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I was 25 years old, A clothing rep for some of the hottest lines going, I was travelling constantly, I lived in an awesome apartment, in downtown Vancouver, B.C., I had tons of clothes, lots of friends, and spent a lot of time eating and drinking in all the hot spots of downtown Vancouver.
I was making way more money than most people my age, and life was really good...
Then my dad died, unexpectedly. He was 55 years old, and even though we lived in different cities I was devastated. For those of you who have also had a parent die, I am sure you understand.
I never thought I would get over it, but after taking some time off with my family, I had to get back to work. Once I got back to my life, I started reflecting on a lot of the things my father taught me. The one that stood out the most was “If you don’t wake up happy, why are you even waking up”. I have always believed that he meant if you’re not happy, change your life, I never once took it as don’t ever wake up again.
I had been working for the same company for almost 5 years. When I started one of the compromises my boss made with me, since he was a chauvinist and didn’t think woman and men should be paid the same even though we did the same job, was that when it was slow, I wanted time off to travel.
When you travel for work you can end up being on the road for weeks at a time, no days off, working early, working late, but then at certain times of the year it slows down, it really slows down, even the manufacturing companies who we worked for closed down for weeks at a time. I thought having a job travelling would help curb my appetite for travelling; all it did was make me want to go to more exotic places other than Western Canada.
So I decided to ask for a 2 month leave of absence and travel Thailand. (Even though I was entitled to it, I never asked for my salary.) I just wanted the time off. Thailand was still pretty laid back at that time, and it seemed like the place to go.
Unfortunately, my boss didn’t think so, he thought I should go “for 2 weeks like everyone else” and it would be better to sit around the office and pick my nose for the month since he was paying me.
Well, I explained I was not everybody else, So, I decided to quite, just like that. I knew I would be leaving that same day, but instead of feeling nervous or scared or “Am I crazy?”
All I felt was free.
On my way out the door, I stopped to say goodbye to a few people and was offered new career opportunities but at that moment I could only envision myself hanging on a white sand beach, so I said “No, thanks, maybe when Im back”.
So I go back to my apartment, I called my mom and my best friend, told them what happened and I asked them to come over and help me pack up my apartment.
Over the years I have become a minimalist, in those days I was a pack rat, glasses, ashtrays, tea cups from all different kinds of bars and restaurants, any gift that anyone had ever given me, and all my silly collections, stuffed animals, brass candle sticks, framed movie posters ect.
Within 4 weeks I was gone, but not to Thailand, I was on a plane to Martinique in the French West Indies.
A week after leaving my job, I got a letter from a friend of mine (This was 1989, before e mail.) My friend Lori, who was also full of adventure, was working for the hotel chain Club Med Resorts. She mentioned she was going to be finished her six month stint in a couple of months and was thinking of travelling the area for a month or two before she went to her next stint with the club.
Not knowing the French West Indies, I went to the library, again, before internet, and grabbed a few travel books and brought them home.
All I had to do was see the fabulous, colourful maps of all those Islands, one after the other, on the inside of Lonely planet, and I was hooked.
It took me a few days to reach Lori, but when I did, I told her not to leave without me, I had a plan, it was august, I planned to leave in September, Lori would be ready in October and I wanted to finish in February in Trinidad for Carnival..
I was so excited I could hardly breathe. Every night I would look at my map and get more and more excited, this was an area I didn’t know much about but it was just Island after Island..And I couldn’t wait.
Stay tuned...To the life I wanted, the life I channelled, and the life that I have had..You can do it too..
Jen
