Following my heartstrings…one tug at a time

As I sit here in my new Cambodian flat, I can't help but reflect on 2014 as being one of the most directionless years of my life. After spending five years in a place I love, with people I adore and a job that was ever so rewarding, I suddenly felt trapped inside a box I could not easily remove myself from. I quit three jobs and moved three times. I felt professionally lost and financially powerless. I knew what I wanted, but didn’t know how to get it. I felt failure to expectations I could not define or even pinpoint their conception. I was restless, confused, discontent and temperamental. My spontaneous behavior had never been more desperate and clueless. Finally, I decided to reset my mantra and follow my heartstrings. My heartstrings, people. It’s like mediation with a pulse detector. My heart challenged me to seek more and pulled me into the direction I always wanted to go, but was letting other unnecessary events and pressures deter me from. That’s when I pulled the trigger, bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok and started saving like a motherfucker. Two months later, I was on a fast track through Southeast Asia—Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang, Veng Viang, Vientiene, 4,000 Islands, Pakse, Ho Chi Minh City, Dalat, Phu Quoc, Phnom Penh and currently, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Every stop has been a fast paced unplanned destination...until now. Cambodia grabbed me by the heartstrings and pulled me to a stop. In the last three months of fast paced backpacking, I’ve made some incredible friends, absorbed some powerful history and tapped into some serious self discoveries that have ignited a passion, intrigue and vigor in my daily life that I haven’t felt in a long time. It’s a token to travel, tenacity and true introspection that I find myself living in a country so damaged, but so resilient with people that live so simply, but so satisfied. I know have a lot to learn and explore here in the next six months and am grateful to call it home. Currently, working at a hostel five days a week and will be teaching English in the country side the other two days. Feel free to visit anytime ;) Choi Moi!