If you’re thinking about travelling the world but not sure how to start then you’re in the same shoes as I was a year ago. So this is how I got here.
I was born in Kent in England and so most of my school life was spent in South East London. Throughout my school years, I soon realised that most people follow the same path. They finish school, spend a few years at University and then move to the city to start making their way up the corporate ladder. Whilst I knew I didn’t really want to follow this path, I wasn’t really sure what other options there were. So, I went to University for 3 years, hoping that I’d figure out what my future looked like along the way. Except, the only future I kept imagining was travelling the world. Entering the corporate world just wasn’t an option for me so I stayed in Bath for a while with no real direction or solid plan and that was when I met Quinn.
Quinn and I met in the summer of 2022 in the local swimming pool. We were both training for the biggest challenge of our lives; Quinn was taking on an Ironman and myself an Ironman 70.3. Neither of us were looking for a relationship at the time but I guess these things really do creep up on you when you least expect it. Surprisingly, after I told Quinn that I wasn’t interested in anyone who wouldn’t go travelling with me, he seemed quite keen. So, by Christmas 2022 we had decided that we were going into serious saving mode, that meant no more nights out and definitely no more Zara shops!
That year of saving money was one of the hardest I’ve ever had. We had to make a lot of sacrifices; not going out so much with friends, not going on holidays or weekends away, not eating out and finding as many free things to do as we could. We were both working around 50 hours a week and barely saw each other. I had multiple meltdowns and questioned several times whether this is what I really wanted. Realistically, we were living quite a nice life together in Bath; we had a flat, we had regular date nights, we visited our families often. So why would I want any of that to change? I’ve been brought up to live outside my comfort zone, since that’s where the magic happens, and I couldn’t spend my whole life thinking ‘what if?’
Before we knew it, we had booked two one-way tickets to Kuala Lumpur on 2nd September. I didn’t have a ‘holiday’ in mind, I wanted the full on backpacker experience. So by late August, we had sold all our furniture, most of our clothes, the car and left our flat behind so that everything we owned squeezed into our backpacks.
I was so excited for this crazy adventure and what a whirlwind it has been so far! I hope that my guides and stories either encourage you to follow your own dreams or help you along the way.
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