OK, I've been back for quite some time. I spent 111 days traveling and returned to my little cottage outside of D.C. Memorial Day weekend. I spent that first weekend at my mom and Dan's house on the Wycamoco Bay, relaxing by the water and savagely devouring blue crabs smothered in Old Bay seasoning. You don't get them served just like that anywhere else in the world. I know, I've now done the research. Then made my way to see Dad and Karen to visit the graves of fallen servicemen we've known and loved and pay our respects, followed by some fun sailing by the monuments along the Potomac River and then making our own homemade sushi back at the house with some celebratory champagne. I was super determined to just enjoy those moments that weekend and not think about the overwhelming question on every one's mind... "what's next?"
Fast forward to today. My life is still transitioning and my bank account is still in a lot of residual pain... but I feel less stressed about the future and comfortable in the moment than ever before and I feel incredibly rich in all of the ways that it is important to be rich.
Professionally, I was not punished in the least bit for my adventure. I did not return to my last employer, but they had me in to the office after I came back to give a little presentation on my trip and were incredible references for my next endeavor. Not only have I landed a job, but I had two competing offers from employers and actually had to make a tough decision to pick one! I make a good amount more money than I did before with more benefits and on a pretty high profile account that is awesome for my resume. Added bonus: my morning commute is only 15 minutes and I can still wear jeans to work like I did before AND... there is a keg in the office. I still miss the old gang but in case anyone was worried that my decision would hurt my career... you can go ahead and worry about something else :) To be fair, some potential employers were concerned that I'd up and left like that, but the majority found it pretty badass. I'm sure the manner in which I presented my little career break had something to do with it, so keep that important caveat in mind in case you hope to do something similar and yield the same results. I can't write every one's cover letters for them, but I'm happy to chat with you if you get to that point and do have questions.
I now live in a townhouse in Arlington and I'm loving the proximity to my friends and some of the things I like to do. I enjoyed living so close to my family and having so much nature in my backyard, but I didn't have to give much of that up. The roommates and I have a little backyard that they've let me get creative in and I'm walking around like I'm some expert farmer because I got green things to sprout out of the grown that I'm hopeful will become vegetables before the frost comes. It's a fun project. And, my new bedroom is GORGEOUSLY decorated with the stuff I've acquired from my travels. Funny story about the roommates, they're two guys who I met via Craigslist thinking they'd be strangers and it turns out we had a couple of mutual friends... including my friend Cliff who I hadn't seen in a while except for we happened to be in Mendoza, Argentina at the same time while both traveling and got to have dinner together. Crazy, right? I think that and another reference helped me get the spot in the house so that's another positive change in my life that I actually thank my travels for!
Life is balancing itself out nicely, but I'm certainly still in a transition stage. My yoga practice is still strong and I plan to begin teaching this coming month some nights and mornings outside of my regular work hours. I'm focusing on doing things I like to do and spending time with people who fill me up. I've removed several things, including relationships, from my life that I don't feel serve me. I just don't put my energy into those things so much anymore. I'm focused more on my health, shopping at the farmers market and doing regular physical activity. In a way I'm still traveling, but it's less literal. I'm wandering around my own life and my environment in a more present and aware manner. I'm in awe. I'm free. It rocks.
My heart twinges a little bit when I get taken back to my trip. Random things trigger it. The other day I was in traffic heading home in gorgeous weather. Jamming out with the windows down, a Foo Fighters song came on the radio, bringing me back to seeing them live with Patti and some of our new friends in Buenos Aires. As I was riding on the high of that moment, a girl in the car ahead of me stuck her hand out of the window to ash her cigarette and I noticed a gorgeous henna tattoo design up her hand and arm. That image took me back to the beach in India, laying there as a local woman in a beautifully colorful and glittery wardrobe drew swirls and flowers all over my body as my multi-national group of friends and I crushed on the gorgeous Austrian man down the beach. And then forward to a moment of looking down at that same henna but more faded as I landed in Argentina, aching to be back. Having all of that come in at once was an overwhelming and powerful moment. The real kicker? The Foo song playing was Everlong. So with that, I'll leave you with a link to the song and some of the lyrics, and a promise (maybe more like a "good intention") that I WILL fill in the blanks on the rest of the trip in later posts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y
"And I wonder if everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when"
Fast forward to today. My life is still transitioning and my bank account is still in a lot of residual pain... but I feel less stressed about the future and comfortable in the moment than ever before and I feel incredibly rich in all of the ways that it is important to be rich.
