Ever since I began a new job in a prestigious investment company in Edinburgh, I felt I was playing a game. Even with a successful career and a lot to be grateful for, inside I was fighting my own reality, I couldn't conform. In truth, I only felt like the real me on my annual 4-week vacation leave. As time went on, I felt more and more disconnected from the cookie-cutter office life. Unsurprisingly, I'd often catch myself looking out of the office window longing to be free to do what I wanted, where I wanted, and when I wanted.

During office lunch, I'd regularly troll the pages of French property websites imagining myself in sun-drenched Provence sipping the finest rose in some lavender-scented village or wandering around local food markets taking in the aroma of freshly baked baguettes.    

As lady luck would have it, my company started offering free French classes, and never one to let an opportunity for fun pass me by, I signed up immediately. After a few hilarious weeks of oh la la and oui oui oui around the office, it suddenly dawned on me in a moment of euphoria...what do I have to lose, why am I wasting time in a job I don't love, what's the worst-case scenario of quitting and just going off on an adventure? The idea of being FREE had me firmly in its grasp and wasn't about to let go anytime soon. The time had come and I knew it...I QUIT. 

That incessant desire to be free and have fun traveling alone changed the trajectory of my entire life in the most profound way. I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams the life that lay before me that I can only describe as heaven. (more on this to come). And proudly I did it SOLO. 

What are you waiting for my friend? Why don't you be your own ''Emily in Paris'' and live that dreamy adventure-filled life! The risk is never about going as it is about the regret of not. Be the girl who broke the mold and have everyone in awe of your bravery. Life is wanderful after all...