The turn of a key, that’s all it can take to make a decision. Whether it be to go to the supermarket or not, to visit that girl or not, to go to the pub or not, or even, as was in my case, to leave your life behind and try something new or not.
There was a day in the Australian Winter of 2015, I was a plasterer back then, I owned my own business. This day would be the day that I turned the key that changed my life. It had a been a cold day on a dark construction site plastering the walls and ceilings of a townhouse in the suburbs of Melbourne. Those who have met me will tell you that I despise cold weather. I had arrived at the site in the early morning darkness, turned on portable lights to work with multiple layers of clothing on. That same day, like many before, I left that job site in the evening dark too, I hated the fact that I didn’t get to see daylight in my free time. It was after packing my tools into my 1995 Toyota Hilux that I sat down in the car, put the key in the ignition, turned it and felt the dread of having to return to the same thing tomorrow.
It had been a tough few months prior to this with a bad break up and the realisation that I was working a job I never wanted. Yes, I was making money, my reputation had begun to build after 3 years and I was becoming successful. I was successful, but I was miserable. It began when I would finish work, go home, have dinner and go to bed hating the fact that I had to get up for work in the morning. I know this isn’t uncommon for some people unfortunately, but that dread slowly crept earlier and earlier into my free time. I would begin to feel that dread, before bed, then before dinner, then when I got home, but it was the day that I turned the key of my Hilux and was soaked by that dread that I realised this needed to change. I drove home and thought back to a time that I felt genuine happiness and elation. It didn’t take long before I saw myself on a beach in Greece with my friends, drinking sangria in Spain, living on a boat in Croatia. These were all a part of the 2014 backpacking trip spanning 3 months in Europe when I discovered the thrill of exploring and creating friendships while learning about different cultures. That memory was the driving force to travel again, this time to South East Asia, however it was meant to be a rejuvenation trip from burnout, I didn’t mean it to become permanent.
I set off to Perth in late January 2016 to visit a friend I had made in Greece. This was the perfect way to rekindle the travel bug by rekindling a friendship. Her family took me in for a week easing me into my first attempt at solo travel. From there it began in Thailand where I visited a friend who owned a bar on Koh Phi Phi in the Thai West Islands. This island gave me what I was searching for. There was an afternoon, shortly before sunset when all of my friend’s staff were sitting around a park bench on the beach at the bar. Here was a group of travellers who didn’t know each other before they got there talking and joking as if they were family. They welcomed me into that family immediately and as I looked out to the sun setting over Loh Dalum Bay I felt that wash of relaxation and happiness replace the anxiety and the odd bout of depression that had been crippling me at home. I planned to stay for 3 days. Those 3 days turned into a week of missed planes and ferries. They weren’t missed because I was disorganised, they were missed because I didn’t want to leave. Missing those planes and ferries was making me smile, it became a joke between the staff. “What are the odds Aaron will still be at the hostel when we get there?”. Eventually they lost that bet as I left, but I knew deep down that it was see you soon.
I went on to make my way through Northern Thailand and into Cambodia where I had organised to meet a girl I had met in Rome on that very same trip in 2014. This connection with her ended up taking me to a place I never thought of travelling but still to this day sits as one of my favourite places I have been. Together we went to India and that 2014 connection became much more. This girl taught me how to drop my walls and trust in someone again. This is a love story for another day however, because we went our separate ways and I returned to Thailand to learn how to dive. The dive community on Koh Pha Ngan confirmed my love for people who travel and the families they create. I spent 2 weeks there and experienced Songkran for the first time. Unfortunately, my trip was coming to a close. I was sad that it was ending, but I was thrilled that I knew happiness once again.
I returned to work in May 2016, plastering in the cold again. I’d come full circle. I expected to come back with a new lease on life and an excitement to work hard to travel again. But I quickly fell back into the rut I was in before. My mind wondered to that park bench on Koh Phi Phi every time I picked up a hammer, every time I opened a ladder, every time I saw a sheet of plaster. The change that began with the turn of a key was cemented with a phone call to a little island in Thailand a year later.
“Hey mate, you were right, it didn’t fix it, its all the same as soon as I got back”
“I said that, hey”
“You couldn’t have been more right, I just want to be back on that beach”
“Come back man, what’s stopping you?”
“I dunno, I’ll need a way to make money, have you got any jobs going?”
“Sure, can you run boats?”
“I’m sure I can learn! When can I start?”
“Tomorrow if you like”
“I’ll be there in a month!”
I told my parents my plan, they were supportive but logically concerned. I was going to throw away the business I had built and the reputation I had gained for what? A $1,000 a week pay cut to drink on a beach and party. At this point there was no convincing me otherwise, however, I was determined to feel happy and that was where It was going to happen.
A month later I was on a plane, then a taxi, then a boat, eventually landing back on Koh Phi Phi with a backpack and a smile. That smile was worth more to me than any coloured currency. I enjoyed learning new skills and meeting new people, but most of all I enjoyed life. So, I began creating my new life which led to a management role. This management role had me in charge of rostering. Now if ever I needed an indicator that I had done the right thing this was it: I rostered myself 1 day off in 3 months and when that day off came around, I went down to the hostel and asked if any workers wanted a day off because I wanted to work. Cast my mind back a year ago and I would give anything to not have to go to work, here I was at this point never taking a day off because I loved what I was doing.
People say when you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I don’t totally agree. I went on to improve my skills and give myself the experience needed to proceed on to a bigger company with more responsibility and a chance to really change not only my own, but other people’s lives too. With this company I work hard every day. It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had at times, but I appreciate the challenge because the rewards of meeting so many new people and showing them so many new cultures and unique sites is what makes me wake up with a smile on my face every day. For someone who isn’t a morning person, that’s saying something!
