Work hard, travel harder

As of mid June, I have finished all my coursework required to apply for a dietetic internship, and as of today, I have completed the first week of my internship.

Rewind to 4 years ago...

Career and stable job was no where in my mind after I graduated from college with a degree in Communications and a minor in Spanish. I worked non-committal jobs that entailed abusive working conditions. Although I often came home emotionally and physically exhausted, what kept me going were my pre-meditated travels.



 Back to rewinding to 4 years ago...

I went back to school to become a registered dietician. Obtaining an internship is a major step and sometimes major road block to becoming one. Fortunately in my situation, it has been been a major step. The past 4 years have been long, stressful, and nevertheless rewarding. Long because I spent many late nights studying wondering when will I ever be done. Stressful because the process of going back to school required diligent multi-tasking with work, and unpleasant people. Rewarding because I love what I am studying and made some really good friends.

But the most important aspect of these past 4 years of schooling was being able to uphold my commitment to traveling.  Even though I started dating at a young age, I considered traveling as my first love with Italy being my first experience. I was scared and lonely at the age of 21. I even cried and couldn't wait to go back home. But after the returning I wanted to flee the country again.

Two months in Mexico was my next stop. Since then I've been loyal to my love for traveling.

During my 3 year stint at a major sporting venue, I would work during the busy hockey season, then file a leave of absence during summer to travel. Traveling for 8 weeks during the year wasn't enough for me. I then began to do short 1-2 week trip during December/January or whenever my boss would let me.

During this time I juggled my serving job during the evenings, weekends, and holidays while working as a substitute teacher during the day. Even though I fought hard against the idea of working a full-time job, I ended up working more than 10 hours a day.

The money I made was actually great for not having to use my college degree. There were days where I bought in more than $400 a day. On top of that I did some commercial gigs that also supplied me with a nice chunk of change. But despite that money, I was miserable and the income was inconsistent.

That's when I turned my life around by going back to school. My savings were significantly shrinking. I had to restrategize my spending habits. Fortunately I was able to still travel for at least 3 months out of the year, every year.

Until this day, I can't imagine a life without seeing the world. Now that I am serious about having a stable career, I still won't let go of my nomadic ways.

Looking back on those putzful days, I fondly remember my boss saying to me "So you just work all year then go off during the summer every year?"

That is when my mantra became work hard, travel harder.

photo by martinak15/ CC by 2.0