Introducing a new feature on tacogirl – Spotlight. This will be an ongoing series featuring interesting people and their stories.  I would like to introduce you to Christine Gilbert who went from corporate perks to homeless vagabond – her story is interesting and inspiring.

(For Follow Friday giveaway check Pictures tab at the top of home page)

Christine was one of the writers here recently Blogging Belize with the BTB. After checking out Christine’s “Almost Fearless” blog I knew right away that she would be the first for my Spotlight series – her story is very inspiring.

Like so many people Christine ended up in her 20’s with a well paying job she didn’t love and trouble sleeping. After running out of herbal remedies one night Christine stayed up all night looking through job listings in her field. This led her to a powerful realization – she didn’t want any of them. Changing her job would only be a temporary fix at best, it would not change the fact that the work was excruciating and it was not the right direction for her. Sometimes you have to take a wild leap when you wake up and see that you are not in the right place. Christine is a fantastic example of this; someone who was making good money, not happy in her job and knew she needed to get out and follow her passion for travel and writing.

Christine did her due diligence and spent many hours researching, trying to get a clearer picture of what it was really like to give up everything in pursuit of long term travel before saying Bon Voyage to corporate life. She was looking for information from someone who had already been where she wanted to go. A mentor who has already walked that path, someone in their late 20s or early 30s, married without kids, ambitious, workaholic who erred on the side of caution. Someone with two large slobbering canine friends in tow as well would do just fine. Christine never did find the role model she was looking for therefore deciding to become that person herself. She would document her own process as she blazed the trail so that others could benefit from her doubts – struggles and successes. Doing so would let people know that living life with no regrets and opting for happiness is a great road to travel.

Christine knew she could not put it off any longer – it was time to take that big leap. She redesigned her profession from the ground up finally starting up the writing career she had been playing around with for years. It also allowed for her to start living the life she wanted right now instead of waiting for some far off moment in time.

About a year and a half ago, Christine traded in her job as a manager in a large Fortune 500 Company and set foot on a new career path as a freelance writer–traveling and working worldwide. She and her husband sold all their stuff in July 2008, and they began their full time traveling adventure along with their two dogs – Molly and Jack. So far Christine has traveled and written about 16 different countries, including: Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, France, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Spain.

You can read about Christine’s Belize adventures on Back in Belize the first night –  Zen Foodist blog post about delicious food they ate at The Inn Roberts Grove in Placencia and  Traveling Pregnant – hiking and cave tubing the Jaguar reserve and Authentic, Culturally Appropriate and Unique Tourism: Does it exist? Which highlights Ka’ana, a luxury spa resort in the Cayo District of Belize that is striving to offer guests luxury combined with an authientic Belizean experience.  For those looking for a career change overcoming internal objections and finding a career you love is a great place to start – Christine has paved the way in this area.