LOST & FOUND: from no plan to the Caribbean plan

Hi everybody! I finally made it! I just became a member of Steemit community and I feel awesome!!!! 

Well, it’s my husband’s fault (like most of the times :)). He’s always looking for new things out there in the universe…but most of the time on internet. So, he came across this new and fast growing (as you already know) community which you’re obviously a part of. He introduced me to Steemit and I was f***ing impressed…I was like HOW AWESOME IS THIS!!!!!! I WANT TO DO IT ALSO!!!!! 

But it took me quite a long time to join you guys cuz I had to deal with some voices in my head first.They were very laud:

Relax, Tjaša, you are not a writer, nor a blogger. Don’t get too excited about the idea of you posting here on Steemit. This is not for you. You don’t have anything interesting to share. You don’t even have a talent.  Get your shit together and start looking for new and real job. The one you have now will finish in a month, remember?

Of course I obeyed…again… cuz this is something that I’m used to do. Little creatures are often screaming in my face DON’T YOU DARE TO BE DIFFERENT!!!! And sadly they are quite successful.

(credit: retrospectacled.tumblr.com)

But somehow, this time, I couldn’t just forget about it. The idea was there…day after day. I could almost see it waving at me, screaming to me: HEY, I’M WAITING FOR YOU TO CATCH ME!!!! ARE YOU F***ING BLIND?!?!?!?!? So, this time I couldn’t pretend, I couldn’t look away without saying at least ''hi'' to this well marinated piece of thoughts…and I said to myself F*** IT, LET’S GIVE IT A TRY!

I believe that life should be fun, full of creativity and excitement…and I believe that I can live that life, if I just DARE TO BE MYSELF. 

Actually, I was living that life once already

But I was quite successful forgetting about it…I put it in the back of my head…in a very safe but dusty place.

Now I decided to bring out all the memories and amazing experiences…dig deep, clean the spider webs and bring some life in…it’s like a seasonal cleaning…but this time I will write it down, to make sure that they won’t be forgotten forever.

(credit: i.imgur.com)

So, let the digging begin…

I was 26 years old secretary…I wasn’t complaining about the job cuz at least I had one — yea, that’s the mentality most of the people have in my country — but I wasn’t too optimistic about my future.

Oh, I didn’t tell you yet…I’m from Slovenia…a tiny little "chicken shape" country in the middle of Europe…once part of Yugoslavia, today part of EU. I still don’t know what’s better but let’s don’t get too deep on this one…We’re lucky to have beautiful nature where we can escape from all the craziness going down…

                                 

(credit: www.slovenianalps.com) 

Back to the story…

While I was working from 7:30 to 17:00 I was also struggling with my bachelor degree — I know I should have a PhD by then but I obviously wasn't motivated enough…actually, I still don’t understand my decision to study political science, but that’s a topic for another story —

Sitting in the office, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I will do when I’ll finish University. Maybe that’s why it took me soooo long to actually finish it cuz I didn’t know what I want to do with my life after that. All I knew for sure was that I don’t wanna spend 9 hours per day in an office.

I started to investigate…looking for options to escape. Different ideas came to my mind.

English courses — Jesus, these things are so expensive and there are tons of better ways to learn or improve any language.

Trips to various destinations — but I wasn’t looking for a vacation destination where I could stay 2 weeks or a month and then return to normal life like nothing happened.

I was looking for something different, something that would make me do some serious changes.

Then volunteering crossed my mind 

— Seriously? There are millions of opportunities out there. How to choose the right one? — Luckily, when you open your mind and heart to new ideas, things begin to happen.

I was at the right place at the right time. Actually in a bar — Sunday, January 2nd 2011 — right after the morning training. At that time I was super enthusiastic about Kick’n Punch: very energetic training with boxing gloves, boxing bags, good music and even better people. So, no problem to go to train on Sunday 9am, right after new year’s eve.

Anyway…that Sunday morning I went for a coffee and a shot of borovničke (blueberry liqueur) — the best combination in winter when the temperatures are below zero — with one of my friends from training. Soon after the first shot I started to talk about how I feel lately. She was listening and when the storm of complains had finished she came out with her story. She said:

Tjaša, listen…You’re young. Do what you want to do. I had the same thoughts few years ago and I was looking for volunteering opportunities. I was already making plans to go and be a part of one project…but then…I got pregnant. Of course my plan and my whole life changed after that. But sometimes I’m still thinking about where I would be and who I would be if I would go to volunteer at that time. So, please, be brave and follow your intuition. Maybe you wanna check the organization that I was checking. Here is the website. Check and let me know if you find anything interesting for you.

And I did. I checked. I was investigating a little bit. I did my homework. Soon I came across one organization that took my attention. 

Before I continue with the story I have to tell you that I have an obsession — beach life, sun and the ocean — My plan (and luckily my husband’s also) is to live at the beach, or at least very close to it.

                  

So, I saw the picture of the place on top of the hill, with magnificent view of the Caribbean sea…THAT WAS IT!…I made my decision even before I checked their programs…I NEED TO GO THERE!

The organization is located on the main island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) — Caribbean country western from Barbados — It almost looked too good to be true. But there it was…

The program that I liked the most was 9 months program. For now it’s enough to say that I would be part of so called Ecuador Team. That meant that at one point of the program the team would also go to work to Ecuador for 4 months. Perfect!!!

It looked like a very big decision. And out of my comfortable zone…completely. 

I’ve never left my home for longer than 2 weeks. I’ve ever been alone in a place where no one speaks Slovene — that means no more hiding behind other people’s back when it comes to English. And trust me, my Spanish was at no level at all. ''Mi casa es su casa'' was mostly everything I knew. 

So, all these looked very challenging for me. But that was exactly what I needed in that moment…something that would make me address my fears and make my heart jump at the same time.

So, decision was made. CARIBBEAN HERE I COME!!!!

Next step...I just have to inform my parents that in 8 months I’m going to quit my job and leave. It looks like the challenges have already begun.

Let see how this will go through…

(credit: i.giphy.com)

Continue this journey with me! 

Follow me and find out what else is hiding under the dust...

HAVE FUN and DARE TO BE YOURSELF!!!

Until next time…

@whynotme

P.S. Just to follow the protocol...here is my validation pic ;)