After I'd made my transition for the crazy hours and intense schedule required of someone who works in a newsroom, I went to a somewhat less-exciting cable station, where I was virtually guaranteed nights, weekends and holidays off. I say”virtually” because it was a start-up cable station and while it didn't have the same demands of a live TV network, it had some intense demands none-the-less. And if I was ever under an delusions that by getting out of local network news meant a better pay scale, I quickly found out I was mistaken!

As time at my cable TV job went on, and the ”shiny new job” feeling wore off, I came to realize that after the excitement of a live TV newsroom, working in a cubicle in what basically amounted to an office was not for me. I'd never really had a desk job before – and while I'd been thrilled about getting one at the time, I underestimated how quickly boredom would kick in.

For me, the lack of excitement wasn't worth the trade off of good hours and more holidays. Of course the perfect holy grail of excitement and time off may be out there, but I haven't found it. However, after experiencing the benefits of having a normal lifestyle – of not having to get up at ungodly hours, being able to commit to things, having the luxury of hanging out with friends after work – I also knew I couldn't go back to the craziness that was required of life at a TV network. So I went on to something more autonomous – which also still has it's own work/life balance problems – but something that satisfies me so much more. I don't regret the time spent at my vaious jobs and the transitions and decisions I made. Quite the opposite – I know that if I hadn't walked the path that I did, I wouldn't have ended up where I am now.

But that's the topic of an entirely different article!