The 7 Year Itch!!!!

In a nutshell no bullshit I was bored at work. I had stayed far too long in the same spot & the rust was bothering me. The things that had come naturally to me in the past were now an effort. I felt that I had no challenge left & no matter what anyone or I tried my motivation levels were at an all time low. My career had stagnated to a point where I always wondered what if? I only functioned because other peoples livelihoods & jobs depended on me.

Manish my brother who lives in Phoenix came to visit me in Nov - Dec 2006. We had not spent much time together in the past 16 years & we took a road trip to Bonny Scotland. It was a fantastic trip where after a long time we bonded again & I spoke to him about taking a break from it all & going travelling for a year or so. In the past he has heard many of my dreams & retorted straight back at me. "Kunu stop making plans & plans, go ahead & do it" I said give me a year bro & I will. It was also the first time I mentioned to anyone that I planned to travel on a motorbike.

Honest a year to the date from that conversation I had my bags packed & left the UK for Hong Kong. Not quite on the bike yet but I had made the first step towards my journey.

Leaving the Job was easy my friends & family extremely hard. Over the years I had built a whole new family around me. Pat was Dad the ever guiding soul in my life. The only way to describe him is that if Gandhi & Mother Teresa ever had a love child it was him. Even in times of anguish there always was in inner peace in his soul that I could see. Richie was elder brother come partner in crime. He was the kind of elder Bro that would let me play with fire but not let me get burnt. Julie was elder sister, ever watchful about everything I did & who I did it with. Ju knew everything & will remain the the rock that she is for life. She amazes me as sometimes even before I awoke from a night out with the lads she knew what we had all been upto??? One day Ju I will find out your secret informant!! Debbs thank you for suffering my mood swings & emotional rolercoaster of a life as we sat across the desks from each other for nearly 7 years. I think sometimes while we listened to Radio 1 in the office maybe not a word was spoken but we knew what was going on in each others lives. I know that you saw yourself in me a few years back when you were going through a similar phase.

Chia my lil sister who could do no wrong or so it seemed to most people around us. She will always remain my Prodigy but in time to come will be more successful than me. I would love that moment when it happens as she is one of the nicest souls & best young manager that I have met in my life. Then there was the Friday night gang of Bad Boy Benny, Wankered William & Mad Mo. Seriously the three of us together were dangerous as hell on a Friday night out. If I had to choose 2 new younger brothers I would choose them any day, I kind of liked the blind leading the blind idea. Boys we had some great fun over the years keep having fun & see you back at the house for another party till the sun comes up!!

69 St Johns the last place that I lived in was an open house as any house should be. Friends & family were always welcome. Few stayed the night & some stayed longer, the place was always busy with activity & I loved that. Neenz & Choclit Mate spend many a days at the house & we had some great time there, memories to cherish for a while. Jonathan an old mate from Oxford moved in the summer of 2006 & kind of transformed the house for all of us. With his touch it looked more like a home than a house & I was glad that he stayed on in the house after I left.

During my last 6 months I also had the pleasure of meeting some new friend in Jay, Will, Mike, Graham & big Louis lads from a band called the Ego Armalade. We all kind of bonded well togeter & I was touched when the Lads wrote a song about my travels called Last Man Standing. Still waiting from clearance from their recording company to post a link here for it. Music business hey, lets just say our people are talking to their people!

I never thought that leaving a Job could be so dangerous to ones health. The leaving do's started in earnest 6 weeks before & I am sure that some are still celebrating my leaving even now!! I needed a break from a break that I was about to have!!