A couple of years ago, after I left a job that had me travelling all over the world, I realized I wasn’t spending enough time exploring the amazing city that I call home – Toronto. To say I love travelling would be a massive understatement, and I feel extremely lucky to have had a job that provided me with the opportunity to do just that. One week I’d be working in Germany, the next in Norway, and a few months later, Hong Kong.

I was working as an Operations Consultant with extremely long hours – I’d be at client sites all day, would work through almost every meal and typically didn’t shut off my computer until well after 11PM. There was always more to do, and what felt like never enough time or people. On top of the heavy workload, being an introvert meant that spending time in front of clients every day was even more draining. When I was on my first project, all I wanted to do for the weekends was come home, rest and see my friends after an exhausting week away. During the 8 months on that first project, I flew to the client site every Monday morning and returned home every weekend.

Over time, as I got better at managing life on little sleep, I felt that I was missing out on an amazing opportunity by not exploring these new cities. Typically consulting firms allow you to expense a hotel stay for the weekend or a flight elsewhere, as long as it doesn’t cost more than it would to fly you home. My firm had this policy, so I began capitalizing on it.

I would stay for a weekend here and there, still making the trip home frequently enough to catch up with friends and spend time with my boyfriend. My family largely didn’t live in Toronto anymore and I didn’t have kids, pets or other major personal responsibilities that consistently pulled me home.

I spent St. Patrick’s day in Dublin, surfed in California, enjoyed a beer at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, drove on the autobahn in Germany, ate waffles in Belgium, and spent weekends beach-hopping in Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines. While most of my adventures were solo, I was also able to meet up with my boyfriend in Boston and New York, visit old classmates in San Francisco, spend a weekend with my mom in San Diego, roadtrip with a girlfriend through Spain, and reconnect with an old roommate in Singapore.

It wasn’t always as glamorous as it may seem. On many of my projects, I was travelling alone, learning to work with different cultures and trying to influence clients much more senior than I was. Most days were extremely lonely and stressful – there was a ton of pressure from my company, clients and myself, and I rarely had any senior leaders or even colleagues with me for support. I was at the helm of this ship that I was only just learning how to steer. But I am a firm believer that the best experiences come out of times that challenge you the most. As I was leading multi-million dollar savings projects at client sites across the globe, I became a trusted advisor to C-suite executives as well as employees on the floor. I found ways to turn the toughest clients into my biggest allies and I built strong working and personal relationships that have lasted long after my projects have wrapped up. I was able to gather insights into many business and cultures that I normally would not have had access to. And I learned how to manage remotely while I was working in Europe and had team members in Asia. Every week, I felt invigorated by new experiences, lessons and people that I encountered along the way.

I already had a strong love of travel, but what my consulting experience also taught me was that I was fully capable of exploring the world solo. While travelling in consulting, I learned to successfully drive on the other side of the road alone, got lost in a remote German town with no GPS, map or cell service alone (and survived!), learned to navigate complicated metro systems alone, got locked inside a client site alone (yes inside – at a client site in Norway, you needed a pass to get out after a certain time), took multiple boat rides alone (around Macau, Oslo, and Malaysia, to name a few), spent many days and nights running through airports alone, and of course, got very used to asking for ‘a table for one’. Sure, sometimes I longed for a travel companion; it was often during the little moments – like seeing a stunning view or enjoying a delicious dinner – that I’d wish there was someone with me to just witness the same beauty. But I also feel a great independence about travelling alone and will still sometimes opt for a solo journey. If you read my About Page, you’d know that I’ve now been to over 35 countries, 10+ of them solo. I attribute a lot of that to these years on the road.

Ultimately, I am tremendously thankful for my consulting experience, as I learned so many valuable lessons early in my career. In those almost four years, I saw and did more – both in business and in my personal life – than some people get to do in a lifetime. And for that, I am forever grateful.