Goodbye Mudhdhoo… Hello rest of the world!
Door: Yaisa
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Yaisa
23 Mei 2012 | Malediven, Malé
Yes! We are unemployed and homeless again, with nothing but two big bags, a hand trolley and two laptops in our possession and a substantial amount of left over cash from 12 different countries in our pocket. Take your pick… Where shall we go?
Let’s look back before we move on, it’s always good to stop, think and act (while continuously breathing), right?
As the seaplane took off this morning and Mudhdhoo island became smaller and smaller, Stefano sharply observed that it was the first time that I was leaving a place without shedding a tear. Perhaps that summarises it all.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a long email to my dearest friends and family, announcing that we had decided to quit and explaining the reasons why. Aside from informing them, it was a way for me to put my thoughts and feelings on paper, as if I needed to justify to myself the reason for quitting this job after only six months. The emails I received back were mega supportive and heart warming – thank you all so much!
Today, four weeks after taking our decision, I still stand by my choice and, though sad to say goodbye to several beautiful people we have worked with over the past six months, I mainly feel relief. I’m not a quitter by nature. But when I switched careers four years ago and left a fast paced, peer pressured, ambitious path to the corporate top to become a beach bum, I did it for several reasons, one of them being that I wanted work to be more fun.
And these few months have not been fun. I may have traded high heels for flip flops and a view from a 22nd office floor for the sound of waves rolling onto a white sandy beach, but I’m still the same ambitious, high performing, demanding professional that I was moulded into by my first employer. My flaw is that I expect no less from my co-workers and business partners and that it what rather disappointed me (see my previous blog). I tried, pushed, pulled, proposed, demanded, begged, requested and asked for results and improvements, over and over again, to no avail.
And then I remembered another classic lesson from one of those management trainings. See, you have this circle of influence around you. Inside the circle, things are within your control. Outside, they are not. Of course you should always try to push the boundaries outwards and not just sit and watch the outer world revolve around you. But the management style and decisions of the Resort were clearly out of my circle of influence. No matter how smooth, professional and high standard the Dive Centre operation would be under my supervision, without a properly operating Resort, the Dive Centre would never become a top performer with the current Resort management. And I don’t want to settle for mediocre performance, because it keeps me awake at night, eventually turns me into a bitch and that in turn, makes Stefano’s life hell. There are other reasons too, but for me, this was the main motivation to go. Stefano is sad to miss the manta season and the big game fishing boat that he was supposed to manage (ETA delayed, delayed and again delayed), but overall, he was sick and tired of the cold canteen food (chronic problems with the food heating system), the mouldy mattress smell, not being able to buy a beer like any other normal adult in this world and the stressed out bitchy girlfriend. In short, he had enough arguments to leave as well.
I’m proud of what we’ve achieved with the Seasplash team to-date, starting from zero and growing into a fully operational Dive Centre, with very satisfied customers and hard working staff. We made some friends on Mudhdhoo (at least judging by Facebook numbers), we earned and saved some money in the process and most importantly, we learned gained a lot of experience, so overall we certainly don’t regret this stint.
But here we are, unemployed and homeless. And happy.
Looking forward, we have a fantastic short term plan:
Step 1: go to Singapore (we are Singapore addicts, I confess), eat ourselves silly, buy a new camera and housing (yes, I drowned my two u/w cameras last year within a one week span), see Timmo and other friends and relish in organised, clean city life for a few days.
Step 2: go to Sulawesi for some awesome diving in Lembeh and Bunaken, for me to tick those heavenly dive destinations off my longstanding dive bucket list, for Stefano as a second attempt to take pictures of all the critters he saw in 2007 (when he drowned his u/w camera) and for the both of us to have a fantastic holiday with his brother and our bestest friends.
Step 3: go to Bali, for me to get back into yoga and back into shape, for Stefano to do some more awesome diving in Tulamben with his brother and eat himself silly on Babi Guling and Bebek Bengil.
Step 4a: stay in Bali for more yoga, mental and physical detoxing, vata pacifying and body toning (Yaisa)
Step 4b: go to Italy to say ciao to mamma, papa e amici in Milano (Stefano).
After that (we are talking end of June by now), it’s decidedly undecided.
I have too many choices: Vietnam (yoga with Daphne), India (yoga everywhere), Thailand (yoga with amazing teachers), Australia (long overdue visit to friends with new babies and some good yoga), Holland (yoga in Amsterdam and my ever favourite yearly tour d’Hollande), France, UK and not to forget Egypt.
Take your pick… where shall we go?
Suggestions welcome, let me know your plans for the summer and who knows, the wind may blow us in your direction…
Baci a tutti
Yaisa
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23 Mei 2012 - 10:54
TT:
Follow your hart! Lots of good Qi to you! Whatever you choose will be OK, GOOD LUCK! -
23 Mei 2012 - 12:01
Anjo:
"Take your pick… where shall we go?"
Everywhere!!!
But first: No Signboard Seafood :-)) -
23 Mei 2012 - 12:12
Hanneke:
Hi Yais. Wat een reisprogramma! Mocht je begin november in NL zijn, kom dan naar mijn verjaardag. Zaterdag 10 november groot dansfeest. Zou leuk zijn je weer te zien. Het ga je goed. Veel liefs, H
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23 Mei 2012 - 13:35
Luan:
Mooie beslissing! What about Nicaragua? I'll be there until mid October. -
23 Mei 2012 - 20:48
Dorien L:
Poeh. Klinkt als een goed overwogen (na tijdje tandenknarsen) beslissing. Op naar het volgende avontuur, holadiee. En laat de wind flink alle kanten opwaaien de komende tijd! Mocht je inderdaad naar NL komen, ik trakteer op heerlijke NL treat en biertjes die je hier als volwassene gewoon kunt krijgen (op dit moment op zon overgoten terrassen). En dan show ik graag mijn nieuwe dikke buik. Veel liefs. -
23 Mei 2012 - 21:22
Mamita:
Als je op 21 december 2012 maar ergens op een ' veilige ' plek bent, want dan gaat er een grote veranderig gebeuren op deze aardbol (volgens de Maya's ) wie weet?
see you somewhere, someday, kusjes -
24 Mei 2012 - 05:28
Taco:
Come celebrate the victory og the dutch footbaal team with us in amstedam !
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24 Mei 2012 - 12:00
Joseba:
I fell in love with Belize earlier this year. On the 2nd biggest reef barrier in the world, so the diving scene is interesting, to say the least. No idea about their yoga, though. In any case, best luck. Will spend all summer in Bogota, myself...
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