My journey

I was in college back in 2010 studying software development and for the first year I really enjoyed the course, but when the second year came around and the workload increased I realised I only enjoyed it because it was a new experience and it was exciting. I decided to drop out of college and do something different with my life. I had always loved the outdoors and I had been a member of the reserve defence forces(Part-time Military) for a couple of years so I decided to look for something that was more in line with that.

“I really didnt know what to do when i left college, I felt like a failure”

I really didn’t know what to do when I left college, I felt like a failure, I felt like I had let my family down, it was not a nice place to be in. I knew I had to pull myself out of this pit and just move on with life so I started looking at what to do next.

“I knew this was the course for me, I had to get on this course”

Thank god for Google, I spent the next few weeks researching potential jobs and courses when I stumbled upon a course that taught outdoor activities. I knew this was the course for me, I had to get on this course. the course was almost a year-long and it involved learning how to kayak, Hill walk and rock climb. this was like a dream come through. this is exactly what I needed.

The course was the best year of my life, it was life-changing. it taught me skills I never knew I was capable of and by the end, I was a different person, the course had moulded me and had given me an identity and purpose. I cannot praise the people who ran the course enough, we had some of the best instructors in the county teaching us and they were just brilliant.

from this course, I gained many qualifications and I was able to get jobs in France, England, Wales, Sweden, Finland and Norway teaching many outdoor activities.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I absolutely loved doing this job, it brought me to different countries and I had some awesome experiences but over time the job can wear on you. The pay is not very good which I could handle but add that with the long hours, no weekends off and the lack of work in the Winter and you can get a little fed up with the job after a couple of years.

“I felt like I went from one extreme to another”

So in 2016 I Left the Outdoors and changed jobs and I started working in a school driving a minibus. I did this job for a year and a half and it was an OK job but it was very boring. I felt like I went from one extreme to another. I was going through a tough transitional period in my life. I felt like I knew who I was when I worked in the outdoors and I had a strong identity but when I left I started to lose my identity and I fell apart at the seams. I felt like I was shedding my skin and becoming something I didn’t want to become, a version of myself I did not like.

I was living in the UK when I had a big shake-up of my life and I realised I wasn’t in a good place so I made the decision to come back to Ireland for a while and try and work things out. I ended up getting a job in construction and while I was happier being back in Ireland and closer to friends and family I was still not happy in my job.

That is why I have started this website. I want to share my experiences with a community of like-minded people and hopefully bring some positivity into the world.

I hope that I can make a little difference and we can grow and learn from each other.