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Journey to happiness includes snow cones

Abby Vega wrote a book about her experiences in a snow cone truck.

Abby Vega wasn’t happy.

From the outside, you’d think she would be thrilled. For 35 years, she worked in big corporate jobs, pulled in a six-figure salary and was incredibly successful.

Then, she gave it up – for snow cones.

“I’ll give you one of the secrets to happiness,” she said with a spoonful of shaved ice at Beach SnoBalls in St. Pete Beach. “It’s not doing something for you, it’s doing something for somebody else.”

That’s exactly what she did. Vega, determined to find personal happiness, quit her high-paying job and bought a snow cone truck.

“One day I sat down and said what are the three things that make me happy? And it was snow cones, children and music,” she said. “I went with the snow cones and children.”

She journalled about her journey during the ensuing year and published those thoughts in a book called Sno-Cone Diaries. The pages are filled with inspirational stories from her travels in her Kona Ice truck.

“Kids would lay down in front of the truck,” she recalled.

One experience that really validated her decision to get the truck came in Georgia. Vega and her son drove 130 miles to a drug rehab facility to serve snow cones to a man fighting addiction. At the request of the man’s mother, Vega hugged him and gave him the frozen treat.

It changed her life.

“This takes me back to being a kid,” she said with a smile as she took a bite of her egg custard snoball. Her journey to happiness is only beginning.

Vega hopes to become a motivational speaker and teach others around the country how to chase their dreams and find happiness.

To order her book, and read about her journey, visit Abby-Vega.com.

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