The Plan

The original plan was to have a plan to keep my mind off of the monotonous daily routine. This plan then became the plan to leave Springfield, but I didn't know where to go. So, I aimed big. I decided that what better time in my life to live my dreams then right now? I'm not married, I don't have kids, I have a steady job and am able to save money. So I decided one ticket to Europe would make it possible for me to change the most pins on my map from pink, purple, and yellow, to turquoise.

From here on out the plan became a game of Connect Four. I told one person I wanted to go to Europe, they told another person, they told someone else. Before you knew it people were crawling out of the woodwork with connections for me all over Europe. Which was awesome, but how was I going to afford traveling, for what was then, a year time frame without being paid? I needed a JOB in Europe. So I started searching for jobs doing everything from being a nanny to being an organic potato picker. But every program cost money just to be a part of the program. Then my sister found an article about organic wine growers and how they hire for the harvest. *Que little light bulb clicking on here.* I began my game of Connect Four within my wine circle of friends.

I have to give great thanks to Stephanie Valla for all the hard work she put into finding me a job. She even had a Connect Three for me when she met face to face with Madame Guigal and told her she should hire me. Mdm Guigal liked my resume but would not hire me because I wanted to stay for a whole year, and I wanted pay rather than room and board. Stephanie tried other places but all were giving her the same answer. Around this time I also met Lee Reid. Lee Reid is one of our distributors at my other job, Vino100. So I met Lee through my boss Matt. I told Lee I wanted to go to Europe. Lee said, "Let's make it happen for you!" The next day Lee emails his wine consultant in Italy, Colleen. I sent Colleen my resume and she sent it on to 5 wineries. Things were looking promising but still no one would take me because of work visa requirements and federal paper work.

Around the beginning of May, I finally had a one-on-one with myself and realized that if I really wanted to do this thing I needed to make some adjustments. So I told adjusted what I looking for to housing and food instead of monetary pay and I would only ask to stay for 3 months (which is the amount of time you can stay on a travelor's visa). I told Colleen this at 9:00 am. Before I knew it Matt had spoiled the surprise and I was sprinting back from my lunch break to check my email to see what he could possibly be congratualting me for! I was shaking so much from excitment that I could barely type my password, but when I finally got into my account, there it was...the offer from Fattori!!