When I graduated college, I put everything in a car and went to Los Angeles, to chase my dream job of being an agent. I had worked with Sony and just felt like that was the right thing to do. I didn't even have enough money to get a place there - I just went anyways and knew that, with hard work, anything can work.
I spent 8 months grinding every day I was there, building relationships to navigate Los Angeles. After 8 months, I had the biggest meeting of my life, forgot my resume to it and talked myself past it somehow. The next morning, I had my dream offer in my email, of having my own desk at an agency. For more money than I ever could have imagined.
But, it just didn't feel right.
By paying attention, I had grown to realize that Los Angeles was not my city, and I loved nature and relationships far too much to build a life there. I knew it would likely be many years before I would be able to even buy a house there, and then start thinking about a family. I didn't want to give 10 years of my youth to that.
I turned down the offer and without much money, headed down south to Mexico, in search of a simple life. I got a beautiful place on the beach and built great relationships with people down there... Many of whom I am still close to today. I spent a long time down there... Living an incredibly easy and beautiful life.
But it just didn't feel right, long-term.
I am quite the dreamer and knew it would be hard to make my dreams come true in such a simple environment. So I got in my car and drove 22,000+ miles around the US, Canada and Mexico, in search of a new place to live. I had absolutely no place in mind and no clue what I would pick. I had decided to search for a place on the PCH, somewhere from Mexico to Alaska. After many months on the PCH, I stopped to visit friends in Seattle who inspired me to leave the PCH for the first time and take a detour to Glacier National Park before coming back to the PCH.
I did and stopped in a town called Sandpoint, Idaho to camp for the night. I met a wonderful couple there, who said they would show me around Coeur d' Alene (about 40 minutes south), where they lived, to give me a better idea of what the town was like.
I fell in love. I started renting a house the next day and have now been here for over 3 years. I started building deep, lasting relationships with wonderful people here and consider myself so grateful for each and every one of them.
It just felt right.
I bought my house last month and I couldn't imagine calling another place home right now.
A place I didn't even know existed until I searched for it.
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Moral: You don't have to know where you're going. And you don't have to know how you're going to do it. You just have to trust your intuition (it's flawless, I promise) and have the courage to continue seeking the life you truly want. Embrace discomfort as you search... It builds character and helps you continue learning who you really are, and what you really need in life.
Only one rule: Don't settle. Life's far too short for that.