Professionally, I was not punished in the least bit for my adventure. I did not return to my last employer, but they had me in to the office after I came back to give a little presentation on my trip and were incredible references for my next endeavor. Not only have I landed a job, but I had two competing offers from employers and actually had to make a tough decision to pick one! I make a good amount more money than I did before with more benefits and on a pretty high profile account that is awesome for my resume. Added bonus: my morning commute is only 15 minutes and I can still wear jeans to work like I did before AND... there is a keg in the office. I still miss the old gang but in case anyone was worried that my decision would hurt my career... you can go ahead and worry about something else :) To be fair, some potential employers were concerned that I'd up and left like that, but the majority found it pretty badass. I'm sure the manner in which I presented my little career break had something to do with it, so keep that important caveat in mind in case you hope to do something similar and yield the same results. I can't write every one's cover letters for them, but I'm happy to chat with you if you get to that point and do have questions.
I now live in a townhouse in Arlington and I'm loving the proximity to my friends and some of the things I like to do. I enjoyed living so close to my family and having so much nature in my backyard, but I didn't have to give much of that up. The roommates and I have a little backyard that they've let me get creative in and I'm walking around like I'm some expert farmer because I got green things to sprout out of the grown that I'm hopeful will become vegetables before the frost comes. It's a fun project. And, my new bedroom is GORGEOUSLY decorated with the stuff I've acquired from my travels. Funny story about the roommates, they're two guys who I met via Craigslist thinking they'd be strangers and it turns out we had a couple of mutual friends... including my friend Cliff who I hadn't seen in a while except for we happened to be in Mendoza, Argentina at the same time while both traveling and got to have dinner together. Crazy, right? I think that and another reference helped me get the spot in the house so that's another positive change in my life that I actually thank my travels for!
Life is balancing itself out nicely, but I'm certainly still in a transition stage. My yoga practice is still strong and I plan to begin teaching this coming month some nights and mornings outside of my regular work hours. I'm focusing on doing things I like to do and spending time with people who fill me up. I've removed several things, including relationships, from my life that I don't feel serve me. I just don't put my energy into those things so much anymore. I'm focused more on my health, shopping at the farmers market and doing regular physical activity. In a way I'm still traveling, but it's less literal. I'm wandering around my own life and my environment in a more present and aware manner. I'm in awe. I'm free. It rocks.
My heart twinges a little bit when I get taken back to my trip. Random things trigger it. The other day I was in traffic heading home in gorgeous weather. Jamming out with the windows down, a Foo Fighters song came on the radio, bringing me back to seeing them live with Patti and some of our new friends in Buenos Aires. As I was riding on the high of that moment, a girl in the car ahead of me stuck her hand out of the window to ash her cigarette and I noticed a gorgeous henna tattoo design up her hand and arm. That image took me back to the beach in India, laying there as a local woman in a beautifully colorful and glittery wardrobe drew swirls and flowers all over my body as my multi-national group of friends and I crushed on the gorgeous Austrian man down the beach. And then forward to a moment of looking down at that same henna but more faded as I landed in Argentina, aching to be back. Having all of that come in at once was an overwhelming and powerful moment. The real kicker? The Foo song playing was Everlong. So with that, I'll leave you with a link to the song and some of the lyrics, and a promise (maybe more like a "good intention") that I WILL fill in the blanks on the rest of the trip in later posts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y
"And I wonder if everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when"
