3 months ago today. A lovely summer day in Leipzig, Germany. My parents had left after a wonderful visit. Neil Jennings and I had finished a very successful presentation at Peter Wald’s HRInnoDay2019 with Octagon Careers, our start-up, which we left everything to pursue.

My back was a little sore. My mom asked me to please get it checked out. I said it was nothing. She convinced me. I went. After about 10 hours at a hospital in Leipzig, where Neil and I struggled to register in German, and anxiously awaited for an English-speaking doctor to appear, we finally found out what was wrong.

When I was 17, I had a scoliosis fusion surgery, where they straightened my spine, and put in titanium rods and screws to keep it from curving. Now here I was, after having travelled all around the world. Hiking Machu-Picchu in Peru, climbing waterfalls in Thailand, jumping into the water in Malaysia and Croatia more times than I could count. Years of issue-free travel as a Management Consultant, and a full Remote Year later.

Here I was. With a broken titanium rod, in Leipzig, Germany. A complete fluke, by medical standards.

I like to say I remain calm in stressful situations. I rally people together to find solutions. As I heard the news from the man that had spent 2 years of his career in the US, and could communicate in perfect English, that I had a broken rod, I didn’t know what to do. Words like ‘emergency surgery’, ‘you shouldn’t be walking, your spine may be unstable’, ‘we need to keep you here and do more tests’ are not what you want to hear, ever. Let alone when you are building a start-up and you have a small, 3-person team to care for.

2 days went by. A flurry of mixed opinions and hospital food later, I was somehow cleared to fly. From emergency surgery to nothing needed, we were left in utter confusion. We only saw one option: return to Canada, get this assessed, figure out a plan.

The first decision to make was around the timeline. We had a trip scheduled to Belfast, for my family and Neil’s to meet. I wanted to go to Belfast, return to Leipzig, then meet up with our friends in Paris for their honeymoon, THEN, head back to Canada. I wanted to be in Leipzig for Investor’s Day. To do the presentation I had worked on so relentlessly to perfect. Four concerned parents, and one very concerned boyfriend though, somehow managed to change my mind. I started to let go and realized I needed to prioritize my health. Neil went back to present at Investor’s Day. We bought me a business-class ticket back to Canada. We didn’t know if I could sit through such a long flight in economy.

Have you ever tried flying across the Atlantic with a broken piece of metal in your back? I hadn’t either. We got wheel chair service. I saw the looks. The young couple, with the woman in the wheelchair. Everyone stepped out of our way. Everyone was so kind. I hoped this wouldn’t be the new normal.

My parents greeted us at the elevator upon arrival. They weren’t expecting us back so soon. They weren’t expecting me in a wheelchair.

What was I feeling as all this was going on? From tech entrepreneur in Germany, to barely walking in Canada just 2 weeks later. I was feeling full of joy. How? Why? Wait… What?

At the hospital in Germany, when I was told I needed emergency surgery, my world came crashing down on me. Foreign country, language, culture. My family would have to come for at least a month. So many lives would be turned upside-down. My mom owns her own business. I couldn’t do that to her.

Arriving in Canada felt like a magical second chance. I had made it home. Amidst all the bad news and the fear, there was the joy of seeing my family and friends, and feeling our support network multiply.

The next day we went to the hospital in Winnipeg to get our second opinion. After x-rays and a return visit the next week, they asked for an MRI. We got the call a few weeks later. No surgery. All restrictions lifted. Ongoing monitoring, but nothing else. I was free to continue living. I was told to be careful and see how my body reacted, but other than that, I didn’t need to come back until September for my next check-up.

Tears all around. A weight lifted. That said, so many decisions still remained to be made.

Would we continue the start-up from Canada? Where would we live? Would Neil survive a cold Winnipeg winter?

When we had first heard emergency surgery, Neil and I both panicked. A pre-revenue start-up, on which we worked 80-hour weeks to build, we knew would be a challenge to continue. In that moment at the hospital, we wished that at least one of us had kept our full-time jobs, to have access to steady income and benefits.

We assessed our risk tolerance. Something we should have done prior to moving to Germany to pursue a start-up but never did. We realized we are the kind of people that prefer more stability. We kept working on Octagon Careers, and started looking for jobs.

Very quickly I was offered an incredible opportunity to join the Government of Manitoba, as a Senior Strategist, within a new group, Strategic Initiatives, under Treasury Board Secretariat. I always wondered what working in Government would be like. Everyone I heard from said getting hired into Government took a long time. My process from beginning to end took 11 days. I was impressed. I was excited to join a team and tackle new challenges. I said yes. Neil found a job he was so excited about a few weeks later.

Starting to reconnect with Winnipeg felt almost as new to me as it did to Neil. So much change has happened here since I left. From Winnipeg’s first sky-scrapers, to an emerging tech-scene, to innovation in government. Every day I started to learn more. A community hungry for change and improvement.

From being concerned that there would be nothing to do, I became concerned that I didn’t have enough time to do everything I wanted to do in Winnipeg.

3 months. From near emergency surgery, to a job I enjoy, volunteer roles I find fascinating, a new apartment, new and old friends. The change I didn’t know I wanted.

