How I Quit My Job, Travelled the World & Moved Overseas…Almost- A Series of Fortunate Events

In late 2017, my partner Zacahrya and I decided that we wanted to quit our jobs, travel the world and experience living in Canada.  After living in Tokyo, I had always wanted to travel long term again. Zacahrya rides BMX and is in the peak of his riding career to date, so after getting approached by the owners of two of the largest indoor bike parks in Canada to live and work, our excitement for our new adventure grew tremendously.

In early 2018, we moved out of our house; sold/stored our belongings; quit our jobs and off we went…

Flash forward over six months and I am currently sat writing this in Calgary Airport, Alberta, Canada. But the fact that you’re reading it means that I am already back in the land down under- and secretly have been for some time now. And here’s why…

Have you ever been on a journey and then something happens and you get a sign that maybe this isn’t the right path for you? Alrighty, well have you ever gotten over 20 signs?

Before entering Canada alone we had experienced hurdles like:

• Wisdom tooth extraction
• Three slipped discs & a hospital visit
• Car accident
• Stolen Bag- including BOTH PASSPORTS, Beats headphones…
• Electric shock through my body
• Hostel bed sheets catching on fire
• Both our travel cards skimmed and accounts completely drained
• Visa Denial
• Emergency trips to Madrid & London to acquire new emergency & permanent passports
• Food poisoning on a delayed flight…

I’m being quite literal when I say this is not even half of the list of events and that we were both thousands of dollars down. Thinking that ‘our luck would turn around’ and that the universe was just setting us up for the incredible adventure that was waiting for us, we excitedly made our way to the airport to begin the trip to Canada …only to be told that our flight had been overbooked and that we did not get on the flight…

We eventually made it and after two shaky months in Canada, Zac and I both swallowed the sinking feeling of apprehension that lingered in our throats as we tried to establish our lives in Toronto.

Zac found work at the bike park he had longed to ride at, as I found a beautiful apartment for us to live. In theory we were living the life we had envisioned. And yet we had never felt so uninspired. Zac was not thriving in the riding scene and I hadn’t had a glimpse of inspiration or creativity in months.

I knew that I didn’t feel right about the path I was on so I put it out there for yet another sign. A sign if I should stick it out, or if this wasn’t the right path for me. The next day we woke up and Zac’s Canadian bank account had been completely drained and blocked.

This believe it or not was not the sign.

The following day we went and watched Venom in cinemas. An ad came on before the movie that informed- over 3 million children die from hunger each year and just like that a switch flipped in me. Here I was eating skittles ‘experiencing [if not escaping] life’ in a country with such a similar culture, just as privileged as the one that I was fortunate enough to be born into. The whole next 2 hours and 20 minutes of the movie I spent with thoughts flooding through my head on what kind of life I want to live. The bus trip home we decided to use the rest of our money to travel this beautiful country and the very next day we arranged our flights to come home.  That was the first action that has felt right to me in a long time.

This whole time I had been waiting for my ‘luck to turn around’, when I now realise that I had been thrown all these hurdles to make me truly realise just how lucky I really am. The fact that we have been faced with some pretty stressful challenges just further heightens the fact that I have always had options; I have always had a resolution. Where so many others are not fortunate enough to be born into this privilege… and they’re the ones I want to use my privilege to help!

Canada is beautiful, as were so many of the people we met in it. But it has made me realise that the reason I travel is to learn. And I have learned that I can’t possible travel to places like Bosnia & Herzegovina, which is still in ruins from a war as recent as 20 years ago, and then stay in a place like Canada where I can’t properly be educated or contribute the positive influence that I want to create my life upon. It was a series of [not so] fortunate events that allowed me to grow enough to reaffirm my place in this world and exactly what I want to bring to it.

In retrospect I realise how happy I was working towards my dream of travelling. With every event that occurred and every in-depth discussion with Zac about what we want from life, I realise that my dreams have grown to a place that staying in Canada would actually prolong doing what I want to do.

So I leave you with three of the most significant lessons this experience has taught me:

• You don’t owe it to anyone to be the person you were before… but you do owe it to yourself to be in control of your life, to live it in a way that is most authentically aligned with your values. Don’t continue on a path that is no longer right for you just because you invested a lot of time, effort and money into it.
• Pay attention to the signs in life. We saw them through 11 different countries, over 30 cities, 20 stressful events, 12 flights, 2 insurance claims, countless busses and hours of conversations about our goals. I have always considered myself an intuitive person so listening to the feeling of unease and changing course has already sparked so much inspiration and creativity in me that I am so excited to share in my coming posts. (Stay tuned for all information on our adventures!)

• Lastly, everything is temporary! I say it so often but never have I felt its power more than I do right now. We place so much pressure and weight on ourselves to constantly make the right decisions as if each consequence is permanent. But if the past 6 months have taught me anything it’s to take life as it comes! With each hurdle thrown our way there was always an option. I literally quit my job and moved my life overseas, only to decide (after quite a series of events) that we wanted to move home. And yes, I recognise the privilege of my circumstance through this but I also recognise the unnecessary amount of pressure I put on myself thinking the ‘wrong’ decision will lead to a situation I can’t get out of or that I’ll regret. Just like they always have, things will always work themselves out how they should be.

I am not writing this to encourage everyone to do exactly the things that I have done because I understand that is not plausible for everyone’s particular circumstance nor does everyone want to! I do however hope that my story will inspire you to make something happen for yourself, take action on that change you’ve been wanting to make!

So now I am back in a place where I am fortunate enough to have access to a good quality education and I intend to utilise it to pursue my life of meaning. I began my travels curious to see what the world has to offer me, and now I am already looking forward to my next trip with the perspective of what positive influence I have to offer the world.

Much love & light until next time & place..

Kaitlyn.

Photography: Canon70D, Iphone 7 Plus & GoPro Hero 6.