In my 21 years on this planet, I have never in my life done anything remotely daring. I've never been skinny dipping. I've never been on a plane. I've never been on a road trip. I've not even driven on a motorway without my driving instructor. Essentially, I have never 'lived.' People often say, 'you don't drink? You must be so boring!' and I suppose I am. I don't enjoy things that 'conventional' 20 somethings enjoy and to most people that does come across as boring. I am a 21 year old, tea-drinking, pyjama-wearing grandma and I'm not afraid to admit it.
All I heard at school was 'what are going to do when you're older?' or 'You should go to university.'
I've had lots of dreams. Once upon a time, I wanted to be a nurse. I love the idea of helping people, but had the argument with myself that I wasn't 'academic' enough. Pretty much anything I wanted to do involved a university education, but uni was somewhere I could never imagine myself. I only did a levels because it was the 'easiest' thing to do. All I had to do was get the grades, then I could carry on with my boring, monotonous life.
I have to say, not every teacher pushed me to go to uni. Two in particular just wanted me to do my best and be happy (thanks Tree and Burton, it meant a lot.). I still have the card my form tutor gave me before I left sixth form. It reads
'Sara, best of luck with all your exams this year. Good luck for the future. If you decide to work with young people, your bubbly personality will be a real asset. Burton :)'
Burton
Tree
When asked if I wanted to work in a local after school club, I jumped at the chance. Although much less pay than my job at the time, I was looking forward to doing what I had always wanted to do, work with children. I immersed myself in my work, but still felt empty. For a year, I trudged through work, more unhappy than ever, but desperately trying to look forward. But I couldn't see anything. I couldn't picture my future, what I'd be doing, who I'd be with.
That's when I started working at the nursery. Five days a week in a tiny room full of energetic 2-4 year olds? Hell to the yeah! For months I matched their energy and enthusiasm, my colleagues even joked about how much I enjoyed doing show and tell, something they clearly tried to avoid. I had the best time at nursery. I can't deny, it was one hell of a roller coaster and one, if given the opportunity, I would definitely board again. It broke my heart to leave that little place (which was evident to anyone who attended that party, sorry for ugly crying!). However, I knew I had to do something different.
When I first began considering a new job, I was hit with a brick wall. 'Sara, you can't drive, how do you expect to find a job that doesn't require you to drive somewhere? The bus is too expensive and unreliable, you need to learn to drive.' So, after a horrific experience with my first driving instructor, I finally pushed myself to try again. I found the best driving instructor in the world and as my lessons went on I thought 'I could actually do this!' I passed both tests, theory and practical, first time with only one driver fault (that bloody rear window!) Coming out of that test centre, a million and one butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Now I've got freedom. I've got the power to do whatever I want to do... But what do I want to do?
Scrolling through my Facebook news feed like I so often do, I came across an article that was essentially a guide on how to travel on a tiny budget. Wicked, I thought, my budget can't get much smaller, but I'm desperate to see more of the world.
Number one was something about Skyscanner, a site that presumably finds you cheap flights. Nah, still not cheap enough. I'd still need somewhere to stay.
Number two, AirBnB. Not sure how safe I'd feel in a foreign country where the 'host' knows I'm alone. That screams horror film/a really good murder mystery to me! No thank you.
Oh hello number three! What in gods name is an au pair?!
As I read more about this au pair business I became intrigued as to how it all works. In this article was a link to a few websites where you could upload your profile for prospective host families to read. What the hell, I thought, I've got nothing to lose. So I started typing...
Where did I want to go? Probably best not to stray too far from home for my first ever flight! France, Iceland, Sweden, all of those Scandinavian countries sound ideal. I put in my experience with children, I noted that I could drive if necessary and uploaded a few pictures of myself. No sooner had I uploaded my profile to Au Pair World, than I was inundated with messages. What was so special about me that made all of these families desperate to have me in their homes? There were single parent families, people with one child, people with lots of children, people with babies, people with teenagers. How on earth was I supposed to pick just one out the hundreds of families who applied?
A wonderful family sent me an email, expressing how eager they were to learn more about me. We arranged a Skype call and immediately clicked. In the next call, I met the children and we all got to learn more about each other. Before I knew it, the flight was booked and I was handing my notice in at work. SCARY!
Here's a bit more about where I'll be living.
So, now I'm in this sort of weird dream-like limbo, where I'm still in disbelief that little old me is going to live with strangers on the French-Swiss border, for 10 whole months.
Wish me luck!
