Ashley and I have, over the past year, been through so much together – we shared our lives as though were in a serious relationship; which in looking back – we were very shortly there. We’ve grown together as a result of our professions and we’ve chosen a path together to live our lives close to one another – for now at least. We originally figured this out while walking along the beach in Deauville, a city on France’s Normandy coast we were visiting for business. The fact that we’d chosen this path together, that is.
Ashley was sharing with us some of her fondest memories of living in Europe and visiting Normandy as a girl. As we’ve chosen a path that intertwines our entire lives, I am privileged enough to be close to her to allow her to share with me and educate me to the ways she learned while living in Europe. We’ve been so many places together and experienced so many things in a variety of distinct cultures, we’ve made an unconscious change in our attitudes that makes us appear truly world weary.
Woe to the person who has to listen to Ashley and I banter along in a conversation about bouncing from one city to the next across South America. A discussion that to us was a conversation as natural as mentioning that I’d been to the store that afternoon.
“Salvador for New Year, zip down to Punta del Este for a few weeks and then take the weekend through Buenos Aries – B.A.- on the way home,” Bradley said.
“Perhaps we could stay in Brazil a bit longer and only go to Uruguay for a couple of days?” queried Ashley.
“Whatever you think we should do, I’m easy,” replied Bradley. “But we have to go to the house in Uruguay for at least three days to show interest if Jean Francois ever decides to give it to you for a good price.”
“That and we have to stop in Buenos Aries for a few days anyway to go to the Sybase office there, then on to the Sao Paulo office on the way home. Those channels people need us,” Ashley says with a grin.
“Of course they do. They’re absolutely dying to have you help them redesign their channels program for the region. Who other than a beautiful European woman from corporate headquarters, in to spend time in their office. They’ll need a web site as well, won’t they?”
“Now you know when we go into a foreign office together, you’re the internet guy. Yes,” she hesitates, sarcastically frustrated; “we will talk to them about setting up a web server for the partners. Do I have to tell you you’re wonderful at your job every time we go overseas? Or can you just live with the fact that you’re doing pretty damn well at your day job.”
“Yes alright, but you know I just need that ego bump every once in a while. And I won’t say a word about that Swiss woman I know who helped design the channels marketing programs in Europe. For working for a billion dollar software company we’re doing pretty well for our mid-twenties, wouldn’t you say?”
“We can’t look for new jobs until we get back from South America in January,” said Ashley, ” but then there’s the Australian partner conference in March; that gets us through the spring.”
World-weary? Who can say when one is truly so educated that he has no need to travel and explore his own world. Those who are truly looking at their surroundings become curious about the rest of the unknown and will always be able to find something new to discover. True travellers never become world weary – they only sound like it while on their life adventure of exploring the planet. The never-ending quest for knowledge to satisfy their curiosity drives them ever onward.
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