07/21/2016
"I had been dreaming of going to Canada since 2005 and it was only in 2011 that I obtained the WHV(work and holiday visa). I had just come back from 3 years of living abroad and I had until the end of 2012 to enter to Canada. So I decided to work in France for a little bit before setting my departure date. Shortly after, I got into a relationship that rapidly turned out pretty toxic and I got manipulated into thinking that travelling was not right for me and that I should stay in my country to build a career and a "life". Gradually, Canada was not an option anymore. A difficult winter and summer passed and by September 2012, I was living with my dad at the edge of depression, with absolutely no goal. Pressure to live along the "normal" path was strong and I was encouraged to look for work and forget about Canada, which I did. End of October, I found a very well-paid job in a major oil company. The job wasn't challenging at all but it was comfortable. Very quickly though, it brought me straight back to my life pre-travels and I felt like my time abroad was a distant dream. I was working in a department sending engineers over to Calgary so I kept hearing the words "Caribou", "Maple Syrup" and other significant symbols of Canada and for some reason, everywhere I looked I could see Canadian flags. This is when I realised that my little flame was still burning deep inside me and I could not ignore it anymore. But I had a perfect job, my family was proud of my achievement. Why sacrifice this picture, the perfect life? Because I wasn't happy. I wasn't "me". For all the money and glory I could get, I preferred to take the risk to throw it all to the ground and listen to my heart. So one day, to the dismay of my manager and a lot of people around me including my family...I decided to quit. I had absolutely no particular plan, people called me crazy but all I knew was that I didn't want to regret it for the rest of my life, forever asking myself the question: "What if I had gone to Canada?"...
My next step was to book a plane and time was running, it was end of November...I wanted to spend Christmas with my family as I had been away for the past 4 Christmas, so I booked my plane to Montreal on December 28th, 2012...only 3 days before my WHV expired. I was still very fragile morally but I knew this was what I had to do. There was a big blizzard in Montreal that day so my plane was delayed several hours and I wondered if destiny was eventually going to allow me on Canadian soil before my deadline...but I made it. I made it! I spent one week in Montreal setting everything up (bank, sin number, etc) and looking for my next destination. I had a friend in Canmore who invited to come and check it out, and she said Calgary was nearby if I couldn't find any job in the valley. Little did I know that employement here is plentiful. After a few days only, I decided to stay in the valley. It was cold and snowy but I had a good feeling about it. Only 1 hour after dropping off my CV at Beamer's Coffee Bar, the management called me to let me know that I was hired!! I was so, so happy!! I didn't know how to use an espresso machine so I was very grateful to get an opportunity to learn a new skill...and this is how it all began.
If there is one advice I can give to anybody out there that is experiencing unhappiness or sorrow in their lives, it is: listen to your heart, acknowledge that little flame inside you, it will always be alive even if you try to blow it off. Your heart knows exactly what is good for you. And the further away you stay from your heart, the more unhappy you will be. Life is not easy and you will go through tough times, but your heart will always guide you back to the right path."
