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Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Epilogue
Sorry it’s been so long since my last update. I kept waiting until I reached a point when I felt my adventure ended and I settled into a stable lifestyle. Now, 10 months after my trip ended, that point has yet to arrive.
Not long after arriving in Oregon, I landed a weekend job as a bread baker for a small local bakery. The pay wasn’t great, but it gave me some much-needed income and I love to bake. I crashed at my parents’ house for a few weeks before a friend asked if I would housesit for a weekend in December. Once word got out that I was an eligible housesitter (i.e., clean and needing a place to stay), the holiday housesitting offers came like a flood. All in all, I housesat for four different friends over the course of two months, some of them overlapping, and I turned down two more offers that I felt were more than I had time to handle. During this housesitting phase, I received a job as a full time pastry baker at a new grocery store in town. I was still working weekends at the other bakery, so by the start of January, I barely had time to sleep for a few hours at whatever house I happened to be tending at the time before beginning another 4am shift.
It was never my plan to work seven days a week. I imagined that after I settled into the full time job I would quit the weekend gig, but as it turns out, I hated that full time job. For one thing, I was told by a manager that they made everything from scratch. Apparently, their definition of “scratch” is to take frozen croissant dough, squeeze pre-made fruit filling into it and bake it off. All the cakes and muffins were made with cake mix and the bread tasted like cardboard. It didn’t help that the management enjoyed gossiping and insulting most of the employees behind their backs. The place just didn’t feel right, and it really made me appreciate my little weekend baking job. At the small bakery, everything actually was made out of scratch, the managers were awesome and the bread was to die for!
After two months, I quit the full time baking job and stuck with my weekend gig, which I still have. It didn’t take me long to find another part-time job, this time at a local shoe workshop. They call it a workshop because it’s too small, friendly and homey to be considered a factory. The place is called Soft Star Shoes and they make natural minimalist soft-leather shoes by hand. I do a lot of customer service and a little website maintenance and I’m very happy with it.
I should add that although I was not happy at the grocery store, I have no regrets about working there… mostly because that was where I met my current girlfriend. She was equally dissatisfied with the place, maybe more so since she was there longer, and was easily the only other employee I really bonded with. I’m happy to say that she escaped shortly before I did and now works as a highly appreciated pastry chef in a very cool kitchen. We both applied for that job, unbeknownst to each other, and it came down to the two of us. When she got it, I took her out for a drink to celebrate and show her there were no hard feelings—hence, our first date.
I moved in with some good friends back in February. They were a married couple with a beautiful country home, and we got along great. Unfortunately, they decided to travel and rent the whole house at the end of the summer. I moved closer to downtown Corvallis, where I work, and now reside in a cheap apartment complex.
So here I am. I still have the girlfriend, the weekend baking job and the part time gig as a shoe elf. Time is flying and it seems unbelievable that one year ago I was picking apples in Montana. I can’t say I landed where I expected, but this path is the result of what I’ve chosen. I’m happy to say I’ve kept my possessions to a minimum, as I strongly believe that clutter is a hindrance to a life of happiness. You can disagree, but I feel better knowing that if my house burns down, I won’t feel like the world has ended. As they said in Fight Club, “There’s a point where the things you own begin to own you.” I don’t feel I’m lacking anything material, although I do wish I had a better idea of where I’m going with my life. Being a baker and a shoe elf are not disagreeable with me, but nor are they jobs I want to have ten years from now.
I refuse to believe that my adventures are over, just on a hiatus. My friends often ask if I would WWOOF again, and after giving it a lot of thought I have to say yes, but not in the same way I did. By that, I mean I’m not eager to live off my savings for an extended period, volunteer until I’m broke and then start over busting my ass at another entry level job. I definitely want to travel again, and to travel freely, but I hope to find a way to do it without ending up broke and jobless at the end. Sometimes, ending up broke and jobless is just what you need, and I’ve honestly never regretted doing it, but I’ve done it a lot in my life and I don’t think I’ll need it again for a while. Moreover, I really want to find a direction and pursue work that I enjoy rather than wander aimlessly. I’m tinkering with a few ideas, and I still have quite a few countries on my travel list, so my future is unwritten. Closure is nowhere in sight, and that’s a good thing.
