I finally worked out (just today) what I’m doing here.

That’s not to say I didn’t have lots of perfectly good answers to that question before, now it just makes more sense to me!

I’m doing research.

We’ve already been through the whole I don’t know what to do with my life, and will no doubt go through it again and again, as soon as I’ve made a decision I feel great, then gradually start to think about all the other things I love, the things I passionately wanted to pursue before ‘financial security’ became an issue. Then I question my decision again.

When you are in your groove, your normal everyday life, doing the work you usually do, seeing the people you usually see, completely in your comfort zone, you, or at least I, would never have thought of quitting a stable permanent job just to hang around in the same town trying some other things out. Maybe people have done this, Gala darling is certainly someone who did, if any more of you have I’d love to hear about it! Now that I’ve written it down it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, and would probably have been both cheaper and easier than the path I chose to find my way. Somehow though spending copious amounts of money comes more naturally when you are ‘travelling’. When you’re not travelling you’re usually saving for something and thus more concerned about money. As well as not worrying about not being employed, being so far out of your comfort zone opens up a world of opportunity, why not push your boundaries further, you can be anything, go anywhere, be anyone. So who do you want to be?

I left my ‘stable’ life and ‘secure’ career behind for so many reasons. For experience, for a challenge, for adventure. I knew there was more out there for me and I came out to find it. A year of self discovery. A year of discovery in general. A year of trying out as many of the other things I’ve thought about doing for a career as I can fit in, while still taking care of myself, to see if they are right for me. Can you imagine? How much happier would everyone be if we were easily able to properly try out different careers before choosing the one/s to commit to? Not a new concept, that’s why temporary employment is so common, (there’s a great article on it here for those of you who are ‘temps’, despite the lingering opinions that staying in the one organisation for 10 or more years is the only way to go).

Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying learning all I can about running a cafe, I now also have a part-time job at an English language school where I can learn about teaching English as a second language, very important for people who want to be able to work all over the world. I will also be doing a few hours a week during May as unpaid work experience at the book shop. Yay! I love books.

Now that I’ve started this though, and realised what is possible, I’m going to have to strictly prioritise the rest! I’ve wanted to be a lot of things in my time! 

So! Hi ho, hi ho and off to work we go!

Aufwiedersehen!