Spicy Amigos

I don’t really enjoy podcasts, I find them hard to give my full attention to, and when I don’t, I miss a lot of what seems to be critical information. I’d much rather press shuffle on my downloaded Apple Music library and listen to whatever plays next. And this isn’t to say I haven’t listened to enough podcasts – Nathan makes sure we listen to a few on every longer car ride.

However, I was recently discovered a super cool blog, Unexpected Adventures with Jess Bacon, where she discusses everything from travelling, to pop culture, to movies and books, to life after university and more. On her blog, I saw she had a podcast and I read the titles of the episodes – all of which were topics that have been crowding my thoughts lately. These topics include saving money, graduating during the pandemic, what to do with your life after university, and getting your blogging/writing/journaling started.

Lately, I have been a little stressed about what I’m going to do with my life now that I’m done university and supposedly a ‘real adult’, and how I fit all my interests into it.

I graduated with a BA in environmental sustainability, and sociology, which I found both super interesting. Yet, I don’t feel inspired to pursue a career in either. I do know that whatever I end up pursuing needs to align with my environmental, social, and economic values I hold – but I also know that I don’t want to be a scientist studying how climate changing is effecting the earth’s processes or work as a social worker (two very specific examples). And with that in mind, lately I have been really excited about writing new blog posts, planning trips, reading other people’s blogs, being outside, and trying to reach more people with our Spicy Amigos Instagram account (which if you don’t follow is, @spicyamigos_). This has made me think that maybe what I want to do is write content/produce social media/go into marketing for the sustainable options of things I enjoy. Such things could include: travel, coffee, thrift shopping, clothing, eating, reading, etc.

SO with all that in mind, Jess Bacon’s podcast, The Guide to Life After University, seemed to be what I needed. I have probably listened to 10 episodes in the last two days, and I feel more at ease about everything. Most of the people interviewed on her podcast were women who had finished a university degree in the Arts and Social Sciences (but in England), and were having the same worries as I am.

I could list something I learned from each episode, but I think the major takeaways I took from it are that there are no right times for anything, things start to align for you once you’ve put in the work, and most people suffer from imposter syndrome. If you are unfamiliar with that term, I would recommend listening to Jess’ episode where she goes into detail about the 6 different types of imposter syndrome.

Listening to the podcast reemphasized to myself that it’s totally, 100% okay not to know what I want to do – I’ve got time to figure it out!

I would highly recommend Jess Bacon’s podcast The Guide to Life After University for anyone who is unsure what to do next. Her podcast streams on both Spotify and Apple Music!