I think I may have wrote about this
before but I wanted to touch on this subject again since a lot has
happened in the past few months. I really do believe life is about
connecting the dots. You may not be able to see it in the moment but
when you can look back on things and see clearly how one thing leads
to another. Every experience is in some way related to another
experience. Usually though, you can't see how it is all connected
until you have some time,age,experience and perspective.
For example, I took my first trip out
of America when I was 15 years old (with my church) it was on that
trip that I started to get bit by the travel bug. Five years after
that, I joined an international travel group www.tribewanted.com.
I had some great trips to Fiji,Germany,England,Ireland and Chicago. I
made some life long friends within that group, some of whom I still
keep in touch with even now. If it weren't for my trip to Panama I
never would have had the guts to join Tribewanted and start
traveling.
Once I started traveling with all my
friends from that group I really got the full on travel bug. From the
age of about 18 to 24 I would travel somewhere outside of America at
least once a year for at least a month. I saw many great countries
that way both solo and in groups. Obviously though, I had a life back
in America. I was working (not at a great job but it paid the bills)
I had my family and friends back in Texas. Fast forward to 2009. I
was working for a company that was sub contracted to Home Depot. Once
the economy started to tank our company went belly up and my whole
division was laid off.
Once I lost my job there for a bit I
had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had no job,no college
degree and no passion in life other than traveling. I was 24 years
old and lost in life. I was directionless and floating in the sea of
life without a life jacket. Luckily though one day I decided to
Google “Jobs overseas” the first result that came up was a
Working Holiday Visa in Australia. I had visited Australia in 2008
for about three weeks and really enjoyed it. This was different
though. It meant moving to Australia for one year and working there
without any friends or family. It was a scary prospect for a 24 year
old. I thought about it for a few days and then took the leap of
faith. I decided to do it!
Thank God I did because it changed my
whole life! The first month was scary and I was lonely. I had no
friends, no family and I knew basically no one. To top it all off I
had no job. I was really homesick and came close to just quitting and
going back home. I decided to tough it out and stay though. It was
the second best decision I have ever made. I had met a girl on the
plane ride from Sydney to LA (she was my seat mate) and Sandradee got
me started. She let stay in her house until I got my feet under me. I
found a job and started making friends. Without the initial support
of Sandradee I don't know what I would have done!
After about two months I was really
starting to enjoy myself. I had a good job,I made some friends and I
had a roof over my head and food in my belly. I was no longer so home
sick and life was good. It was about then that I met one of my now
best friends. Ben (from Germany) we met on the city bus. He had just
arrived and was looking at a map and looking lost. I decided to help
him out and from that moment on we were fast friends. We ended up
traveling together for well over one year! If I would have left
Australia I never would have met him or any other of my great friends
that I still have in Australia.
So where does that leave me? Well I
ended up staying a whole year in Australia living and working there
and having a great time traveling and meeting many great people all
over Australia, all the while seeing amazing things. After my year
there I wasn't ready to come home because I was having too much fun!
So Ben and I decided to move to New Zealand together. New Zealand was
close and offered a working visa program. So off we went. In New
Zealand I had a great year of traveling and working there as well. I
worked construction,on the railroad and on a concert tour. I had many
jobs in many different things. I had so many new work experiences
that have helped me in my life. Not only that but I met two of my now
best friends Nadia and Deborah from England. I was very active in
Couch Surfing and met so many great people and had so many great
experiences that I couldn't even begin to list them all. Did you know
that I even got a trombone solo for my birthday. My friend Maya was
kind even to play happy birthday for me on her trombone. I won't ever
forget that! If I had never decided to go to Australia I never would
have decided to go to New Zealand. Another dot connected.
In between my year in Australia and my
year in New Zealand I took some time off to travel South East Asia
with my friend Kevin. One day we were in Australia and he asked me if
I wanted to go to Thailand. I had never really thought about it and I
knew nothing about Asia but I was happy to go somewhere new so I said
yes! On the plane ride over, Kevin and I met my now good friend Tony.
The three of us decided to travel together and we ended up meeting my
now good friends Scott and Ashleigh. We had our wolf pack complete.
We had so many great memories together that I will never forget.
