About

My name is DuBois Ford and I grew up in East Point, GA. It is a small suburb right next to the Atlanta, GA airport. I was very fortunate to grow up in a loving household. My mom was a social worker and my dad taught special education.

After graduating from North Carolina A&T State University I thought I would follow the path of most college graduates. I found a great engineering job that paid well and started going through the motions of life. However, after working for about 4 years in the industry I started feeling the lure of the road and distance places. “I would love to travel the world,” I often told myself. “I can’t quit my job,” was what I responded. “What would people think of me? What would my family say? Would I be a failure?” So I told myself I would just take vacations and keep my job. As the years continued to go by the call just continued to grow despite me trying to ignore it. As much as I enjoy engineering I started feeling restless. I just so happen to be reading a book titled “Letters to my Son” by Kent Nerburn at the time. This book contains a quote on the restless workforce:

“They join the legions of humanity who Thoreau said lead lives of quiet desperation – unfulfilled, unhappy, and uncertain of what to do. Yet the lure of financial security and the fear of the unknown keep them from acting to change their lives, and their best energies are spent creating justifications for staying where they are or inventing activities outside of work they hope will provide them with a sense of meaning.”

I began to realize I was on a fast track to joining this legion of humanity. The questions I asked myself when the road called I started recognizing as internal fears. I now ask myself “In ten years, would you regret staying at your job opposed to traveling?” The answer was a resounding “Yes.” I cannot afford to have that regret on my heart.

Teaching has always been an interest of mine. I think I get it from my dad who taught special education for 30 years. I was offered a teaching position right out of school and didn’t accept it, probably due to fear.

I was recently offered a position to teach English in Thailand for a year in April. By this time the calling was deafening and I accepted the position. What better way to merge my two interests of traveling and teaching? I leave for Thailand on June 1 and plan to blog about my experiences. People ask me what will I do after a year?  “I do not know,” I happily reply. Maybe I will stay and teach another year, maybe I’ll come back to engineering or teach stateside. Perhaps the peace corp will be a good move. There is something exciting to me about not knowing what I will be doing this time next year.

“I feel like a free man at the start of a journey whose conclusion is unknown”
– Red in the movie Shawshank Redemption after he quits his job.