Spring is nature’s wake-up call. On March 28, 2017, I launched this blog during a hanami in Kyoto. Japan was one of the nicer stops on my journey to Phu Quoc, where I was attending a funeral of a Vietnamese stick insect. Nine years later, I stand on the Croatian paradise beach of Velika Duba. A recent hotel contract brought me to Dalmatia in hibernation, where early alarm clocks don’t sound anything like spring. Whenever my 50-hour weeks collapse into snoozing, I remind myself: it’s okay to feel tired. In this short life of mine, it sometimes seems as if I have lived nine of them, leaping between professions, each one taking its toll. People retire after one career. How should one feel after an entire career festival?
My cat-like hope is that, when I twist mid-air, falling toward a new, unknown job surface, I’ll safely land
In the absence of tourists, surrounded by attention-demanding Dalmatian cats, I find myself thinking about that widespread myth that felines have nine lives as well. These agile creatures survive falls that would injure other animals or finish them altogether.
In 2018, I argued that, actually, humans are not cats; that we should follow our path in this only life we can actually prove we have.
Looking at my purring CV now, I realize I relate to the cat’s embrace of the fall more than I ever assumed. Leaving secure career paths behind, squeezing through yet another tight space, has a distinctly cat-like determination. My only hope is that, when I twist mid-air, falling toward a new, unknown job surface, I’ll safely land.
Read previous anniversary articles here: 8 Bizarre Hostel Experiences That Will Make You Miss Your Own Bed 7 Times I Risked Too Much: Navigating Dangers of Travel Jaw-Dropping Surprises: 6 Biggest WTF Moments From My Travels Pipeaway's Fifth Birthday: 5 Most Popular Articles Since 2017 Candle Number Four: 5 Things I've Learned in My Fourth Year of Blogging Candle Number Three: 5 Things I've Learned in My Third Year of Blogging Candle Number Two: 5 Things I've Learned in My Second Blogging Year Candle Number One: 5 Things I've Learned in My First Year of Blogging
The Week I Quit
I spent Easter job hunting. If you’ve followed my writing before, this may come as a surprise. Two and a half months after I began working as Guest Experience Manager at a hotel that had earned a spot on Travel+Leisure’s list of the best all-inclusive, adults-only resorts in the world, I decided to move on.
Our lives are already fleeting as they are. Whether you disagree with your employer’s professional standards, find the office culture corrosive, or simply realize that the conditions promised during your interview were quietly forgotten after you signed, it is perfectly reasonable to leave during the probationary period. Companies see these first months as an opportunity to test the employee. But equally, companies are on a trial too.
I weighed the pros and cons, and without going into details, made the certainly-not-easy decision to abandon an intriguing professional challenge I had given my all to.
If we see they might be unattainable for reasons we cannot control, I firmly believe we are allowed to abandon big dreams and choose smaller, but possibly happier ones instead.
My job hunting made me think of Borut Veselko, a Slovenian TV host whose show “Odklop” I loved watching on Kanal A in the 1990s. The awarded actor was trying out a new profession every week, from stuntman to hypnotist. Another Borut, the country’s President Borut Pahor also presented himself in a variety of job roles for the purpose of the 2015 calendar – he was everything from car mechanic in January to hairdresser in December.
Now, I don’t think we should all borutize our working lives, and start changing jobs on a weekly or a monthly basis. Life is not a TV show nor political propaganda, but it should neither be a prison. If you see your job becoming an unhealthy habit, quitting is often the only medicine.
9 Moving-Ons
The number 9, as the final single digit, symbolizes the end of a chapter, a completion, a closure. In Hinduism, it is sacred. In Chinese culture, it represents the emperor (just think of that Nine Emperor Gods Festival!). Norse mythology structures the cosmos across nine worlds, while Dante counts the same number of circles in the underworld. Whether you’re ascending or descending, nine is apparently where things wrap up.
On the occasion of Pipeaway’s ninth anniversary, I wanted to share nine lives that brought me here. These are not the only career paths I sprinted through, but they are certainly the stops that shaped major parts of my professional identity.
1. Journalist
My journalism journey began in my teenage years and never truly stopped. Last year marked 30 years of working in media (print, radio, TV, and online). Journalism is my habitus.
What started with timid knocks on the doors of puzzle and youth magazines evolved into TV broadcasting, from local reports to national investigative journalism. I passed everything from radio news to entertainment TV, from daily columns and art reviews to documentaries.
