by Sarah Milner, RRU MBA learner

Distance education – it’s one of the reasons why I chose Royal Roads University. Yet, with business trips and foreign residencies aside, how far had I really pushed the idea of remote learning? In a moment of sheer moxie, I took up the challenge and put the school’s distance-delivered MBA program to the test.

I had six months of course work and three weeks of residency, all during which I could travel, before my final consulting project would beckon me home to Victoria. Laden down with suitcases and a list of countries I’d always wanted to visit, I stuffed my backpack full of textbooks, reading materials, highlighters, and a laptop, and headed out to explore the world as a 21st century nomad.

First stop on world exploration was Thailand Milner (foreground) wasn’t struggling by any means. Her biggest worry in Thailand was completing the coursework on time while trying to fit in wild adventures with new travel friends.

My first destination was Thailand. After spending four days in Bangkok, I was convinced that finishing an MBA while travelling the world was going to be a breeze. I had reliable power, an internet connection, and the advantage of being the first to post about a required reading thanks to being in a time zone 14 hours ahead of my classmates! I was checking off deadlines and experiencing the local culture – life couldn’t have been better.

Things degenerated a little when I moved to southwest Thailand, I wasn’t struggling by any means. My biggest worry was completing the coursework on time while trying to fit in wild adventures with my new travel friends. But everything changed when I arrived in India.

No amount of preparation could have readied me for the month I spent in Goa. Though it is India’s smallest state, I had heard it was quite modern, being the tourist destination in the country. Arriving to discover that “modern” meant different things to different people, I also found out that my apartment didn’t have internet as promised or the means to beam in a satellite connection.

Next stop - India - proved to be more challenging Deadlines necessitated that Milner give up on modern convenience so she resigned herself to riding a rented one-speed bicycle on sweat-drenching daily commutes to an internet café in town. There are rocks in the basket of the bike - added after a dog attack.

Deadlines necessitated that I give up on modern convenience, so I resigned myself to riding a rented one-speed bicycle on a sweat-drenching daily commute to an internet café in town. There, sitting in an alley that passed itself off as a business establishment, I would connect with my teammates 12 ½ hours behind me. We would work so late into the evening that the cockroaches would feel safe enough to come out and scurry underfoot.

But the cockroaches were no match for what awaited one evening on the ride home. Having learned that I was never alone in India, I should have realized that while people may have been sleeping at that hour, other living things were not. In the short time it took for me to cycle home, I found myself surrounded by three separate packs of feral dogs, one after the other.

I barely managed to speed ahead of each pack as they chased and chomped alongside what was proving to be a very poor vehicle choice. Cursing my heavy backpack and lack of defenses, I contemplated throwing a textbook at the animals as both a weapon and as a strategy to lighten my load. My student brain kicked in over common sense – textbooks were not easily replaceable halfway around the world!

Relying on pure adrenaline, I escaped the third snarling pack just in time to abandon the bike and hitch a ride with a passing motorcyclist. As dangerous as that may have been, I took my chances rather than risking another encounter with the dogs. And luckily it proved a good choice – I arrived home safely, only to realize I had better sit down and finish the assignment my teammates and I had been discussing a little while earlier!

And so went the rest of my time away, through India to Spain, France and Mexico. Though I never had a problem with dogs again, the various trials and tribulations that met me along the way made me appreciate what I could accomplish with a little perseverance. For six months, the world was my classroom, and I will forever link much of the MBA program with my incredible travel memories.

Sarah Milner is a graduate learner in the MBA program, specializing in Leadership, and a public relations specialist who currently resides in Victoria – until her next jaunt around the world!