Without saying yes to Kevin's suggestion to go to Thailand none of
that would have happened for me. Another dot connected.
Fast forward to my second year away
from Texas, my year in New Zealand was ending. Ben and I had quite a
lot of money from our jobs and nowhere to spend it so we decided to
travel South America. We started in Chile then Bolivia,Peru,Argentina
and then Ben went to Brazil and I went to Colombia. We had a great
time in South America even though at the time my Spanish was terrible
and so was his! I have so many good memories of the time we had. Well
after that both Ben and I had been away from home for two years! (My
family did come see me in New Zealand) but both of us were broke and
it was time to go back to our respective countries after 18 months
and change of being away.
I came back home to Texas and really
tried hard to live a “normal” life. I tried to get a job and do
the things that most people do but I just couldn't do it. I was
unhappy with my life. I didn't enjoy the routine and I loved the
traveling lifestyle so much more. So I decided I would get certified
to teach English overseas and go do it! I got my TEFL degree and
decided to go back to Thailand and teach there because I really
enjoyed that country. Another dot connected. I arrived with no job
and nowhere to live but I still had a few friends from my travels
there. I ended up meeting an Aussie named Maurice and he was (and is)
a great guy. He convinced me to leave Bangkok (the capitol city) and
go with him to a very small town called Bangsaphan. I had never even
heard of this place but I went with him anyway. I ended up getting a
job there and living on a beautiful beach with a great Thai lady
named Noong. She was really good at taking care of me and she was a
great cook. I will always fondly remember my time living in that
beautiful beach house with her and random guests who would come in
and out. I taught Thai children and at first it was so difficult
because I had zero training. It was really sink or swim. I made it
though! I had a great time there and finished out my whole contract.
Fast forward a little more to my
teaching contract ending in Thailand. As much as I really enjoyed
Thailand I felt that I wanted to learn a language that I could
actually use. I was still in contract with my now boss, Andy. He was
in Colombia and I met him my first time in Colombia. He had told me
if I ever wanted a job back in Colombia there would be one for me. So
I decided to take him up on his offer and move back to Colombia to
learn Spanish. Another dot connected. After a short stay at home in
Texas I moved to Bogota this April. He made good on his word right
away and gave me a job and he also arranged a place for me to stay.
So I had no major worries. I still had friends here from last time so
life was good here. At first my Spanish was terrible and I was so
frustrated at not being able to communicate the way I wanted. But, I
kept learning more and more. I met my now good friend Sergio and he
introduced me to a girl who I started to date right away. We dated
for about a month but it didn't end up working out. Obviously after
my break up I was depressed about it. I ended up meeting a Canadian
who is driving truck from Canada to the bottom of South America! Mark
is a great guy and we have had some great times. He convinced me to
try this online dating website here in Colombia. I was pretty
skeptical about the whole thing and didn't really want to do it but I
decided to pay for one month and give it a try. The first girl I met
off the dating site was Viviana. Right away I saw how beautiful she
was and she was super nice. There was a problem though. She didn't
speak any English! At the time my Spanish was terrible! She was also
a single mother. So I thought at first our relationship would be
impossible. I couldn't see a way that it could work. But, we really
liked each other so we kept seeing each other. Slowly but surely my
Spanish got better and I met her son and found out that he is a
really nice kid and I really liked him. So everything that I thought
would be a problem wasn't!
Fast forward to now. Viviana and I are
very much in love. I enjoy my job here and I have a good life and
soon Viviana and I will be married! I will be a step father and I am
very excited. Thanks to Mark for convincing me to get on that dating
website. Another dot connected. I found my love here in Colombia and
a good life and it never would have happened had I not traveled to
Colombia in the first place and then decided to come back. You never
know how your life is going to work out. You never know what dots
will be connected. Live your life as if everything will be connected.
I have been so lucky in my life to see and do so many amazing things.
I have been to over 15+ countries all before the age of 30! I am so
blessed to have a very supportive family and friends. I really
couldn't ask for much more. Soon I will have a beautiful wife and
step son and in-laws. You never know how your life is going to work
out. My life has taken so many exciting twist and turns,ups and downs
since I left America in 2009 and now almost four years later I am
excited to see what dots will connect in the future.
Yall take care,Tyler
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