My Maroon Luggage (Part 1)

So blogging is not new to me.

I've had this one since before - probably right at the start when very few people were blogging. Unlike the numerous bloggers in cyberspace today, I didn't pursue mine.
I opted to go to the road more frequently travelled, I pursued a stable and traditional career.
This actually explains why this blog is seeing such a big gap between the last post in 2014, and to this one in the middle of 2019.

What has happened since then?

A lot.

Seeing as I started this post more on career and the choices I have made in that area, I'll continue moving in this direction and leave the rest of how my life has changed in a different post, on a different day.

So yes, I have pursued the career I have started since my last blog post. Hospitality. The dynamic world of hotels and event planning, and I've not ever had a chance for a change of a career in between. I've stayed on with the current company for at least 3 more years since then, before that day that you could say was a pivotal moment in my career. And no, it was nothing big, it didn't even happen at work. In fact, it was just one of those weekends.

I was out with a girlfriend who was shopping for luggage she could take for her upcoming trip, and I just happened to tag along. We came across this corner store at the mall selling luggage, and were so amused by how engaging the salesperson attending to us was. In fact, he was so good that his selling, plus my friend's prodding of us getting identical luggage, was all it took for me to weaken my resolve and exit that store with a brand new maroon luggage in tow.

I had no out of country trips planned, I had no out of town trips planned. Heck, for the next few months, I really didn't have anything planned. So buying a piece of luggage at this point really was not a proud moment for me. It was one of those impulsive buys that you regret even right after you've made the purchase.
I remember that day so well, remembering driving home with my shiny new bag, and thinking of all the things my mom would very well say to me if she saw this purchase. I made sure to keep the luggage packed and hidden in my room, so no one would be the wiser and I would be the only one feeling silly about this decision.

Immediately the week following, I was told my papers for a trip to train for work in Hong Kong had been approved, and I would be leaving in the next few days. Since this had been an ongoing discussion and application for almost a year now, it had really not crossed my mind that this was happening any time soon - hence my statement above that I really had no plans as of the moment.

So I made it to the training and went back. I learned so much from that experience, met new people, gained new insights, and thought nothing much of it and went back to the daily grind.

In between, traffic was becoming so horrible to drive back and forth from work, that I started renting a small room in the weekdays so I could save on the daily travel time, and only go home on weekends  or days off to refresh and see my family.

For someone who has stayed in the same house with my parents my whole life, this was a big step for me. I was a paranoid girl who was always imagining violent people and non-existent monsters who may be waiting to pounce on me in this little room where I was all alone. I spent many sleepless nights at the start of that experience with the lights on, and my phone clutching my phone with people  on speed dial in case of any kind of emergency.

Actually, looking back, that small step out of home was a very crucial move I had to make to prepare myself for the next few years in my life.

So I met this person in my short stint in Hong Kong.
A very positive person who was a mentor in every way. The only time we actually ever got to bond was a short lunch in the middle of a busy day, as he talked about his career and how he has jumped from one place to another. In the ears of one who was so far from that point in her career, he made it sound so great and so easy, and something I would grab the chance at. If my maroon luggage was a pivotal purchase, he was actually my life's pivotal person. He wasted no time in recommending me to his peers as he had both ears out in the market and knew what and where there was need.

To avoid making this post too long to be readable, he was the main reason why in a matter of 2 months, I was in the airport clutching a one-way ticket to Abu Dhabi to start work there the following week. I said goodbye to my home, to family and friends, to my comfort zone and everything I had ever known in my life. I was scared but excited, anxious but optimistic.

I contemplated about it while having that final Cebuano dinner at the airport. How everything in life comes together for where you eventually go. Not knowing if this is the right decision, and definitely not knowing if this is the road you're supposed to take, if this is where you are supposed to be. I guess at the end of the day, you will have to work to make it work. This string of thought was in my mind, as I said goodbye to the people who had come to see me off. As I waved goodbye, teary-eyed and hopeful, with my maroon luggage in tow.

Continue soon.