Conception of the Grand Adventure

Prior to my flight across the pond, I worked as an AR Accountant for the Pyramid Breweries back in Seattle, Washington. I had just turned 25 when I had a mini-quarter life crisis. What was I doing with my life? Why was I slaving away in accounting when I really just wanted to see the world?

To tell the truth, my job wasn't that horrific; it was just an uncomfortable fit for a girl who, despite what my resume says, just doesn't have an eye for details. Luckily, AR accounting is very simple once you get the routine down, and after a year and a half I could do it half-asleep (hypothetically, of course ;). But finally I became fed up with the redundant, cyclical nature of accounting. I felt like a hampster huffing and puffing away on my spinning wheel: like there was really no point to it at all. No matter how hard I worked, the bills would just keep coming in and going out. In other words, I was about ready to snap.

Then I spoke with a couple of people who have taught English abroad, and it immediately sparked my interest. I had never considered teaching before (in fact, I was always sure that I would never have the patience to teach), but suddenly it represented a full-proof way to travel the world while getting paid, and a ticket out of my tedious job.

So I researched. And researched. I studied every avenue of teaching abroad with an intensity that would make my high school math teacher proud. I finally decided to take the month-long TEFL course in Limassol, Cyprus, and head back to Europe from there to look for a job. Many people have since asked me why I chose Cyprus, and the only answer that I could give is that it looked like the best place to be a beach bum for a month. In between study sessions, of course.

One of my best friends, Laurissa, decided to join me, as she was having a similar quarter-life crisis. So with much relish and reckless abandon we both quit our jobs (I narrowly refrained from putting photocopies of my butt into various mailboxes at my work) and we made our way over to Europe. And thus, the Grand Adventure was born.