So much positive came out of so much negative. In the spirit of the 3 months, here are my 3 takeaways:

1. Listen to your body. Regardless of how much you care about what you are currently doing professionally, your health matters more. Taking care of your physical and mental health is essential for success. A broken metal rod is what it took for me to learn to listen.
2. Understand your risk tolerance. Everyone’s is different, you need to know yours. Don’t know where to start? Take an online quiz to help you start the internal dialogue. Seek professional advice if you want more information. Every decision you make either adds or reduces risk.
3. Take inventory of your opportunities every few years. Oftentimes we say that we will never do x for reason y. I said I wouldn’t come back to Winnipeg because the career opportunities weren’t here. I said that 10 years ago and never took the time to properly reassess over that 10 year period. Reasons or limiting factors may change over time. You may change over time. Keep an eye on that.

Here is to the next year in Winnipeg, to figuring out how I can bring most value to the city that raised me. To bringing everything I’ve learned from living and working in Toronto, and over 15 countries during my digital nomad experience. To enhancing the tech ecosystem through keeping my start-up as a side project, and helping guide others to build their own. To bringing innovation to Government. And so much more.

I am so happy to be home.

January 26th, 2019 I sat at the Mexico City airport, thinking: I am done! I have successfully completed Remote Year, having spent 12 months travelling the world and learning how to work remotely. The thing is, the year was so much more than that. On January 26th, 2018, I never would have expected the year to have such a huge impact on my life.

I thought I would now be sitting in Toronto, at Monitor Deloitte, sharing stories with old friends. I thought I would be staying warm on my familiar sofa, watching some Netflix and enjoying a cup of tea. I thought I would be returning to the friends I know and love. Yet, here I am, writing this reflection from Leipzig, Germany. A place I didn’t know existed 6 months ago.

Although Remote Year finished over a month ago, the last 5 weeks, have felt akin to month 13. There has been so much change, travelling home to Winnipeg, stopping by Toronto and London, spending a week in Belfast, and finally arriving in Leipzig. During all this post-Remote Year travel, I didn’t have much of a chance to sit and write. I also didn’t know where I was going and it felt almost wrong to write the end of a chapter of my life without knowing where I was going next. Now, I finally do.

Much to my surprise, I’ve decided to focus full time on a business idea I started working on while on Remote Year. It focuses on one of my favourite initiatives I was ever a part of while at Monitor Deloitte — student recruitment! We are building a game-changing solution that replaces traditional resume and cover letter screening with a challenge-based approach that measures role-relevant candidate competencies, and levels the playing field by removing bias through anonymizing applications. We are hoping to provide feedback to every student, equip universities with data on their students’ performance, and make hiring more efficient for corporates! If you want to learn more, go here. Our company has been accepted into a really awesome accelerator program in Germany. It was such a cool experience to apply to different programs, and be selected for the finals (26 of 200+) and then make it into the top 9 teams to join this particular program. If you want to learn more about the program, go here.

That said, now that we are finally in Germany and I have a few hours to spare before we start our program tomorrow, I wanted to share some perspectives from my time away.

Looking back through what I wrote closer to the start of the year, there are a few common themes: (1) the need to slow down and enjoy each day, (2) a strong desire for new experiences and growth, (3) ambition towards enhancing leadership skills. Our group of unique individuals had diverse goals going into the year. Some hoped to learn a new language, others to visit as many countries as possible, others to find a new career, others to fall in love. It’s funny, if I could summarize my goal for the year, in one sentence, it would probably be ‘to push myself out of my comfort zone, into as many new experiences as possible.’ There were would be sub-goals, associated with happiness, leadership, and growth, but the overarching goal would be to shake my life up. To really, truly, take the path less traveled and do something that seemed so crazy it just might be good.

Personally, I think we learn most when we are pushed outside of what we know, but have enough support to deal with the experience. I went through this type of moment so many times during my 12 month journey. So here goes, a few learnings, from my time away:

You can work on facing your fears. They should never stop you!

I’m afraid of heights, yet, I can climb mountains. Over the course of the last year, I climbed so many high peaks. The Batu Caves in Malaysia, Sticky Falls in Thailand, the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and Machu Picchu in Peru to name a few. I even went on a hot air balloon over the Aztec pyramids of Mexico. Each time it got a little easier, as I learned to work on personal roadblocks. I began to co-exist with the fear, respect it and not allow it to stop me. My favourite moments were seeing young children do what I was doing fearlessly. They instilled a lot of confidence in me. If a 10 year old could, so could I!

It is okay to reach out to others to for help. In fact, I encourage it!

I learned to ask for help, which is something I definitely did not do enough of prior to Remote Year. Most people are kind, supportive and open to sharing knowledge. With such a diverse community around me, I leaned on others to grow. I learned about organizational psychology, the basics of programming and managing a tech team, how to best work in teams given individual strengths and personalities. I saw that asking for help made me more human and led to others asking for my help too. Of course one person can’t take on the world alone, and truly understanding that, took time.

Success means different things to different people. Each person’s definition is valid!

I redefined success for me, moving away from getting somewhere in my career as fast as possible as my measurement of achievement. Within my starting class at Monitor Deloitte, we joked that I would stay straight through and become a partner. That said, 1st year Consultant Vanesa, continuing on that trajectory would have burned out too quickly. For me, focusing solely on my career or extracurriculars to expedite said career, was not leading to personal fulfillment. It is too bad I couldn’t see this while in Toronto, but I realized a lot of my personal unhappiness was stemming from a lack of ‘diversified success.’ During the year away I did so many activities on top of the global exploring, that were outside of the ‘professional development’ realm. I had time to volunteer at a food shelter in Malaysia, learned how to make a knife using old traditions in Vietnam (which I still have and works great!), went scooting around Mexico city, took local language classes. The list could span its own post. I found time to do things that made me feel a sense of ‘success’ that was different than the one I sought out most. I also learned how to stay in a relationship — which I always struggled with at home as work always came first, which leads to my next point.

