Courage to do the work you love – Nic

Within the first 2 hours of the start of our trip to Kruger National Park, it was clear to us that our driver and guide, Nic, loves what he does. We didn’t have to ask – we just knew. From his welcome, complete with instructions, directions and full disclosure on how the day would progress, to his careful guidance whenever we stopped, to his entertaining banter throughout the trip – here was a man whose work is obviously his joy. Every question we asked was quickly and completely answered. So engrossed was he at one point in our conversation, that he missed the turnoff on the highway! He went into depth on the full array of topics that any visitor to South Africa would want to know – the geography, the languages (he greeted and conversed with everyone in their own native language), the biodiversity, the geology, the politics, the changes that are taking place in this amazing country. This was no ordinary tour guide! He gave facts, told stories, cracked jokes, and kept us entertained at every instant. 

Turns out that up to 3 years ago, Nic was a corporate executive in a dairy products company. One day, he walked in and quit. He had had enough. Nothing his bosses could say or do, including having the CEO fly in from France to offer him a more lucrative contract, would change his mind. He sat around for a few months, and then decided to do something that would utilise his talents – love of people, love for and knowledge of South Africa, great conversational skills and a passion for the outdoors and his freedom. And so he became a tour guide.

He related to us his experiences of 6-week tours from Johannesburg, through to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia to Cape Town replete with having to purchase black market petrol in Zimbabwe, sleeping on the roof of his van in the desert whilst hyenas and lions circled, brushing his teeth with rum (Jamaican of course) to save precious water! And then, picking up another group in Cape Town and doing the tour all over again – 32,000 km twice! And he enjoyed the whole thing thoroughly!

I sat and listened in total admiration for his courage to leave the “safety” of a corporate job to LIVE! Yes, he had a good monthly income and all the trappings of corporate life, but he was dying inside. His soul was dying, his spirit, his very being simply fading away into nothingness. I see so many people like that in my work. I want to scream at them sometimes “LEAVE! Leave the work now and start to live the life that God meant you to live”. Most people will never have the guts to be a Nic. What a shame – for a few hours with Nic is enough to tell you that such a decision would never be the wrong one. Any decision to free yourself from the prison of doing work that does not inspire and enrich your life, is the right one. It WILL work out.