A Sudden End or a New Beginning?

As I promised in my last post, I will explain the email that I received. I was sitting on the bus from Podgorica to Kotor in Montenegro while I received a notification on my phone from LinkedIn saying that I had a message from some recruiter. Normally I don’t pay too much attention to these, since they are mostly recruiting for stuff that I’m not interested in. But I decided to open the message anyway and I noticed that this was something completely different. I got a friendly message from a recruiter in England saying that she was “very keen to speak with me regarding a restaurant recruitment event on board Queen Elizabeth in Rotterdam.” She’s a recruiter for the British cruise company Carnival UK, which includes P&O Cruises & Cunard. Apparently she had found my profile on LinkedIn and saw that I have both experience in a restaurant as well as working for a cruise company (I used to work for a cruise company in Sydney, Australia, although I was working in the office instead of on the actual ship). She offered me the position of buffet steward, from where I would be able to work my way up. She said that “this is an amazing opportunity to travel the world, whilst doing the job that you love!” A very interesting offer indeed.

I must admit that the job offer had gotten me quite excited. Also, the timing couldn’t have been better, since I was currently facing a dilemma. I was starting to run out of money that I had put aside for this trip. My next destination would be Dubrovnik in Croatia, but because this smaller city has become increasingly more popular among tourists, everything has become much more expensive. So I had two options: I either had to find a job quickly after arriving in Dubrovnik (which could be a real challenge), or I would have to return home (but I didn’t want to end the trip yet). But now it seemed that the decision was more or less made for me. Of course, I could decline the job offer, but I’m quite sure that I would never again get an opportunity like this. So I wrote a reply saying that I was interested in the job and that I would like more details, but also that I was currently traveling through Europe.

The response came not long after, providing me with all the details. It didn’t take me very long to think it through and I accepted her offer. This meant that I had to end my trip  soon after, because the recruitment event was within a week. The day after the first email we had a phone call during which she asked me a few questions and I had to approve with the company’s policies. Naturally, I had also informed my parents that I was coming home already. Of course they were excited that I was coming back home, but also a bit reserved towards my new job because that would mean that I would have to leave again for six months.

I checked for flights back to the Netherlands and I found a good deal from Tirana in Albania. I contacted my previous host Cleon in Albania and he was happy to host me for another night. Luckily there was a direct bus connection from Podgorica to Dürres, where my Cleon lives. I stayed there for one more night and we continued our tradition of eating mossels with tabasco and ketchup while drinking wine. The next day I took the bus from Dürres to the airport of Tirana, from where I flew back home. And before I knew it, I was back in Amsterdam. . .

It was great seeing my parents and my friends again. I had even surprised my best friend by not telling her that I was coming back already. A mutual friend of ours staged a meeting with her and then I suddenly showed up. You should’ve seen her face! I also surprised my grandparents, who also didn’t know that I was back already. Suddenly the past three months seemed like a dream. Everything had been going so fast in the past few days. It was only a few days ago that I had received a message on LinkedIn and now I was already back home.

Shortly after I got home, I went to the recruitment event. Here I got a tour on board the Queen Elizabeth that was currently docked at the cruise terminal in Rotterdam. After a successful interview I got an email saying that I got the job. Now the whole process started. In the coming weeks I had to fill in and sign many forms and documents. I had to apply for an American and Australian visa. I needed to get a medical certificate proving that I’m able to work on a ship. I had to apply for a Bermudan ID card and much more. By now I finished and sent all these forms and now I need to get my vaccinations. I’m nearly there. . .

Meanwhile I am also thinking of what to do with this blog. I really enjoyed writing down parts of my trip through Europe and I hope you did too. However, this might not yet be the end. My new job will also take me to every corner of the world and I’m sure that I’ll experience plenty of interesting things while working on board a cruise ship. So I might continue writing my blog as I continue to travel the world, provided that I have enough time and energy to do so.