You're so Brave!

‘You’re so brave’ was the most common reaction I got when telling my friends and family I was going to work at a dive resort on a remote island in Indonesia (apart from the very few that called me ‘a little crazy’…). Was I really so brave to do this? I didn’t think so, because it seemed natural to grab this great opportunity. What was there to lose? I wasn’t going to leave my life in Switzerland for good, but considered this to be an adventure not many people get the chance to experience.

Was I scared to leave my comfortable life and job in Switzerland for something unknown and unsure? You bet I was! Was I going to miss my family and friends? Absolutely! Was I going to long for the amenities we are fortunate to have in Switzerland, such as clean running water, fast internet and clean cities? Obviously! But I was not going to live in a jungle hut in the middle of nowhere, but in a secluded, well organized and beautifully built resort run by an amazing Swiss woman. So this didn’t seem like a very brave step to me.

What is it that made the people around me think I was brave? It was probably the fact that I was leaving my comfort zone, literally and figuratively. I have to admit, I did have a good life in Switzerland. But I have always been interested in breaking out and getting to know new people, travelling the world and going back to school to learn new stuff. To get on in life. Isn’t that what life is all about – getting on, evolving, not only on a big scale in science and business, but also on a personal level? And what better way to get on than by getting to know a completely new culture. By learning a new language. By working in a new area (I have never worked in tourism before). And by reducing the things I was able to bring with me to a minimum! I was actually looking forward to this – and still brought way too much stuff, resulting in considerable excess luggage fees…

Bravery is something else to me. It’s e.g. people daring to start their own business on a remote island in Raja Ampat, like the woman who built Raja4Divers. Me, I just took a plane and came here to work in a beautiful setting with people that gave me an incredibly warm welcome and have cheered me up with their joy and infectious laughter every day since I got here.
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Thank you so much, Raja4Divers, I’ll stay for while…