Before switching to travel journalism in English, my Croatian media path is perhaps best recognized through feature stories, which earned me three consecutive annual awards from the national journalists’ association. My most-remembered work was on the talk show Latinica and the political weekly Feral Tribune.
Even though I received some recognition in documentary photography, I still struggle describing myself as a photojournalist on my business card. On Pipeaway, I report not just with words but also images (still and moving), yet the title ‘photographer’ still occasionally makes me feel like an imposter.
2. Artist
If ‘photographer’ makes me feel like an imposter, ‘artist’ sounds even more terrifying.
My personal inclinations were always toward the arts. Drawing, clay sculptures, and writing poetry were my childhood staples. But I never dove this direction all the way. All it took to drive me off-course was winning the national mathematics championship, and my parents steered my education toward the natural sciences instead. I did once apply to become an astronaut, but let’s be realistic: space travel is the least likely form of travel I’ll experience in this lifetime.
In the visual arts, I can only claim participation in two (unpaid) group exhibitions. But for a part of my life, I was earning money through performing arts.
I acted in amateur and professional theater (including the most prestigious national stage – Croatian National Theater), but also took on circus-based work – from clowning and mime to fire manipulation. After all, to balance different professions at the same time, one needs to learn how to juggle first.
3. Event Manager & Producer
Then came the years when I started producing events myself. Whether for commercial clients, shopping centers, tourist boards, cities, and marketing agencies, or for Mala performerska scena, the NGO I led, I spent 13 years rolling up my organizer’s sleeves for festivals, parties, spectacles, film nights, conferences, exhibitions, and other gatherings.
I also assisted other organizations’ productions, including the Zadar Snova contemporary theater festival, the Dance and Non-Verbal Theater Festival in Svetvinčenat, and the World Theater Festival in Zagreb.
4. Creative & Art Director
This one goes hand-in-hand with the previous chapter. Alongside production, I guided many projects as an art director.
The most notable was Festival Novog Cirkusa, an annual international meeting point of contemporary circus shows that reshaped the image of this artistic field in Croatia. Theater experts considered it one of the country’s most important independent art events, and it was nominated for the Audience Awards for Best Festival by Teatar.hr, and for the Creativity and Innovation Award by MRAK network.
I also creatively directed projects that challenged perceptions of other marginalized art forms and artists: body art (Bestiarum), sideshow (Freaky Friday), street art (Arts to the Streets), cabaret & burlesque (Red Room Cabaret), and inclusive performances (with disabled persons, Roma youth, queer groups, elderly people, etc.).
Beyond events, I channeled my interest in creative design into marketing – producing conceptual promotional tools that turned heads (from ‘gloves for applauding’ and ‘invisible booklets’ to promotional campaigns for non-existent political parties).
At one point, I was even offered a copywriter role at the country’s leading mobile provider. I turned it down for a columnist position at a new daily newspaper, and I still occasionally wonder how differently things might have unfolded if I had continued with marketing.
Speaking of jobs in creative industries, I was also the creative director of one season of a TV reality show.
5. Researcher & Lecturer
Both as a media professional and a circus researcher, I didn’t just publish articles in specialist magazines, but also had the chance to transfer knowledge and inspiration through academic and popular stages.
I was a guest speaker at conferences and panels in Croatia (Academy of Dramatic Art, Faculty of Political Sciences, Student Center, Cultural Information Center, Pogon), the United Kingdom (Southbank Centre, University of Stirling, At-Bristol Science Center), Australia (La Trobe University), France (La Villette), Latvia (Latvian Academy of Culture), Serbia (Faculty of Dramatic Arts), Poland (Teatr Stary), Czechia (KD Mlejn), Sweden (Subcase), and Norway (Circus Village Festival).
It might sound like just CV brag, but conversing with curious minds through lectures remains one of the genuinely enjoyable chapters of my professional life.
6. Publisher, Graphic & Web Designer
There were numerous booklets, fanzines, and one-off publications I signed as publisher and graphic designer, but the most significant of these paper products was probably the book “Women & Circus”, so lavishly illustrated that I had to remove it from my luggage at airport security every time I flew. The X-ray, apparently, could not determine whether its density suggested an art book or a solid metal-like block.
I published a couple more books (a collection of “Scary Stories” by a group of writers, and “Conversations on Circus Teachings” by Tomi Purovaara), but also a yearly cultural magazine, Kupusov list, an extension of the online project Kupus.net, a specialized cultural site that Radio 101 awarded Best Website of 2004.
