“I’m closing the chapter with my last job. I was a research...

“I’m closing the chapter with my last job.  I was a research engineer.  I really loved the work, and I felt like I belonged, and my colleagues were like my family.  But recently we were bought by an American company, and a lot of people were laid off.  Maybe that’s a normal thing in America, but in France we’re not so used to this mentality.  So it was quite a traumatizing thing for me.  Many of these people had families.  Some of them were older and won’t be able to find new jobs.  It kept me up at night thinking about it.  It made me question a lot of things.  So a few weeks ago I decided to quit.  And before I start a new job, I’m going to travel by myself for two months.  Just to turn the page.  This is the first day of my journey.  I’ve never done anything like this before.  I’m nervous, I’m anxious, I’m excited.  I have no idea what to expect.  I’ve never spent this much time alone, and I know I’ll have to think about stuff.  Personal stuff that I’ve never had to think about before.  Because I was too busy with work.  But those things were always there, whether I thought about them or not.  So I think I’m doing something that I should have done a long time ago.”
(Montreal, Canada)