About Me

Confused?  Wondering what’s going on and who the hell I am?  Read on for answers…

What’s this all about?

Since I was about 14, the adults around me have insisted on asking me the following infuriating question:  “What do you want to do with your life?”  Putting aside how much I hate this question for a moment, my answer has always been “Well, all I really want to do is travel.”  To which they have smirked, knowingly, and replied “come on now, that’s not a real ambition, what career are you going to choose?”

I’ve never felt driven towards anything other than travel.  It started when I was a little girl; I would stare up at the planes in the sky and wish I was on them, going somewhere.  Whenever we returned from family holidays I would cry my eyes out.  I didn’t want to be at home, I wanted to be elsewhere. 

 Long-term travel featured in plenty of my plans for the future, leaving ‘career’ choices to take a back seat.  At 15, my outdoor-gear -expert uncle, fitted me into my first backpack and told me I could use it to go round the world.  At the time, I laughed, the concept was too big for me to consider seriously.  However, the idea grew at the back of my mind and I started to save for this unknown future adventure. 

 Now, at the grand old age of 24, with two world trips under my belt and a never-wavering passion to continue my travels, I have disregarded the opinions of the smirking doubters.  They may not consider long-term travel a valid life choice, but that doesn’t mean I can’t.

 Who the hell am I?

 Born Backpacker. Budding Minimalist. Wannabe Nomad.

Thailand 2009

Due to a small dose of Italian heritage and the dominant genes that accompany it, I look like I was born somewhere in Southern Europe.  I was, in fact, born and bred in London where I have lived for most of my life, aside from the few years I spent at University in sunny Wales.  Apparently I don’t sound English though, and most Brits assume I’m either an Aussie or a Kiwi.  I put this down to either wishful thinking or an overdose of American TV shows as I was growing up.  This bizarre combination was clearly enough to intrigue the lovely Alan who has been my partner for the last five years.  The man has the patience of a saint as he’s endured non-stop travel chatter for about 90% of that time.  Luckily, he’s equally driven to finding an alternative place to call home so we get to scout out the options together.

Why do I insist on writing such long blog posts?

Throughout both of my round the world trips I kept in touch with friends and family at home through regular email updates.  What started out as quick reassuring messages that I was still alive turned into long and meandering essays about my experiences.  It meant that not only was I able to keep everyone updated on my adventures quickly and efficiently, but I then had a wonderful collection of memories from my trip when I got home.  I’ve no commitment to keeping a written journal, but with the feeling that others were waiting for my updates it gave me purpose to write them.

I started this blog back in December of 2009 as a way to keep me entertained during the long months of non-travel.  Knowing absolutely nothing about websites, I found Nomadic Matt’s e-book invaluable in getting my site off the ground.  From there the learning curve was steep and not without the odd MASSIVE mistake (accidently changing the address of my wordpress application so that I could no longer access anything… anyone?… I can’t be the only one).  My technically minded father deserves huge credit for being willing to answer the phone at all hours to a slightly freaked out “err.. I think I’ve deleted my site…” and to talk me calmly through how to fix it.  I made the leap to a new and (in my opinion) snazzier theme recently to backup my conviction to devote the time and attention that my long-neglected blog needs.

Where am right now?

Right as this very moment I am sat in my office chair, (it’s a wheelie one, so not all bad) in my cubicle, somewhere in London, counting down the days until my next big trip starts.

I took my first round the world trip at 18 before going to university.  With little idea as to what I could expect from the experience, I kept to the  relatively easy destinations of Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii,  California, Colorado and New York.  I came home  six months later absolutely hooked on the feelings of freedom and discovery.

After three years at University, sustaining some very itchy feet, I was able to take off again.  This time with my partner.  Together we strung together a series of family holidays in the US and New Zealand, hostelling in Australia and beach bumming and cultural wonderment in Asia through Bali, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

In March of 2009 dwindling bank account balances and a Jury Service summons found us back in the UK.  However, we’d both decided that England doesn’t offer the lifestyle we’re looking for and we’ve been considering alternative options since then.

This year we will be travelling to South East Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam), South America (Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and maybe Chile) and then taking a one-way flight to New Zealand (via Tokyo) to hunt out some work opportunities.

 How do I manage to travel so much?

It’d be nice if there was a trust fund or a lottery win paying for this trip but unfortunately I’ve had to work really hard to save up all the monies to pay for these adventures.  We’re also lucky enough to live with my ever-patient Grandma (thanks Nan!) who refuses point blank to charge us any rent.  In return, we help her out around the house, teach her how to use her new laptop (!) and answer queries about Facebook status updates and Amazon orders (she’s nearly 80… isn’t she amazing!?).  Saving hard hasn’t come entirely at the expense of a social life, but it’s not exactly been a roller-coaster ride of social engagements.  Luckily, I’m a cheap date and 3 drinks tends to be enough to make an evening for me.  Although, at London prices, that’s still no small sum.

Alan and I are both lucky enough to have extremely supportive families who encourage us to follow our dreams. (They just want us to emigrate so that we can sponsor them to move out with us!) So, with no mortgage, no family responsibilities and a healthy savings account we really have nothing standing in our way.

 Still not sure?

Here’s a collection of my favourite articles to give you a flavour of my writing:

While I am young, I shall wear purple

Home is where no heart is

Choosing my dream over my ‘dream job’

Guest post on NomdicChick – Is the Nomadic Lifestyle really available to everyone?

The Pre-trip fears

The Less-than-sexy Travel Essentials

Travelling in Reverse – Playing Tour Guide