You should understand what your priorities are. Sometimes, work is #1, sometimes it isn’t.

I learned how to prioritize my life, so that work didn’t always come first. Monitor Deloitte does a great job at trying to promote balance, especially as individuals start out their careers, but personally, the message never sunk in properly. I would do whatever, whenever to ensure I was the most reliable employee. However, over the last year, I realized I didn’t want to marry Monitor Deloitte. I wanted to find a person to go through life with, which would require prioritizing them too. I wanted to find time for me, to do things that I love. I learned that work should come first sometimes, but that life, whatever that may be, sometimes needs to take the #1 seat too, so that both can be fulfilling.

It is okay to quit a job you like.

I also learned that it is okay to quit. I have struggled so much with the decision of not going back to Monitor Deloitte, as 6 years ago, it was my dream job, and it is hard to let go of something you dreamed of. That said, I’ve slowly come to accept that leaving doesn’t mean that something is wrong. It simply means that at this time, there is a better opportunity for my personal and professional development elsewhere. It means I still value everything I learned at Monitor Deloitte and all of the relationships I formed there and hope to keep. As I sit typing this, I know the right decision for me is to let go, so that I can continue my path, that one day, may lead back to the corporate world.

One year, enough memories to last a life time. Yet here I am, embarking on a completely new adventure, full of new, abundant memories to be created. Thank you to everyone who kept up with my blog during the year! It was wonderful getting messages from you.

See you soon!

Happy new year!! December was quite a different month on Remote Year for me. While the group headed to Bogota for the whole month, I opted to spend most of it in Buenos Aires and Cordoba. After more than 10 months on the road, I wanted to try working remotely a little closer to my family. Although I didn’t have the conventional Remote Year workspace, or events, we created replacements, and introduced Family Co-working and Family Weekend Tracks.

2018 has by far been the most different year of my life, and it wouldn’t have been possible without taking the leap and joining Remote Year. I am grateful for the encouragement I received from friends, family and colleagues to embark on this experience, that has led to immense personal and professional growth. As the program soon comes to an end, I will be sharing a larger reflection of the year away at the end of January.

Wish you all a wonderful start to 2019 and hope you enjoy some of the scenery and family pictures below.

A bit on Buenos Aires: If you haven’t yet visited, I hope you do so in the future! I may be biased as I was born there, but the city is truly incredible. There are many touristy sites to visit such as Caminito, Puerto Madero, Santelmo and Palermo to name a few. However, the interesting thing about BA is that you can find a lot of locals in most of these places too. The city has significant European influence, which is exhibited both in its architecture and culture. For example, the quality and volume of Gelato shops rivals that of Italy. Although the government and the economy are generally in flux, the city always maintains its lively culture and beauty. And… don’t forget the steak and wine!

A bit on Capilla del Monte: Located within the province of Cordoba, in Argentina, Capilla del Monte has breathtaking scenery to visit. With many mountains to climb and numerous nature paths, it is a small town full of adventuring possibilities. I visited Los Terrones, Las Gemelas and the Cerro Uritorco while there. Much of the ground in the area contains white quartz, so as you explore, there are beautiful rocks all around. The town is known for its crystal magic and many visitors claim to have seen UFOs, and even fairies. I personally did not see either :P

A bit on Villa de Leyva: After Buenos Aires and Cordoba, I headed to Colombia for a few days, to explore and meet back up with the group. A number of individuals decided to spend Christmas in Villa de Leyva, a small town about 3.5 hours away from Bogota. It is such a cute town, with gorgeous views of mountains and traditional cobble roads. They also cover the streets in lights for the holidays, which was so beautiful to see. There are also many hikes which can be done, but after so much exploring in Argentina and long travels, it was nice to spend the time relaxing with friends.

A bit on Bogota: After the 2.5 days in Villa de Leyva, came 2.5 days in Bogota. Staying in a place for such a short amount of time made me feel like a tourist! Day 1 in Bogota was spent going up Monserrate on the funicular, exploring Candelaria, Plaza Bolivar and visiting the Gold Museum. Day 2 consisted of visiting the We Work co-working space as well as exploring the cute shops and restaurants around El Retiro. It was a jam-packed end to the month!

Adieu for now!

For those that are reading this, whether you are family, friends, colleagues or someone that stumbled upon this post, I hope my blogging is interesting to you. There is more to come, so if there is anything you want to know more (or less) about, please feel free to comment below!

Medellin was truly AMAZING. My perception of the city before arriving was primarily created through watching Netflix’s Narcos. That said, it is so different today from what it was when during Pablo’s time. With flourishing tourism, the feel of the city has changed completely, with incredible restaurants, art and activities. I would definitely say somewhere worth going back to.

I spent a lot of time working out of our amazing co-working space this month (pictures below). Although it was a really busy work month, having weekends to explore a new city still has not gotten old.

I can’t believe there are only two months left!!

A bit on Medellin: Its tropical climate and natural beauty alone is now enough to attract tourism. That said, Medellin as a city is trying to change its image globally. From its world class public transport, to its welcoming demeanor to tourists, to its modernized infrastructure, the city is full of things to do and see. It is definitely safe to walk around (especially in Poblado, where we lived!).

