Me in front of the Powerscourt Waterfall, the highest waterfall in Ireland.

Hi!  My name is Brianna-Marie Barron.

You have just stumbled on to a site that marks the beginning of an endeavor to conquer one of the most daunting challenges I have ever presented to myself: To somehow break away from what most people know to be the “traditional life”, and instead, live a unique and unconventional life that most people only dream of.

I’m originally from a town called North Andover about a half hour north of Boston.  I love it here in the Boston area, and there’s no doubt that it will always be my “home sweet home”. However, something inside me did change my sophomore year of college when one of my lab TAs spoke to my class about how she completed her Capstone Internship abroad in Germany.  Up until that point, I had always been a homebody, never aspiring to explore the rest of the world.  But ever since then, my mindset has done a complete 180, and my heart longs to experience so much more than just the northeast.

I graduated from college over three and a half years ago now, and obtained my degrees in forensic science and chemistry.  I’ve always been intrigued by most sciences since I was a little girl, and so now I’m working as a Biochemist in the healthcare industry, troubleshooting chemiluminescent immunoassays.

Me in front of the main entrance to the University of New Haven on graduation day.

I love my job, don’t get me wrong.  And even though there are weeks that are extra stressful and days that I’ll work for 15, 18, or even one time 22 hours, most of the time I am enjoying what I’m doing and the people I’m working with.

But the truth is, even though I do love what I do, I want more out of life.

There are so many things I am passionate about; and there would probably be even more things that I would be passionate about if I had the time to learn that I was passionate about them!

It’s beginning to hit me, that going into work each and every day for at least 8 – 8.5 hours, for at least 5 days a week, for the next who knows how many more years of my life, doesn’t leave time for much else.  Because by the time I get home from work and cook, eat, and clean up dinner, as well as check off any other chores on my list, my day/night is almost over!  And we all know that the weekend flies by much too fast, before the dreaded Monday comes to haunt our sleeping heads Sunday night again.  I realize that this lifestyle has been acquired by the vast majority of us, and that some people have already been living this way almost their entire lives… But I’ve only been working full-time for a little over three years now, and the thought of never really having the time to delve into all my other passions because of work basically taking over my life… Well, let’s just say, it kind of gives me an incessant anxiety attack!  And that’s how I feel even after I’ve come home from a long day and actually still have an opportunity to squeeze in an hour or two of working on my personal goals!

Let’s also not forget to mention that if I want to see other parts of the world and truly immerse myself in new cultures (aka: staying longer than a week or two somewhere), I will have to try to accomplish all that in the 4 weeks of vacation that my company gives to me (which is actually more than a lot of other people I know get), on top of the time I may need to take off for doctor/dentist appointments, family events/vacations, illnesses, car issues, etc, etc.

Temple Bar area in Dublin, Ireland.

Sounds like a pretty limiting life to lead doesn’t it?  It definitely doesn’t allow for maximum freedom!!

And maybe for some people, that life is enough.  I am not in any way trying to bring shame to the way someone is living their life if they are enjoying it just fine.  But I guess, in my case, there’s just so many things I want to do… And I’m learning the hard way that I simply cannot settle for this life that most of us have been accustomed to accepting.

With that being said, on July 2nd of 2017, it suddenly fully occurred to me that people are actually traveling the world full time for a living.  And not just a measly 5-10 people, or even 100 people, but thousands of people every day, have fired their bosses, and are now living (at least temporarily) in complete freedom to go about their life as they please.  Needless to say, this revelation has caused my mindset to do, yet, another 180 regarding how I’ve realized I want to live my life.  Simply because, if they can do it… Why can’t I?!

So that is how this blog came to be.  Because I am determined to be free… To be my own boss, and live life as I please, because in this day and age, I can!  I am not married, and I do not have children; there is nothing tying me down right now.  And so each beautiful morning that I walk into work, and can smell that wonderful morning air and feel the gentle touch of the sun’s rays on my face, I can’t help but think of all the other experiences I could be having… And yet, each morning, I must leave the sun and rain (or snow) to enter the windowless box that is my workplace.  Which is fine for now, because I do like what I do, and I know that part of me would miss it if I left.  But that daily reminder will not go away, and it’s a big motivation for me to someday travel the world and show everyone what is possible in this life that we all have.

However, I don’t want to travel the world just for myself.  Luckily, I was raised in a loving household with two driven parents, who constantly strive to make a difference in this life by making the world a better place.  And so ever since I was 14 and had an important conversation with my father about “making my mark on the world,” there have been times I’ve been in tears, because in my heart, that’s all I really want to do… Is endeavor to make a difference in people’s lives and basically save mostly everything in this world, whether it’s living or not.  I know that probably sounds ridiculous, not to mention, impossible; but it’s really one of the goals that is most important to me, and leaves me in distress at times because I tend to feel like I’m never doing enough to directly impact someone or something in a positive way.  That’s how I know that troubleshooting immunoassays, while important to the healthcare industry, will not, alone, satisfy my need to do more good in this life and make a difference the way I imagine to in my head.

My family (minus me and our dog Lucky) enjoying a morning outside of our hotel in Bar Harbor, ME.

Who knows where this journey of blogging may take me, and how long it may take to get to where I think I want to be.  Perhaps I might never even get there.  Perhaps my blog and other social medias could fail to capture the hearts of others, and I’ll never get to live the life I envision to in my mind.  But if I never try, the probability of it happening for me at all, will quite simply be zero.  And there will be the burden of regret that will linger within me with each passing day.

With that being said, I dare you to join me in what could be the ride of a lifetime and see the world through my eyes… See how you can make a difference.  (To subscribe to my blog for FREE, click this link: http://eepurl.com/dsC83r).  My hope is that at the very least, I will subliminally challenge you to be undaunted by the obstacles life may throw at you, and that you will endeavor to overcome life’s struggles in order to provide a better life for yourself, as well others.  In the meantime, I promise to give you nothing but honesty and hopefully a little bit of entertainment along the way. 😛

All the best,

Brianna-Marie