Heaven Is Not Always What You Think It Is – Reflections After One Year Leaving the Corporate World
Twelve months ago, I traded boardrooms and project timelines for muddy hiking boots and uncertain border crossings. I left the corporate world behind, not because I had a perfect plan, but because I needed to find out what life looked like beyond job titles and quarterly goals. Not only to see the world, but to experience life beyond LinkedIn headlines, routines, and KPIs.
We packed up, hit the road in a 4x4 camper, and began exploring — not just landscapes, but new ways of seeing.
We found out not every travel day is magical. Some days we park behind supermarkets, on tarmac surrounded by concrete and noise. Some days it rains nonstop and you sit inside your 8m camper wondering if the clouds will ever clear. Some days are laundry days. Hours spent hunting for laundromats, feeding coins into machines that barely work. Some days the water pump breaks. You wait. You call. You hope the part clears customs before the next weekend. Some days you walk aimlessly through supermarkets trying to find fresh cream or chickpeas. Spoiler: it’s impossible in half the Balkans.
Twelve months ago, I imagined a travel life of freedom and daily inspiration. The reality? It’s also chores, discomfort, and rainy Mondays.
Did we do the right thing?
When you look closer, you find yourself on a remote beach in Albania with the clearest water you’ve ever seen. When you look closer, you hike to an abandoned ski jump in Sarajevo, or explore the concrete ghosts of lost places in old hotels. When you look closer, you meet a New Zealand couple in Montenegro, join them for a spontaneous walk through Durmitor National Park and realize she worked in the same field. We had mutual LinkedIn connections. One degree of separation. On a mountain trail in Montenegro. When you look closer, you meet a motorcycle couple on the bobsled track riding from Singapore to Nordkap. They literally rode down the bobsled run. Sounds impossible. They did it!
And then there is this in Šćit/Bosnia
I launch the drone and the world stops. Mountains mirrored on a lake so still it looks unreal. Clouds so crisp they fool the lens. And for a moment, I think — heaven. But it’s not. It’s just a perfect reflection on the lakes surface. An illusion, flawless as long as there’s no wind.
It stayed with me. Because I’ve seen that kind of stillness before — in boardrooms, in corporate titles, salaries, LinkedIn headlines. Everything polished. Nothing real.
Shake the water, and the reflection breaks. Then you see the mess underneath. Maybe the safe job isn’t safety. Maybe the well-lit path isn’t yours. Maybe the thing you’re clinging to is just a still surface.
Travel didn’t give me answers. But it gave us wind. Enough to stir the water and look again. And once you’ve seen through the reflection, you can’t unsee it.
What about you?
Have you ever chased something that looked like heaven, only to find it was just a reflection? Or stirred the water and seen things more clearly? I’d love to hear your story. Drop a comment, send me an email to share your thoughts, or just say hi.
We’re all figuring it out, one broken pump, one hidden beach at a time or riding down a bobsled track.
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