Working and traveling give us a lot of experience and knowledge. Many times we learn new things from new people in unexpected ways.
Ms. Oi-Montira Chuthaputthi, editor, writer and traveler. These are the three things she uses to define herself. From dreaming to becoming a journalist, inspired by the Pulitzer Prize, she entered the publishing industry by working for a magazine as her first job and had a successful career by becoming the editor-in-chief of a famous women’s magazine in the country.
Throughout her more than 10 years working in the book industry, Ms. Oi has learned many experiences and concepts in life. In addition to traveling to collect stories from her travels to use as raw materials for writing books, she also uses travel as another way to learn, discovering new ways of thinking from visiting different places around the world.
Learn from work
Ms. Oi – Montira is a person who has had clear goals in life since she was a child. She started her working life as an editor of a fashion and lifestyle magazine.
Knowing ourselves and what we want will give us clarity and make our life path straight and not haphazard. So I am someone who has never read a book to find myself because I know myself very well.
Since she started working after graduating from university, she has never chosen a job based on money, but rather a job that she thinks will make her happy.
“I never choose money as my goal. I choose work that makes me happy because when we have problems at work, loving the work we do will make us patient, like having a second tap. That’s why I always tell young workers not to choose a job because of money, but to choose a job that we love and are passionate about. That will make us stay in the job for a long time without getting bored,” the former editor-in-chief of Praew Sudsapda magazine shared her secret.
Working for a magazine gave me the opportunity to interview interesting people. This taught me how to be a good listener and I benefited from hearing their life stories.
“At that time, making books gave us a well-rounded knowledge because we had to do many things. But the job I liked the most was interviewing. I felt that it was a special career that allowed us to meet a variety of people, from the highest levels of society to ordinary people who were not ordinary. We listened to what they said, what they thought, and what their experiences were. This allowed us to indirectly learn about life without having to try and make mistakes on our own in some things. It was a very good experience. I love interviewing and I think I am good at it.”
Ms. Oi – Montira also said that what she gained from working for the magazine was the motivation to always push herself forward, both in terms of knowledge and experience, which played a part in helping her to continuously develop her potential.
“Bookmaking is a special profession because we will constantly develop ourselves. We will not fall behind. We cannot fall behind the readers. We have to be one or two steps ahead of the readers. It makes us more knowledgeable. These experiences undeniably shape our thought processes and our way of life.”
Learn from the journey
Many people have said that working and traveling are experiences that cannot be exchanged for money.
Working for a magazine opened up many new experiences for Ms. Oi-Montira. As the managing editor of a famous women’s magazine, she was often invited to travel abroad, which opened up her world as a traveler. It also influenced her to see the world in a different way, which later changed her way of thinking and living.
“Once I was invited to England to sail on the Queen Elizabeth, a world-class luxury ship. One day I saw a passenger, an old man. He was about to put soup in his mouth, but his hands were shaking so much, probably because of his old age, the soup spilled and got all over him. His son had to come and help. His daughter looked at me, smiled, and said that her father had saved up all his life to sail on the Queen Elizabeth. When I heard that sentence, I made a promise to myself that I would not travel when my body could no longer handle it. I would go out and learn about the wide world while I still had the strength.”
Since then, she has been travelling around the world, believing that travelling is a great way to learn. She tells us that new ideas and perspectives for her work often come while travelling.
Although most people desire a “luxurious and comfortable” lifestyle , a traveler like Ms. Oi-Montira feels differently. She questions this lifestyle and decides to change her own way of traveling.
“At that time, I was working for a foreign magazine. Most of the stories I chose to present were high-end content to meet the target group. Because of the nature of the work, I had to encounter luxury and comfort, so I got to try living like that. When I ate luxuriously and lived comfortably, there was a time when I felt like, why am I so comfortable? So comfortable that I felt like I wanted to suffer too.”
She tells of another turning point in her life that led her to explore a new way of travelling, which was her embarking on a 9-day trek in the Himalayas when she was in her 50s.
She said that experience taught her how to manage her feelings because while walking and facing the fatigue, she would encourage herself to enjoy the beauty in front of her, while another part of her wanted to give up and berate herself for having to suffer.
“When we are very tired, it is like there are two demons on our shoulders. One will mock us, saying… Serves you right. Why are you walking until you are exhausted? The other will encourage us… If you don’t walk, you will not know. What we learn is how to deal with our own feelings. This trip was the hardest for me, but at the same time, it was the most fun and happy trip because it made us realize how big and beautiful the Himalayas are and how important friendship is among our fellow travelers.” Finally, she used her experience from that trek to write a book called “Himalayas: Walk with Your Heart.”
“I am a person who loves to learn. There are many types of learning, and the experiences I gain from traveling are one of them. When I can’t think of anything, I travel. When I feel sad or in pain, I change my mode by traveling.”
So, don’t let every work or travel experience be a wasted experience. Open your mind and give yourself a chance to learn.
The story of Ms. Oi-Montira Chuthaputthi is another example of learning from work and travel, including using work and travel experiences to build on opportunities and success in the future.
The story references an interview with Ms. Oi-Montira Chuthaputthi.
From the Transformative Learning Project
Supported by the Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth)
