Graduation, Embarkation, Excitation!

Keeping a regular blogging schedule has obviously not been at the top of my priority list lately.  This term, as with every previous one, has felt incredibly hectic.  Being home in Newfoundland after living away has shifted my focus to catching up with family and friends during my time outside the office.

I've spent the last two months working with some fabulous women at a local travel agency, applying my hard-earned skills and absorbing new knowledge as provided by my seasoned colleagues.  I am very thankful for the opportunity and experience, but am even more thrilled to be able to say that with my internship's completion I have finished the Tourism Management program (with honours)!

No seriously, I ziplined that shiz. Taken on the Niagara Escarpment during a school trip in October.
Graduation is in June, and regrettably I am unable to make it to the ceremony to celebrate with those I have met throughout the past two years.  Attending this program was one of the best decisions of my life and I am grateful to have connected with so many remarkable people and done so many amazing things.

Quite UNregrettably, however, I will be in Dublin during the service, having just disembarked from an adventure through Northern Europe and Iceland with Enrichment Voyages (via Semester at Sea). Hopefully, rather than bathing in anxiety over whether I might trip in my gown, I will instead be bathing in Guinness, or at least drinking a pint (or four) of it. Prior to all of this, I'll even be heading to Berlin to take in the sights for a few days before taking my position on the ship.

Chillin' on the MV Explorer while we waited to disembark in Monaco during last year's SAS voyage.
There's a quote attributed to Confucius indicating that if you love your job you'll never work another day in your life. Despite just starting in the travel/tourism industry, I feel I can safely assert that I have chosen a field of employment that will enable me to live. Travel is vibrant and dynamic; it embraces extraordinary diversity, it continuously evolves as companies encourage more sustainable practices, and it educates, encouraging positive changes in those who actively participate.

Of course it helps that some of this active participation occasionally takes me to sophisticated breweries, geothermal spas and fabled bridges built by giants... Slàinte!