As I stroll through the streets of Cardiff’s city centre, everything feels oddly normal. It has been two years since I graduated with my bachelors degree in Psychology and it was not always my plan to be a full time traveller; never mind a full time blogger.
Let’s take a trip back, six years ago when I had just received my A level results from sixth form and everyone was wondering why I was taking a gap year. I had my deferred entry to The University of Glamorgan approved and I had no idea what my 12 month gap year would bring. I was broke. I couldn’t afford a round the world trip or those expensive whistle stop tours of Europe everyone else seemed to be taking.
For the next 10 months I worked three jobs simultaneously just to keep myself going. Travel was a dream I thought I could never afford. I wanted to go somewhere. Sure, I had gained plenty of work experience but now I wanted some life experience.
I never knew of travel bloggers back then. I didn’t think to google ways to travel on a budget. I thought lonely planet was the only source of information out there. I finally made the decision to head to Greece for a month. At the time I thought it was all I could afford. Looking back, I could have made my budget stretch miles longer. Regardless, I had the time of my life. Just me and my backpack. Exploring ancient ruins of Athens and swinging in a hammock in Crete. Was this all for real?
Still up until this point, I was still firmly set on attending university for three years to study Psychology. Don’t get me wrong, I caught the travel bug. Hard. So, during my two month breaks over summer, I would grab my backpack and explore some part of Europe. Whether it would be Italy for 2 weeks, or coasting through Croatia for a month. I had to travel.
By my third year, after my mini trip through Eastern Europe, I was set, full force to achieve a first class honours degree. I set my mind to excel in everything I did. I set up the universities’ Psychological Society where I was president. Pulling some amazing speakers into the university to talk about their research. Not only that, I also managed to nab myself a position at a mental health hospital in Newport where I was given the title of Honorary Assistant Psychologist. That was a great moment. I was set to go straight into practice after graduation. Apply for my clinical doctorate, which is years of intense and competitive training.
Only thing was, I had booked a flight to Australia and had my working holiday visa approved. I looked into studying abroad. But the international tuition fees are astronomical in Australia, so it looked like another gap year was on the cards.
As my final year drew to a close, my time working within the hospital started to open my eyes. Stress was all around me. My supervisor would sometimes stay till 3am finishing paperwork and have to stay in a hotel to get back to work at 8am. Sure, she was a leading consultant in her field. Working in private practice. Jetted across the world every year to speak at conferences. Then it hit me. How on earth do I really know what I want to do with my life, until I go out and experience it?
Am I ready to sacrifice my twenties in order to get a good job with amazing career prospects? That’s what everyone else was doing. I was well on my way to getting everything I had been dreaming of. So why was my heart pulling me away now? If there is something which I have learnt in my short years on this earth, is that you should always listen to your intuition. Even if that means striking away from what you are “meant to do” and what everyone else is telling you to do AND DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
I thought, what was the worst that could happen? I go to Australia. I work and travel around. If Psychology is in my future then I shall return to the UK and pursue it. But I had to take the chance. I had to see what the world had to offer me. And that right there, was the best decision I have made in my life.
YouTube started for me as a hobby at University. Whenever anyone asked what my hobbies where, I would say studying and red wine. It was never a way to to make money. Never the start of a new career. It was just me with a 40 pound camera in my room talking rubbish about travel. But people started to listen. The feedback I was getting was overwhelming. Up until a few months ago, it remained a hobby. Something which was fun to do. When I surpassed 10,000 subscribers and my monthly stats started to sky rocket, I thought right, this is it. This is what I want to do.
Nothing could have confirmed it more, than returning home. As I wandered the streets of Birmingham, I looked around and vowed I would never live here again. It will always be my home. Where I grew up. But it holds nothing for me now.
As I searched through boxes of my old stuff in my room, I came across my awards, ID badges, security tags from the hospital etc. My mind stood still and I suddenly thought “Did I make a huge mistake?” This thought was quickly replaced with a smirk as I carefully packed my stuff away again and thought; “No. Far from it”.
Those three years where some of the proudest in my life. I achieved so much and I regret absolutely nothing. But then a thought occurred. What if I had said no to Australia and yes to a PhD? I would have had no idea that I actually love to work outside, which I discovered working on a sheep station in Outback Queensland. I would have no idea that a 9-5 job was furthest from what was out there for me. I wouldn’t have had the pleasure to visit some of the remotest areas in Australia, taste tongue-tingling coffee in Melbourne or meet some of the greatest people I’ll ever know. I would have been here. Working hard. Would I have been happy? Who knows. Probably. Happy, but ignorant to the opportunities which would have awaited me if I had just said yes. Ignorance is bliss though, right?
So, here I stand, two years into my trip with another 2 years planned ahead. A job I now have which will take a few more years of hard work for little pay. But I love it. It rewards me in so many more ways than psychology ever did. The fact that I receive dozens of emails every single day from people calling me an inspiration. I get to choose my home now, whether it be in Indonesia, Brisbane, Bangkok, Aukland, NEW YORK, MAYBE?
You may not want to be a blogger or even a full time nomad. You may not be reading this because you even want to travel. But I can bet you any money that you are reading this because there is something inside of you which is telling you that you’re making the wrong choice. Deep down you know what you want to do, but are too hesitant to take the leap.
Here’s my advice in a nutshell. Leap. Leap high. Leap far. Do whatever it is that makes you happy and don’t you ever look back.
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