Passion for Writing over a High-Paying Expatriate Career?

by Rhea Vitto Tabora

When you are getting a handsome remuneration package as an expatriate director for a big organization, will you ever consider leaving the post and pursue your passion instead?

Writing is something I enjoy doing, be it in the creative or business field. In the course of my career, my writing has evolved from feature writing to crafting press releases, marketing collaterals, newsletters, proposals, business plans, reports, and presentations.

I made the big decision last year to leave the corporate world. After working overseas for 16 years, I am back to my home country, and back to my first love. Yes, I am home!

IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISIONS I HAVE MADE IN MY LIFE. Choosing between sales and marketing profession in the hospitality industry and my first career as a writer was a tough call. I searched within, and the passion for writing was screaming out loud. I realized that this is something I’ve been missing through all these years! I searched outside and discovered that there is an increasing demand for professional online writers. There’s a whole world for me to go back to!

THINGS THAT I DO – feature articles, website contents, press releases, product descriptions, product reviews, and other interesting stuff. Things I don’t do – student homework and school projects. You won’t believe that these kinds of project are available online – students asking freelance writers to do their homework! Come on kiddos, it won’t do your future any good to pay someone else do these things for you.

In this blog, I will focus on topics about living a happy and healthy life. I am passionate about writing, but what fires me more is my passion for achieving something more out of life than what life handed me. And I wish to share those thoughts here.

At the end of the day, you’ve got to do what feels right in your heart. A writer will always be a writer. My account balance might not be as healthy when I worked as an expatriate for more than a decade, but what the heck. I am sure I will enjoy this journey.

I REMEMBER MY WORKING DAYS IN HANOI. I lived and worked in the same building (yes I did!). My office was on the second floor, and I lived with my two boys (hubby and son) in the serviced apartment on the sixth floor. Traffic jam? That was a foreign word to me. My daily journey to work was a one-minute walk by stairs or a few seconds ride on the elevator if my son would pick me up because “it’s already past 7pm mom, and you’re not home for dinner yet”. My day always started early and always finished late (late means working on emails or reports until midnight). My schedule was always full and with no social life (except trying hard to spend the weekend with my little boy), I was starting to feel the bite. Great career and awesome package, but I wasn’t a superwoman who can sleep only 6 hours a night, struggling to fit everything else in 18 hours.

When I moved to another workplace and assumed higher responsibility with a bigger portfolio, things started to get a bit more exciting in the beginning but the workplace was something else. And with the long working hours, I was getting burnt out really fast. But boy, the chance to finally travel 5 minutes to and from the office every day was a breather! You can’t imagine how I enjoyed that! I was finally experiencing the fun of going home after working.

BUT THEN AGAIN, MAYBE IT WAS JUST ME. As what my ex-manager and friend told me, many of our colleagues in the hospitality industry are working less hours than we do, and they are happy. My friend and I were among those who had to work long hours, and we felt we didn’t have a choice. If we didn't do those things ourselves, we wouldn't get the results we wanted. After such a stifling period of my life, I am now home, and I have decided – I am going back to writing. A freelance writer I will be. And I will not put my marketing background to waste. You will see me doing marketing stuff as well, particularly online marketing.

I initially thought of saying “writing is one WORD I enjoy immensely.” I now say writing is one WORLD I enjoy enormously. BECAUSE WRITING IS MY WORLD. AND THIS IS MY EMPIRE!

WRITING MY FIRST BLOG IS A DREAM COME TRUE! And like I said, being a freelance writer is something I am passionate about. I can do this anywhere in the world, and do it anytime I want. This is it! This is life! And blogging, I know, will allow me to live my passion.

SO GO WITH ME MY FRIEND AS I TRAVERSE THIS PATH and enjoy the journey with me while I add value to the society and make a positive impact on people in my own little way. And my personal bonus – spending more quality time with my family and finally achieving work-life balance. This is going to be awesome!

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs