Option FOUR : Career First.

The next time I’m on a dance floor and someone says, “shake your money maker,” I’m going to shake my head like a bobble head doll sitting on the dash of tractor. Writing in advertising allows me to make money with my brain, with my ideas. A good advertisement is essentially just a thought that you tell a bunch of people. And it beats the hell out of slinging cocktails. Even though I went to school for advertising and have already dedicated years to it, I can’t get away from this need that I have to help people. I blame my mom. I think Mother Theresa and his holiness the Dalai Lama secretly had a baby and named her Ruth Elliott. She has practically dedicated her life to helping others. And the thing is, sometimes I feel like my career doesn’t really enrich people’s lives and it leaves me feeling a little hollow.

Over wine the other night, discussing possible life destination options, I said, “Based on votes, I may be teaching English in another country. That would help people and make me feel good. I love writing in advertising, but it doesn't exactly help people.” And my friend Andrew told me that I shouldn’t feel guilty about doing a good job and making a living, even if it doesn’t instantly translate to helping others. And the more successful I get, the more opportunity to help others I have. And he’s right. I could sell all my personal belongings, move to northern India and protest against the oppression of China by participating in candlelight vigils and fasts. Or I could become a badass writer and collaborate with the large network I’d have accumulated, reaching more people with a message of peace. So I told him something I find myself saying quite a lot these days, “I’m gonna blog about this.”

Life destination option four: Career First. Voting for this means you want me to make choices based solely on whether or not it’s going to make me a successful writer. That may mean taking a job at Crispin and relocating to Colorado for a while. Or Weiden and go back to my birthplace, Portland, Oregon. This may even keep me in Los Angeles a little while longer. Will I look back and wish I‘d traveled more? Became fluent in another language? Relocated to New Zealand and met my baby daddy?

It’s not like I can’t do a combo of these things. Or won’t do my best to hone my skills if you don’t choose this. It’s all about where I should focus my energy now. Remember, this is the only life we get. (In this form anyway.)

Option THREE : Follow my heart

Last year, I celebrated my 10-year bestiversary with my friend Natasha by taking a trip to New York City. It doesn’t surprise me that you haven’t heard of bestiversaries and that’s because we made them up. When it comes to celebrating benchmarks, friendships are terribly underappreciated relationships. You’ll celebrate your six-month with a romantic partner you haven’t even really shown your true self to. Meanwhile, your best friend of years knows you better than you know yourself, is emotionally supportive and you don’t so much as send a card to say, “thanks.” So we decided to start celebrating the memories we’ve collected through the years by making a few more.

Acting took Natasha to Singapore six months ago and when she left, she took a bit of my heart with her. We still talk on Skype and email, but I miss my best friend. When her contract in Singapore is up, she’s not sure where she’ll be. Since our bestiversary trip, she has talked about moving to NY for theatre. Maybe take a roll in a Neil LaBute play. She may come back to LA and land a lead part in a Will Ferrell movie. She may meet a man from Paris, be flown out to see him and decide to enjoy baguettes while gazing at the Eifel Tower. Her life could take her anywhere, but wherever it is, that is where I want to be. My third option is to make Natasha’s location my own and pursue copywriting wherever she may be.

It’s sad to think about leaving my family in LA, but if Natasha is with me, I’ll have all the family I need.

Oh and Natasha, while writing this, I’m not wearing western wear.

Option TWO : Engrish

If you’re an idiot and you speak 7 languages, it just means a lot more people can understand you’re an idiot. – Comedian John Caparulo

But I love languages John Caparulo! And not just because when you speak another language people think you’re smarter. I mean, everyone digs feeling smart, that's why people listen to NPR. What I love about language is that it allows people to connect with people that have perspective different from their own. I grew up with my eldest sister speaking Spanish. She even went to Korean school as a kid. OH! And she is taking Mandarin at a community college this summer. Needless to say, I admire her greatly and like to think some of that natural tendency toward language awesomeness is also in my genes. Y yo hablo un poquito espanol tambien. This brings us to our second life destination option, move to a country to learn another language. What will I do for work? Teach English of course! Programs vary, but the most popular is TEFL (http://www.tefl.com/), an intensive 4-week, low cost program that allows you to travel abroad, while learning another language yourself. Places for relocation include: Costa Rica (Spanish), Spain (Spanish) and Prague (Czech).

Although exciting, this would force me to put my career in advertising on hold momentarily. I guess advertising will always be there, but will I be sabotaging myself? Will the perspective I gain enrich the work I do later? I’m not going to worry about it too much. It’s for you to decide, after all.

Option ONE : Kiwi Babies

Three years ago I visited Queenstown New Zealand to jump from the second highest bungee spot in the world called the Nevis. It was part of a three-jump package accurately called the Thrilogy. As I prepared to jump from the 404 foot high jump that would take me on an 8 second freefall, I was surrounded by a sky box full of people with nervous excitement. As I looked out over the vast rocky valley I was about to plunge myself into, I thought to myself, “I’m home.”

That sounds like a weird suicide attempt as I re-read what I just wrote, but it is more of a deep feeling of being surrounded by like minded people (active, adventure seekers) in a environment that inspires me (gorgeous landscapes, nature). Since then, I have often said, “I just want to move to New Zealand and have kiwi babies!” New Zealand is the only place I have traveled that made me feel like was home. The only place that I would think of when thinking about starting a family. Since I could take what I'm doing here over there, my first life destination to consider is sending my portfolio over to agencies in New Zealand. There is more work opportunities in Australia, so in the event that you choose this as my life destination, I will also pursue work in there. (It’s closer to making my kiwi baby dream true than staying on this side of the world.)

What am I doing with my life?

I can’t decide where I'm going next and I’m leaving it up to you. As I explore my options in life, I’m leaving you to decide what I do, where I relocate, and who I become. And I won’t make you weigh my options for me, research, or analyze the pros and cons. I’ll do that. You just comment in the box and choose my life destination.

You won’t see any completely random or unrealistic life path up here either. I’ve got to work with what I got if I’m going to make it happen. Sorry to disappoint, but “Oceanographer” won’t be considered since my education is in writing.  (Although, deep sea diving with Portuguese guitar player, singing nothing but Bowie is kind of a dream of mine. Thanks Wes Anderson.) And fourth chair violin in the New York Philharmonic is not an option, because I have no experience in playing music. The only thing I know about violins is the bow is made of horsehair and even that I’m not a hundred percent positive of. The good news is the destinations that I will be posting and considering are not completely dull. And I know this because they mostly revolve around me moving out of the US. And who doesn't get excited about international relocation?