Walt’s Got the Right Idea

“Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,  

Healthy, free, the world before me,  

The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.  

  

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good fortune;  

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, 5

Strong and content, I travel the open road.”  

Walt Whitman.  Song of the Open Road.

Chains 

 Walt has the right idea.  It’s a big world out there waiting for us.  All you need is an open soul and that’s the ticket that will really take you places.   

I’ve often felt chained down by my home, career, and daily routine.  But these chains are my own creation.  I want to shake them off.  I want to feel free and unafraid.  I want to travel and experience a new lifestyle.  A little culture shock stirring me up and breaking away some of the paradigms I’ve accumulated.  

I want to get out there.  I want to explore the world.  I want to explore myself.  I’m going to take a flashlight and explore a nature preserve.  But more importantly, I want to take a flashlight and shine it on some dimly lit corners of my soul that are deeply buried and neglected.  

 

 
NDE

Everything’s cuter in an acronym, don’t you think?  NDE stands for Near Death Experience.  My NDE happened last May.  I was hiking through a lava tube with six friends of mine when we got caught by a flash flood.  After getting swept under by the current and aspirating some water, I had about 14 hours to cling to a ledge and think about life.  I felt reinvigorated to live my life the way I want to live it.  I can spend my days trying to do what will make other people happy,  or I can follow my own truth.  You never know when your last moment on earth will be.  

Nursing: It’s What I Do

I’ve worked in the emergency room for the past nine years, and five of those years I was a nurse.   For three years, I had the privilege of being a travel nurse.  Travel nursing was great because it allowed me to move to Maui and all over California.  I was able to experience a lot of different subcultures within the US.  But there started to be a slight problem with travel nursing- the actual nursing part.  After about ten years of working in an ER, my attitude towards my patients was sometimes less than peachy.  Those close to me can attest that I often took this attitude home with me.  I’d work three 12-hour shifts then hang out with my former boyfriend.  He helped me to realize that I would put up walls to get through my sometimes emotionally challenging shifts.  I got so good at putting the walls up, and I forgot how to take them down at the end of my shift.    He said I seemed more like my normal self about 24 hours after my last shift.  That’s about four days per week of closing off my heart.  I don’t want to spend the rest of my life like that.  

Read my first blog post about nursing burnout.

 

 
Nursing:  It’s Not the Only Thing I Can Do

Nursing is a great career, and I don’t plan on leaving the field all together.  But I need a break.  I need to get past the burn out, and I want a way to travel abroad professionally.  

I have been longing to move to Costa Rica ever since I visited in January 2015.  But I can’t be a nurse in CR.  What could I possibly do??

In steps my brother, “You’re always talking about moving to Costa Rica.  Why don’t you go down there and teach English?  If you’re happy and you want to stay, awesome.  If not, then at least you’ll know.”  Genius.  Pure genius.  I love teaching.  I used to be a private clarinet tutor in high school and I tutored kids of all ages when I was in college.  And I love helping nursing students and new nurses at work.  It seems like English teaching could be something I’d truly enjoy.  

Long story, short:  I am now a certified TEFL instructor and I’m heading to Costa Rica to find a job.  Maybe I’ll be an English teacher.  Maybe I’ll serve coffee. Who knows. 

 
 

   

The Journey Commences: Join Me!

So now my journey seems to be commencing.  I want to share my thoughts and experiences with you. And I want you to share your thoughts and experiences with me.  Have you been feeling the same way?  What path have you followed when you needed a change?  Have I gone too far off the deep end? 

Undertake this journey with me.  Be my virtual travel companion.  Sign up to “follow” me and get notifications of new posts–and don’t forget to leave a comment!!