Gypsy

There was a point in my 20s when I was always on the move.  On visits to my grandparents before leaving for somewhere new, my grandpa used to laugh and tell me I was a gypsy, just like his sister Betty.  Always on the move, never staying put.   My mother’s address book had pages of the contact information from my different locales, each one scratched out and replaced with another every 4-6 months.

Then, without even realizing it, I’d spent over three years in Vancouver.  A good job, nearby family, wonderful friends…and without making a conscious decision, I had settled.  While my job allows me to travel extensively through BC, my feet started getting itchy for a larger adventure.  I am not sure what caused me to finally decide to go.  It might have been the soggy November weather.  It may have been the fact that I’d just spent several weeks at work writing a tedious report.  It may have been the realization that I wasn’t in my 20s anymore, and that taking off randomly may not always be so easy.  Likely it was a combination of all three.  Whatever it was, on that soggy night, curled up in my hobbit hole in East Van, I decided it was time to go again.

Instead of just traveling, I wanted to DO something.  That night that I decided, I happened across a posting for a research assistant position in the Philippines.  The project was focused on investigating the populations of cetaceans and whale sharks in the Bohol Sea.  I threw together a resume and sent it off before I second guessed myself.

Long story short, things miraculously fell into place.  The job was offered, my boss gave me a leave, a friend sublet-ed my apartment; things were pretty much wrapped up.  I’ll be gone for a three month stint working as part of a small team based out of Jagna, Bohol.  This blog will recount my experiences here.  Feel free to follow along.

Love Cait