My Story
Hi. I’m Sara Burdick. Welcome to my About Me story!
I was born and raised in a small town in Kentucky. In the ’80s! When life was simpler.
Born in the house that I was raised in and delivered by my father. In a holler.
If you are not from the south, you are wondering, what is a holler? A holler is a valley that usually sits between two mountains, or hills. The story goes when you holler up the mountain and it hollers back- hence holler!
Yes it is kind of silly, but true or at least that's what my father told me! I have 3 siblings I am the oldest of the 3, so the responsible one. We were all born at home, except my brother. He is fancy and was born in a hospital!
My parents were hippies, and we lived off the land before it was cool. Needless to say, we were poor and happy.
This could be my obsession with returning to this lifestyle. We learned about the plants, the trees, the animals, and how to survive on very little.
We had a greenhouse attached to our house, which I thought was the coolest even as a kid. Except we did not have a bathroom, we had an outhouse! This was not cool as a kid.
I grew up with horses, cows, pigs, goats, and chickens. It was perfect. We learned how to kill for food, trap animals and grow a garden.
My father always taught us survival skills. Hunting and fishing, he wanted us to always know how to take care of ourselves. My mother taught us the plants, what to eat and what was poison. She made herbal tea’s tinctures and meditated!
Tragedy Struck
At age 13 I and my siblings became orphans. My mother died when I was 9 and my father when I was 13. We went to live with my grandmother. We had the normal troubled childhood, orphaned kids.
My grandmother was a sweet woman, but having 4 young kids living with her was overwhelming. She defaulted to my uncles and aunts for support. They were horrible. As soon as I could leave the house I left and only went back to get my siblings out of the situation.
My grandmother did the best she could, however, my aunt’s and uncles caused trauma that took years of therapy to cure. Not sure it is cured or ever will be, but moving out and on has helped.
When I was 18 I went to college and became a nurse.
My experience/background
I graduated with a BSN in nursing. I went to a school close to where my grandmother lived because I had no car and no way to get to any other university.
My family would not help me, since I was “too good to stay”. Since I chose college over getting married and having children straight out of high school.
I chose to become a nurse. I knew there was a nursing shortage and I didn’t want to live paycheck to paycheck as my family did. It was an out for me and a way for me to support myself. I never wanted to rely on anyone to ever support me again.
I also wanted to be able to help my siblings if they ever needed it. Fortunately, they also chose to go to college. We joke how the 4 of us grew up to have good jobs, even with the horrible things we went through.
Sometimes tragedy does make you stronger, as we are all very close to this day, me and my siblings.
I knew nursing would provide a comfortable living and I just wanted a way out, and be able to support myself. It did exactly that.
The Leap
After working for 16 years as an ICU nurse I quit my job to travel the world. I worked in every area of nursing from ICU, med/surg, IR, ER, Float pool, outpatient, pain clinics, PACU.
I just wanted more, I wanted to travel, to live, to see what else was out there.
So in 2018, when I was 38, I bought a one-way flight to Colombia. I sold and gave away all of my belongings, packed a backpack, and left.
I started traveling the world working online and volunteering. I worked with horses, dogs, elephants, in ski resorts, in schools, I did whatever was needed. It was amazing!
Then 2020 hit. I got stuck in Argentina, got laid off, and was at a loss.
I started uploading regularly to my youtube channel, started teaching English online, and in Sept 2021 started writing on Medium.
After realizing I did not want to go back to “real life” I decided to move to Colombia, learn Spanish and eventually live off the land. As it is my true way, and what I know.
Realization
I realized that I can make money doing things I love. Writing, teaching English, making videos. I am strong-willed and hard working. I do not need a lot of money. I used to make more money in a day than I make in a month now.
To be honest, I have never felt happier and more at peace in my life than I do now. 3 years ago I was so scared to quit, to leave, and now that I look back it was the best decision of my life.
I took a chance, but I also planned accordingly with my finances. It is not all luck, it's hard work, dedication, and determination to make it work.
I have survived worse. Now starting over, recreating a new life is just another chapter in my life book. We only live once and I don’t plan on slaving away for someone else for the second half of my story.
I never had kids, and have a ton of nieces and nephews that I love to death. I realized that I didn’t want the typical family life. My life is flexible and free.
What I write about
I write about personal development, living in Colombia, my challenges in life. I talk a lot about sobriety. As I developed a love for alcohol when I was in my 20’s and it lasted until my early 30’s.
Alcohol was always an escape for me, yet held me back. I leaned on it when I needed a friend. I went to AA, for 6 years I was on/off the wagon as they say.
Finally, 1.5 years ago I finally stopped. After my mom died my father drank a lot to deal with his sadness. I feel that I drank a lot to deal with all of the sadness in my life.
Now I write about it all and it has been the best therapy.
I want to inspire others who are unhappy to get the courage to change their lives. We are only given one life to live and it should be set on your terms. This is a reigning theme in my articles. I am talking to myself mostly, and if you get value then I am so happy that I can help one person.
When I was a nurse, my favorite part of my job was my patients and talking to them. They made my day most of the time. The connection to another person is something that can never be replaced.
Life Now
I currently live in a very small pueblo in Colombia. I am enrolled in a Spanish school and have a tutor. I live with my Colombian boyfriend and his mom (they are my tutors!).
We have a dog named Eris. We go on walks and swim in the rivers, climb mountains and eat arepas!
I love to read everything and listen to at least 2 audible books a week. I am a sucker for a challenge I recently quit caffeine.
I am an Aquarius sun, Aries moon, and Capricorn rising:) For my fellow astrology lovers.
My life is nothing like I imagined it would be, but better.
If you want to connect with me subscribe here to receive my emails and click here for my youtube channel!
I have taken myself off other social media, as it is a distraction in my life.
I look forward to connecting.
XOXO
S.
