Great experience put into words! There's so many things we should do just for the sake of it because of the lessons we learn or the experiences we have, even if doesn't directly relate to our next steps. Makes me think of Steve Job's 2005 Stanford commencement speech where he recounted a seemingly unrelated experience he had that ultimately contributed to part of Apple's success. Quoting him: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards." Of course experiences are inherently valuable even if we don't create the next Apple =P Great piece!