Hi my name is Hannah Brotherton and this is my story; My past, present, future, and dreams. To see how far I’ve come and how I’m going to get where I’m going, it’s best to start at the beginning. Enjoy!
To Roam: To go from place to place without purpose or direction. To travel purposefully unhindered through a wide area.
For the better part of ten years I pushed myself relentlessly on the corporate path. The correct path. Working hard through high school, through college, and landing my first career. Then I pushed myself in my career, climbing the ladder swiftly to become one of the youngest managers in my area. Then…I got stuck. Things weren’t going my way at work, I wasn’t feeling motivated, I was constantly depressed and nothing seemed to being moving forward. What was the point? I could see the levels I could advance to if I pushed myself harder, but I wasn’t happy, and dreaming about those next stages in my career wasn’t making me happier.
Finally as I neared the end of a particularly bad work week I got this unimaginable urge to take off. To where? I had no idea. I didn’t have a lot of money left in my account but I had a full tank of gas and two days off, I would figure it out. I threw an overnight bag in my car, turned off my phone, put a new CD on the radio (yes I’m still old school, I love a good CD) and just started driving north. The rest of that story is a great topic for another time but the point is that drive cleared my head. All 19 hours of it. It was my first REAL solo adventure. It was the first time I went somewhere with a direction but not necessarily a plan, and I felt free. When I returned from that trip I was happy and I was refreshed, and I was desperate to figure out a way to hang on to that feeling.
As I started dreaming of an adventure life I realized another seriously important fact about myself. I still loved the corporate life as well. I love managing my office, I love working with accounts, and I loved mentoring my employees. I also couldn’t see myself ever giving up the other perks: the steady paycheck, the GREAT healthcare, and my 401k. I’m still not ready to toss those aside just to go racing off on an adventure. I know a lot of people do drop everything for an adventure and are able to find happiness in just that, and maybe one day I will to. Until then, this blog is about how I balance both. How I organize my free time, plan my adventures, and prioritize everything that is important to me. How I fulfill my needs to be in a corporate environment and explore. How I ROAM.
Roaming Brotherton 