A long time ago, well April or May of 2004 anyway, I decided to leave my life in America and live abroad.

For the previous 9 years I had been doing IT work and I had come to the conclusion that I hated it. It was the same thing everyday and was extremely boring. I always thought that since I had such a great talent for computers I would be able to turn it into a career.

Well I did, but it turned out it wasn't what I wanted. It's funny because people were astonished when I told them I was giving up my job and moving to Europe. They couldn't believe that I had the American Dream and I didn't want it.

My last IT position was a senior position with a state university and it had all the benefits you could imagine, insurance, retirement, paid sick time, four weeks of vacation a year, 9-to-5 hours.

I had an apartment in downtown, a nice shiny sportscar, all sorts of electronics and toys and whatever. And still I was unhappy. That's when it hit me, that's when I realized I just don't fit into that type of society and I needed to stop wasting away and do something I wanted to do.

So I decided to quit my job, move to Europe and get certified to teach English while I focused on expanding my writing.

Now it is a year and a half since I left. I have just finished the rough draft of my second book and to date I have over a dozen short stories collected. It's been intense.

Some days I think I've made a mistake, but those thoughts are, luckily, fleeting and don't stick around long. Even my friends and family in America say I seem much happier and more relaxed.

You know what?

They're right. I am.