I’m a London-based web developer who likes to explore the world. My teenage summers were spent interrailing around Europe, chasing festivals while visiting relatives who live in Switzerland and France. With so much in the media about Iran and North Korea at the time, I developed an interest in going out and seeing the world for how it really is (though at time of writing, I’m yet to go to either place).
During my uni years I was about to break out of Europe and toured Japan by rail for 24 days and trekked the majestic Annapurna Circuit in the Nepali Himalayas. I also visited a friend in The States, but I’m not sure Ohio counts. Both Japan and Nepal were contrasting insights highlighting the variety of geography, people, and history the world has to offer. After getting my first full-time job, I toured what used to be Yugoslavia. It was to be my first ever unplanned and unresearched trip, I felt super anxious, but it became the best two weeks of my life up to that point. I realised this was the way forward for my travels, after taking into account that I should eliminate the rush factor by setting a return date.
I was able to put this into practice a few months later. I booked a place on a Help for Heroes fundraising bike ride in Vietnam. A few weeks prior to departure date, I quit my job to try freelancing, and since I no longer had work commitments, got in touch with the charity to extend my return date by 5 weeks, giving myself time to find the grave of my great-uncle, a Burma Railroad POW, and also to explore the world’s biggest cave which had just been discovered in Vietnam. With the same anxieties as my last trip, little did I predict that I’d end up cancelling my return flight and not see home for over a year.
This blog site is mostly where I’ll be sharing memories of that trip, ranging from thoughtful insight to just silly moments.