The last few months were an enjoyable - and necessary - transition to figuring out what the next chapter of life would look like. I had the opportunity to reconnect with friends and family, reflect on what I’d learned during my travel adventure and decide where I wanted to “land” on the flip side of the journey. That included a careful job search.

I knew after my time on the ship that I wanted to keep being a man who sought adventure; but I also wanted to advance my career and plant a few solid roots [which is obviously hard to do when you’re traveling all over the place].

So, after exploring my options, I’ve ‘landed’ and am now turning the page. For this chapter, I’ll be advancing my career and laying down new roots in my hometown as Communications Coordinator for United Way of London & Middlesex. I’m helping to tell the story of how generosity enables United Way to create real, lasting change in people’s lives. My role oversees external communication including media relations, publications, advertising and marketing, and online communications. It’s pushing my thinking and expanding my abilities: exactly the challenge I was looking for.

I’m phasing away a bit from freelance work as I wrap up a few current projects, with the aim of focusing on my career and laying my new foundation.

The thirst for exploring life’s adventures will always be a part of me: travel and new excitement will always be a part of my quest. But I’m learning how to keep that quest alive while staying somewhat grounded, too.

After four months aboard Crystal Serenity as Assistant Editor of Guest Publications for the 2008 World Cruise, plus an extra month backpacking Europe… I have now been to a total of 36 countries in my life – if you count the Vatican City (and before this trip I had only been to 5!)

The last month has simply been a whirlwind of readjusting to “land-based” life. After unpacking, visiting friends and recharging, I am now checking out the job scene and finding out where the next chapter of life will take me. Certainly, I’ve satisfied a lifetime’s worth of adventure in the last half-year… so currently something like that is not in the cards again (at least not right now - never say never!). Going away and living the dream makes coming back rather pleasant, calm and enjoyable. And, actually, exciting!

I am also working hard on finishing off my blog and online photo album of the adventure. It documents the nature of the journey - with tonnes of photos to show it all.

In sum, it’s really great to be back… and please continue to read the blog to get the feel for what the adventure was like. Otherwise, if I get bombarded with “How was the trip,” questions, I will be forced to sit you through a three day week-long photo show!

Here’s a few FAQs to further reduce the number of “how was the trip?” questions:

1) What was your favorite place?
A: I learned that it wasn’t so much where or what… but, rather, the overall experience of it and the atmosphere. That’s what leads to memories. My favorite place was Rome, and that’s because of the complete atmosphere. I saw many great sites around the world, but Rome… it was the complete package. The whole city is atmosphere. People playing accordion on the subway; going to a restaurant near the Vatican and it’s filled with priest and nuns. Yeah, authentic! I loved it… as you’ll see from the photos when I post them on my blog site.

2) What are you going to do now?
A: No idea, really. I half-dreamed that I would get hired by a billionaire or marry someone on the ship… but lucky breaks don’t happen every day (getting on the ship was a lucky break already!). So now, I’m going to go for a job that’s a great fit, and make the best of it. Wherever it ends up being.

Now, go visit my travel blog!

It’s truly nice to come back from traveling around the world and learn you’ve received an award.

Late last year, I had the opportunity of working with London grassroots charity “Bethanys Hope Foundation” on the redevelopment and publication of their Annual Newsletter. You can view the newsletter here, and you can read more about this meaningful charity and the work I did for them in my previous update.

I am very proud that this work was recognized with a 2008 IABC London Virtuoso Award of Merit in the Publications Category. Virtuoso is an annual competition, where a jury of seasoned communication professionals judge communication project entries.

It’s certainly terrific to be recognized by the communication community. Moreso for work representing an organization that means something to you.

I’ll be working on board until May, and then taking until June to backpack Europe (including my first visit to the country of my ancestry, Poland).

While I’m off, I’ll be putting Impression One on hold for a little bit. In its place I’ve set up a photo/blog site to chronicle the journey…if you’re so inclined I’d love for you to follow along.

It’s a quick-and-dirty site done up with iWeb, so some of the pages take a while to load on slower connections. I’ll be posting photos of the various places I’ll see, and I have a blog to share the experience: the destinations, the reality of working on a moving vessel, and the ups and downs of my first time overseas. My first blog post explains the inner desire to live life with passion - the root cause that started this whole crazy adventure rolling.

