My father recently asked me to be a lunchtime speaker at his service club. At first, I had no idea what I would talk about. Then it dawned on me. Opportunity. Opportunity only knocks once.
Late in the year 1999, my boss asked me if I might consider moving to South Africa for the company. It sounded intriguing to me. I went home that night and asked my family, and in unison they said “No!” I later talked to my wife, and we decided that I should take the investigative trip my boss had promised. Prior to making that trip, I talked to several South African friends of mine, to gain their opinions. Their opinions were helpful and insightful, telling me things like South Africa is a violent country; their national sport is rugby. Some of their advice was more helpful.
In November that year I was on my way for a two-week trip so I could get firsthand information about the country and help me better understand what it might cost to live there. When back home, we would have a lot of time to sort things out: figure out what to pack, what to store, what to give away and what to try to sell in yard sales. The two weeks turned into 6-weeks and my return didn’t allow much time to make a calculated decision about the various merits and drawbacks of relocating. In my mind, I could only think, “What if we don’t make this move, and years from now we look back and wonder what life would have been like if we didn’t make this move”. I didn’t want to have a life of regrets.
Flash back to 1995. In a casual conversation, my boss said that it sure would be nice if I had a master’s degree. I pondered that for a few seconds and said that it would never work if I went to a local college; I’d get called on to do this site investigation and that, and that I’d never finish my studies. My boss said I wouldn’t have to stay local. That got the mental juices flowing. After a long and thoughtful process, I decided that the University of Alberta would be the place for me. Why? Well, in a nutshell, they had a 1-year master’s program, their classes matched what I wanted, they had some excellent professors, and it was dark and cold there: perfect conditions for studying. That was an amazing and exhausting experience. It really made me a better engineer. I don’t have any idea where I would have ended up without this part of my education, but it wouldn’t be where I am. My family stayed behind in Denver and went through some challenges of their own, like both kids getting chicken pox and having to self-isolate.
Fast forward to late December 1999. We had a yard sale and then gave away lots of our stuff. You sure get a lot of “stuff”. We figured out what to store and what to pack (fortunately we were allowed to take a 20-foot container with us to South Africa). We figured out how to rent out our house while we were gone. And we got the permits we needed to be in South Africa. The moving trucks would be there on January 2nd to pack our stuff away. Y2K. On New Year’s Eve, 1999, as the computer clocks might have gone into a tizzy, they didn’t. We watched TV news updates as the new year was welcomed around the world; everything was normal. A few days later, off we went. We had to get last-minute approval from the consulate to have local police background checks rather than FBI background checks which would have taken forever.
How did we like the experience? Well, we agreed to go there for a year (even though my boss had said repeatedly that once we got there we’d surely want to stay there longer (no I wouldn’t and stop calling me Shirely). The mining economics were down, and year after year my boss would visit and let us know there wasn’t a job for me in the US. Not until 2003 did things turn around enough that we could return home, and even then, it was only barely doable. The mining economy was still down.
But we had a wonderful time. We had a lifetime of experiences. I was really thrown into the deep end with my work, and I gained valuable experiences I would never have been subject to if I’d stayed behind in the States. Were all the experiences wonderful? Not by a longshot.
The first day my kids went to school, they both awoke early, dressed in their school uniforms and they were ready to meet the world, all smiles and anticipation. I got home from work and they both said that they were never going to go back to school. They were both completely defeated. We talked to them and mostly talked them through it so they didn’t both become truants and fugitives of the law. You’d have to ask them about their experiences. But you’d have to set aside a lot of time.
We had experiences, both good and bad. The first place we had was an old farmhouse. Once owned by a very wealthy farmer. It had a very large fenced-in yard, a swimming pool and quarters for other tenants (domestic works in its previous incantation). Our belongings wouldn’t arrive for 6 weeks, but the many wonderful people at my office loaned us almost everything we would need. Tables, chairs, eating and cooking utensils and more. We were invited to dinners and dinner parties at so many places. They all live behind tall walls with extreme security, but they all love to entertain and have people over. They are amazing people.
It all started off well, and then through a series of unfortunate events, we were contacted by a man who told us he was the actual owner of the place we were renting, and that our landlord was running an illegal sublet and not forwarding the rental payments to him. This was just after I rigged up an “illegal” water tap, because our landlord had our water shut off for no good reason. At least we all had water after I figured out how to make it work. The owner said that his attorneys had informed him that he could confiscate all of our belongings, up to the amount of the rent owed. So, we had to go.
We moved out without giving either that landlord or the rightful owner a heads up. They both asked us where the rent money was, and we told them both that we’d given it to the other one. That was our welcome to South Africa, minus some details that I’ve left out for brevity.
After only gingerly testing out the surrounding area for nearly a year, we eventually began to explore more and more of the country. South Africa is about the same size as the 4-corner states, and just as geographically diverse, but with thousands of miles of coastland. They have beautiful mountains, rolling hills, beautiful countryside and cities that can hold a candle to the best cities in the world. What an amazing place to take vacations. As a family, we never left the country during the 4 years that we lived there. It truly offered amazing travel opportunities.
Work-wise, I could not have asked for more. I was thrown in the deep end, but I had some amazing support staff. I was leading some amazing and complex projects, the likes I would have never seen if we had not made this change in our lives.
There were many ups and downs during those years, but we all came through it stronger and more resilient. When we finally got back to that States it felt like we could let the tension out of our necks and relax. The move was a truly amazing experience that I would never undo.
The day after we finally unloaded all of our belongings back in the States, and we got rid of the very last box from our travels, my boss asked me if we would move to Nevada. And we did. Years later I found myself in a position of possible transition and I decided to be my own boss. What a wonderful change that was.
This is already a long article, and I’ve left out a lot of detail. Let me close it by saying that opportunity only knocks once. You can ignore it and go on living your life, or you can see what the world has to offer you. You decide. I’d never go back and undo the decisions that have led me to this point.
I’m sure I didn’t respond each time opportunity has knocked, but I cannot imagine my life without answering when I did respond.