Dreams do come true, if you spend enough time and energy on them. I know its always the people that have them come true that pop up on facebook and say “I did it and you can too”, “Never give up”! but you don’t hear about the stories of people that didn’t make it. You don’t hear the stories of I lost all my money at the track, you only hear the stories of I put a mystery bet on and won a fortune!
This story, could of went either way. It isn’t about me, but more about the people that made this dream come true. Behind every dream and conquest is a legion of people that pushed you to excel. When you couldn’t go any further, something or someone reached out and lifted you up.
I recall a story or poem I read once, it was about someone who was walking with the Lord on the beach. As this person walked, parts of their life, good and bad appeared and in each scene when something was bad there were only one set of footprints.
The person was upset, and as they had looked to the lord they said, “You promised if I follow you, you would walk with me always”.
The Lord replied, “That is when I carried you”.
This occurs in our lives, everyday. Either it be the Lord if you are religious or friends and family.
So, what has this got to do with my trip to the US? Well, for as long as I can remember I always wanted to visit the US. I accomplished that dream when I was 21, travelling by myself on a Contiki tour. Many trips followed and I have been to many states and cities in my time. One goal had eluded me, and that was to work there. I didn’t care if it was a conference, a meeting or a onsite rack and stack of a router I wanted to complete this goal.
Last year, I was close to doing something completely out of character. I was close to attending a conference and actually speaking to an audience. This is absolutely crazy to me, as I have had an issue with speaking in public since my first job in the IT industry. Everyone has this issue, but sometimes people’s minds can become hyperactive and fixated on this.
So, that trip did not come to fruition due to various reasons outside of my control, but a last minute call up to a Global Meeting in Tampa took its place.
It was a whirlwind trip of one week, with 24 hours of flying and layovers each way.
Initially I decided a hard no, my mind was racing and imagining an aircraft lost at sea, going to the meeting in my underwear or fight or flight mode decided flight. I spent about 2 hours processing all this, probably for a few days as well.
It was exhausting.
Here I was, the dream of a lifetime and due to a fear of flying and some ancient flight or fight response I was going to say no. I was going to give up my dreams for things that had not happened, that were not real and regret this decision for the rest of my life.
This is when my family and friends came in and pushed me, pushed me as hard as anyone ever has.
In Australian culture, going to the US has always been a big deal. In our news we are bombarded with Aussie actors, actress and musicians that have gone and made it in the ‘US’.
Don’t worry, there is many that haven’t and still trying.
But for someone like me, who works from home for the last two years (thanks Covid) and hasn’t even really been in a meeting room for sometime, was about to be sent to the US to attend a in person meeting with people I have worked with for two years but don’t really know personally.
To me, it was going to feel like my first day.
As the thoughts of disasters and dismay entered my head, my wife came to me and said “If you do not do this, you will regret it for the rest of your life”. “Other people would kill for this opportunity, and your just going to say no because of thoughts inside your own head?”
As I continued to ponder, I reached out to colleagues, friends, family and all the answers and advice was the same. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, why wouldn’t you go? This is everything you have ever dreamed of, and the positives of this trip far outweigh the negatives”.
As my own thoughts were reflected back to me, it became clear and just common sense that I have something overactive inside my mind and it has held me back my entire life. Mental health is a serious threat and it was about to take my greatest dream and shatter it to pieces.
The only way to beat it, is to go through it.
So, I said yes.
It was about 10:00 pm in Melbourne on October 22nd (my Birthday) as the new Boeing Dreamliner QF93 climbed into the darkness. This flight number is the same exact flight number I took on my first ever flight and overseas trip when I was 21.
Destination was Los Angeles in 14 hours and 20 mins. There were bumps, I probably snored a little and disturbed my neighbors but I arrived at 6pm on the same day, extending my birthday by quite a few hours. I was even surprised by a Qantas host with a glass a champagne about 4 hours from touchdown for my birthday that I thought was a secret to everyone on the aircraft.
