It was the 2nd May and there I was on a flight back to the UK. Now most of you are probably wondering why and I can give you a very simple answer… why the hell not! I haven’t run out of money and I wasn’t home sick: so why am I here?
Well apart from spending the last couple of weeks in a very rainy Thailand, there was an important wedding that I didn’t want to miss back home and figured whilst I was here I would surprise my parents, restock my rucksack, get a new bank card and get my phone upgraded. I was also lucky enough to spend Saturday night at the O2 arena with good friends watching the Haye vs Bellow fight, which was great fun.
Knowing I had taken a long haul flight here, I also wanted to make the most of being this side of the world, so on Sunday I will be travelling to Spain and Ibiza with mi chicas to enjoy my 30th birthday and improve my Spanish, I’ll then be visiting Lorraine in Malta for a few weeks. Then in July/August I will be continuing my travels to Australia where I plan to work and travel further.
Crazy some of you might say but I don’t think so, because since starting my travels I have realised a few things:
- Travelling is way more fun when you don’t make plans. When you can wake up and make quick decisions on where to go tomorrow, you know you are doing it right. Living in the now and following your heart may not be the most logical but who cares it’s fun. If you have set plans it can be restrictive and a complete pain when you want to change them.
- Amazing places are equally as amazing as the people you meet. Having the right people around you make it even more enjoyable and the people who I have been blessed to meet have created memories and friendships. They have helped me see things in me that I never saw before, made me laugh every day and positively impacted my life in such a short space of time.
- Visiting lots of places in a short space of time can be exhausting as you are always on the move, so sometimes it is good to take a break and give yourself the chance to re-charge the batteries again.
- Making decisions whilst travelling has a huge impact on plans. Whether it is changing or missing flights, booking new ones, following others/planning new adventures or simply returning to places you have already been… it makes everything a lot more exciting.
- The contents of my rucksack are now unrecognisable from when I started travelling. I have managed to replace almost everything in it and I’m the proud owner of only Asia’s finest wardrobe (elephant pants included of course), which on all accounts isn’t really my style.
Now I made a promise to myself that this year would be full of excitement, freedom, change and doing whatever I wanted, and I have been doing exactly that. So far I have travelled over 60,000km across nine countries, taken approx. 16 flights and stayed in so many hostels I have lost count. I changed my flight to Oz to go to Bali, travelled back to Thailand just because I wanted to, missed two flights out of Thailand due to illness, overstayed my visa and got myself a new tattoo (in addition to my exhaust burn scar)!
Making the decision to come back wasn’t about failing or giving up, it was part of me embracing my year of opportunity, meeting new and old friends, making the most of my life and having no regrets. I now understand what it feels like to no longer live for the weekend but to make the most of every day and trust me, seeing the look of joy on my family’s face when I walked through the door to surprise them was worth the decision.
This is only the start of my travels and I am having the time of my life. Just because I am back in Europe doesn’t mean it’s over… I mean who said turning 30 had to be boring!
I am happy. I am free. I am living my dream!
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