It feels like an eternity has past by when I first started competing on the international circuit and I did not have enough money to pay for everything. At this time, I was 15-16 years old and I started a summer job making sandwiches 60 hours a week in a factory not too far from where I lived in Gatineau. Biking there and back everyday during the summer, I made enough money to pay for a big part of my season. Since it was not enough, my parents were paying the remaining costs when they saw that I was doing everything that I could to afford the season.
I swore to my parents that when I was able to afford it, I would give them a week of vacation all expenses paid somewhere in the south to both of them as a token of gratitude. The promise stayed there without too much hope from my parents that I would honor it. A teenager swearing that he would payback his parents "when he can afford it" still seems like an empty promise.
A couple of years ago, when I was still in China, I paid for my father, my mother, my sister (because why not?) and myself for a week in Mexico. It just so happened that a lot of our friends were going to the same place at the same time! It sounded like a great vacation mixed with a lot of catching up with my family and friends. At the last minute, I had to cancel my ticket because a really great training and competing opportunity came up. So I ended up paying for the vacation for my family without enjoying it myself. Another sacrifice in the long list that I have since the beginning of my journey towards my dream.
In December, my sister and my parents gave me a week in Mexico! We went there the four of us for a week and I only had one plan in mind: relax and do nothing. I had to train a little bit while I was there (maybe 8 or 9 light training) just to keep everything in check (and not have too much of a struggle when I will be back at training after the holidays). My major daily decision was to choose between going to the beach or staying by the pool. The week there was exactly what I needed at that time: a time off. After the week there with my family, I came back fully charged and ready for the 2016 challenges.
I swore to my parents that when I was able to afford it, I would give them a week of vacation all expenses paid somewhere in the south to both of them as a token of gratitude. The promise stayed there without too much hope from my parents that I would honor it. A teenager swearing that he would payback his parents "when he can afford it" still seems like an empty promise.
A couple of years ago, when I was still in China, I paid for my father, my mother, my sister (because why not?) and myself for a week in Mexico. It just so happened that a lot of our friends were going to the same place at the same time! It sounded like a great vacation mixed with a lot of catching up with my family and friends. At the last minute, I had to cancel my ticket because a really great training and competing opportunity came up. So I ended up paying for the vacation for my family without enjoying it myself. Another sacrifice in the long list that I have since the beginning of my journey towards my dream.
In December, my sister and my parents gave me a week in Mexico! We went there the four of us for a week and I only had one plan in mind: relax and do nothing. I had to train a little bit while I was there (maybe 8 or 9 light training) just to keep everything in check (and not have too much of a struggle when I will be back at training after the holidays). My major daily decision was to choose between going to the beach or staying by the pool. The week there was exactly what I needed at that time: a time off. After the week there with my family, I came back fully charged and ready for the 2016 challenges.
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