Caption: A real photo (not AI-ed) taken at HKUST by a kind passerby. November 2019.
Five years ago, while feeling lost and confused about my career, I found camaraderie one day while chatting with a career coach.
“I thought I wanted to be a bus driver when I grew up,” he said.
“Me too!” My eyes lit up.
Ok, my bus driving fantasies began not while “growing up,” but after moving to Hong Kong in 2016. Before I lived on my current car-less island, my daily commute involved either a double-decker bus or a green minibus — an extended van with 16–19 seats, green because of its green top (there are red-top minibuses too; they run by a different set of rules).
Finding meaning in the fantasy
“Why did you want to be a bus driver?” I asked the coach — a man in his mid-fifties, father of two adult children, and former internal auditor at one of the big firms (think Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Manulife, etc.). By this point, we had been chatting for at least two hours.
“I thought it would be really great to open the door, see who comes in, greet them, welcome them onto my bus, maybe chat with them,” he said, acting out the motion of pulling the lever to open the door and looking at who comes in.
Fascinating, I thought. He sounded like he wanted to know his neighbors and be a friendly one. That sounded nice — but small talk was not the purpose of my minibus fantasy.
“What appeals to you about being a bus driver?” he asked me.
“I thought it would be really great to open the door, see who comes in, greet them, welcome them onto my bus, maybe chat with them,” he said, acting out the motion of pulling the lever to open the door and looking at who comes in.
Fascinating, I thought. He sounded like he wanted to know his neighbors and be a friendly one. That sounded nice — but small talk was not the purpose of my minibus fantasy.
“What appeals to you about being a bus driver?” he asked me.
“Well, everyone is on a mission — whether to go to work, visit their relative, see their lover, buy some groceries, go see a show — they have a mission, and I like helping people complete their mission. The way of life in Hong Kong is possible because of transport like minibuses.”
“I also love driving,” I added, imagining the thrill of operating an all-manual-transmission eight-tonne vehicle on the single-lane, bendy roads between villages of Hong Kong’s New Territories. I love feeling competent.
From 2020 to 2025: What changed (and what didn’t)
Looking back on this moment, it might seem like I missed an opportunity. It was 2020, and I was blissfully — sometimes painfully — unemployed. My career had no hindrances for taking any direction, as long as it didn’t require air travel during the pandemic. I could have pursued bus-driver training.
Today, in 2025, I am not a minibus driver, but my bus-driving fantasy and my current work share a theme: I love helping others in their missions.
There are uncountable missions to support — like excelling in school, moving abroad, changing jobs, completing a Ph.D., getting more organized, living healthier, setting up a new business, adopting a child, coping with grief, being a good friend, being a good partner, having good family relationships, being a calmer and more confident person, and then some.
Of course, there are missions I don’t support — and I don’t have to let those people onto my metaphorical career minibus, nor do I board theirs.
Everyone I work with is doing something to make the world a better place in some way, however small, and it starts with taking care of their own mission of becoming the person they want to be. I love helping them figure that out and build their truckload of skills, strategy, and relationships that move them forward.
Today, in 2025, I am not a minibus driver, but my bus-driving fantasy and my current work share a theme: I love helping others in their missions.
There are uncountable missions to support — like excelling in school, moving abroad, changing jobs, completing a Ph.D., getting more organized, living healthier, setting up a new business, adopting a child, coping with grief, being a good friend, being a good partner, having good family relationships, being a calmer and more confident person, and then some.
Of course, there are missions I don’t support — and I don’t have to let those people onto my metaphorical career minibus, nor do I board theirs.
Everyone I work with is doing something to make the world a better place in some way, however small, and it starts with taking care of their own mission of becoming the person they want to be. I love helping them figure that out and build their truckload of skills, strategy, and relationships that move them forward.
That’s the beauty of this work — helping others move forward while learning to drive my own journey with clarity.
Simultaneously, each person hopping on and off my metaphorical minibus brings presence and stories that teach me something, inspiring me to keep cultivating clarity and confidence in my own journey as an explorer and guide. I become a better driver of my own life thanks to them.
Still smiling at the dream
I’m grateful that I’m not a minibus driver right now. Knowing what I know about the industry and driving in Hong Kong, that’s not the right road for me, but I let the fantasy, shared with another career coach, keep me smiling… and insisting on trying public transport each time we visit a new place.
Over to you! Three free coaching questions:
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? ‘Growing up’ can mean any time in the past. If you started a new job this year, what did you want to do before that - if you could choose anything and the amount of money were not an issue?
- Hold on to that fantasy (or reality) for a moment. What appeals to you about it?
- That thing that appeals to you - in what way is it in your life now? If it’s missing but important to you, what are 1-3 ideas of small things you can do this week, to have more of it?
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If you’d like support navigating your own next steps, feel free to fill out my contact form to book a free 30-minute consultation. Let’s explore how we might work together.
Subscribe to the monthly newsletter here!
If you’d like support navigating your own next steps, feel free to fill out my contact form to book a free 30-minute consultation. Let’s explore how we might work together.