Comuna 13: Within one of Medellin’s poorest neighborhoods lives some of the best art in the city. Crafted by local artists, they pride themselves on their street art that ample tourists now visit daily. Walking through the streets of Comuna 13, it is surprising to see so many people exploring, that said, the residents love it as it signals that where they live has become an area worth coming to, something it was not 30–40 years ago. As well, they have outdoor mechanical escalators, to make it easier on visitors and residents to go up and down the mountainous area.

Exotic fruits: Medellin is full of different fruits, from multiple versions of passion fruits, to star fruits, little uchuvas (like a yellow cherry tomatoe, but sweet!) and zapote. We did a fruit tasting, so we could get acquainted with what the city has to offer.

Bahia Solano: A group of 8 of us did 4 days away at a beach near Bahia Solano. We took a very small, 14-seater plane to get there. There are about 10K people that live in Bahia Solano. After arriving, we took a 20 minute boat to where we were staying. Truly an incredibly remote destination where local women cooked and shared their traditions with us all weekend. We also got to visit an amazing waterfall and enjoyed the warm oceanic beaches.

Guatape: An incredible amalgamation of water, created about 40 years ago, to fuel 30% of energy in Colombia and neighbouring countries. There are now incredible homes that surround it. About 25 years ago, the price was quite cheap (one of Pablo’s old homes is there!), however, in the last 10 years especially it has become quite visited, with soccer players and movie stars purchasing property.

Selina — Cowork: Our co-working space this month was amazing, with ample options to use for working as well as a café and outdoor area that also turned into a bar at night time. As Selina offers co-working and co-living, we got to interact with a number of different digital nomads that have made Medellin their home.

Adieu for now!

For those that are reading this, whether you are family, friends, colleagues or someone that stumbled upon this post, I hope my blogging is interesting to you. There is more to come, so if there is anything you want to know more (or less) about, please feel free to comment below!

I always look forward to writing these updates as it is a way to share my experiences with you and feel a sense of connectedness to home. That said, I’ve spent my first week in Medellin thinking about how to most appropriately write about Lima as I truly felt no affinity to the city. Nothing about it worked well for me. We had zero sunny days the whole month, it was cold and humid, my apartment was the worst I’ve had all year and the traffic and high density of population made it so challenging to walk to and from work. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend it as a place to visit, let alone stay for a month. In addition, I had to make an unexpected trip to Buenos Aires due to my grandma passing. Needless to say, it was somewhat of a tumultuous month on Remote Year.

That said, Peru is beautiful. The country has so much to offer, with amazing micro-climates and diverse scenery and of course — Machu Picchu. Below, is a different month in review, as I have tried my best to provide a view into what I appreciated this month, which fell outside of the place I spent most time in.

Although last month was far from ideal, I am loving Medellin thus far. Walking to work feels like walking through a tropical rain-forest. The people are kind, it is sunny and the vibe of our community is much better than it was last month. As a huge plus, our co-working space this month is one of the best we have had all year! I look forward to telling you about Medellin at the start of December.

As always, I love it when I get messages from friends and family, so please reach out!

Huacachina: the sand dunes in Peru are incredible! We spent the start of the day on a 4-hour journey, then poolside, in the warm micro-climate that surrounds the dunes. It is almost always sunny there, which is wonderful! Going sand-boarding was definitely a unique and new experience. As I am afraid of heights, it took A LOT of encouraging from others in my group to get me to go down. I would relate the experience to tobogganing in the snow, except instead of snow, it is sand, and instead of sitting in a toboggan, you are going head first, on what looks like a tiny surfboard. Would definitely recommend visiting this place if you are ever in Peru!

Machu Picchu & The Inca Trail: I spent two months prior to my departure to Cusco training for Machu Picchu. This meant lots of cardio, including stairs machines, in hopes on feeling ready for the 42km mountain hike. As much as the training probably helped, it was definitely one of the most physically challenging endeavors I have ever embarked on! It is tough on the body, to have to carry on, at such high altitudes. That said, the incredible views and amazing porters and guides make the experience. They help you when you feel stuck (physically and emotionally) and cook amazing meals in a tiny tent along the way. Living in tents, having semi-damp clothes, waking up around 5am daily to hike, all worth it when you reach certain moments, where you turn back, and see all you have accomplished. As well, there is something to be said for knowing you are walking on a trail that has been around for hundreds of years, getting to see Inca ruins along the way. It was an amazing civilization, and I would say the hike itself was even more impressive to me than Machu Picchu, as it is what helps you feel most connected with the place. This experience is something that will stay with me for years to come.

Cusco: Another unexpected bonus was this amazing city. Cusco is built in a way that resembles small European cities, with curving streets and a big town square where people unite. We happened to be there for Halloween, and Oct. 31st in Cusco’s main square was a Halloween image I will never forget. Thousands of people were piled in, enjoying dancing and festivities. As well, the children trick or treat to businesses near the square, so the city was bustling with noise and positive vibes as the whole city enjoyed the celebration. Big bonus to Cusco — I ate some of the best sushi I’ve ever had there.

Adieu for now!

For those that are reading this, whether you are family, friends, colleagues or someone that stumbled upon this post, I hope my blogging is interesting to you. There is more to come, so if there is anything you want to know more (or less) about, please feel free to comment below!

