My
name is Job and I am a 26 year old male who lives nearby Rotterdam in
the Netherlands.
I
have studied computer science for my bachelor and after that I got my
master ICT in Business and worked as a product owner in a big IT
company for a year. It is a nice job but I just wanted to do
something totally different instead of being stuck behind a desk the
whole day. This is when I decided to get out of my comfort zone and
to start a new adventure in Canada. Besides that, it would be the
perfect opportunity for me to figure out what I wanted to do with the
rest of my life.
After
all the initial preparation I arrived at the Chilcotin Holidays ranch
in the beginning of August. From that moment on I learned a lot of
new skills and had some great experiences. Before I came here, I did
not have any experience with horses so the first few days were quite
challenging because everything was new for me. Nevertheless, I was
able to adapt and learned a lot of new skills such as western horse
riding, shoeing and packing. These skills enabled me to become an
assistant guide on a pack trip which was definitely the highlights of
my stay here. Other things I learned around here where how to operate
a chainsaw, horse logging, tractor operation, general maintenance,
working with horses, ranch hand, baking, housekeeping, cleaning,
cooking, hiking and wildlife viewing. Another important part of my
stay was the conservation work I did for the Wilderness Stewardship
Foundation (WSF), during my time here I worked on several projects
and visited a stakeholder meeting in Lillooet which was very
interesting.
In
order to be able to learn all these things in a couple of weeks you
need to be in a special environment and that was certainly applicable
to this place. All the people I met here were nice, friendly and
willing to share their knowledge and skills with you which is quite
amazing when you think about it. On the other hand it is inspiring to
see that everyone is here for its own reasons and has some specific
goals and interests they want to work on during their time here.
Despite that, this never affected the overall vibe and willingness to
get things done together and to let the guests enjoy their stay here.
All
the experiences I had here did not only result in new skills but also
enabled me to learn a lot about myself. Sometimes you are confronted
with your fears or shortcomings and here you have no other option
than to deal with it and make it happen. I realized that my fear of
failure was stopping me from doing a lot of cool things and that it
does not matter if you fail as long as you learn something from it.
Besides that, my self-confidence has grown around here and I became
more independent because I know that I can make it on my own at the
other side of the world.
Despite
the fact that changing things in your life always have to start from
within there are some factors around here that definitely stimulate
this process. These are the small community you live in with the
other staff members and the wilderness environment that surrounds
you. By living closely together with other staff members you can
actually see the changes other people go through and how they develop
as a person from close by. This is fulfilling and encouraging at the
same time because it keeps you motivated to work on your own goals
and interests every single day. The wilderness environment also
contributes to your personal growth and independence because out here
there is not much more than yourself you can rely on. It has thought
me that the law of nature is leading and where you come from of what
you have done before does not matter at all.
At
the end of my time here I can finally say that I now have a better
direction for the rest of my life. I have not reached the point in my
life where I want to work behind a desk for 40 years and settle in by
buying my own place in the Netherlands.
This
adventure thought me that I first want to travel more and experience
completely different environments because this makes me happier than
I have ever been before. Hopefully someday the time will come that I
am comfortable with settling in and maybe that time will never come
at all and that is also fine. It really is a cliché but - keep
following your own dreams and do not let anyone or anything push you
in a situation you are not satisfied with. After all, the worst that
can happen is failure.
Job,
Netherland