Later, I built several more websites for my event projects. For the past nine years, however, Pipeaway.com has been my only online home.
7. Waiter
After staying in hotels around the world and writing about them, I became increasingly curious about the hospitality industry. I had some Airbnb hosting (Superhost status!) and Couchsurfing experience (free hosting of travelers) before, but I wanted to understand how hotels and resorts operate from within.
Frankly, I also wanted to keep traveling. When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, and vaccination became mandatory for international movement, hotel workers were among the first to receive their shots. So, I thought, why not become a waiter for a season? Worst case, I’d be travel-ready. Best case, I’d discover a new world.
I started waiting tables in the summer of 2021 at one of the most prestigious hotels in Rovinj. It was a rapid rise from a complete rookie at the pool bar to serving guests at Michelin-recognized restaurants. After Cap Aureo, I went on to Alfred Keller Restaurant and Meneghetti Wine Hotel & Winery.
These were all amazing learning experiences, though it did sometimes feel like I was living a reverse life. I have run my own businesses from a young age, then left entrepreneurship to chase seasonal summer contracts like a student, just a couple of decades later than most. That said, the combination of summers in Croatia and winters in some tropical destinations worked rather well for me.
8. Bell Boy
Working in fine dining had been an immensely interesting social exercise – a choreographed gastronomic performance – and interacting in this game even brought tips on top of a solid salary.
So when an opportunity to work as a bellboy emerged, the lower base wage didn’t discourage me. By then, I’d learned that hospitality rewards kindness: in the end, I was nearly doubling my paycheck with gratuities.
The summer of 2025 was a welcome holiday for my brain. Being available to guests carried no intense burden of responsibility. It was a simple, if sometimes physically demanding, job where I could expand my guest-relations capacities and patience in being kind – something I started cultivating as a waiter.
9. Guest Experience Manager
As I went about my bellhop duties, someone took notice. The hotel’s Guest Experience Manager had decided to take a sabbatical and travel the world for a year (lucky him!). He proposed me as his replacement. After a few more people recommended me for the role, I was appointed Experience Manager at a larger hotel in the chain, leading a six-person department responsible for everything from guest relations to entertainment, sports, and activities.
The job came with an appealing challenge: raising the quality of these services in a hotel that had struggled in this area. I soon discovered that the challenges had not arisen merely from unfortunate circumstances, but were more deeply embedded in the company’s system.
Faced with the fact that I could hardly control what was given to me as a responsibility, after a series of open conversations aimed at aligning our visions of the way forward, I had to say ‘thank you’ to the opportunity, and leave.
Everything is still fresh and, with all the hours invested, the missed chance to genuinely improve the hotel’s offering still stings. But perhaps our shared chapter, in a company bold enough to promote a porter into a manager, was just not destined to be written right now.
Hat trick or treats
These were certainly not the only nine hats I’ve worn throughout my career. While I’ve been reinventing myself like a shape-shifter, the transformations have always felt natural. The transitions between jobs were never truly abrupt. Most of the roles overlapped, sustained by a workaholic schedule that went beyond 9-to-5.
You cannot enter a new room before closing the door that keeps squeaking behind you
Finishing a certain job episode, opens up both your views on the market, as well as opportunities to use your skills in the most constructive way. You cannot enter a new room before closing the door that keeps squeaking behind you.
For some people, leaving well-paid positions to insist on principles may seem like a disservice to oneself. But with an experience that demanded constant reinvention and never-ending education, I’ve also learned to trust my intuition.
At one moment, that might be walking away from a lucrative prime-time TV contract rather than let political pressure devalue my journalism. At another, it might mean leaving the finest restaurant because your celebrity chef struggles with owning mistakes. My departures, especially given how stubbornly persistent I am by nature, have usually signaled that the system was going putrid, or we were simply mutual misfits. The kindest thing for both parties is a clean exit.
Changing careers frequently is not for everyone. For me, as I try to evolve both personally and professionally, following a known path makes sense until you reach a wall you genuinely cannot scale. Just because someone is feeding you while you stare at that concrete obstacle doesn’t mean there’s no food on the other side.
As I continue navigating the tourism sector from within, I’ll keep publishing on Pipeaway, this nine-year-old kitten that somehow managed to grow while I was simultaneously embracing at least a third of the professions in this parallel-slalom article.
After nine lives of reinvention, thank you for meowing along.
How many career paths have you changed in your life?
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