Around the World
I have always had a passion for travelling but never found the time to make it happen outside business trips. After leaving pAsia, I started to travel around the world. By exploring the world, I came across many interesting people who enriched my life and thoughts. I also stepped out of my comfort zone by taking challenges which I did not even dream about. The challenge that I am proud of myself is rock-climbing, which some of you might consider as a leisure activity, but not for me, not for the ones with a fear of heights. At that time, I was scared, I was terrified, but I also knew that I wanted to test myself with experiencing the life outside my comfort zone.
In 2002, I started my other life adventure. I chose to come to the UK and enrolled for a Master degree in International Studies at Cambridge University. My Master’s degree was also the time I became a mother. MuLan, my daughter, was born just a couple of weeks or so after my course started! I went back to University a couple of weeks after giving birth, the lectures weren’t going to pause and wait for me. I hired a nanny and carried on studying while looking after MuLan. I was pregnant again a year after MuLan was born. MuAn, my son, was born shortly before I completed my masters. In addition to being a student and a mother of two, I was advising young technology companies as well. No matter how busy my life is, it never stops me spending quality time with my children.
Nevertheless, the busy life didn’t stop me asking myself ‘who am I’ and ‘why am I here’. Those existential questions led me to take a sabbatical in 2010. I went travelling again. This time I chose some disconnected destinations, including Botswana, Colombian Amazon and the Arctic Circle, and the trips brought me clarity about my identity and my missions.