The Runaround is Going International

Life is funny sometimes. OK. Life maybe funny most times, but in certain situations it may take a little more creativity to see the humor.

A few months ago, I was called into the office of my boss’s boss. He informed me that my department was being reorganized.

Soon to be our first stop.

I have been very fortunate. I have gotten my “dream job” twice. But in this situation, my second dream job was disappearing. I was offered what he referred to as an equivalent position, but it was clearly a gigantic step back in my career. It was also clear to me that it was time to say goodbye to the University of Denver. I really wasn’t bitter. It was more like some relationships earlier in my life in which we both looked at each other, shrugged and wished each other good luck (yes, that actually happened).

Realistically, I had been contemplating the answer to a simple question for quite some time: Now that I’ve worked my dream job, what’s next?

I want to be clear. I am not asking for sympathy. Far from it. I look back at the past 15 years and know that I have had some amazing opportunities, and I have worked with a lot of extraordinary people – from athletes to coaches to the extremely talented and hard-working front office/administrative-types that never get the recognition that they deserve.

But nobody likes receiving the news that he is being forced out of his job. 

Not long after my girlfriend, Fran, received similar news.

When I’ve mentioned these facts in everyday conversation, almost everyone has given me a sad, sympathetic, hangdog look. You know the one.

But here’s the thing: I am also extremely fortunate to be with Fran because, simply put, we have very similar outlooks on life.

Shortly after the initial shock, we both looked at each other and realized that we had an amazing opportunity – one that nobody ever seems to have. We are relatively young and don’t have kids or pets, and now we don’t have jobs setting our schedules and controlling our decisions.

It’s especially strange for me. Since April 1, 1999, I have worked in sports. That means for the past 15 years I have not been able to make a single commitment without first checking at least one team’s schedule of games, practices and outside commitments. I have missed weddings, birthday parties and countless other occasions that I would have loved to attend because I had to work a baseball game. Or soccer game. Or basketball game. Or any number of other things.

I’m not knocking the teams at all. I have loved working with the players, coaches and support staffs enough that it made these sacrifices a little easier. However, they were still sacrifices.

So, for the first time since college, I don’t have to worry about games or road trips or team appearances.

Coincidence that Fran's a redhead, too?

That brings me back to one of the many reasons why I’m lucky to be with Fran.

When all of this went down, we looked at each other. And we smiled. I think we both knew at the same time that we shouldn’t wallow in depression. We both knew that we were talented and experienced in our respective fields, and we both had MBAs from top business schools (some might even claim that her school is the best in the world).

There was little debate that we had to take advantage of the situation.

That is why I’m happy to announce that the Runaround is going international. Then domestic again. And then international again.

Fran and I are going to use this opportunity to learn more about the world and more about ourselves. We are going to check things off our bucket lists, and hopefully we are going to try to help some people along the way. We know we are going to help ourselves, because there is nothing that teaches us more and gives us more wisdom than learning how other cultures live.

If you are wondering, we are starting in Peru and Ecuador (departing Denver on May 22) before we return for a month in the Eastern United States. From there, we’ll head to Europe, where I never took the seemingly requisite backpacking trip around Europe right after college.

I don’t know what the future holds for either of us when we return in September, and in many ways (and on many days when we’re not preoccupied with the absolute euphoria of thinking about our trips) it’s a terrifying prospect.

Deep down, both of us know that this is an opportunity that we cannot ignore. A few years ago, I had the great pleasure of chronicling my short time in Egypt. I loved it, and I’m looking forward to doing the same on this trip.

So please feel free to follow us through our adventures and pass the link to the Runaround (http://mikekennedy5280.blogspot.com/) to anyone you think might enjoy it.

Above all, if you’ve got suggestions on where we should go (I know that’s a loaded question) during our journey, please put them in the comment section or shoot me an email.