A Warning

Do not work for Topdeck, I beg of you. Don't do it to yourself.

 

My brother will sometimes say to me of a certain CD that he is playing repeatedly that it is his 'crack cocaine'. Well, maybe Topdeck is mine. I find myself only a month out of work and already I am craving my next trip, counting down the months (4) until my season may start again.

Last year over my 'off' season I found myself working 2 jobs at home to distract myself from constant thoughts of Europe. But still every song that mentioned 'Barcelona' , every airline ad on TV and every person that spoke of their upcoming trip, even if it was with Conitki would send a pang of homesickness through my heart.

My favorite page on the internet was the facebook page that our Topdeck crew had put up. I hungered to hear what others who were still on the road had to say or for their links to hilarious trip related buzzfeeds or warnings of strikes in Paris.

This winter I am seeing the same symptoms re-occurring. I wear uniform that during the season I would be glad to get out of (I'm not talking polo's here crew, more like the hoodies or trip shirts). I tell stories of trips to whoever will listen (only 1 person at the moment) and I watch trip pictures get put up with green eyed envy.

And I had thought that I would be able to just do 2 years of this and then be able to let it go.... how wrong I was. My next season will be my third. Maybe after one more year I will be satisfied? Who knows because it is so addictive! It's a fast paced lifestyle that gives you a certain rush of adrenalin, late nights and early mornings have you calling on reserves of energy that you didn't know you had and you use every day to its fullest. Each day we are surrounded by friends new and old, a mix of personalities with one desire. To have fun. Our work is appreciated. Passengers love their meals and tell you that they don't even get fed this well at home. They marvel at our driver's skills of navigation, knowing that these are talents honed to perfection and when a trip leader takes them to 'a little spot I know' they get pats on the back and thanked for a great night. They look up to us as mentors as experts and as friends. We are put in positions that force our brains to work - so all your food got stolen, lets see what we can do about this... It never gets boring.

That is all without even mentioning the places and sights we see. Places like Prague and Rome never get old (pun intended?), even if you visit 6 times in a year. And every season there is a new city, a new itinerary, a new country for us to explore.

And yes, in the middle of the season when it is 36 degrees in Rome and you have lasagna and tiramisu for 50 people to prepare as well as shopping, and sailing packs for 3 days, and a packed breakfast and you really would like to get your washing done as well, you do feel like you might have gotten the bad end of the stick. You think to yourself that if I had a 9-5 job I wouldn't have to worry that my weeks worth of clothes that I carry was running out, I would be able to walk out of the door at 5 and not worry that my work wasn't done, I would be able to watch the Game of Thrones episodes that came out months ago but which I haven't had the time to sit down with, and I would probably have air-conditioning so there wouldn't be sweat running down my back. These thoughts WILL come to you.

But then you WILL finish, I promise. And you will head down to the pool, where Luca will mix you up a mojito, because he knows how much you like mojitos, and you will cool your body in the water and sit with friends who make you laugh and your passengers will come down and ask how your day was and you will probably reply with, 'oh not too bad, just wait till you see what's for dinner!' and that I when you will think to yourself,

'I love this.

Maybe I will come back next year.'