How I Walked Away From $360,000 to Find “Home" | Why Volunteering in Colombia Could Be the Best Gift You Give Yourself

For 4 years, I earned $10.70 an hour when I could have been making $90,000 a year. That’s $360,000 I never touched — but became the greatest investment of my life.

This is not some rags-to-riches story promising you financial freedom or the chance to work from anywhere. 

I’m writing this post to offer you my greatest gift - an invitation to more for those who are itching for more.

Since the beginning of time, people have traveled the world searching for something — often without even knowing what that something was. My story is no different, yet I have two secrets to share that might inspire you to see your own story differently.

The first is simple: who I am is never just me — it’s we. Our communities either empower us or hold us back, depending on their heartbeat and truth. I believe this is why so many of us feel the urge to search: because something in our community no longer matches what our hearts know to be true.

The second secret is something I can't tell you — it’s something you’ll only discover when you step into the opportunity of volunteering in Colombia, where the gift you give others becomes the greatest gift to yourself.

The Story of How I Got Here

“Do you like working here?” My boss asked me in a performance review. 

The words tumbled out before I could stop them.

“Yeah. I’m just… happier when I’m not here. You know? Like, I’m not this person.”

We stared at each other, surprised by my own words.

“Okayyyy,” she said. After that, I kinda blanked out.

I walked away wondering if I had just accidentally quit. It felt less like quitting and more like being released — like a deeper, wiser part of me stepped into guide me away from that place.

I didn’t want to work there anymore. I felt like I was wasting my life in rooms that didn’t matter.

Wasn’t everyone else feeling this way? Back at college graduation, the speech was all about how it was our turn to “lead the way.” But it didn’t feel like we were leading. It felt like we were inventing things to sell and calling it “innovation.” I was so sick of this game! Wasn’t everyone else?

This was more than burnout — it was a deep longing to go home. To return to a place I could truly call home, because this couldn’t possibly be the reason we were born.

What Home Means

Home is not only family and friends. It is where we agree on who we are and where we are going together. It is where community and humanity move in the same direction. This is where peace lives.

This is the home we long for — flowing, vibrant, alive. The truth is: all humans long for this — peace.

If you feel like you no longer know where home is, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost your way. It means you’re human. Maybe too sane. Sometimes, you have to go a little insane to imagine a home that is full of so much love, others simply can’t see it yet.

This life’s work is what we make it. We can limit each other, or we can invest in each other. We can destroy, or we can empower. We could silence or we could make space. Belief that this peaceful home exists is the compass that steers “the we.”

What I Found

On my adventure, I discovered so many people just like us: Conquerors, Adventurers, Leaders, Artists, Wanderers, Lovers.

People searching for better ways to build the homes we all deserve, love, and long to return to.

In Taganga, Colombia — a small fishing village — I'm calling together people who want to help us lead the way.

• People who want sustainability and aren’t afraid to ask for it.

• People who spend afternoons planting trees and cleaning beaches in exchange for English classes.

• People who want to rewrite the definitions of "intelligence."

• People determined to create something real.

• People who embrace AI but refuse to let it lead the way.

Together, at Planting Good Seeds, locally known as Semillas de Paz we are hoping to create the Caribbean’s first 90% Zero-Waste Town.

Teaching “We”

So what was my $10.70 per hour job, you’re wondering?

Teaching English — my mother tongue. About the same value an English volunteer in Colombia receives in benefits today.

That work carried me through Latin America: Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, and Colombia. Online, I spoke with students from over 47 countries, meeting 2,312 students and teaching for more than 57,000 minutes.

These students taught me who “we” are.

• A boy from Palestine who wanted to be a poet.

• A little boy in Israel who showed me how to draw from the heart.

• A man in Ukraine who escaped and learned English faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.

• Women in Saudi Arabia who taught me what it means to be proud.

• Dozens of kids in Colombia who looked at me like I was Disney come to life.

No one simply learns or teaches a language. Students discover new worlds. Teachers witness those discoveries.

And in that exchange, we carry the power to plant seeds — or destroy the desire to keep learning. It can happen in the blink of an eye.

The Invitation

Planting Good Seeds has become my most valued creation. And I want to offer you the chance to be part of it.

Not as a tourist, but as an honored guest. Not just to teach English, but to share how you speak English. Not just to pass through, but to create something lasting with us.

Whether you call yourself an artist or not, you are a creator. And this town needs your peaceful hands. Book a call with me to learn more about volunteering with us today.