I can’t believe I have now wrapped up my time in Europe. Lisbon was an incredible city to end the experience in, full of culture, captivating beach waves and incredible port close by. I also flew to London and Belfast on two separate occasions; the weekly travel reminded me of consulting travel projects. Below is my month in review of Lisbon. Took a little longer to get together as South America has been a bit of an adjustment (funny as I am originally from here!)

A bit on Lisbon: Full of culture, beautiful architecture, activities to take part in and endless food to try, Lisbon is definitely a place I would recommend visiting and would come back to myself. It is such a safe, warm city that you feel more inclined to be out and about constantly.

Belem: One of my most favourite places this month was Belem. A neighbourhood offering museums, monasteries and the most incredible pasteis de nata (although these are known as pasteis de Belem!) that I tried during my entire stay in Lisbon. I had the chance to visit the art museum (see below for one of the coolest pieces) and enter the monastery. As well, walking around near the water and seeing the Tower of Belem was a great way to spend a Sunday. I ended up lost in the magic of Belem for over 10 hours.

Tile making: As I’ve mentioned before, every month Remote Year curates local experiences for us. This month, one of the most interesting was tile making. The exteriors (and some interiors!) of Lisbon buildings are covered in tiles. These were hand crafted for a long time, used to tell stories of the area’s history, culture and religion. Now, there are factories that have taken over production, however, many ‘special’ projects are still carried out by individuals who have mastered the craft. We had the opportunity to learn from one of these women.

Fado: A traditional musical art form born out of Lisbon, where individuals sing about their life experiences, usually focused on Tragedy. Our group had the opportunity to take part in a Fado show curated by a local guide. We learned that one does not talk or order food while the singing is going on. There are breaks between the music so people can socialize and get drinks and snacks. I went to see Fado again at Camel, a winery in Porto. That said, very hard to take pictures since it was so dark, so none here!

Porto: What an experience. Prior to going, I didn’t know that the vineyards are not within Porto, but located 100km+ away, in the Duoro region. The grapes are grown there, harvested and the port wines are then transported to Porto, where they are aged depending on the expected quality of the harvest. I visited a number of Port wineries, and fell in love with the Largima, white port, which has a caramel-like colour and taste.

London: A friend and I went to London to do a presentation to a university there, as well as to visit the city and some of his friends and family. My most recent time in London prior to this, had been for a Deloitte project in March 2017. It was so different going as more of a tourist than a business person. I saw a number of new areas I didn’t know existed and gained a new appreciation for the city.

Belfast: Year ago, while on exchange at Queen’s, I visited Dublin for St. Patty’s Day. That said, my visit was so short I didn’t have an opportunity to see much of what Ireland had to offer. This time, I went back and explored Belfast and its surrounding areas. The colour of the green there is so incredibly bright. Although it rains a lot, the green is such a cheerful colour to be surrounded by!

Workspace: This month we had a Remote-year owned workspace. There are some places where Remote Year sets us up at local co-working spaces and others where they have built their own. The best part about this workspace was the open roof, where we could sit for lunch and also host evening workshops.

Yom Kippur: This was my first time doing the Yom Kippur fast away from Canada! Another individual in my group and I reached out to a synagogue ahead of time, got tickets for the High Holidays, and took part in their services. It was quite a unique opportunity to do something I’ve done for years in a new way. We also broke the fast with a pasteis de nata!

Remote Year Month #8 in Review: Lisbon was originally published in Go Remote on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I’ve spent the last few weeks thinking through my biggest takeaways of reincorporating time for thought and reflection into my daily life. Too often we get caught up in a desire to succeed and forget that success is not immediate. Pushing too hard, too quickly can be counterproductive, making you fall behind in the long-term.

Just over 7 months ago, I started my journey on Remote Year, a program that brings together groups of inspiring professionals to travel, live, and work remotely in different cities around the world for a year.

As a downtown-Toronto management consultant at a large firm, I initially thought that this experience would be the perfect differentiator on my resume to bolster my business school application. Being a first generation immigrant, bilingual in Spanish and having three years of international consulting experience, I thought travelling the world for 6 months, immersing myself in different business cultures, cultivating a global network and taking part in positive impact projects along the way would be icing on the cake. What more could I need?

I thought the most rational approach was to cut a year-long program into 6 months, so as per usual, I could get ahead faster. I figured leaving for more than 6 months would negatively impact my career trajectory. I wouldn’t want others to think that my travels were too long, and assume I had ‘drifted’ or become ‘distracted’. I wanted to hit the sweet spot of unique experience. I wanted to add something to my resume to set me apart.

My life was a series of thinking about the next step. How can I get through as much valuable life experience as fast as possible to ‘make it?’ I was so caught up with the potential the future held that I blatantly ignored the value of the present. Before leaving on Remote Year, my focus on my career was so pronounced that I would regularly take a work call at 11pm, answer a text from someone else at 3am and wake up at 5:30am to catch a flight to meet with a client.

Looking back on it, it seems strange to me that I didn’t realize that I was my own problem when it came to finding balance in my life. My burnout was personally imposed as I felt a constant need to be ‘better’, which to me meant doing higher volumes of work for increasingly more senior people. In my quest for fast success, I missed that my composure and positive attitude were just as important and I was ignoring what I needed to keep those in check.

Having goals is great, but using those goals as an excuse to justify an unhealthy level of pressure is not great. So here is why constantly trying to get ahead can make you fall behind and how giving you time to process can be beneficial for long-term career fulfillment and success.

