What am I going to do?

The real big question here is What Does Neil Want To Do With This Education? I am here, in Switzerland, going to a hotel and restaurant management school. I am being prepared, specifically, to be a hotel/restaurant manager. But is that what I want to do?

That’s a tough question to answer. I spent all my life not really knowing what I want to do for a living. I’ve gone through so many jobs…from pizza delivery to house painter, from accounts payable to senior financial analyst. Obviously the primary job background has been accounting/finance…and to be honest, I do rather enjoy that. But not in a strictly accounting/finance level. Sitting in a cubicle on a daily basis, staring at a computer screen, working 9-5…eh, it’s rather dull. It’s just too repetitive. Sure it’s challenging at times but wow does it slip into hardcore routine. There would be times when I’d spend hours and hours on some spreadsheet simply because I was bored.

But I love spreadsheets. I love Excel. I love making it all work out…taking information and doing funky things to it to give me, and others, all kinds of neat results. So yeah…I’m a big geek. But that is part of what makes me…me!

I have always loved to cook…and eat. And there is something so rewarding about providing for someone a wonderful meal, a fun time, and a memorable experience. I really like doing that. In a way, I suppose that ties in with the whole excel and information manipulation. I like providing for people…I like educating them, helping them, making them feel good…happy…all that.

So this is an industry that works very well with my persona. Hospitality is all about providing someone with an experience, taking care of them, making them feel good. It could be as simple as a great burrito at a roadside stand to a week long vacation on a Hawaiian beach. And even those couple examples of extremes don’t come close to covering the breadth of what Hospitality encompasses.

So…having said all that…what do I want to do, specifically? I suppose that is why I am here, in Les Roches…to learn the answer to that question. Like I’ve said this place isn’t exactly what I thought it would be but I am getting quite the varied education, and it should open a ton of doors for me.

I think owning my own restaurant would be a blast. I’d really enjoy having a relatively small place, with excellent fresh food, an international variety of menus items, great wine, pleasant atmosphere…a great place to go any night. Sure I’d like it to be a party at times but not a club at all…a pub would be good word. A bar and grill perhaps. Maybe even ramp it up to a little min-resort…

My grandmother has a big chunk of land up in the Santa Cruz mountains (I’ll post some pictures sometime) that would be an excellent location for an idea I’ve tossed around. I can imagine a fully functional farm (plants, not so much animals) with a restaurant, mini-hotel, and other various things attached (swimming pool, hiking trails, spa, etc). The farm would grow the food for the restaurant…perhaps (probably) sell it in local markets. People could come up for the weekend…get away from the office working world…and spend a couple days out on the farm. We could teach them about farming, about food production…and cooking. They could go out during the day and do some work on the farm…hard work if they wanted, or just light and easy. We’d pick fruits and vegetables, bring them back to the restaurant, and teach them how to prepare dishes. Almost a co-op sort of deal. All fresh, all high quality…work and education, but relaxation too.

Another idea I’ve had is being a writer…a food/travel writer. This, however, is a VERY competitive field. Who wouldn’t want to be paid by a company to travel around and eat…on an expense account? That idea has appeal…but I’m not sure if I want to spend my days going from here to there all the time. I enjoy having more of a settled lifestyle…and being familiar with my surroundings. Perhaps there is a way to tie it all together.

Those are just a couple thoughts running through my lil mind. The vast majority of students here want to work in the 5 star luxury resort/hotel. Eh….I dunno about that. I’m just more of a casual kinda guy.

These questions are ones that everyone has. It’s a rare person that can definitively say “This is what I want to do in life.”

In other words…I just don’t know yet. But this I can say for sure…

Being here is absolutely the right thing for me now…and I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.