JAN-Started 2001 on a ski trip in the Canadian Rocky Mountains...when i got back to Canada i made a spur of moment decision to buy a one way ticket to Portugal...that 10 second decision changed my future...there was no turning back. Armed with the ticket I quit my job at IBM and spent January soaking up NYC. Loved NYC but after 8 months exploring every night..it was time to move on. Felt like I was on the edge of becoming "corporate dylan" having a 9-5 job, living in hotel rooms, I guess I became uncomfortable with being comfortable...so I jetted out of Queens with my whole life in my backpack and future uncertain.
FEB-spent a month back-packing through Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco. made some lifelong friends, built confidence and learned more about the fascinating culture-food-architecture of Spain, the Moors. One of the most difficult parts of the trip was going to Morocco...such an intense culture shock...I was no longer in western civilization...I was in a new world...when i finally made it back to Spain...I collapsed for 2 days from utter mental-physical-spiritual exhaustion. I just cannot
describe morocco in words...you have to experience it yourself to know what i am talking about.
MARCH-arrived in London, England on March 1st with no job, no home, no money, no socks. I was at rock
bottom but the confidence I had gained by traveling alone and continually testing myself...made London
seem like a huge opportunity. Slowly built a life...made some friends, found a place to live (with
12 other australians-kiwis), found a job...
LONDON-took me two painful weeks of searching in a sagging job market but I found a job!! got promoted my
first day from tele-sales to telecom researcher, due to the telecoms downward spiral i was laid off after 1
month (traveled around England, went to Iceland) and then re-hired by the same company for a different
position (business development officer) and sent to Monaco on a business trip a week later. Loved the
work atmosphere in London...laid back, great young team and everyone enjoyed life. Spent my nights
exploring, dancing, eating, drinking up all that London could offer. Loved London but also realized
that these mega cities are almost too big...they offer so much but very few people living there take
advantage of it....and to randomly meet a friend in the streets almost never happens. Everything has to
be planned weeks in advance....mobile phones,emails, sms...just so you can pencil me in for a 15 minute
coffee conversation and then run off to the next 15 minute meeting. Your Time scurries away quickly in a
place like London...
JULY-Got a letter in the mail which again changed my life. I was accepted to Ph.D school at Trinity College
in Dublin, Ireland. My goal in life has always been to teach at University and this 3 year degree was
something I have been building towards for the last 7 years...BA (4 years), Law (1 Year), MBA (2 years)...
Had to make a big decision to either put off school for another year or go back to school immediately and
dedicate the next 3 years of my life. I felt like it was time to go back to school after over a year off
(vienna to new york to london). With a big smile I decided to accept the offer and go back to school. So
I quit my job in London and squeezed in one more month of travelling before school started...
AUGUST-back-packing through Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Baltic States were beautiful
and I learned about the effects of communism, Stalins s brutal repression (murder, genocide, torture, death
camps) and the continual fight for freedom that only came about 10 years ago. Was also in Riga, Latvia for
their 700 birthday party...biggest fireworks display i have ever witnessed. The people were absolutely
friendly and this is one region I recommend that you visit.
SEPT
Arrived in Dublin Sept 1st and for the first time in I was prepared to hang up the backpack and get
settled. Sept 11 soon happened...and I lost one of my friends in one of the planes that crashed. I am still
worried that this chain of events will somehow end up in more tragedy, pain, suffering and deaths. One of my
goals in life is to bring people from different cultures together and hopefully try to combat hate in
my own community...
SCHOOL (SEPT-DEC)
Trinity College is a dream come true. The history of the place and walking through the front arches
transports you back into time. Got involved with the International Students, Grad Students and a few other
student groups. Picked my research topic...Studying Executives-Executive Teams and how they perceive,
react, think about Technology in their organizations. For the last 3 month i have been cramming my head with
articles, papers and trying to figure out what it all means. I love the undiscovered quest for knowledge and
keeping my mind active so I am having a blast. In 2002 I have to try to keep my mind on the task and
start writing some articles, speak at conferences and hopefully get some experience lecturing.
ITALY
I am going back to Canada in May for my sisters wedding and couldnt afford two trips home so I decided
to spend my christmas holidays exploring the pasta, pizza, opera, wine, regions, museums of italy.
Tonight at our hostel we are having a christmas dinner and then going over to St. Peters (biggest church in
the world) to hang out with the Pope and enjoy Midnight Mass.