Away from home

Yesterday while doing some late night shopping alone, I realised I had been away from home for 5 years and 1 month. The 5 year mark had lapsed, and I didn't even realise it on that day.

I'm actually not sure if I had accomplished my 5 year goals -- the ones I had originally made before I jetted off to Singapore.

The original list is in my old Filofax diary (does anyone still use Filofax??) back home in Perth. But I can still recall some of the major goals\milestones I had listed.

• Not Married and definitely not have kids. Yes. Believe it or not, this was first on my list. I think it might had be contributed by my grandma constantly praying in my ear that she will not accept any great-grandchildren out of wedlock. But marriage was a big thing to me. Looking at my parents, (don't get me wrong, I think they did a great job).. but there was never time. I don't recall having a proper sit-down dinner with both of them at the proper dinner time. (11pm at night is not proper dinner time).. and unless they sell their business, I doubt I ever will. I always had in my mind that if I wanted a family, then I would need to give up my career. Or atleast until the kids grow up. And so whatever I would want to accomplish in my career will need to be done before kids. I know alot of women who read this will disagree with me, and argue that as females we can have it all. And I do agree with that, some women can, but it wasn't what I wanted. And anyways, these were my long-term milestone plans I made before I left home and went overseas to work. Now, I'm not so sure I can let go of my career, probably because what I want to accomplish seems to have scope creep. I'm not really 100% sure what I want yet.. and doubt I will ever be.
  

• To be a Database Administrator (preferably Oracle). I know this line will make some people laugh. I'm still in IT, but I kind of did a 90° turn and went down the Systems Administrator\Engineering way. Looking back now, I think I have touched nearly every side of IT, but DBA. In working order...Delphi Programmer, Networks Operator, IIS Webserver Admin, System Admin and now Systems Eng. I have worked with Oracle DBAs and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them, but somehow never ended up going down the DBA track.
  

• To be working in UK\London by the end of my 5 yr working\travelling trip. I'm not sure where this milestone has gone to either. After Singapore and Melbourne, I was supposed to leave Sydney after I finished the 1st job here. But one job followed another and I was never more than 1 week without a job. So I guess thats why I am still here. Oh.. and all those stupid relationships.. thats what has kept me grounded in Sydney. I still want to go to London. Somehow I think I will always feel like I've missed something in my life if I don't go. End of the year or early next is what I am planning for right now. :)

Thats the 3 major ones I can recall from my list. The other ones I think I had down were rather stupid. I think I had down after each year what I wanted my salary to be. In the beginning, my career path was somewhat driven by money. I can say it isn't now... And hasn't been for a long while. While salary is still one of the determining factors when I move jobs (can you say No to a 30k payrise??), I'm happy to say it is no longer the most important one.

Looking back now, lots of things has changed since leaving home. Not only my milestones in life, but the daily things. Eat, drink, sleep etc. I probably have more instant noodles in a month now, than I would have in a whole year back home. But more interestingly my sleeping pattern is alot more normal. Past 1am now, and I'll probably just pass out on the couch. Before at 11pm I will still be calling people to go out to drink or have coffee with me. Or maybe just another sign I'm getting old ?!

While I was shopping last night, I realised the things I would buy had also changed. I had picked up this intricate top, silk and some beads sewn in it....I instinctly searched for the wash\care label, and confirmed the answer to my question... Hand Wash Only. I put it back down. I ended up getting something for the Kitchen instead. *sigh

I'm going to make another milestone list this weekend for my next 5 years. Although I'm still not sure which side I'm swinging towards in regards to the whole 'marriage and kids scenario in the next 5 yrs' thing.