Next week will mark a year since I set off on my first travels. I travelled South East Asia for 10ish weeks and it was the best decision I ever made.

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Last week I went back to STA to start planning my next adventure.

Guess where I’m going next? 🙂

What made me first decide to travel?

I had finished my Alevels and there was nothing I loved ENOUGH to go to uni to study. My year was the year the uni fees went up and so that made my decision final, uni really wasn’t for me.

There was nothing I loved more than music, and I hate having regrets so I knew I was going to do nothing but chase that dream.

Aside from music – I’ve always had this urge to explore, see new things, meet new people (and lie on nice beaches with cocktails).

I had made a couple of travelling plans with friends that had fallen through because of money situations, or work situations, or just simply actually booking it scared some off.

All of which I understood completely.

But I still wanted to go and my mind was set on it. Through a family friend I met Leanne, my soon to be partner in crime, who was just as up for it as I was and we simply went to STA travel and booked our flights.

Leave yourself too long to think about it and you’ll convince yourself out of it…

I had no idea what to expect, at all. I didn’t read blogs back then and so I had never read someones perspective on travelling.

But one thing people kept telling me was, ‘you’re about to have the time of your life’.

And well, they couldn’t have been more right.

‘I really regret going travelling. Said no-one. Ever.’

Everyone learns different things travelling and everyones experience is different.

I’m not saying it’s for everyone, it really isn’t. But if you have even the slightest bit of wanderlust lurking in you.

Chase it. Satisfy it.

Until you go, you’ll never know.

What did travelling do for me?

A life lesson. Honestly, it taught me how to have fun. That might sound really silly, but I mean really have fun. I’d always let exams and expectations and stress and my perfectionist nature get the better of me and so when I went travelling I was able let go of all those things.

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Another life lesson. I realised what was important in life. Friends, laughter, memories and spontaneity. Things I wouldn’t ever want to go without.

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I begun blogging. I started posting with only the intention to update everyone back home with what I was up to. But I fell in love with it and a year later I am now looking to it as a business and I see a future where blogging can be my backbone.

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I was inspired to write music. The Gili Islands (Indonesia) inspired me to write my song ‘These are the Days’ which is now going to be my first “release” of original music online.

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I met amazing people, who i wouldn’t have otherwise crossed paths with.

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I put things into perspective. Things we moan about day to day, dreams we are too scared to follow, relationships we are too naive to end. Whenever I’m away from home, the answers suddenly become clear and I get the headspace to make the right decisions.