Thank you for all your support this year as I started up the Impression One site, and I look forward to keeping in touch through “where is Andrew now?“

Bethanys Hope Foundation is a London-based charity that directly funds its own research laboratory working to cure Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD). Londoners may be familiar with the Foundation’s signature fundraising event: The Hawk Rocks the Park. The charity was founded by Dave and Lindey McIntyre, whose daughter Bethany passed away after a heroic battle with MLD. I was incredibly fortunate to work with the Foundation as a freelance consultant for two projects, and I must say Dave and Lindey were two of the most wonderful people to work with for their tireless efforts and inspiring commitment to the cause.

The first project for Bethanys Hope was a grant proposal to hopefully fund new laboratory equipment. This was a particularly exciting challenge as I had never before prepared a formal grant proposal - needless to say I learned a lot about the process, and during in-depth interviews with the research team came to understand MLD a lot better! Of course, I cannot post the proposal to the portfolio page.

The second project was equally rewarding: I was given the reigns to completely redesign the annual newsletter for stakeholders - a report on the fundraising and research efforts delivered to the vast community of volunteers and supporters. From interviewing and writing the feature stories and research report, to developing a design concept, through to editing content and laying out the copy - it was rewarding to manage this project from start to finish. The results - Bethanys Hope’s redesigned annual newsletter - are on the portfolio page.

The third freelance project I took on during these months was for the London District Catholic School Board, and was work proposed to me by a teacher at my former high school (here’s to keeping connections with meaningful people!). This teacher is launching a new specialized curriculum program in manufacturing, and wished to have a promotional poster and informational pamphlet about the program. My solution to the promotional and informational needs makes use of a tabloid-sized page. Unfolded, the front page serves as a poster suitable for guidance offices and classrooms. Folded, it makes a four-page detailed pamphlet outlining the program. The informational poster/pamphlet is also on the portfolio page.

I believe my most recent portfolio addition is a nice example of what goes on at a hospital research institute, and why one would want to publicize what goes on there. During my contract, I had the opportunity to write a feature for the donor magazine of St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation, and the story was published this month. The story was to cover the research done at Lawson towards curing age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in Canada. I was honoured to interview two of the researchers leading the battle to stop this negative aging process, and learn about their fascinating work. I also learned about the way that their work was directly funded by the family of a late woman who had suffered macular degeneration herself.

Writing such an article hit home why I was doing the work I was, and the privilege of it. Here I was learning about a hugely problematic health issue, and the remarkable effort to solve it. I was given the ability to inform the public - about macular degeneration so that they might be aware, and about the research so that they might share in the hope. And hey, it being a donor magazine, perhaps the realization that truly world-class science towards takes place in their hometown would inspire Londoners to help fund it!

Writing such an article was, for me, a true example of how public relations lets others see what goes on inside the organization I am contributing to.

This has been the case since 2004 (before Impression One was launched) when I embarked on my first contract design project for the Roman Catholic Diocese of London to create a Seminarian class portrait/vocations poster that would be displayed in every church and school throughout the Diocese. I’m proud of the fact that Impression One and the Diocese have partnered on this project every year since, and I’ve added the 2007 Vocations Poster to the portfolio page. Congratulations and best wishes to all of London’s Seminarians.

Rounding out the design examples on the portfolio page are two other additions - both from work done before Impression One was formed: a page layout and design language I completed during my stint as Editor-In-Chief of the University of Guelph-Humber Yearbook, and an orientation events guidebook I designed during a contract in 2003 for the University of Guelph-Humber.

And I’m excited that my next adventure will begin in January 2008 when I take my writing and design experience to sea, setting sail as Assistant Editor of Guest Publications for Crystal Cruises’ four-month 2008 World Cruise. Here’s the itinerary of where the cruise will go.

Throughout my time at Lawson, some good friends and mentors wisely advised me that while launching career is good and important, so too is living the dream while you’re young and able…and this is what spurned me to really seek out the adventure and apply for a cruise ship gig. I’m overjoyed that it’s actually possible to blend adventure and further career experience.

It’s also nice to have a few months of downtime between finishing my Lawson contract and starting on the ship in the new year. I look forward to some relaxation, visiting friends, and a number of freelance projects through Impression One.

Thanks to everyone who’s encouraged me to seek out adventure, I can’t believe the dream’s come true.

As my professional portfolio and freelance site, this is a glimpse into the way Impression One works and what it does. Please explore the pages, especially the portfolio to see my most recent work. And before you leave, check out “Andrew’s Page” to find out a little more about me, Impression One’s creator and owner.

Like what you see at Impression One? Drop me a line to get more information or, if you really like what you see, to hire me for your next communication project.

The nametag represents the magic of first meetings. There’s only one chance to Create a Lasting Impression.

Enjoy the site, and thanks for stopping by!
- Andrew