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Hey there like a lot of unfortunates recently, I am due to join the current employment scrapheap in 2 weeks. I am currently working my notice as an Architectural assistant after 11 months and 50 weeks at a small practice in London. Ouch. 2 weeks under a year, no redundancy pay, just one month's notice that I have to work. A MASSIVE shock, massive blow to the ego and massive blow to my confidence and to top it all off the practice is keeping their newest member of staff who joined at xmas. Now that's just bad manners. Well next step.............. This took all of seven days to realise. The day of the redundancy was as you can imagine pretty dark and filled with tears, bitterness and a general feeling of crappiness. The next few days at work my boss generally ignored me. By the weekend I was in the office, frantically trying to sort my CV, email possible job leads and update my portfolio but when I got to Sunday, I found myself in the office and just thought no. Absolutely NO! The thought of jumping straight into another job where my head would no doubt be on the chopping board once again was completely unappealing and so I made the very easy decision to take my self out of this current stressful situation and place myself firmly in a completely different environment...........that being Argentina and Brazil. I basically thought...........screw it! I have always wanted to go and there is no time like the present! Completely mental but it feels completely the right thing to do right now.

And so the story is waiting to start............... I brought my ticket to Argentina last week, I have got someone to replace me in my house share.......... I move out tonight. I'm off to Rome tomorrow for the weekend on a very cheap break and from there I will be sofa surfing until my imminent departure on 20th March! I have put every bit of money aside that I can possibly manage in the last 2 weeks. It's not very much at all but I am amazed how you can pull it together at such short notice and it's an absolute first for me. I doubt my money will go very far but I have every intention of working whilst in Argentina and Brazil and I hope to join in on some volunteer projects at some point for both the experience and free board/food if I need to.

Reading this you'll probably think this all seems a bit rash, rushed and you're probably thinking I am being funded by my parents but alas I am not. There is a very big world out there and I want to see it. If I take one thing from my redundancy it is that I may be obsolete in that particular position but there are so many other things I could be doing. So in effect, my boss has done me the most enormous favour..............he has unintentionally freed me and I cannot be bitter about that. I raise my cup of tea in toast to him and say thanks and bon voyage! Its time to be resourceful and I have every intention of taking each opportunity as they arise and see what South America has to offer me........good or bad. I am fully prepared for it not to be all rosy but it will beat panicking about whose next for redundancy and if the alternative is to work some crappy job here then I may as well go do it in the sun. I am absolutely petrified but I cannot wait!

 

Watch this space............... ¡No puedo esperar!