I gathered my bags, checked in for the next flight and left 4 hours later on a United Airlines flight to Tampa, flight time just over 4 hours 20 mins. This flight, was in total darkness, everyone’s window shades were down and I couldn’t see outside. The aircraft rocketed up to 38,000ft as fast as it could due to turbulence at lower altitudes as explained by the captain.
I think I got about 1 – 2 hours sleep before the aircraft started to descend into Tampa, we landed about 30 minutes early and my body was starting to show signs of sleep deprivation and confusion as it thinks it is nighttime, but is actually 5am in the morning.
The sky was dark, a crescent moon hung low on the horizon. The uber was smooth, the highway was wide and the cars were as big as I remember them.
The worst part about arriving at 5am is your hotel check in is 3pm.
Not great for someone who needs some type of sleep to make it to night time and merge into the timezone.
I left my bags and walked to the office as the sun rose, its windows glistened and the signage of PwC was lit up for all to see. The roads were quiet, it was a Sunday and I was all alone on the other side of the planet. I had travelled the furthest I ever had in one day, or should I say an extended day.
I tried to stay up as long as I could, and luckily at 12pm a room opened up. I got about 4 hours sleep, just enough to feel comfortable but not jeopardize the night sleep I needed. I was refreshed and I was ready to meet my boss. I have been speaking with him for over two years, but never met him in person.
It was by chance that when I decided I would take another walk to freshen up I met him in the lobby checking in. He bought me a gift, some strings and a tuner for my guitar as we both enjoyed music and discussed it regularly. It was very nice, I should have bought something from Australia for him, but I was too in my head before I left.
That night I met two other colleagues and had dinner, I was here and adjusting well to the timezone, the food and the drink.
The week was full of meetings and interactions with vendors. I can’t talk too much about what we discussed but I had strengthened relationships and formed new ones with colleagues on the other side of the world. I learnt to understand these people as human beings, not as a name on a chat room or a picture of them in a google meet, I was finally able to know them as a person, I was even invited to a colleague’s house on the Friday night to meet his family and have dinner with them.
I made special bonds with some of them, the type of bonds that you could call them anytime for help and they would be there, and I hope that is what they felt too.
Everything that I had thought about in my mind, didn’t happen. It was ten times better than I even imagined. I was living the dream and completing my goal and I had my family, friends and colleagues to thank for this.
This is why it is so important to speak up. Because, not everyone can do it by themselves, sometimes people need a push, a word or a new point of view.
The trip was over as quick as it was thrust upon me, but I had changed.
I departed on Saturday, once again for a 24 hour marathon. I said goodbye to Tampa and flew direct to Miami for a connecting flight. While in the air, which was only a 37 min flight I lost my grandfather to a long battle of dementia and the limits of the human body. I was able to see him a few days before this trip, although I wasn’t sure if he knew I was there.
From Miami, I had a five hour plus flight to Los Angeles. I had a lot of time to think and process the trip, my grandfather and my life in general. I landed and quickly called my Mum to see how she was after losing her father. I was then once again on another aircraft.
Los Angeles to Brisbane, flight time 14 hours and 20 mins as well. I will never forget this flight, although for part of it I was snoring so loudly the lady next to me moved seats. But I had never seen so many stars in the sky. The sky was dark, the milky way was visible and the constellation Orion was still upside down as I had not passed the equator just yet.
I thought about my grandfather, I wondered if I would see a meteor and then in the corner of my eye I saw a green flash.
It was a meteor.
There were several others throughout the flight, some in succession. Late october and early November is the right time of year for meteor showers, but I like to think it was my Grandfather that had something to do with it. I don’t know where he is now, but I hope he didn’t have any regrets, especially the one I could have had if I didn’t go on this trip.
With a little help I was able to get on that plane and make a dream come true. For some, this is the norm, this is easy and childs play. But for others, it can be a big deal.
Don’t only look at your point of view, think about it from others as well.
For me, this trip like my first overseas trip by myself has changed my life for the better. I know I can fall back on my family, my friends and also the evidence that I went to America and worked for a week.
~Brad.
The Cisco Worker Bee 