It's been precisely 440 days, 153,848km and 33 flights since I left the UK on my ultimate life changing adventure and what an experience it's been. When I read back through my blog posts, I remember feeling so anxious because I never knew where the year was going to take me, but looking back over the last year or so, I am happy that I didn't plan everything out, and this is why.
Where have I been?
Well, I should probably start with where haven't I been, because oh my days, I feel like I have been everywhere. Now as some of you may know, my original plans were taking me through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and finally Sydney, Australia in March 2018. However, that soon changed when I was in the Philippines last March and somehow found myself flying over to Indonesia for a month, before jetting off to Thailand again, where I became a qualified scuba diver and spent time exploring the Eastern islands.
Then in May I went back to the UK for a special wedding and to celebrate my 30th birthday (whilst fitting in cheeky trips to Spain and Ibiza), before finally leaving the UK again in June to end my trip in Bali, before finally heading to my dream city: Sydney, Australia.
But it didn't end there... before I knew it it was the end of October and I was jetting off up to Queensland for a few months to live and do my regional work on a remote island on the Southern Great Barrier Reef (with the aim to get my second year working visa).
For most people, the idea of working and living on an island sounds amazing and it is, however to ensure you make the most of it, you have to be prepared to spend a lot of time on your own and use any time you have, keeping busy - to avoid completely losing your mind. Which believe me, as I found in the first month or so, losing the plot wasn't particularly hard to do.
Apart from working (a lot of hours), any chance I had, I took the time to explore the amazing landscape and visit every part of the island. I also made friends with the locals and visitors on the island, which allowed me to enjoy my time there. After all, seeing I was on such a beautiful island, it would have been rude not to, so I made a conscious effort to take part in activities such as wake boarding, fishing, snorkelling, paddle boarding, scuba diving, boat tours etc. and I also got to fly my drone almost every day!
But by the end of January, it was time for me to leave - something that in all honesty I wasn't prepared for. How was I going to go back to living a normal life, when I've been used to living away from mainland for what seemed to be be forever? But it was time to suck it up... after all, I knew it had to happen at some point, and if I am honest, I missed normality and most of all, I missed my life back in Sydney.
It was at that moment when I left, that I asked myself what had been the best part about working on the island - and it was definitely the 'experience'. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity where at 30 years old, I finally got to experience what it feels like to wake up every day in paradise, that earning money was no longer a priority, having a day off didn't mean I felt the need to go away, I finally felt what it's like to relax and live in the moment, and most of all, I had the time to plan my life and focus on what I wanted to achieve next.
Where am I now?
For the past few weeks I have been back in Sydney, working as a remote IT account manager. It was something I never expected but feel was meant to happen for me. It's a company I have worked as a client for over the years and believe in, so it has given me a new lease of life, a purpose, something to focus on and offers some stability, after what has been such a crazy year.
I really feel like the past 440 days have been a huge learning curve and if I were to share one thing that I have learnt during this time, it's to always be brave.
By being brave, you can change your life like I did and in the process gain a deeper understanding into who you are as a person and what makes you happy.
I now feel like I am growing into a woman who has the confidence and power to live the life I want. I have the desire to work hard but enjoy my life, travel alone, make new friends, share my experience and ultimately achieve things that I never thought would be possible.
Fear has a way of stopping us from achieving our dreams, so don't allow it. Be brave and remember, sometimes the path which leads to madness, is the only one that will get you to where you want to be.
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