Along with wanting to be a writer, I had always wanted to be a teacher. I could visualize myself standing in front of the classroom, and I dreamed of one day having my name on the students’ schedules that they received over the summer.  I worked hard to achieve that goal, and taught for years, but it never felt right. It is difficult to be on a path, and then make a drastic change mid-course. What will people say? How will I explain? Sometimes we need to do what feels right regardless of the comments, judgments, and criticisms of others. Sometimes we are led down a path because it will bring us elsewhere.  What we thought was the destination is merely a pit-stop. Life takes us down different paths for a reason. I’ve always wanted to work in a profession/field where I believed my skills were being utilized, where I felt passionate about the mission and values of the organization, where I felt fulfilled, and most importantly, where I felt like I was respected and making a difference.  Work is such a large part of our lives – it should not just be a place where you do not dread coming in, but where you feel rewarded, respected, and valued – where you actually enjoy being there. My goal has been to maybe not love work (all the time), but to really, really like it. To feel like I am doing great work, while taking the time to pursue my passions through side projects.  Since I left teaching, years ago, I’ve made many changes in my professional life – I’ve taken many leaps of faith, trusted my instincts, and went into uncharted waters.  I felt calm each time I made a decision, which I believe means I made the right choices at the time.  I walked away from something I worked hard to attain, and decided to start again.

The same goes for starting Travel and Write Today — I don’t know where this path will lead, but it felt like the right decision to get started.