Thanks for reading!
Not long after arriving in Oregon, I landed a weekend job as a bread baker for a small local bakery. The pay wasn’t great, but it gave me some much-needed income and I love to bake. I crashed at my parents’ house for a few weeks before a friend asked if I would housesit for a weekend in December. Once word got out that I was an eligible housesitter (i.e., clean and needing a place to stay), the holiday housesitting offers came like a flood. All in all, I housesat for four different friends over the course of two months, some of them overlapping, and I turned down two more offers that I felt were more than I had time to handle. During this housesitting phase, I received a job as a full time pastry baker at a new grocery store in town. I was still working weekends at the other bakery, so by the start of January, I barely had time to sleep for a few hours at whatever house I happened to be tending at the time before beginning another 4am shift.
It was never my plan to work seven days a week. I imagined that after I settled into the full time job I would quit the weekend gig, but as it turns out, I hated that full time job. For one thing, I was told by a manager that they made everything from scratch. Apparently, their definition of “scratch” is to take frozen croissant dough, squeeze pre-made fruit filling into it and bake it off. All the cakes and muffins were made with cake mix and the bread tasted like cardboard. It didn’t help that the management enjoyed gossiping and insulting most of the employees behind their backs. The place just didn’t feel right, and it really made me appreciate my little weekend baking job. At the small bakery, everything actually was made out of scratch, the managers were awesome and the bread was to die for!
After two months, I quit the full time baking job and stuck with my weekend gig, which I still have. It didn’t take me long to find another part-time job, this time at a local shoe workshop. They call it a workshop because it’s too small, friendly and homey to be considered a factory. The place is called Soft Star Shoes and they make natural minimalist soft-leather shoes by hand. I do a lot of customer service and a little website maintenance and I’m very happy with it.
I should add that although I was not happy at the grocery store, I have no regrets about working there… mostly because that was where I met my current girlfriend. She was equally dissatisfied with the place, maybe more so since she was there longer, and was easily the only other employee I really bonded with. I’m happy to say that she escaped shortly before I did and now works as a highly appreciated pastry chef in a very cool kitchen. We both applied for that job, unbeknownst to each other, and it came down to the two of us. When she got it, I took her out for a drink to celebrate and show her there were no hard feelings—hence, our first date.
I moved in with some good friends back in February. They were a married couple with a beautiful country home, and we got along great. Unfortunately, they decided to travel and rent the whole house at the end of the summer. I moved closer to downtown Corvallis, where I work, and now reside in a cheap apartment complex.
So here I am. I still have the girlfriend, the weekend baking job and the part time gig as a shoe elf. Time is flying and it seems unbelievable that one year ago I was picking apples in Montana. I can’t say I landed where I expected, but this path is the result of what I’ve chosen. I’m happy to say I’ve kept my possessions to a minimum, as I strongly believe that clutter is a hindrance to a life of happiness. You can disagree, but I feel better knowing that if my house burns down, I won’t feel like the world has ended. As they said in Fight Club, “There’s a point where the things you own begin to own you.” I don’t feel I’m lacking anything material, although I do wish I had a better idea of where I’m going with my life. Being a baker and a shoe elf are not disagreeable with me, but nor are they jobs I want to have ten years from now.
I refuse to believe that my adventures are over, just on a hiatus. My friends often ask if I would WWOOF again, and after giving it a lot of thought I have to say yes, but not in the same way I did. By that, I mean I’m not eager to live off my savings for an extended period, volunteer until I’m broke and then start over busting my ass at another entry level job. I definitely want to travel again, and to travel freely, but I hope to find a way to do it without ending up broke and jobless at the end. Sometimes, ending up broke and jobless is just what you need, and I’ve honestly never regretted doing it, but I’ve done it a lot in my life and I don’t think I’ll need it again for a while. Moreover, I really want to find a direction and pursue work that I enjoy rather than wander aimlessly. I’m tinkering with a few ideas, and I still have quite a few countries on my travel list, so my future is unwritten. Closure is nowhere in sight, and that’s a good thing.
Thanks for reading!
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