Repeatedly working until you are unhappy is a bad plan.

I vividly remember signing my offer for my dream job. I was so excited to start working in management consulting, where I would be helping businesses with their most complex problems, learning from incredibly intelligent peers and doing some travel. In my first year, I flew to Bermuda and presented on a call with a company CEO. In my second year, I flew to London and Johannesburg, presented in-person multiple times to CEOs and SVPs, managed a global project and received a promotion.

From the outside, everything seemed incredible. From the inside, it wasn’t. I was getting my self-worth and validation from others telling me I was good at my job. With that as my number one way to ‘feel happy’, I took on more and more, saying yes to everything. I wanted to be sure that everyone knew I could do whatever they needed.

That said, other people are busy and not everyone tells you how great a job you are doing every day. Doing more wasn’t received with proportionately greater praise. In fact, I was told I needed to think more about what I was taking on and whether I had enough capacity to execute on everything.

It was clear to those around me that I was trying to build the tallest Jenga tower. I felt such an intense need to put another block on top that I wasn’t watching the base. Prioritizing everyone’s work above any sense of balance in my own life left me miserable.

People like to be around happy people.

There are many studies that tell you that happiness is contagious, that we are or become the average of the five people we spend most time with. From my experience, people, in general, like to have a good time regardless of what it is they are doing. Be it at work, at home or anywhere else, people look for ways that they can increase their happiness or overall joy.

Now, keeping this in mind, I was not giving off the most positive of vibes. I remember feeling that people that went home from work earlier than I did were not as resilient as I was. I respected those who worked hardest most. In reality though, there were others working smarter than I was. Others proving their value through fewer, more focused commitments and allowing time in their lives to breathe a little and do more of what they enjoyed. Those people seemed to be having better overall lives. Those were the people everyone generally wanted to be around.

As well, since I was trying to do so much at once, I wasn’t allowing my brain enough time to process or rest. This meant I was more easily irritable and quick to respond. The best ideas are developed with time for thought and reflection and by eliminating the time in my workday to do that, I was not putting my best self forward.

Making quality output the primary goal; I created blind spots for myself, becoming unaware of how an overly stressed person comes across, especially to Senior Leaders.

You have the power to change how you feel.

Eventually, I started noticing that maybe those around me telling me to slow down were not wrong. Truthfully, though, I didn’t know how. When I started Remote Year, my need to be responsive 100% of the time was so strong that I would leave events to go home and answer emails. However, through attending self-development workshops crafted by Remote Year peers and staff, attending a two-day silent monk meditation retreat, being in places where the internet wasn’t strong enough to always be connected, I slowly started realizing that most things didn’t need immediate attention. I started to understand that as important as my work was, I was not an ER doctor on call. My urgency was independently created and was not benefiting anyone.

I slowly started shifting my actions, opening myself up to fun activities during the week when my schedule allowed. I began to embrace my surroundings, appreciating that we take a lot for granted and there is much to be grateful for in each day. I even took part in a technology-free conference, where I led an immersive session on how being overly connected sometimes affects our ability to have productive and fulfilling days.

I think the way I felt started to change because I became open to the idea of changing how I felt. Ultimately, I started to slow down and enjoy moments more. I started to allow myself greater time for thought and reflection. They say that it’s not the destination, but the path you take to get there and I started getting more comfortable enjoying the twists and turns, embracing the uncertainty and new experiences, instead of pushing them away to focus solely on work.

After 4 months on Remote Year, I chose to ask work for another 6 months away, giving myself the chance to participate in the full yearlong program.

As much as your future matters, so does your present.

As you are reading this, I am sure some of you may be thinking ‘this worked for her but it could never work for me’, ‘she doesn’t get what the hours and demand is like in my industry.’ I see where you are coming from. However, if you are still reading this, something here has resonated. Maybe a part of you is thinking that you cannot remember the last time you took a proper lunch break, had 8 hours of sleep or spent a weekend away. I get it. I was there. Many people are there.

It is important to remember that we are not alone. We are all part of an ecosystem where how we act on a daily basis impacts the daily lives of others. I remember working at McDonald’s in high school and sometimes being at the receiving end of negativism that was clearly not due to the extra 10 seconds someone waited for his or her drive-thru order. We are much more likely to be irritated and respond negatively when something miniscule goes wrong when we have not taken a proper break in days. We are much more likely to mistreat those around us as a consequence of mistreating ourselves. Most of these little things that we do in our present do not necessarily affect our long-term futures but they influence our temporary feelings. Those temporary feelings are also important, as a fulfilling present will increase your chances of a fulfilling future.

The way you feel as you read this article, as you drink your water or coffee next to you. It is your present. You are choosing to spend your time doing whatever you are doing right now. Much of what we do today is to build a better tomorrow for ourselves, but not all of it should be. Your path is unique to you and ensuring you find time to enjoy your days is so important. I can guarantee that you will value the outcome more and take more people along with you on your journey if you allow yourself the necessary time to breathe as you go through your career.

What did the outcome look like?

Last month, I went to Canada for a mid-program visit and had many coffees and lunches with Senior Leaders from work. The resounding theme in the discussions was how surprised they all were to see that I came across as much more calm and composed. They liked seeing this new side of me, especially in terms of long-term career success, associated with managing people.

