This morning I would have been in Houston, Texas interviewing for a flight attendant position with United Airlines – but I ultimately chose to cancel the interview. In this post I’ll share how I decided to keep backpacking instead of interviewing for full-time employment. I hope that this brief story will help others who are struggling with indecisiveness with the direction of their lives.
It’s been over three weeks now since I left my Australian working holiday behind. I traveled from Perth to Singapore, where I spent a full day before flying back home to America. My goal in returning home was to repack and spend a couple weeks planning a long-awaited trip around Southeast Asia.
Flashing back to my final days in Perth – I spontaneously applied to be a flight attendant with United. Having flown on standby with this airline for the past six years using my parents’ benefits, I’ve been interested in pivoting out of my music career and into the airline industry. It can take weeks or months before an interview is scheduled, so I figured it would be safe to apply and backpack through Asia in the meantime.
Then just a couple days after returning to America I was surprised to get an email inviting me to an interview with United. Without thinking it over much I accepted the invitation. Then in the days that followed I began experiencing unusually high stress levels – with focus issues and insomnia. My mind raced with thoughts – how could I possibly do a multi-month Asia trip if I was already heading into a job interview?
One night before bed I went on YouTube and listened to recordings of one of my favorite pieces of music for the violin and piano – Kreisler’s Praeludium And Allegro. As I listened I was reminded of my passion for music, and more importantly for this discussion – for travel.
Sitting there in bed I recalled that every major decision I’ve made has been out of passion – from choosing to major in music at uni, to taking a job working on a cruise ship. My main motivation to be a flight attendant was not necessarily passion for service and safety – but rather a desire for job stability and healthcare benefits. And while these things are really important to look for within American jobs, they currently don’t seem like good enough reasons to give up on all I’ve worked for in music.
So I took this as a sign to cancel the interview and fully commit to backpacking Asia. And once I did, my anxiety melted away. I have the money and the youthful energy now to make the most of this kind of trip, and I’m not going to take that for granted. With eight months left of my twenties I am going to keep exploring the world on MY time – and sharing the memories here with my readers.
Next destination: Vietnam!
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