How it all began pt 1

A lot of people are asking me how I decided to be an au pair and move to Paris for a year. Well, the whole story is really miraculous, so I figured it would be easier to tell it here. It all started when I was taking my CTA certification course (Certified Tourism Ambassador) in April. I was sitting next to a dapper business man in a crisp gray suit who, when prompted, turned to the person next to him (me) and asked a good get-to-know-you question.

"What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done?"

Now I consider myself to be a pretty adventurous woman. Nobody out on the dancefloor? I'll swing it! Dinner looks like it's still kind of alive? I'll eat it! But the Cuba Gooding Jr. doppleganger's question stopped me in my nose-tipped-too-high tracks. What was the most adventurous thing I'd ever done? I mentioned spending the summer at Virginia Beach working with foreign students and doing beach evangelism. True, it was a challenging, exciting summer, but adventurous? Suddenly my entire life summed up into a couple of words... scheduled, predictable. And that is just not me.

Meanwhile I had been reading an onslaught of articles that littered my Facebook newsfeed on the lifestyle choices of this new generation I belonged to called the Millennials. From romantic relationships to travel to living at home to job hopping, I watched the battle between the way it's been and the way it might be play out, seeing in it the real reflection of my very own life.

Now graduated and out in the world, I had choices. Would I do what was expected of me? Is there something wrong with the well beaten path? Would I be missing out on great adventure if I took that path? Is traveling the world really so great? What if I don't want to be in a relationship? All these thoughts (ones I'm sure you have struggled with too) raged a war on my mind until I was too tired to decide anything.

Also wearing on me was a job where I felt underutilized, burnt out by week 2, and going nowhere fast. I had done all the things my professors told me to, my LinkedIn profile was at rockstar status (it's a real thing), and I knew everyone who was anyone in my industry in Columbus at age 23.

The truth is, I was bored.