Through bringing in greater time for thought and reflection into my daily life, my leadership potential increased. In order to be a leader, others need to want to work with you. I am not saying that it is never okay to work late, because it is sometimes necessary. What I am saying is that constantly trying to go above and beyond to get ahead; to prove that you can ‘do it all’ is not necessarily the best approach for a fulfilling long-term career. Don’t forget, most people have about a 45-year career to go through!

Adieu for now!

For those that are reading this, whether you are family, friends, colleagues or someone that stumbled upon this post, I hope my blogging is interesting to you. There is more to come, so if there is anything you want to know more (or less) about, please feel free to comment below!

Month #7 was the most different on Remote Year thus far. Why? I went home to Canada. Initially, that plane ticket was supposed to be my return home. However, after I chose to extend my Remote Year experience, I knew I would have to make a trip back during Belgrade to be home for some special moments. Two of my best friends, Elana and May, were getting married, and I wanted to ensure I was a part of their important milestones. The need to go home was a perfect excuse to see all my friends and colleagues and set up some in-person meetings.

It was so wonderful getting to see so many familiar faces. Visiting Winnipeg felt normal. Having left over 7 years ago, arriving in the Winnipeg airport to huge hugs from my parents felt like part of the life I’ve known. However, arriving in Toronto as a visitor felt ridiculous. Toronto has (realistically at this point, had) been my home for 3 years. The place I built my life independently. My friends. My job. My apartment. Everything there was mine. I had a routine I knew well and appreciated, yet, arriving in the city and staying in an Airbnb felt so strange. A part of me started to question my decision to continue on Remote Year as it felt so easy to just go back to the life I knew so well. That said, I knew that I couldn’t stay. My personal and professional growth journey through this year abroad are far from over.

During Month 4 of Remote Year, I talked about my changes in perception on goals and success, especially professionally. I know that over the next 5 months I want to spend more time on personal growth and acceptance, learning to better engage with diverse personalities and situations to improve my resilience. I think there is such a unique opportunity to work on me as an individual in the context of Remote Year because the way I operate is truly up to me. What I choose to do or not do is very self-driven, in a way that doesn’t happen in a life where you go to an office every day.

Although the majority of my time during August was spent in Canada, I did have a week in Belgrade, Serbia. The overview below goes to show that although a week may not seem like a long time, there is still the opportunity to make the most of it. Here is a slightly shorter-than-usual month in review, giving you my key highlights.

—

When a month becomes a week: For the first time on my Remote Year journey, I looked up the must-do’s of a city upon arrival. I learned that I had to see the Belgrade Fortress, spend some time at the restaurants by the river and take a boat around the river, see the Church of St. Sava (the big white church) and explore the local art that is hidden throughout the city. As well, I was asked to present on business ideation strategies at a start-up event alongside the CEO of CarGo (Serbian Uber) which was a really cool opportunity.

The Belgrade Fortress: at the intersection of the Sava and Danube rivers, the fortress provides some incredible views of the city as well as… archery!

Boat tour: consisting of a near 3-hour tour around both the Sava and Danube rivers, our group boarded around 7pm and had the chance to watch a beautiful sunset from the boat.

Church of St. Sava: incredibly beautiful architecture on the outside and an astounding gold-painted crypt inside. The crypt is generally booked for weddings or events but luckily it was open to explore on the one Sunday I had in Belgrade. The rest of the church is under reconstruction through, so we were unable to see it.

Local art: there are so many hidden paintings, sculptures and interesting structures around the city. Here are a two of the coolest ones I saw.

AmCham + StartIT event: I had the chance to present alongside the CEO of CarGo (Serbian Uber) on business ideation strategies based on my experiences at MD as well as some side projects I have been working on while on Remote Year.

Workspace: I spent most of my week (when I wasn’t exploring) hidden in this attic. As I took 3 weeks off work to go to Canada, I had a lot to catch up on.

Adieu for now!

For those that are reading this, whether you are family, friends, colleagues or someone that stumbled upon this post, I hope my blogging is interesting to you. There is more to come, so if there is anything you want to know more (or less) about, please feel free to comment below!

Remote Year Month (week!) #7 in Review: Belgrade was originally published in Go Remote on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

And with that, my first 6 months of Remote Year have wrapped up. It is hard to believe that it has been 6 months since I was last working in Toronto. Now spending a few days at home in Winnipeg, it feels both strange and familiar to be home. I love seeing friends and family but also miss my Tramily (never really thought I would use that word). The Remote Year group really becomes part of everything you do and it feels a little strange to be removed.

Prague was the only city on my Remote Year itinerary that wasn’t new for me. I loved getting to see it from a more local side, learning about the nuances that make the city so unique. Below is my month in review.

A little bit on Prague: Within the last 100 years, Prague experienced democracy, Nazi control and extreme communism. Walking around the old town, we learned about its unique history, where multiple iconic marches took place with citizens standing up in hopes of greater freedom, and where many balconies were used to deliver speeches to the people of Prague. The city is highly visited by tourists, although its population is just above 1.2M, it always has about 100K tourists roaming around.

The Castles: There are many castles throughout the Czech Republic. One weekend, we went to visit Karlstejn, only 40 minutes by train outside of Prague there is a beautiful village with little shops and restaurants surrounding the base of the castle. The most iconic though, is the Prague Castle, known as the largest castle complex in the world due to its enormous grounds. Dating back to over 1000 years ago, multiple rulers and presidents have resided there.

