

One night I had a long conversation with my dad and we came to the conclusion that it was time for a move, time for a change. Again. Leaving Chile was probably one of the heartbreaking things I’ve had to do. I made a life for myself that was completely mine, independent, and free. But I knew it needed to be done. I did come home under one condition. I wanted to travel. And travel a lot. So I packed my bags, sub-rented my furnished apartment, had a week long going away party (because that’s the Chilean way), and made my way back home.

I’m currently on month #4 and I’ve been on 11 flights, visited 18 cities from 7 different countries, and I’m loving every single moment!! I could stress about finding a job, but what’s the fun in that?  When the opportunity presents itself, I’ll be sure to grab it.

Remember, when you give good, you get good.