Hi everyone and welcome to my blog. I have never been a blogger and have always been awful at naming things. If anyone has better suggestions for the title, let me know and I'll see if I can change it. Anyway, I might as well start off with a bit of background on my situation since some of you may wonder why I've decided to start a blog.
For those of you who don't know what I've been up to the past year or so, here you go:
Back in March of 2011 I accepted a job with in oil and gas industry based in Pennsylvania. That is not an industry I ever imagined myself in and after working for a while, I knew that it was not something I'd feel comfortable continuing with long term. In February of 2012 I was notified that I had been accepted into the international program through my company and I was given the opportunity to go live and work in Brunei. "Where in the world is Brunei!?" I asked myself. I looked it up and at first, I was under the impression that I would be living in Malaysia based on the map. I was close, but wrong. Brunei is in fact a country. A tiny country with a sultan. I decided to accept the offer and in early September of 2012 I was shipped off on a plane across the world.
Life in Brunei was interesting. I met many incredible people and enjoyed delicious food. I lived in a great apartment in the town of Kuala Belait. Work was fine at first. I was working a 28/28 schedule, meaning I would work on a rig for 28 days strait, 12 hour shifts, and then I would have 28 days off to do with as I pleased. My first month off I took an incredible trip to Indonesia. Perhaps I'll write a separate blog entry on that later because it was such a unique experience. I also spent a few days in Singapore and Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. I was in KL for a course for work, but there was still plenty of time for fun. My next days off were spent in Thailand (mainly the islands in the gulf) and Melaka, Malaysia. Once I returned to Brunei from that vacation, that was when things began to go downhill. The 28/28 schedule had been taken away from us and that meant that on days not spent at a rig, I would have to go to the office. I was no longer going to have a chance to travel.
I spent many weeks working in the office a few on rigs over the next month of so. For my birthday I was lucky enough to be on land, but completely exhausted from all the work and no days off. I ended up using some vacation days in early April to go to the Philippines before taking a course in Dubai for work. Both were great experiences. Upon my return to Brunei, I realized that I was no longer enjoying my job at all. I ended up resigning mid-May and was sent back home. I had been saving up money during the time I was working in Brunei since housing and food were mostly provided. I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to travel a while before I return to school or get a new job.
I spent about a month back in the US to visit friends and family. I concluded my days there with an incredible cruise to Alaska. On Saturday, June 22, 2013 I went to the Seattle airport for a flight to Manila. I have no defined itinerary and no definite idea on when I will be finished traveling. I am currently writing from Macau, where the internet is actually decent. Over the next couple days I will post a few other entries to provide updates on what I have experienced so far. Hopefully I figure out the feature to add pictures! I have tons of those.
Bye for now!
Me
(4 July 2013)
For those of you who don't know what I've been up to the past year or so, here you go:
Back in March of 2011 I accepted a job with in oil and gas industry based in Pennsylvania. That is not an industry I ever imagined myself in and after working for a while, I knew that it was not something I'd feel comfortable continuing with long term. In February of 2012 I was notified that I had been accepted into the international program through my company and I was given the opportunity to go live and work in Brunei. "Where in the world is Brunei!?" I asked myself. I looked it up and at first, I was under the impression that I would be living in Malaysia based on the map. I was close, but wrong. Brunei is in fact a country. A tiny country with a sultan. I decided to accept the offer and in early September of 2012 I was shipped off on a plane across the world.
Life in Brunei was interesting. I met many incredible people and enjoyed delicious food. I lived in a great apartment in the town of Kuala Belait. Work was fine at first. I was working a 28/28 schedule, meaning I would work on a rig for 28 days strait, 12 hour shifts, and then I would have 28 days off to do with as I pleased. My first month off I took an incredible trip to Indonesia. Perhaps I'll write a separate blog entry on that later because it was such a unique experience. I also spent a few days in Singapore and Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. I was in KL for a course for work, but there was still plenty of time for fun. My next days off were spent in Thailand (mainly the islands in the gulf) and Melaka, Malaysia. Once I returned to Brunei from that vacation, that was when things began to go downhill. The 28/28 schedule had been taken away from us and that meant that on days not spent at a rig, I would have to go to the office. I was no longer going to have a chance to travel.
I spent many weeks working in the office a few on rigs over the next month of so. For my birthday I was lucky enough to be on land, but completely exhausted from all the work and no days off. I ended up using some vacation days in early April to go to the Philippines before taking a course in Dubai for work. Both were great experiences. Upon my return to Brunei, I realized that I was no longer enjoying my job at all. I ended up resigning mid-May and was sent back home. I had been saving up money during the time I was working in Brunei since housing and food were mostly provided. I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to travel a while before I return to school or get a new job.
I spent about a month back in the US to visit friends and family. I concluded my days there with an incredible cruise to Alaska. On Saturday, June 22, 2013 I went to the Seattle airport for a flight to Manila. I have no defined itinerary and no definite idea on when I will be finished traveling. I am currently writing from Macau, where the internet is actually decent. Over the next couple days I will post a few other entries to provide updates on what I have experienced so far. Hopefully I figure out the feature to add pictures! I have tons of those.
Bye for now!
Me
(4 July 2013)
You didn't mention me once. >:(
ReplyDeleteYou shall be mentioned in future posts!
Deleteare the fires in Singapore a problem at all?
ReplyDeleteNot sure. I haven't heard of fires there. I know there were some in Indonesia causing problems for Malaysia, but I haven't been to Singapore since December.
DeleteMacau is beautiful! I can't wait to hear more! I am quite jealous of your adventures and at the same time I am really happy you are doing this for yourself. There is so much out there to learn and see and so many people to meet and so much different food to try! I wish I had the guts to do what you are doing right now! - MAA (ChemE buddy ;) )
ReplyDeleteI agree, Macau definitely is great. I'm going to try to update every couple weeks. You can remind me if I start to slack :) Maybe one day you will do the while travel thing too!
Delete