The day I finally said I'm leaving

Pretty close to a year ago I finally committed to the thoughts that had been eating away inside for a long time, and announced I was leaving my job and Australia to see and experience more of the world we live in. Noone was really surprised by my announcement of heading off to travel for a year and for the people I was closest to the reaction was something like; ‘it’s about time!’.

Since then I have made very few ‘plans’ as such. Destinations have arisen more through events and meeting up with family and friends in various locations than specifically where I want to go. Ultimately I want to visit every country around the world and due to this it was difficult in deciding on how to approach an itinerary, where to start? There was so much I wanted to see and do and all within a year! So thankyou to those that have come and spent time with me on my journey as it has actually given me some direction and purpose. A year on and I finally feel that I know where I want to visit and am no longer concerned about ‘time’.

Since travelling there have been a few recurrent themes in peoples questions and comments, regardless of the country I’m in. That of travelling by myself (or at least predominantly), being lonely and what about relationships, meaning marriage and kids.

Maybe it is a mind set or focus but independent travel really isn’t that scary. I have had numerous people ask: ‘aren’t you scared travelling alone‘, or the comment: ’you’re brave doing this by yourself’. I had never stopped to think or ask myself about being scared by the concept of travelling predominantly by myself. I won’t say that I never had thoughts about safety concerns raised by the media, particularly being a single female in Egypt and a bomb going off in Cairo’s markets only a few days before I was due to go there, though I have never once felt unsafe. A few possibly silly decisions in hindsight, maybe.

‘Don’t you get lonely’ is another common comment. I have always been happy to be by myself. Whether due to being the eldest and only female amongst my siblings, or that I moved around a lot as a child, doing my own thing and coping in new situations has never phased me, once I‘m committed to undertaking. Also I am never truly alone and thus never lonely. My family and friends are always with me and I know they are there to support me regardless of geographical location. Plus there are always people and stories to be found wherever you go, if you want to find them. Sometimes the ones that found me certainly weren’t what I thought I wanted.

For a while the big question was what about your family, the assumption being that I had to be married with children, this comment was certainly geographically based upon their cultural expectations, though not exclusively. It is interesting that concepts seem to go in waves. Once I acknowledged what was being said and thought about what it meant to me I stopped getting so many questions about the topic. Then there would be another focus until I confirmed my own opinions and thoughts.

Anyway enough about all that and onto my experiences; where I’ve been and what I have done!