To me travel is the best education one can receive. I pride myself on living my life without regrets. This is why in 2012 I quite my job in San Diego, sold my car, moved out of my apartment and bought a one way plane ticket to Taiwan. I needed a drastic change in my life and I knew this could possibly be it.
After six weeks of winding through narrow streets, trying to find my way to one teaching interview after another I landed a job as a preschool teacher. Keep in mind that at this point in my life I had only taught at the college level. Now I was teaching three year olds who up until coming into my class only spoke Chinese. Talk about "culture shock" for myself as well as the little children I was teaching. For the first six months I wanted to quit every day. Everything was so different than what I was used to. I held on in hopes that it would get better.
Outside of teaching I was having a fantastic time, meeting new friends, exploring the Island and living the Expat life. I knew that if I could just become comfortable with my job that I would be accomplishing something huge.
Just like anything in life if you stick with it, teaching these young children became easier. Going to work every day was more enjoyable and I actually felt good about the impact I was making on their lives.
I ended up living in Taiwan for 18 months, it absolutely changed my life forever. I was able to travel al over Asia taking trips to Vietnam, Philippines, Bali and Thailand. My passion for travel
grew exponentially during this time.
After my teaching contract was over I moved back home, not knowing what the next step would be. I was just as scared to go home as I was to leave, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I moved back in with my dad at the age of 35. The one thing that I was for sure of was that I did not want to work for corporate America anymore and that traveling had to be a part of my life. During those first six moths of being home I almost moved back to Taiwan on several occasion. You see I had something they call "reverse cultural shock". I was lost and not sure of anything. Slowly I started doing admin for my dads company "Sprit Tours". Eventually I was able to try my talents out leading tours. After two tours in Bali and one in Costa Rica my Dad and Brother said that I was "indispensable". The rest is history.
I know that if I hadn't taken the leap to move to Taiwan, I would never have had the chance to work for the family business. I absolutely love what I do and I am so grateful for all of my experiences. You only live one life, take chances, be happy and have a positive outlook. All of these things will lead you to your destiny.
This all changed when my Fiancée started joining me on various Spirit Tours journeys around the world. According to him he has always had the desire to travel, however the opportunity never presented itself. In the past two years we have traveled together to Costa Rica, Sedona, Mexico and Bali. Each adventure in his eyes was so new and fresh. It made me re live the excitement of each place and appreciate each moment so much more. His excitement and amazing positive attitude while traveling allows me to see the world through the eyes of a novelist traveler.
