Five years ago I quit my job in mobile tech and bought a ticket to Colombia. It may seem extreme to just up and quit but I knew it was what I needed to do.
A few months earlier I had been to Colombia to visit my great friend Jean (we went to kindergarten together and ran around in the great outdoors generally getting mudding and living most children’s dream) for a whirlwind tour around Colombia. She was setting up what would become one of Colombias best hostels, however as with many things at the beginning, things don’t always go to plan and few days before I was meant to leave I got a call from her which went something like this:
me : ‘Yes’
Jean: ‘Well we have lost all our money and things aren’t exactly going to plan.’
Me: ‘ok, well do you have a place to stay’
Jean: ‘Yep’
Me: ‘Can I stay there?’
Jean: ‘Yep’
Me: ‘no problem then, let’s cancel the tour and I’ll come to you and we’ll work it out from there’
And with that I was on a flight to Colombia. I had a few days in Bogota before heading up to Santa Marta where Jean was based (or so I thought)
Jeans smiling face was waiting for me through the bars of the airport. We jumped onto a moving bus and somehow managed to stay on as it drove us at speed into Santa Marta. We jumped off and Jean proceeded to run around searching for various things.
I was in a daze Santa Marta is so busy, people everywhere and it is so so hot. But when you start to see past the people it has pretty colourful streets and a really happy vibe. I had no idea what was going on but quick on the heels of Jean we seemed to run in and out of the city at lightning speed and back onto a bus.
We got off this bus at a little stop with shacks and lots of motorcycles. Jean smiled, right hop on. Let me set the scene, I’m in tight pink jeans, black suede boots and a pretty top (sadly no pictures of this)! But on I hopped to the back of my very first mototaxi. I clung to the Colombian driving but after a moment I relaxed, I breathed freely for the first time in years. The wind blew through my hair and we climbed the mountain. I didn’t know it at the time but that very moment would change my life forever. The taste of freedom would pick away at me until I could ignore it no more.
We climbed higher and higher into the Jungle. After what felt like an hour (realistically 20mins) we reached a tiny village called Minca. At this point it was pretty undiscovered. The Colombians stared at this girl who frankly looked very out of place in her pink jeans. However I was with Jean, and she is the girl who can make you feel at ease with just a smile. My oldest friend. The adventures we had been on I had pushed to the back of my mind as I could never have lived in London with them running around my mind. But this journey would awaken that adventurous spirit again.
After an empernader and a well deserved beer we continued up the mountain. (who knew we weren’t even there yet) It was September and rainy season and well the roads weren’t great. I was off helping push this bike up the jungle road, there was mud everywhere, and I was laughing, really really laughing for the first time in a long time.
Finally we got there. This secret hideaway way up in the Jungle. We spent the next days exploring the jungle, eating, laughing and rediscovering the person I’d lost trying to fit into my 9 – 5 life. We journeyed on and explored Colombia but it was this ride up to the Jungle and the few days we spent together there that awoke everything that had been missing.
I was happy in London with good friends, but when I returned I knew if I stayed I would lose myself again. So I bought my ticket, quit my very well paid job and set off on an adventure to Colombia to discover who I had lost and what I wanted to do. Five years later I’m running my adventure travel company and loving it. (mostly :-))
This is the story of why I quit and in future posts I’ll tell you more about how I got to where I am today. It’s not like many will tell you, where you spend your days lying on beautiful beaches doing very little. It’s hard, harder than any 9 – 5 I’ve ever done. But it is totally worth it!