Charles Bridge: One of my most treasured facts of the month was learning that many of the statues on the bridge are not original and are instead replicas. Why? Some of the originals were experiencing high levels of damage due to corrosion. They were taken off the bridge for the purpose of restoration and are now kept within the old walls of Prague’s citadel. I had the opportunity to take a walk through the tunnel walls of the citadel and see the original statues. Below you can see a picture of an original that I took during our tour of the tunnels as well as a picture of the replica currently on Charles Bridge.

Food: Czech food is quite heavy. Post war, eating large quantities of meat was used as a way to show that the people now had access to great nourishment. One of the most popular dishes in Prague is beef goulash, which is served with either bread or potato dumplings.

Work: The Prague co-working space is located in an old Danish embassy building. The structure was repurposed as there was a family of 4 living there and the Danish found out the family home was much larger than necessary for such a small group. Now, the co-working space is a mix of outdoor and indoor working environments and also houses iflix, the emerging-market version of Netflix, on its top floor. The building is equipped with an in-house chef, and a 3-option daily lunch menu, which meant lots of great eats during the weekdays.

Hikes: We took part in an all-day trek of Bohemian Switzerland, where we made our way to the top of a mountain with some amazingly scenic view (see below). It was quite tiring as it was an incredibly hot day, however, I truly appreciated spending some time in the outdoors. Although Prague is known for its vast number of parks, I love that on the weekends we often get a full nature day.

Side trips: Although I didn’t go anywhere for a full weekend (since I only had 3 weekends in Prague) we spent a full day at the castle described above, a full day at the hike described above and one more day visiting the Terezin ghetto. When the Nazis where in power, Terezin was used as a propaganda camp, to paint a false picture for the world that showed the Jewish living conditions as quite positive. The ghetto was home to some of the best Jewish artists and musicians of the time and incredible work was produced, even with the very limited resources.

Adieu for now!

For those that are reading this, whether you are family, friends, colleagues or someone that stumbled upon this post, I hope my blogging is interesting to you. There is more to come, so if there is anything you want to know more (or less) about, please feel free to comment below!

Remote Year Month #6 in Review: Prague was originally published in Go Remote on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As a few people have asked for thoughts on each city, for your reading pleasure, below is my perspective on my adventure in Split.

A little bit on Split: Our group quickly realized that Split, in contrast to Marrakech, appeals to everyone. There is a beautiful old town full of delicious restaurants (think LOTS of amazing seafood) and curving roads to get lost in, beaches with incredible water everywhere and countless islands a quick boat ride away. Almost everyone speaks at least some English, so getting around is incredibly easy and people are generally quite friendly. Split does however lose a lot of its young professionals to bigger cities like Zagreb where there is more opportunity to join the corporate world. A lot of jobs in split are centered around tourism and many Uber drivers double as tour guides. Although we had 5 weeks in Split, which for us is considered long, the time flew by.

The Islands: There are over 1000 Islands in Croatia, out of which around 50 are inhabited. While in Split, I had the opportunity to visit Hvar, which has a beautiful old town, where you can walk around and a fort you can climb up to and see the view from the top of the Island. I also went to Vis for a weekend, an island a little further away that was calm and had incredible food. As well, we did a day-long speed boat trip, where we visited some islands and the famous blue cave, where the sunlight refracts off of silver sand and brings through the colour of the sky, creating a striking blue light effect.

Food: As mentioned, lots of seafood was had. Being on the coast meant an overabundance of fish, especially seabass. We visited a fish farm where we had the opportunity to learn about their fishing practices and jump in the nets with the fish. The owners also cooked the fish, fresh from the water.

Work: Our co-working space this month was almost out of a movie, with the view of the beach and the chance to walk over to the water whenever we needed a break. We had multiple call booths, a spacious meeting room and a great kitchen area with tons of tables to eat and work at. The space was so great that a few people in my group started making lunch for the rest of us on a bi-weekly basis. My apartment was also located directly above the workspace, which made it quite easy for meeting up with friends.

Lakes: After seeing so much incredible ocean, I was hesitant to visit the Plitvice lakes, but having heard so much about them, I figured it was worth making the trip. Getting there is a little bit of a trek, with two four-hour bus rides. That said, I would go through 8 hours of buses for 4.5 hours at the lakes any day. The best way to describe it is a maze of whimsical surprise, where every turn you take offers views of yet another lake. The water sparkles, there are hidden waterfalls and although filled with tourists, you are able to enjoy your own moments of magic.

Side trips: Although the islands and the lakes were technically side trips, my big adventure this month was an 8-day trip to Paris, Macon and Milan. Paris consisted of meeting up with a long-time friend of mine, where we had the chance to catch up over good wine and crepes. The Macon trip was for a mini-conference hosted by Remote Year, where a few of us were selected to lead a weekend of #unplugged sessions, where we discussed the use of technology in our lives, it’s importance while working remotely and how we can make moments where we don’t need it. Milan was split into a day-trip to lake Como and exploring the city. I was joined by a friend from Winnipeg, who also came back to Split with me for a few days. It was interesting doing side trips outside of the country I lived in.

Adieu for now!

For those that are reading this, whether you are family, friends, colleagues or someone that stumbled upon this post, I hope my blogging is interesting to you. There is more to come, so if there is anything you want to know more (or less) about, please feel free to comment below!

Remote Year Month #5 in Review: Split was originally published in Go Remote on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.