The photo above is of edible berries found in the forests’ of Guyana. I took the photo on a field trip in 2006 where we were looking at restoring degraded forests for improving poor people’s access to resources as well as improving biodiversity.
It’s a rainy morning in my small mountain town and I am having a bit of work nostalgia. Since moving from Switzerland (and my job at IUCN), I have been finding a variety of work that I find challenging and interesting. Despite loving my life in BC, Canada, there are some differences that I miss, including:
- The multicultural workplace and colleagues
- Respect (and desire) for different viewpoints and ideas
- Working across geographical scales and continents
- Ongoing collaboration and contact with folks across numerous countries and languages
- Working and linking across scales such as community, policy and science
- Always a million things that urgently need to be done
- Meaningful work contributing to poverty reduction in rural areas of developing countries
- Communicating the links between people and natural resource dependencies and security
- A highly driven and motivated group of people working toward shared goals
There were definitely things I didn’t like about my work…some of which are also above. Spending one’s life on planes, away from ‘home’, living as an ex-pat, and the list goes on….is not what I wanted.
Still, I am nostalgically thoughtful on this rainy morning as I sip coffee in front of the computer in my comfortable house nestled in the mountains.
Just reading your post. It’s all a balancing act isn’t it? You’ve given up alot and that’s damn cool….g
Michelle – I think I just sent you a msg. on facebook asking a lot of these same questions. I guess there are pros & cons to any life decision. Glad to hear you still love Rossland though – it is a pretty special place!